TGIMMIwill

March 19

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Wednesday, March 19, St. Joseph, Husband of Mary

MATTHEW 1:16, 18-21, 24a
Joseph was a righteous man.

Prayerthoughts

a. Joseph is the principal character besides Jesus in Matthew’s infancy section. How would I describe Joseph’s role in salvation history?

b. Mary conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps I should call on the Holy Spirit more for the guidance I need in life.

c. Joseph was a righteous man. What is my definition of “righteous”?

d. The Hebrew word for “righteous” is “one who is faithful to the demands of the Law.” There are many important “laws” that I follow in my life. What is the principal “law” for me in my life? (This is the task of the meditation.)

e. By the Law (Deuteronomy 22:23-27), Mary was to be stoned to death because of the assumed adultery, but Joseph was unwilling to denounce Mary publicly. In my thoughts about people who break the law, do I find myself too harsh in my judgment?

f. In Matthew’s Gospel, “dreams” play an important part. What dream in my life has been most striking to me? Why?

g. “Jesus” in Hebrew means “God saves.” In what ways has Jesus saved me?

h. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will carry out letter d.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

THE LESSONS OF JOSEPH

+ The readings supply some characteristics of St. Joseph
         - all of which we can learn from as we strive for a greater understanding of the spiritual life

+ From 2 Samuel, speaking of Solomon, the son of David
         - the Lord through Nathan calls him a house-builder since he would build the temple
                  - Joseph was exactly that for Mary and Jesus in a literal sense
                  - applied to us in the spiritual sense
                           - we become house-builders for the Holy Spirit to dwell within us
                                    - and in order to do it, we must continually strive for the virtues that Jesus teaches

+ From Paul’s letter to the Romans
         - recalling Abraham and what made him so great, we learn the importance of faith
                  - a characteristic of prime importance for Joseph who believed what the angel told him
                           - Jesus tells us in the most used phrase in his sermons in the Gospels to have faith
                                    -faith in him that should direct everything we do

+ And we hear directly of that faith in the Gospel in what Joseph did in his life
         - but one of the things to dwell on a little is Matthew’s description of Joseph that he was a righteous man
                  - it is a good description of what we should be—righteous
                           - it means primarily that Joseph was simply a good person
                                    - we have to work at being simply good,
                                             - a definition of “good” is a person who remains good even when they don’t know that people are watching them

+ That Gospel is of course, one of the central Gospels for the season of Christmas in the Church
         - the central Christian issue of the Christmas story is that Jesus came to our earth in order to save us, to help us be the people that we should be.
                  - and Joseph was an important part of that
         - because Jesus was God, Christians believe that he truly was Emmanuel, which means "God is with us."
                  - God knew that human beings were in need of help, and so with generosity that surpassed anything the world had ever seen or would ever see,
                           - God became one of us, saying to us in effect, "I am with you, I am here to help you survive
                                    - all you have to do is to follow me."

+ A significant part of following Jesus is the thought of helping others
         - It is a concept that is so important for human growth and maturity that if we do not experience it, we will never grow up well
                  - Joseph enabled that to happen in Jesus’s life.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "I Will Wait" -- Mumford & Sons

DAYS OF DUST

The Gospel

MATTHEW 5:13-16

MATTHEW 5:13-16

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”

Gospelthink: You are salt and light to this earth: help and shine upon it. Am I behaving as a person who is helping and giving light to others?

"Well I came home like a stone and I fell heavy into your arms. These days of dust which we’ve known will blow away with this new sun. But I’ll kneel down, wait for now, and I’ll kneel down, know my ground, and I will wait for you. We forgive and I won’t forget. Know what we’ve seen. I will wait for you. I’ll be bold as well as strong and use my head alongside my heart."

The group Mumford & Sons’ song "I Will Wait" is a song of recognizing a problem of the past and now the man in the relationship is promising that the future will be different, and he will wait until she comes back into the relationship. Of course, he does not know whether she will come back or not, but the important thing is that he is recognizing what he has done. Once he does that, he reasons, there can be a good future, a "new sun," they sing.

The central part of our conversion to a better life is recognizing what the past has been like. In terms of Jesus' opening reflection in Matthew's Sermon on the Mount, if our past is not what it should have been, it's like salt that has lost its flavor and light that is not shining. Jesus reminds us that our future will be good only if we season ourselves with the salt of our "heavenly Father" and become the light of God for a dark world.

Jesus' comparison of salt and light sets the tone for the life situations as described in the Sermon on the Mount. It also gives the foundation for day-to-day living and in particular for the romantic love situations of our world. If there are past problems, they must be changed in order to have a happy future. If a couple have had "days of dust" as the group Mumford & Sons sings, they must work at "blowing them away" so that the "new sun" will arise.

If our living right now and indeed our future life is to improve, we must be aware of the wrongs that we have done in the past, and set out to do something about them. We can become salt and light only when we recognize the times when we were not salt and light.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, your Son challenged us to be salt and light for our world. In order to do it a little better, help us first of all face the problems that we have had in the past, so that we can become the salt and light that we should be. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Preparing for a good future means recognizing past problems.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. In what ways are we salt to the earth?
2. In what ways are we light to the world?
3. In our world today, what is the best way to let our light shine before others?
4. In your opinion, what person alive today is a light for others?
5. Text analysis: What are some examples of "days of dust"?
6. Text analysis: "New sun." What is the meaning of the phrase?
7. Text analysis: "Know my ground." What is the meaning of the sentence?
8. In general, how long should people in a past relationship "wait" for the other in the sense of waiting for them to come back to the relationship? Why?
9. Text analysis: "We forgive and I won't forget." What is the meaning of the sentence?
10. Text analysis: "Bold as well as strong." What does the phrase mean as one talks of a romantic relationship?
11. Text analysis: "Use my head alongside my heart." What does the phrase mean as one talks of a romantic relationship?
12. What are the most common problems in young relationships?
13. In your opinion, what is the one thing that must happen in order to bring about a happy future for a couple about to be married?
14. In your opinion, what is the best way to improve a person's future?
15. What does the song "I Will Wait" teach young people?