ashivers

January 16

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Friday, January 16

MARK 2:1-12

My Thinking

Prayerthoughts

a. Jesus was preaching the word to them. He was instructing them on the Kingdom of God and what it means. Do I spend enough time with the word that Jesus teaches, that is, with the Bible, especially the New Testament?

b. The paralytic had four people carrying his stretcher. There are handicapped people among my acquaintances. Do I treat them with the respect that they deserve?

c. Jesus rewards the faith of the people who were seeking him. How did I show my faith, say, yesterday?

d. Jesus forgives the man’s sins which Jesus explains later was the same as “curing” the man. Right now it would be good to pray asking for forgiveness of all my past sins.

e. Jesus knew what the scribes were thinking. Do I try to correct my thinking when I think ill of others?

f. As the cured man left, the people were saying “We have never seen anything like this.” What are some things that I have seen that were extraordinary, and have I thanked God for them.

g. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will read 1 Samuel 8:4-7,10-22a and write sn important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

THE MESSAGE OF FORGIVENESS

+ Samuel in the first reading gives us an excellent example of a person who truly wanted to know what the will of God was in his life

- he had said at the beginning of his life: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening,” and he followed that in his life

- here, he kept asking the Lord what direction to go

- he knew what he wanted, what his human nature told him was correct,

- but he wanted to know the will of God as well,

- and that was the determining factor, even though he felt strongly that it should not be

+ Probably one of the main problems that Jesus had with the Scribes

- they didn’t want to know what the will of God was, and missed it completely

- because they were much too dedicated to something that they believed, plus—they were jealous of this Jesus

- the Scribes knew that God wanted forgiveness of sins, for example

- that God wanted people to turn their lives around

- in the Gospel, they see enacted in front of them this Jesus who evidently moved people to seek forgiveness

- and rather than investigate, the Scribes condemn

- and they miss another opportunity to grow spirituality

+ You and I are in a place in our lives where we know what the Word of God is, the will of God as described in the Scriptures

- but like the Scribes, many times, we do not let it move us the way it should

- we hear these Scriptures all the time, but they do not carry the impact they should

+ In particular, today, the whole discussion about forgiveness of sins

- it is one of the favorite topics of Jesus, as evidenced in the Our Father that he taught

- that forgiveness is a two-fold one and perhaps today a renewal of the understanding of forgiveness is in order

- 1 – to recognize our own need for forgiveness

- looking closely into our lives to determine the areas of sinfulness, usually in the way that we think about others, perhaps in the way that we talk or our attitudes

- 2 – to recognize that we must forgive others

- forgive the people that have harmed us or—the real problem—the people that are harming us right now

- the people who do not recognize their sinfulness or the way they act against us or against others

- we really are called to forgive them

+ Samuel found out what God wanted

- and once he found out, he did it

- we know that God wants us to forgive, for example

- now we must sincerely try to do it.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Shivers" -- Ed Sheeran

DANCING TILL THE SUNLIGHT CRACKS

The Gospel

LUKE 5:24-26

Jesus said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” He stood up immediately before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God. Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God, and, struck with awe, they said, “We have seen incredible things today.”

Gospelthink: When you believe in me, you will see incredible things. Do I recognize that the Lord has given me unbelievable things because of my faith?

"I took an arrow to the heart. I never kissed a mouth that tastes like yours—strawberries and then something more. I want it all. Lipstick on my guitar, fill up the engine, we can drive real far, go dancing underneath the stars. I wanna be that guy, I wanna kiss your eyes, I wanna drink that smile, I wanna feel like my soul’s on fire. I love it when you do it like that, and when you’re close up, give me the shivers. You wanna dance till the sunlight cracks, and when they say the party’s over, then we’ll bring it right back."

It is not too difficult to get into the minds of the people that Jesus cured. Their lives were not happy before they met Him. In fact, there were no doubt many difficulties that their ailments caused. The man who was paralyzed for some reason in Luke's Gospel could not do anything on his own, and had to rely on the generosity of others to help him. Suddenly, his whole life changed, bringing about good things for him, and astonishment for the people who witnessed the miracle. The man expressed it by glorifying God, perhaps keeping his stretcher as a remembrance of the good feelings that he had. There was no doubt a deep love for Jesus as he lived the rest of his life.

Perhaps one of the things about feelings that we should concentrate on is that feelings are just that—feelings. They may not even match the realities of life, but we are experiencing them—that is for sure. And so, what must happen is that we control them a little. If the feelings are good and make us feel good, we have to put them into proper perspective, and realize that life will go on. Likewise, the bad feelings must be put into some type of perspective—some general view of what is going on in our lives—and also realize that life will go on. That is, in both cases, we have to work with our feelings, understand why we are feeling them at this particular time, and then go on with life, not allowing them to be such a major force in our lives, but controlling them so that we choose what we want our lives to be.

Ed Sheeran's song is a love song, of course, and certainly the feelings that he has toward his fiancee are love feelings. He is very much in love. Of course, she must respond if the love is to last and in the video of the song, she does. When a man or woman loves another, whether romantic or otherwise, it will mean great feelings, good feelings that will be expressed in various ways.

The man that Jesus cured had a good feeling about what happened to him. His expression of the feeling was to glorify God. Our reaction to the good feelings that happen to us ought to be one of helping others to see our joy, and share it with them in a good way, maybe even by dancing with them.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, Your Son gave many people reason to have good feelings in their lives. Continue to give us the opportunity to turn to Your Son, and then show our feelings with a deeper love toward ourselves and others. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: To love someone is to have strong feelings for him/her.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What are some incredible things that we have seen in the lives of others?
2. Text analysis: "Lipstick on my guitar." What do you think he means?
3. Why is dancing a good way to express our concern for others?
4. Why do people often express their good feelings by doing things that are not good?
5. Why do people tend to dwell too much on negative happenings in their lives?
6. What are some good ways to share our good feelings with others?
7. What does the song "Shivers" teach young people?