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December
2
[media
presentation below]
GospelThink
Monday,
December 2, Advent I
MATTHEW
8:5-11
The
centurion showed great faith in me.
Prayerthoughts
a.
The centurion was not only a Gentile; he was in the service of
the Romans. Yet, even though he may have been rough and
harsh at times, he is still concerned about his servant.
Do I show enough concern for all others, no matter who they
are?
b. Jesus is most willing to help everyone. Do
I show that same type of willingness?
c. Am I
convinced that Jesus will be with me always and that he will
always send “the word” to help me?
d.
Jesus was amazed at the centurion’s faith, saying probably
in exaggeration, that he had not seen such faith among
his own people. What are the ways I can strengthen
my faith?
e. My prayerthoughts…
Today
I will read Isaiah, chapter 2, and write an important thought
from it.
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Some
Thoughts on the Liturgy
THE
LIGHT OF THE LORD
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The first reading of the first couple of weeks of the Advent
liturgy is dedicated to the book of Isaiah
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Isaiah is a prophet of the 700’s before
Jesus
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a prophet who having seen horrible destruction foresees a time
of peace
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using beautiful imagery: people will beat their swords into
plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks—total peace,
no weapon of destruction
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God will protect with a cloud by day and fire by
night
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and so the prayer—let us walk in the light of the Lord
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Using that exhortation, the spiritual person will ask the
question often of how to walk in the light of the
Lord
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Isaiah gives his answer—it must be a way of
peace
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war and lack of peace on a national level is a concern of ours
and should be
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so that we are continually praying that the leaders of people
will finally make use of God’s
grace
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and move toward peace-
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but we have to be concerned about peace on a personal
level
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peace in our own homes and
workplaces
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making sure that we are not the cause of unrest and hatreds
and malcontent
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and peace
personally
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which can only come from spending time with prayer and
thinking about God’s desire for us
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Another answer is given in the Gospel—how does one walk in
the light of the Lord?
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he works on his faith
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one of the problems with Matthew’s community was that they
didn’t have the faith they
needed
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and so Matthew hammers away at faith, recalling how Jesus
called on faith throughout his
ministry
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here with a Gentile, who was polite enough to realize that a
Jew risks ritual defilement to enter a Gentile
home
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and so he states the now famous—because of our
liturgy—statement about not being
worthy
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but the big thing about the centurion was his faith which
Jesus says was stronger than any in all of
Israel
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how do we work on our
faith?
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we keep on trying to strengthen it by our living it out
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If we want to walk in the light of the Lord, we will be people
of peace and we will be people of faith.
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MEDIA
PRESENTATION
Song:
"Easy on Me" -- Adele
THE
GIFT OF TIME
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The
Gospel
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JOHN
4:16-18,27-30
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John
4:16-30
Jesus
said to the woman, "Go call your husband and come back."
The woman answered and said to him, "I do not have a
husband." Jesus answered he and her, "You are right in
saying, 'I do not have a husband.' For you have had five
husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you
have said is true." Jesus's disciples returned, and were
amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said,
"What are you looking for?" or "Why are you
talking with her?" The woman left her water jar and went
into the town and said to the people, "Come see a man who
told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the
Messiah?" They went out of the town and came to him.
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Gospelthink: The
Samaritan woman saw who I was. Is
it clear from my life that I have chosen the Lord?
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"There
ain’t no gold in this river that I’ve been washing my hands
in forever. I know there is hope in these waters, but I
can’t bring myself to swim. When I am drowning in this
silence, let me in. Go easy on me, I was still a child,
didn’t get the chance to feel the world around me. I had
no time to choose what I chose to do, so, go easy on me. There
ain’t no room for things to change when we are both so deeply
stuck in our ways. You can’t deny how hard I have tried. I
changed who I was to put you first, but now I give up, go easy on
me.”
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These meditations have often
pointed out that Jesus did not have anything to say about the
process of discovering "romantic love." Life
commitments to each other were arranged rather than discovered in
Jesus' time. Consequently, the person searching the Gospels for
how to work with romantic love will never find it. But the
Scriptures give many examples of people searching for love
in their lives.
Studying the lady in John's Gospel who
has been described as the "Samaritan woman," we see a
person who was searching for love in the life she was leading.
The fact that she had several lovers is a statement of a person
trying to discover true love. Studying her situation leads us to
conclude that she had many relationships that had
failed.
According to her, Adele's song "Easy on
Me" was written as a result of her divorce. Reversing our
thinking then, it is an excellent song for anyone who is thinking
of marriage because she explains what she did wrong. The person
looking toward marriage can listen to her and "do it right."
Among her lessons, she tells us:
She
knew that she said "forever," but she did not know its
real meaning;
When
the marriage was a little shaky, she knew that there could be
hope;
She
knew that he could still "let her in," if she could
convince him;
In
many ways, she was still a child with romantic love because she
had much to learn;
She
knew that she should have spent more time to know what she
wanted;
She
knew that she and her lover were often stuck in their ways, and
wouldn't change;
She
knew that she had to try harder;
She
knew that she had to change, but she had to sense that he would
as well.
It
is difficult to summarize all of those thoughts into one
direction, but if there is one guiding thought to all of it, it
may be her words, "I had no time." A person in love
with another does not know the personality and feelings of
another. The person has knowledge of how she/he feels in a
situation in whatever circumstance they are in, but she/he really
has no knowledge of how the other feels. And the only way of
knowing is by giving themselves the gift of time. Then during
that time, they would be able to communicate exactly what their
feelings were, and change if need be.
It is interesting in
the story of the Samaritan woman in the Gospels that Jesus knew
that she did not "have a husband." In twenty-first
century terminology, she had a number of divorces. Perhaps it was
because she had not given enough time to each relationship.
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PRAYER
Good
and gracious God, permanent commitments are very difficult to
establish given our lifestyles, but if couples are to be happy,
such commitments must be learned. In whatever role of life we
choose, give us the grace to follow through on the commitments
that we make. Be with us, we pray.
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GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM
PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT
Theme: There are
reasons why a relationship fails, and it is difficult to face
those reasons.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What
does the song "Easy Son Me" teach young people?
2.
What is most striking about the story of the Samaritan woman in
John's Gospel?
3. In your opinion, what is the biggest
reason that there are divorces in our country?
4. Studying
the lessons outlined by Adele's song and the meditation text,
which one is most important to learn?
5. The meditation
suggests that "giving each other time" is most
important for love relationships. Do you agree with this analysis
and why or why not?
6. According to most counselors, lack of
communication is the number one cause of marriage breakdowns.
Obviously, the more time a couple has, the better the
communication will be. Why do many couples not take enough time
to build the relationship?
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©2007
Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr.
Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin
Province of Mid-America-
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