[media presentation below] GospelThink Thursday, July 20 MATTHEW 11:28-30 I want you to ask me for help and rest. Prayerthoughts a. Do I come to the Lord in silent prayer as much as I could? b. What schedule should I set up in order to make the Gospel more real to me? c. What is most burdensome to me at the present time? What am I doing about it? What should I be doing about it? d. Have I truly placed the Lord’s yoke on my shoulders, that is, have I tried to follow all of the Lord’s directives in my life? e. The Lord is gentle with me. Should I be more gentle in the way I treat others? f. My prayerthoughts….   Today I will read Exodus, chapter 3, and write an important thought from it. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  TRULY LISTENING TO JESUS  + Perhaps the most important part of Moses’ life with God          – was the ability to truly listen to God                   – yes, he had to carry out what the Lord wanted him to do                            – but he had to know what to do in the first place                                     – he had to give his mind and total attention to God—an action that he begins here in this passage from Exodus  + The Christian is called to the same thing          – not to the same degree that Moses was called                   – but the same idea prevails:                            – the beginning of our following of God is to truly listen  + For a Christian, the listening comes principally in the form of listening to the New Testament of the Bible, especially the G          – and today’s Gospel is the famous statement of Jesus for people who are down and out,                   – but not only for those who desperately need help right now                            – it is for every Christian as sort of a prerequisite for the spiritual life          – we have to come to him, place his yoke on us, and learn                   – three actions that are essential for spiritual growth  + 1 – We have to come to him          – we have to make time for him in our lives                   – quality time that is just as important for us as any other action that we have to do during our day  + 2 – We have to place his yoke on us          – his law, his words, his actions, his whole attitude                   – so that it becomes second nature to us to think as Jesus does                            – again, taking the time to do that thinking—                                     – not only what would Jesus do, but how would he think  + 3 – We have to learn          – that is, actually dwell upon that Christian attitude                   – in such a way as to educate ourselves in his attitude                            – comparing that education to any type of formal education, say to learn a profession, and all the ramifications of it                                     – so that we become versed in being a Christian  + If we allow the Lord to lead us          – as he promised to do for Moses: “I will be with you”                   – we must listen closely to God, especially as expressed to us by Jesus in the Gospels                            – here: come to him, place his yoke on us, and learn                                     – and our reward will be: an easy time of it in the sense that that we will be with God—always. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “In My Blood” — Shawn Mendes IT ISN’T IN MY BLOOD The Gospel MARK 5:25-34 There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?” But his disciples said to him, “You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling.  She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.  He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”

Gospelthink: I healed the people who truly wanted to be healed. The Lord will help me if I ask him.

“Help me, it’s like the walls are caving in. Laying on the bathroom floor, feeling nothing, I’m overwhelmed and insecure, give me something. I could take to ease my mind slowly, just have a drink and you’ll feel better. Keep telling me that it gets better. Does it ever? Sometimes I feel like giving up, but I just can’t: it isn’t in my blood.”

It is relatively easy to get ourselves into the situation of the woman in the Gospel. She is ready to give up on life, perhaps take her own life to relieve herself of the pain. She has suffered for twelve years but she stayed with the hope that she could find a way. She was determined not to give up. Something kept her going always with the thought that life could be better. Then Jesus came into her life, and determined as she was to overcome her malady, she reaches out to him with the hope that this man will help her. With Shawn Mendes in his song, she could say that “it isn’t in her blood” to give up. In his song, Shawn Mendes sings of all the possible ways that a person in the song could make himself feel better, and he begs his confidant to “give him something.” He is on the verge of giving up, but he realizes that he cannot do that. He is determined that things will get better even as he questions whether they will. The song leads to some serious thinking about ourselves. It is a song of pain and asking for help, but then the person understands that he already has the help. It is within himself, “in his blood” as he sings. Determined to find an answer, he turns to himself, and understands that it is up to him. We need help in our lives, to be sure. We cannot go it alone. With the person in the song, we are well aware how much help we need. Luckily in our lives, there are many places that we can turn to–our parents, our friends, our God. There are so many ways that we can learn leadership and how to better ourselves. The Gospel that we read is invaluable in shaping our lives. But none of this means anything unless we are determined to use the help, and then do something about it ourselves. It truly is up to us. We must do it. We must be determined to use the means that is given to us. The lady in the Gospel was determined to find an answer to her problem. So she made herself do something about it–she reached out to touch the Lord. In exactly the same way, we must understand that it is up to us to use the means that we have to better ourselves. Placing it into a personal setting: I must study what I must do; I must see that there are answers that I can find; I must reach out and touch the solution. It is up to me; to give up must not be “in my blood.”

PRAYER Good and gracious God, You have given us many helps to be the better people that You want us to be. But you have given us a free will also. We must decide to use what You have given. It is up to us to do something. Help us understand more just how important it is for me to use what You have given.. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: Even though I feel like giving up, I am determined that I will not. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: [Author’s suggestion: the reader might be interested in reading the two meditations on the movie “Unbroken” concerning determination.] 1. Gospel analysis: Why is “faith” so important in the Gospels? 2. It seems that Shawn Mendes is addressing someone in the words of the song. Who do you think he is talking to? 3. Give your own definition of determination. 4. Why do people “give up” on life? 5. Do most people believe that it is up to them to accomplish something in their lives? Yes or no and why? 6. What is the best help that we have as we try to accomplish something good? 7. What does the song “In My Blood” teach young people?