[media presentation below] GospelThink Wednesday, December 13, Advent II MATTHEW 11:28-30 Come to me 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? The Lord is gentle with me. Should I be more gentle in the way with others as I go about living my life? e. My prayerthoughts….   Today, I will read Isaiah, chapter 40:25-31 and write an important thought from it. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  COMING TO THE LORD  + The book of Isaiah speaks of the Lord giving strength and people soaring like eagles                 – namely, those who put their hope in the Lord         – the Gospel goes further into how that strength is given to us  + “Come to me…”         – the Lord wants us to come to him in prayer, especially when things are not going the way they should or at least the way we think that they should                 – life is difficult—and we need God’s grace in order to get by         – we have to remember that the idea of going to the Lord must be understood with the idea that it is a constant thing                 – and the comfort and rest will be there  + But there is a condition placed on that comfort and rest         – the way the comfort is going to come is that we actually place the yoke of Jesus Christ on our shoulders and learn from him                 – that means that we honestly accept what Jesus says                         – accept all of Jesus’ directives and make them part of our lives                 – and we learn them, that is, not only put them into our minds, but let them be a personal guide for us with all the ramifications that they bring                         – so that our lives are actually affected by them  + Then we will find rest for ourselves         – because in the words of Isaiah, the Lord truly becomes our strength                 – and nothing can hurt us, even the ultimate hurt that we have—death or death of someone close to us                         – it will have no power over the true believer                                 – because the true believer knows that accepting the yoke of Jesus ultimately leads to eternal life with him  + This is one of those passages that we should meditate on often         – it is the secret of living well in this world and the next for any Christian. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Just Like Fire” — Pink BURNING OUT THE WAY The Gospel JOHN 3:1-5 There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a person once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?” Jesus answered, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.”

Gospelthink: I tell Nicodemus that he must be born from above, as every human being. Do I remember my Baptism by living out the promises as often as I should?

“I know that I’m running out of time. I want it all, and I’m wishing they’d stop trying to turn me off. And I’m walking on a wire, trying to go higher, feels like I’m surrounded by clowns and liars. We came here to run it. Just like fire, burning out the way. If I can light the world up for just one day, just like magic, I’ll be flying free. And people like to laugh at you ‘cause they are all the same. See I would rather we just go our different way than play the game.”

What is the best way to improve oneself? That must have been part of Nicodemus’ quest. Here in John’s Gospel, he came to see Jesus so that he could understand a little more about what Jesus taught but also try to improve himself. Seeking the truth of Scripture as a Pharisee was called to do, he came to Jesus because he felt that God was part of Jesus’ life and ministry. Pink’s song “Just Like Fire” comes from the soundtrack of the fantasy movie “Alice Through the Looking Glass” and is a song of the desire to improve oneself. The lady in the song is “trying to go higher” and “allowing the fire to burn out the way” and staying away from simply “playing the game.” The lady feels that she must “walk the wire” and even though she is surrounded by “clowns and liars,” she desires to choose a way to be better than she is. The idea of improving oneself is one of the most important goals we all have. In life there are many times when we can just level off, and when we desire to do nothing. But people interested in leadership will understand that there are many opportunities to do better than they are. They will not be satisfied with only doing second or third or fourth best or playing the game like other people do. They will look at the situation, and determine that they can make it better by doing better themselves.  If we are “just like fire,” we will burn out a way to better ourselves and our world.

PRAYER  Good and gracious God, You call us to better ourselves as we experience the presence of Your Son. Give us the grace to truly listen to Him, and give us the courage to embrace the fire of His Way to improve ourselves. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: In order to go higher in life, we must follow what we know to be true. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. Jesus presents the Sacrament of Baptism to Nicodemus. Project: Make a presentation on the Sacrament. See Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, numbers 1213-1274.  2. It seems that there were only a few Pharisees who desired to understand Jesus. In your opinion, why did the other Pharisees not want to discover Jesus’ teachings? 3. In your opinion, what was the main idea of Jesus’ teaching? 4. Text analysis: “Play the game.” In your opinion, what does the phrase refer to? 5. What goal in life is most important for us? 6. What are the necessary prerequisites before we can improve ourselves? 7. What does the song “Just Like Fire” teach young people?