MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Not a Bad Thing" -- Justin Timberlake

THE ONE TO HEAL

The Gospel

LUKE 4:38-41

After [Jesus] left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon. Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever, and they interceded with him about her. He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately and waited on them. At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him. He laid his hands on each of them and cured them. And demons also came out from many, shouting, “You are the Son of God.” But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Messiah.

Gospelthink: I always wanted to heal people both physically and spiritually. Am I trying to help those around me?

"I know people make promises all the time. Then they turn right around and break them when someone cuts your heart open with a knife, and you’re bleeding. But I could be that guy to heal it over time. So don’t act like it’s a bad thing to fall in love with me, ‘cause you might look around and find your dreams come true with me, spend all your time and money just to find out that my love was free."

If there is anything that is absolutely clear in the Gospels, it is the fact that Jesus wanted to make people feel better. If he found that they were sick or ill, he wanted to heal them. He wanted to make their lives easier by making them physically better than they were. The Gospels relate that many people came to him for healing and he cured them all.

Justin Timberlake's song "Not a Bad Thing" is a song of commitment to a person who has been hurt in other relationships. In the song, the man in the relationship is making a permanent commitment and at the same time, trying to heal the lady’s situation. The focus of the song seems to be the thought of healing her situation so that they can move into a permanent commitment.

We all know that there are things that happen in life that leave scars, sometimes deep scars, and in order to make our lives a little happier, we must work at healing those scars. Sometimes we need a counselor to help us, and it may take a long time, but the message of any psychologist is that we must spend time on some type of healing process.

When people make a permanent commitment to marriage, they must address those wounds in some way, and to the best of their ability, as in the song, try to heal them. But the Christian, imitating Jesus, will go further. When Christians sense that some type of healing should take place in any of their closer relationships, they will feel the desire to try to heal them in some way.

One of Jesus' desires was the basic wish to heal the people he could. A Christian should have that same desire.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, your Son was interested in the human beings who were part of his life. He tried to make them feel better and in general tried to heal them of their ailments. Give us his followers the grace to heal the people around us. Be with us, we pray.

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GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: If they can, Christians should take the time to heal someone who is hurting.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. In your opinion, why did Jesus heal so many people?
2. From your study of the Gospels, what "cure by Jesus" stands out the most for you? Why?
3. Jesus did not allow the demons to say his name because he was not ready to proclaim himself to be the Messiah yet. From your study of the Gospels, what title is the most fitting for Jesus?
4. What broken promises do a number of young lovers make?
5. Why is the pain of a "break-up" so difficult to endure?
6. What is the best way to heal a "break up"?
7. What is the primary "dream" for a couple who are in love?
8. As you study human lives, what is most difficult for human beings?
9. In your opinion, do most Christians want to heal people who are hurting around them? Yes or no and why?
10. What does the song "Not a Bad Thing" "teach young people?

Questions, comments? Let me know. Email Fr. Mike