TGIMMburn

January 27

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Tuesday, January 27

MARK 3:31-35

If you manage to follow God’s Will, you will always be close to me.

Prayerthoughts
a. As I look at my immediate family, are there some relationships that I should work on to make them better?

b. There could have been some division among Jesus’s family members because, as Jesus mentioned elsewhere, some were for Him, and some against Him. In general, when I can, do I try to heal divisions in families, in work and among friends?

c. Jesus realizes that His ministry is the most important thing in his life. In my life, what is my “ministry”? What am I called to do on behalf of others?

d. Jesus talks about the will of His Father. The will of His Father for Him was to help those people around Him by redeeming them. The will of the Father for me is to do the very best that I can, given the circumstances I am in. In what areas of my life could I do better than I am?

e. If I had to summarize my life in a couple of words, what would they be? What area of the past could I have improved?

f. My prayerthoughts...

Today, I will read 2 Samuel 6:12b-15,16-19 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

THE WILL OF GOD

+ One of the questions for our spiritual lives is the question of what is the will of God for us

- Jesus speaks about the will of God in the Gospel without saying what it is exactly

- he says in the Gospel:

Here are my mother and brothers. (pointing to those in the circle)—

- that is all of us and humankind

- that was what he was called to do—touch every human being with his redeeming power

+ The will of God extends beyond what Jesus is called to do

- it is also humankind’s call as well—

- Jesus saying again in the Gospel that the people who do the will of God are as close to him as his closest relatives

+ And so, what is will of God?

- as it was for Jesus, it is basically the redemption of humankind

- in our own way

- obviously, we are not able to carry out redemption on a large scale

- that is already done—Jesus did it

- but, we can do it in our own way in our own lives

- involving a number of things in our spiritual lives, but two of them from the readings today:

+ 1 – One perhaps is that we know completely the value and need to worship God

- in the first reading, David gives himself completely to the worship of God

- involving all of his skills and talents

- showing us that our worship of God here should be a total giving of ourselves to God and what God wants of us

+ And 2 – the will of God is that we make God and the things of God something as important to us as our families are important

- so that desiring what Jesus taught—his principles of life—becomes a real guide for us

- not merely something that we think about as something that should be done

- but something that is real and personal

- just as our dedication to our families

+ The will of God was uppermost in Jesus mind, leading him to redeem us

- the will of God should likewise be uppermost in the follower of Jesus’ minds—you and me,

- leading us to truly desire to serve God in our world.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Burn" -- Elle Goulding

WE GOT THE FIRE

The Gospel

LUKE 2:27b-33

When the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, [Simeon] took him into his arms and blessed God saying: “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them.

Gospelthink: I began my life in a normal way but Simeon could tell that I was going to help the world. In my life, am I helping my own little world?

"We don’t have to worry ‘bout nothing 'cause we got the fire, and we’re burning something. They gonna see us from outer space. Light it up, like we’re the stars of the human race. When the light’s turning down, they don’t know what they heard. Strike the match, play it loud, giving love to the world. We’ll be raising our hands, shining up the sky 'cause we got the fire, and we gonna let it burn."

The story of Simeon as suggested by the Gospel of Luke is the story of someone searching for salvation. Simeon finally found it in the young person that he held in his arms. As he now understood, Jesus was the person who would give the salvation, a light or fire for the world, that would free the world from evil forever.

Jesus was to do it by spreading his doctrine of love which he later was to call his commandment (John 15:12). It was a love that he wanted his followers to make their own so that they could give it to everyone they met. In that way, the love became both light and fire, light for guidance, and fire to purify the evil in their own hearts and in the world.

Ellie Goulding's song "Burn" is a general statement of the direction that Jesus gave. She sings of people who have the fire. The excellent video shows a group of young people who are truly enjoying themselves as they light up the world. What it says, of course, is that that particular group of people have the fire of love in their hearts. And once they have that fire of love, people will be able to see it from outer space which literally one can do in the video. Obviously the song is meant for everyone, saying that if we all strive to have such a love of others, it would make life a lot better than it is now.

Unfortunately, not everyone has accepted such a challenge of love. But if we did, then our personal world which is made up of personal feelings and judgments would change. And our external world, the world we interact with, a world which is too often more evil than good, would also change. Like Simeon, we would be able to accept the truth of Jesus and recognize that he is the light and fire of love that we must have. We would light up the world with love.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, your Son was the light and fire of love for our earth. May we both experience his presence and help carry through on his desire to make love the fundamental way of acting for our world. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Christians must develop the fire of love within them, and then give it to others.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. The presentation in the temple in the Gospel depicts the parents of Jesus as faithful followers of the Jewish law. In general, do most people follow the law of the Church in their lives? Yes or no and why?
2. Define "salvation" as you understand it. See Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, numbers 456-460.
3. In what ways is Jesus "a light"?
4. Text analysis: "We're burning something." What is the meaning of the statement?
5. Text analysis: "the stars of the human race." What is the meaning of the phrase?
6. If Jesus freed the world from evil forever, how is there still evil in our world?
7. In general, do most Christians show the love that Jesus wanted them to have? Yes or no and why?
8. Obtain a copy of the video to the song. What is most striking about the video? Why?
9. If Christians truly possessed the virtue of love in their hearts, how would the world change?
10. Why have people not accepted the challenge of love?
11. As you study the lives of people in general, what personal change should most people make? Why?
12. How should a Christian treat people who do not believe in Jesus' idea of love?
13. What does the song "Burn" teach young people today?