missing2

January 15

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Wednesday, January 15

MARK 1:29-39

Those Who Are Sick

Prayerthoughts

a. Jesus led a human life like you and I do. As we visit friends, are we as kind and gracious as we should be, especially thinking of conversation about others?

b. We will run into people who are sick or ill, maybe some in a hospital. Am I willing to visit them, showing that I truly care for them.

c. Obviously, I cannot heal people physically. But I can psychologically simply by my presence and concern and promise of prayer.

d. Simon’s mother-in-law is a good example of showing gratitude. She rose from her bed and was open to other’s needs. Do I thank people enough? Do I spend time in thanksgiving to God?

e. Evil is very much alive in our world. Sometimes I must confront it head on, although always with caution. Perhaps, without judgment, I should pray a little more for those who are perpetrating evil.

f. Once again we see Jesus taking the time to pray. Again the question comes: do we take the time to pray as much as we should?

g. Jesus’s purpose was to preach. What are the main themes of Jesus’s preaching, and how do they apply to me? (This is the task of the meditation.)

h. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will list the answers to letter g, applying them to myself.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

LISTEN AND PREACH

+ In the Gospel today, Jesus tells Peter that the reason why he came to our earth was to preach the good news—

For this purpose have I come.

- and that statement was made only after he had prayed early in the morning

+ As we think in meditation, we might ask the question of ourselves: what is our spiritual purpose is in life

- and from a spiritual point of view, the underlying reason why we are here should not be far from the actions of Jesus as outlined both by Mark’s Gospel and the first reading from the letter to the Hebrews

- our call is to listen to the Lord in prayer and then preach

+ That is, our Christian purpose involves listening to the word of God

- listening especially to how Jesus went about his life and how he attacked the problems of his day

- which means that we must spend time in prayer as Jesus did

- significant time assimilating the words and thoughts that we have heard from Jesus

- such of course is the reasoning behind the idea of the Eucharistic Adoration on Tuesdays

- it is a way to nourish our spiritual lives

- and then “preaching”

- not in the same way that Jesus did,

- but to preach the good news in the sense that we tell people by our lives that Jesus must be a guide for this troubled world

+ And as we do that—listen and preach—

- I believe that it is significant to study what Jesus also did:

- we have to be concerned about others

- in the first reading, it is clear that Jesus became one of us to help us because he was concerned about us

- again, we are not able to heal them as Jesus did, but we can give of ourselves to those in need

+ Our call as Christians is to listen and then preach,

- and as we do it, to help people.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Movie: "Missing" - final session

LOVE YOUR PARENTS

The Gospel

MARK 7:10-13

Jesus said [to the Pharisees]: "For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'Whoever curses father or mother shall die.' Yet you say, 'If a person says to father or mother, "Any support you might have had from me is qorban (meaning, dedicated to God), you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things."

Gospelthink: The Pharisees follow their own thinking rather than God's.

The essence of the story of the movie "Missing" is the fact that June Allen's mother Grace did not come back from Columbia like she had told June she would. We find out as the movie progresses that Grace was abducted before she even got on the plane to go to Columbia. It is only through the knowledge of technology (the subject of the beginning session in these notes) that June was able to see what happened to her mother. What is clear from the movie was the deep love that June had for her mother Grace, and vice-versa, the love of Grace for June.

The Gospel text calls to mind the rule of Moses that God's people were to honor their father and mother. The Pharisees negated that command by teaching that they could give money to the temple in place of helping their parents in need. They took the legitimate qorban offering and used it in an illegitimate and devious way to defraud their parents and enrich themselves. Thus the Law of God was nullified.

Jesus, of course, upheld the Law of Moses in this regard, telling his followers that they should honor a person's father and mother. That Christian law has come down to be one of the pivotal laws with regard to everyone's future lives. Basically, although there are exceptions, if a son or daughter has a good relationship with father and mother early on, that is "honor" them, their lives will be the better for it.

The media is clear in pointing this out. Movies and television shows make it all too obvious that most of the "evil" people who are presented are that way because of a messed up early life. And the messed up early life can be blamed on the fact that father and mother were not what they should have been.

In the movie "Missing," June's mother and father are presented for our consideration. It would seem that June was able to lead a good life "in spite of" her mother and father. Be that as it may, June loved her mother Grace and she shows it in a striking way as June discovers that Grace is missing.

The lesson for our consideration of the movie and from the fourth commandment of the Law of Moses which Jesus endorsed is two-fold. One from the parents' point of view, that they should be as good as possible to their growing children, and two, that their children grow up loving their parents. And as they do that, they should be willing to work with and perhaps help their parents as they grow older. Studying the directive, it must be pointed out, that the carrying out the law is not easy. Hence, a possible outcome, the situation of our world in which there are truly "evil" people.

At the same time however, there is the hope that there would be more and more good families and therefore, better lives in our world.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, You created marriage and having children, and therefore the fact that there should be a good relationship between parents and their children. Give us the grace to grow well into adulthood, and the grace to treat our parents with love. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: There must be true love of father and mother to bring about a good world.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 56 minutes)
1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why?
2. From your study of the Scriptures, what is the principal reason why Jesus had such a difficult time with the Pharisees?
3. It is clear that good families are the ideal for a good world. What are the principal reasons why families have difficult problerms?
4. In your opinion, what is the best means to bring about a "good" family?
5. What can young children who have reached the age of reason (say, 7 years old) do in order to bring about better families?
6. Taking care of older parents has become more and more difficult. What would be a "general" rule to direct children to help their older parents?
7. What does the movie "Missing" teach young people?