[media presentation below] GospelThink Thursday, December 28, The Holy Innocents MATTHEW 2:13-18 The evil of a deranged human being is shown here in Herod. Prayerthoughts a. Again God speaks to Joseph in a dream. Do I allow the dreams that I have to “speak” to me about my life, and adjust my life for the better? b. It was a difficult journey that the holy Family made. Am I facing the difficulties of my life the way that the Lord wants me to? c. The evangelist Matthew recalls Scripture to explain an action. Do I pay enough attention to the Scripture which I read or hear? d. Herod was an evil man who did evil things. There is evil in the world. Do I pray for those who commit the evil, asking the Lord to continue giving them the grace to understand their evil? Do I look at the evils around me and do what I can? (This is the task of the meditation.) e. People around me often experience great sorrow. Do I try to help them in any way I can? f. My prayerthoughts…   Today, I will list the evils of this world, and determine whether there is anything I can do about them other than pray for the perpetrators. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  IF WE WALK IN THE LIGHT…  + Today is the feast of the first martyrs of the Church even before Stephen even though they didn’t know it          – dying in the place of Jesus, as explained by Matthew’s Gospel          – and we have begun the first letter of John in the first reading of the daily readings                   – one of the themes that is constant in John’s Gospel and the letters is the one of contrast between light and darkness                            – it is presented immediately here at the beginning of the first letter: “God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.”  + As one studies the story of the flight into Egypt and the killing of the children, one can see that contrast of light and darkness worked out          – the darkness, of course, would be Herod and what he did          – the light would be that the hand of God was at work even as evil took place, and evil did not overcome the light  + As we think about the distinction of what is dark and what is light, the letter of John gives an interesting “if” statement that could lead to good spiritual meditation today:          “If we walk in the light…”                   – if we walk in the light of Jesus, what does that mean?                            – the letter says directly that such a person will have fellowship with God and one another  + Also, if we walk in the light of Jesus… — we will acknowledge our sins          – that is a clear statement of 1 John today also:          “If we say, ‘We have not sinned,’ we make [God] a liar, and his word is not in us.”                   – once again the Scriptures remind us of the fact of sin in our world and in ourselves  + And from the Gospel: if we walk in the light of Jesus… — God will direct our lives as God directed Joseph,          – that guidance will take place in good times and in bad times  + As we work with the idea of light and darkness,          – we can rejoice with the light that Jesus sends us through the Holy Spirit so that no matter how dark it is, Jesus and His Spirit are at work in our lives. MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: “Mission: Impossible–Fallout” — beginning session PEACE AND SUFFERING The Gospel MARK 10:28-30 Peter began to say to [Jesus], “We have given up everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters of mother or father or children or land for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”

Gospelthink:  I reward the true Christian with happiness beginning here on earth. Do I show my Christian joy at all times?

Solomon Lane and the Syndicate members have now rejoined and are known as the Apostles in the movie “Mission: Impossible–Fallout,” and they set out to destroy a major part of the world. Their reasoning is that “There cannot be peace without first, a great suffering. The greater the suffering, the greater the peace.” They procure three plutonium cores in order to bring about the destruction and the suffering. Assigned to bring the plutonium cores back into Allied custody, the IMF team must fight off those who have captured them. They also had to fight the belief of the Apostles that the only way to bring about peace is through great suffering.

Overcome with joy at what their master Jesus might give to the Apostles, Peter wanted to know what they would receive as a result of their following of Jesus. Jesus replied that they would indeed receive rewards here and hereafter, but he added the truth that such rewards would come “with persecutions.” In effect, Jesus was saying that the Apostles would have the rewards connected with the love they had for Jesus, but the love would bring about some problems as well. Love is not only a good feeling; it will cost a little also. The people of evil, deliberately called no doubt, the “Apostles,” in the movie “Mission: Impossible–Fallout” were saying basically the same thing but in a very misguided way. They knew that there had to be suffering in the world, and eventually there would be peace. But the place where they went wrong was that they–the evil–wanted to control the suffering, and eventually be in complete power, thus bringing about peace as they understood it. It was nothing more than a play for power and control. So, when they said that there could not be peace without first a great suffering, they were merely saying that they wanted control of the situation. They wanted the power. Unfortunately, all human beings are tempted to do the same thing. We would like to control the suffering, keeping it away from ourselves, and letting others suffer. There is a two-fold lesson here. The first is that we cannot seek the power to control others. And the second is that there is nothing wrong with wanting to feel peaceful and to work for it in our lives. But Jesus pointed out to us that there was more to peace and happiness that simply “having it.” The believer will indeed have it, both here and hereafter, but he/she must make the effort–“persecutions”–in order to achieve the peace and happiness. In order to have the peace we want, we have to face some evil in our own lives and in the lives of others, what some people would call “suffering” or “persecutions.” It takes effort and work on our parts, remembering at all times the need to bring about good for ourselves and others.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, we feel good about the love you have for us, the love we have for you, and the love we share with other human beings. Give us the grace to always work at making our love for you and the love of others more than strong emotions. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: Love will ease the necessity of human suffering, and bring about peace.   DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: (session: approximately 69 minutes) 1. What scene during this session is most striking? Why? 2. Why is it true that there will always be peace with some suffering? 3. Should nuclear weapons be controlled more that they are now? 4. The real Apostles in Jesus’ time were selfish in wanting what they wanted. Can selfishness in our world be completely controlled? 5. As you study our world right now, are there nations that really want to control the world? Yes or no and why? 6. In general, why would people not control their own selfishness? 7. In general, do you believe that “desire for control” is a personal problem that many people have? Yes or no and why? 8. How does a person control the pain that will come into that person’s future?