March 7

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Friday, March 7, Friday after Ash Wednesday

MATTHEW 9:14-15

Your fasting should lead you to understand your spiritual life a little more.

Prayerthoughts
a. As we think of Jesus’s departure and his return on the final day, we are in that interim period now.  How do I fast?  Fasting can be more than fasting from food.  Do I fast from food, television, Internet, etc., by treating them with moderation in my life?

b. Jesus refers to his own death with the thought that the bridegroom will be taken away, and then it is time to be mournful and to fast.  When I am sorrowful in my life, do I try to remember the positive thought that the Lord is directing what is happening?

c. As I listen to the Lord speak of his death, I think of my own death.  As I study my life right now, am I preparing for my death by trying to correct my faults?

d. Considering my life once again, what are the central events in my life so far? How do I see the Lord’s action in each of them?  (This is the task of the meditation.)

e. What is the one thing in my life that I want to accomplish before I die?

f. My prayerthoughts...

Today, I will carry out letter d.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

FASTING—A REMINDER

+ The obvious topic coming from both readings today is fasting

- Isaiah calling for a fast that seemingly has nothing to do with bodily fasting

- Jesus saying that when he is gone, then his disciples will fast

- but our belief is that Jesus is always with us

- and so Jesus is calling for a new understanding of fasting

+ Jesus’ idea of fasting, it would seem, should be defined much like the Isaiah reading

- more as a deliberate reminder

- and might work this way:

- fasting is a means of self-denial and when we deny ourselves and we feel it, we are reminded of the things that we can give and do for others

- of course, fasting by itself is a means of denying self, and we need to do that in our lives, as well

- we have too much of everything

- but, the important thing to see about fasting is that both Jesus and Isaiah seem to say that fasting is not an end in itself

+ With Isaiah’s fasting as developed in that first reading, the self-denial should lead to the understanding that people are hurting

- with our fasting or our abstaining or our denying ourselves something

- it should remind us of people or situations that could use our help

- in the sense that we can help make the situation more Christian, or more holy or simply better

- our denial of self can lead us to see for example:

- what we can do better at home

- what we can do better where we work

- what we can do better when I’m doing the things of day-to-day living

+ Fasting has been looked at as one of the means of renewal, as pointed out by Jesus in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount

- along with giving alms and praying, all three of which we heard on Wednesday, all three of which Jesus points out can be done with the wrong intentions

- the fasting that we have in our Church today

- the result of Isaiah’s and Jesus’ perspective on fasting,

- is that it is not an end in itself, but reminds us of the amount of good that we can do.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Dance the Night"—Dua Lipa

DANCING...BUT STILL FACING A PROBLEM

The Gospel

LUKE 10:13-15

MATTHEW 11:21-23

[Jesus said,] "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld."

Gospelthink: If you realize who it is that is teaching you, you would surely repent.

"Baby, you can find me under the lights. Diamonds under my eyes. Turn the rhythm up, don’t you wanna just come along for the ride? Pull my outfits up tight, you can see my heartbeat tonight. I can take the heat, best believe, that’s the moment I shine. ‘Cause every romance shakes and it bends, don’t give a damn. When the night’s here, I don’t do tears, no chance. I could dance. Watch me dance, dance the night away. My heart could be burning but you won’t see it on my face. Watch me dance, dance the night away."

Dua Lipa's song from the movie "Barbie" "Dance the Night" captures the joy of dancing, but it seems to present a problem as well. The problem could very well be that she is dancing instead of facing some problems in her life. "My heart could be burning," she sings, "but you won't see it." And she sings of other problems that she is avoiding in the rest of the song. Perhaps she is hiding from the problems, and occupying her time by doing something enjoyable rather than facing some situation or problem.

Jesus once spoke about the people of the towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum, telling them that if they had faced the problems that had plagued them, they would have been better off. They had disregarded what they should have done, choosing to follow what they wanted. And the result was that they would be condemned because they had not repented of their sinfulness.

Human beings know that they should face the problems that they have. Instead, they often ignore the signs and warnings, choosing their own answers or ways of acting, or choosing to do something that doesn't attack the problem, thus causing more problems than they have already. In the Christian scheme of things, facing the problems usually means facing what we have done, and "repenting" for the things that we should not have done.

If we learn to face the problems that we have in life "head on," that is directly, our lives will be much better for it. We may indeed allow something like dancing to take some of the stress off of the problems of life, but we can't allow that enjoyment to keep us from facing the problem.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, your Son taught us to face the problems or sinfulness in our lives directly, thus choosing to repent for our sins. Give us the grace to face all the problems of our lives in such a way as to follow your will at all times. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Doing something enjoyable like dancing should not take the place of facing some problem.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does the song "Dance the Night" teach young people?
2. In general, what are some reasons why we will not face the problems we have?
3. The meditation uses the word "condemned" as it speaks of the people of the cities. Is it too strong a word in English?
4. What are the most significant problems that young people face in this world?
5. What are the biggest problems in our world today? What if anything can you do about them?
6. In general, what does it mean to face a problem directly.