TGIMMhome

	FEELING "AT HOME"

The Gospel

MATTHEW 11:28-30

Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Your souls will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light."

The Media -- "Home" (Phillip Phillips)

"Hold on to me as we go. As we roll down this unfamiliar road and although this wave is stringing us along, just know you’re not alone ‘cause I’m going to make this place your home. Settle down, it’ll all be clear. Don’t pay no mind to the demons. They fill you with fear. The trouble: it might drag you down. If you get lost, you can always be found. Just know you’re not alone, ‘cause I’m going to make this place your home."

A person of faith knows that love songs are quite appropriate to express the love that God has for the people of our earth. From the first moment of creation, it is clear that God loved the human race. God gave us everything that is good. And even after the human being messed things up with sin, God continued to love us through Jesus. And even further, God constantly reaches out to us through the Holy Spirit. As Jesus taught during his lifetime, God calls us to come and find rest. In the words of Phillip Phillips' song, God is telling us that we can feel "at home" with God.

Feeling "at home" with another is part of love and therefore part of romantic love. A couple looking at the possibility of marriage certainly must feel "at home" with one another. But the point must be made for every Christian since Christians are called to love one another that the Christian must make the "other" feel "at home."

Such a description will mean a number of things. As Jesus wanted all of us to approach his Father with complete assurance, being "at home" with each other will mean the assurance that nothing will break the love that should be present. It is a very difficult doctrine because relationships are hardly ever stable in the sense of being constant: we meet people in different circumstances, and people move in and out of our lives. Christians will say to anyone they meet that they can feel "at home" with them because it was the example that Jesus gave. As we have been invited to come to God to find rest because God has loved us, so our love for each other should make anyone feel "at home" with us.

A romantic relationship will always have the quality of each feeling "at home" with the other. The challenging doctrine of love of others for the Christian is that everyone should feel "at home" with her/him.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, your Son has told us that we can find rest in you, and so we confidently approach you. Give us the grace to learn the lesson of love for each other, assuring everyone that they can feel "at home" with us. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: In a love relationship, each person will feel "at home" with the other.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. Studying people's lives in general, what are the "most burdensome" problems that we have?
2. Most probably Jesus' "yoke" is the doctrine that he preaches. Why can it be compared to a "yoke"?
3. Jesus calls himself "gentle and humble of heart." If Christians learn from him, Christians should be "gentle and humble of heart." Do most Christians show those qualities? Yes or no and why?
4. Do you think that most people would agree that Jesus' "yoke," that is his doctrine, is "easy and light"? Yes or no and why?
5. Text analysis: "Roll down this unfamiliar road." What is the meaning of the phrase?
6. Text analysis: "Don't pay no mind to the demons." What is the meaning of the sentence?
7. In a love relationship, what is the greatest "fear"?
8. The meditation makes the point of God's love for us. Project: Outline the Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition's section on the love of God for us, numbers 51-65.
9. A couple who are about to be married must feel "at home" with each other. In what ways will this be evident?
10. The meditation says that one of the characteristics is that one will never break the love that should be present between people. How does a person show "love" to a person that they do not know?
11. What does the song "Home" teach young people?

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