[media presentation below] GospelThink Thursday, January 4 JOHN 1:35-42 I ask apostles and you what you are looking for. Prayerthoughts  a. John the Baptist was working “again” signifying his dedication to his task of bringing people to repent. Do I consistently ask the Lord for repentance because of my sinfulness? b. John knows Jesus. Do I show that I truly know the Lord by what I said and did this past week? c. I have followed the Lord because of my belief. Do I take enough time to renew my faith in the Lord every day? d. Jesus asks a very good question here: “What are you looking for?” As I consider my life right now, what am I looking for the most? e. The disciples answer “Where are you staying?” Do I recognize the Lord’s presence in everything around me? f. The early apostles spread their message to those close to them. Do I behave well toward those who are closest to me? g. Jesus gives Peter the name of “Cephas.” Jesus has called me by name also. Do I recognize enough that I have been called by God? h. My prayerthoughts….   Today, I will read 1 John chapter 3 and write an important thought from it. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?  + I think that the question that Jesus asks of the two disciples in the Gospel is actually a very deep question and one that we can learn from           – because depending on the answer, it can shape our lives                     – the question:           What are you looking for?  + The Apostles with their Hebrew background had been imbued with the idea of a coming Messiah           – therefore, perhaps the best way of describing what they were looking for is that they were looking for someone to lead them                      – their answer to Jesus’ question was a statement of a desire to be led—“where are you staying”—as if to say, we hope that you can lead us                                – and they trusted that Jesus could do that  + We can think of that question at every encounter with Jesus, here in Church or in prayer           – as we are gathered here today, for example, what are we looking for, why are we here?                      – perhaps the answer is: a way to get to heaven – a rather selfish understanding of why we are here                      – or a way to prevent hell – likewise selfish                      – or to request an answer to prayer – again most of our prayer is selfish, asking for the things that are most important to us personally           – I believe that our answer to “what are you looking for” should be the answer of the apostles in the Gospel:           – we should be looking for Jesus who will lead us to God, that is, “where are you staying”—I will follow you                      – with the attitude of Samuel in the first reading—“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”  + That should mean something in the way we go about our living           – fundamentally, it means accepting completely the person we have chosen to lead us and to follow completely his way of behavior and thought                      – which is nothing less than the total acceptance of God in every situation no matter what the circumstances                                – that is actually a way of stating the primary goal of religion: you and I are called to accept God as part of every one of our situations, no matter what those situations may be           – or in other words, “All that God does is done well.”           + In our worship today, Jesus asks us: what are you looking for?           – our answer must be something like the question, “where are you staying” because we want to be led by him                      – it calls for a sincere belief that Jesus will lead us by this Word and Eucharist that we celebrate, and therefore that we choose him totally in our lives, and rely on him completely, saying, “All that God does is done well.” MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Believer” — Imagine Dragons MY LIFE CAME FROM PAIN The Gospel LUKE 2:33-35 Jesus’ father and mother were amazed at what was said about him, and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted and you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Gospelthink: Simeon reminded my mother that she would suffer some pain because I would suffer pain. Do I accept the pain in my life and work with it?

“I was broken from a young age, taking my sulking to the masses, writing my poems for the few. They looked at me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me singing from heartache from the pain, take my message from the veins, speaking my lesson from the brain, seeing the beauty through the pain. You made me a believer; pain, you break me down, you build me up. Let the bullets fly, oh let them rain. My life, my love, my drive, it came from pain.”

One of the more difficult realities that people have to work with in life is the fact of pain. Because we are human beings, we will have pain. Sometimes the pain will be extreme, causing people’s lives to take on a different direction, as with a physical accident, a disease or the like. Sometimes the pain is not a physical one, such as the psychological pain of losing a loved one, or the pain of the deliberate mental harm that one causes another. Pain, whether great or slight, always affects us in some way. It is likewise a reality that people will react differently to pain. Sometimes the pain will make them bitter people, people who carry a grudge their whole lives, people who will be angry about the way life treats them, and so forth. But for some, pain is a teacher, something that can help us become better people in the long run. Such is the thought of Imagine Dragons in their song “Believer” when they sing that “My life, my love, my drive came from pain.” Such was the belief of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who heard the holy person Simeon describe to her what her life would be. The lesson for people of the twenty-first century from both the group Imagine Dragons and Simeon the prophet as he spoke to Mary is the important lesson that pain can be a teacher. We can learn the effect that pain and suffering have on us and how we react to it, but most of all, it can help us understand the direction our future lives should go. It might involve real change in our behavior, moving us in a different direction that will enable us to live better. With pain as the teacher it can be, we will be convinced that pain will always be temporary, eventually disappearing. Then we move on in life. Or, indeed move into eternal life if the pain leads to death.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, your Son felt pain in his human life, as did his mother Mary. The pain was not a negative reality for them. It taught them about how they were to live. Help us understand the pain and suffering that we have in the present and future, and help us learn from it as well. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: Pain must be seen as a teacher from whom we can learn much. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. Gospel analysis: “A sign that will be contradicted.” What is the meaning of the phrase? 2. Gospel analysis: “A sword will pierce.” The reference, of course, is to the pain that Mary will suffer because of her Son. In today’s world, who are some people who suffer “because of Jesus”?   3. Song analysis: “Broken from a young age.” What is the meaning of the phrase? 4. What is the stronger pain in your opinion, physical or mental? 5. In what ways is pain a teacher? 6. In general, how do people react to pain? 7. In general, how do people “move on” in life after they have suffered pain? 8. What does the song “Believer” teach young people?