july 21 23

July 21

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Tuesday, July 21

MATTHEW 12:46-50

Family

Prayerthoughts

a. As I look at my immediate family, are there some relationships that I should work on?

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. 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. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will read Micah 7:14-15,18-20 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

DOING THE WILL OF GOD

+ There are a number of theological concepts that can be considered to be the central pivotal point for the Christian doctrine

- “love” easily would be one of them

- “faith” would be another

- certainly the whole idea of the Kingdom that Jesus preached

- we had a theology professor who always came back to the will of God as that central point

- everything was brought back in some way to the will of God

- and Jesus says in the Gospel today that doing the will of God is more important than even family

- and our own families have always been an important concept for our lives

+ Theologically, the will of God is nothing more than what God wants of us, and in the Christian perspective

- it is following what Jesus has said to us in these Scriptures in the particular circumstances that we have chosen through God’s help for ourselves

- our own salvation as accomplished by following what he set up as guidelines

- Jesus saying here that that is more important than what we may consider important in the natural scheme of things

+ The natural conclusion to that—as with most of Scripture—is a personal one:

- how well are we following the guidelines which Jesus set up to bring about our salvation

- is it as important—say—as our own families

- put in terms of time,

- how much time do we spend on our own families, our own interests, our own secular pursuits

- and correspondingly how much time do we spend trying to understand and assimilate the Christian doctrine

- that is, time spent in prayer, time spent in theological/spiritual reading, time spent in Christian activity such as helping others, etc.

+ Our prayer must be the prayer of Micah in the first reading

- we pray with the Israelites that God will show us the power that can heal us

+ The natural problem that we must face as we deal with our own spiritual lives is this:

- we may know the power of God, we may know what the will of God is for us, we may know that doing the will of God is important for our spiritual lives

- but we forget—as the Israelites did constantly

- and so, like them, we must be reminded

+ Our reminder today: the will of God in our lives, namely what God wants of us is more important than most anything we do

- that should be a factor in the way we go about what we do.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Numb Little Bug" -- Em Beihold
GOTTA SURVIVE

The Gospel

MATTHEW 8:24-27

Jesus got into a boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep. They came and woke him saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. The men were amazed and said, “What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?”

Gospelthink: I calm the storms of life for you if you have faith in me.

“I don’t feel a single thing; have the pills done too much; haven’t caught up with my friends in weeks. And I just wanna see if you feel the same as me. Do you ever get a little bit tired of life, like you’re not really happy, but you don’t wanna die, like you’re hanging by a thread but you gotta survive? So I got these quick repairs to cope. Like a numb little bug that’s gotta survive."

Matthew’s Gospel speaks of the challenge of a sudden fierce storm that threw the fishermen into a state of panic. The challenge was so great that even their experience could not keep them from being alarmed. They were people who knew what to do with these sudden storms; they understood the procedures; they had been through them before. But, as they were being tossed and thrown in every direction with this storm, they lost perspective. The pressure of the moment was too much. They yelled at Jesus in their fright: “Lord, save us! We are perishing! We are about to die.”

The Gospel can be studied from the point of view of an allegory, that is, a story that is told by the evangelist Matthew to bring home a point. There are moments in life which can easily be compared to storms, moments and difficulties which tend to dominate one's thinking and one's behavior. Em Beihold in her song "Numb Little Bug" identifies them as the happenings which make you feel like you are hanging by a thread.

She wrote the song, she says, while she felt numb because of the antidepressant pills that she was taking for her anxiety. But the song can easily be the song of anyone who is experiencing some form of anxiety or "storm" in their lives. Which is all of us at one time or another as we live. At times, we feel like we are hanging by a thread, like yelling at someone or something to "save us because we are about to die."

Em Beihold sings that she needs quick repairs in order to cope, in order to survive. The ability to live through those storms lies in the ability to identify the quick repairs and to use them as best we can. Many in the modern world have found those repairs in some sort of chemical that makes us feel better whether in pill form or in drink or some drug.

Jesus tells the person of faith that she/he must understand their faith a little more, calling their faith "little." He has the answers that are quite capable of rebuking the storm or challenge or anxiety. They are contained in the Gospels in the way he lived and spoke and thought as he lived on this earth that we live in.

The problem comes in following what he said, did and thought. But if we manage to do it, we will find that it is the way to cope with the challenges that we face.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, there are indeed challenges in my life that make me feel like I am close to despair. Help me identify with your Son in such a way that His words, actions and thoughts become part of me. Be with me, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: We need quick repairs in life in order to survive the challenges.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does the song "Numb Little Bug" teach young people?
2. The Church defines "faith" as belief in Jesus and what he taught. What is your definition of "faith" and how does it differ from how the Church defines it?
3. What causes people to "lose perspective" as they feel the pains of life?\
4. What do most people turn to when they feel as though they are "hanging by a thread"?
5. Do you feel that most people turn to things that hurt us more than help us in the long run? Yes or no and why?
6. What is the best way to really understand what Jesus wants of us?