[media presentation below] GospelThink Tuesday, September 26   LUKE 8:19-21 My Word should be important in your life. Prayerthoughts a. Jesus was obviously close to his family. Go through your close family members right now and determine whether you are as good to them as you should be. What can you do to better your relationship? b. Is there some family relationship, either close or otherwise, that I should improve? c. Two things are necessary concerning the Word of God.  First, I must listen to it. Have I worked out a pattern to listen to the Word of God daily? d. Then, of course, I must act on that Word. What areas of my life right now could I improve? e. The essential thought for today’s reading is that we often place other things to be more important than the Word of God. What are the important things in my life right now, and does the Word of God compare in importance to them? (‘This is the task of the meditation.) f. My prayerthoughts… Today I will list the important things in my life and determine whether they are as important as the Word of God for me. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  HOW IMPORTANT IS THE WORD OF GOD?  + The historical book of Ezra gives us the account of the re-building of the temple           – reporting the people who built it, how the dedication went, and the establishment of the priests and Levites for the service of God                      – showing the reverence that the Israelite people were to have for God by revering the building                                – saying in effect that because God is so important, the building and those who service it are to be as grand as possible  + Jesus adds something to that thought that is very important           – the building may be important because it shows reverence to God, but it is not as important as listening and carrying out the Word of God                      – he says such in effect as he deals with his family here in the Gospel,                                – saying that the fundamental relationship to him is not through a building or blood ties or other earthly connections but through hearing and acting on the word of God  + Obviously, our meditation, as yesterday, must center around how well we are listening and acting on the word of God           – Jesus saying directly to us: the people who are important to me…           …are those who hear the word of God and act on it.  + Perhaps the thrust of our meditation this morning could center around the importance we place on other things, and compare that to the importance we place on carrying out the word of God           – you look at how important those who built this building place on their building of it                      – and now our maintaining it           – you study the importance of our families, and how we feel about them           – and we conclude that there are some things that are extremely important to us                      – and we treat them that way—as we should           – our meditation is that even more than that, we have to listen to what God says to us, and carry through on it  + There are many things that we give a high importance to in our living and acting           – the question for us: is understanding what the word of God should mean for us that high in importance? MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: “Creed III” — beginning session SHARING LIFE’S EXPERIENCES The Gospel LUKE 2:39-40 When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

Gospelthink: The Holy Family grew up in a normal way in their home town.

Early on, Adonis Creed and Damian Anderson were best friends as they grew up together in a foster home. One day during that time, Adonis impulsively attacked Leon, the abusive caregiver of the home. He was joined by Damien who showed a gun that he had. Damien was arrested, but Adonis ran away. That fact was something that was always part of Adonis’ thought but never shared with his wife Bianca. After Damien came out of prison, he looked up Adonis who was the retired Heavyweight Champion with his own gym. Damien wanted to be Heavyweight Champion and tricked Adonis into sponsoring him. Adonis does and eventually Damien becomes the Champion. All the while, Adonis was acting out of character because of what happened in the past.

We know very little about Jesus’s early life. We only know what Matthew and Luke tell us in their Gospels, and that is not a lot because they are so different from one another. Here in Luke’s Gospel, after Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem, he and his mother and foster father settle in Nazareth. Luke’s explanation covers about thirty years of time, time in which both Mary and Joseph celebrated their marriage and their son Jesus “became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.” As can be discerned from Luke’s explanation, Jesus’s life foundation was a good one. No doubt, the Holy Family was the perfect place for Jesus to grow, and therefore have the basis upon which a full later life could be experienced. Judging from his future life, he could teach and show the compassion necessary to help people. Perhaps it is profitable to look at what did not happen in Jesus’s early years. There is no indication that Mary and Joseph had difficult times and therefore did not communicate with each other, or that they experienced so many difficulties that they had to separate. Likewise, there is no indication that Jesus had some falling out with either parent. Probably Joseph died during those thirty years and Jesus remained with his mother in support of her and the family needs. It is important because there are so many difficulties with growing up for a young person. They absolutely must have the support of both parents, and when they don’t or when the parents have diffiulties communicating, the life of the whole family will be affected. In the movie “Creed III,” Adonis and Damien, the best of friends, had a falling out, and the fact should have been shared with the partners of Adonis and Damien later on. The fact that Adonis did not share his early life with his wife Bianca was a dificulty and could have caused a major breakdown in their adult lives. We all have things that happen to us early on in our lives. Realizing that they could affect what happens with later lives, those difficulties should be shared with the people who are important to us later on.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, you know how difficult it is to grow into maturity because your Son in his human form had to experience it. As we grow into adulthood, give us the grace to live happy adult lives by sharing experiences that have influenced our early lives. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: When there are difficulties when people are young, they should share them with loved ones later on in life. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: (session: approximately 58 minutes) 1. What scene during this session of the movie was most striking to you? Why? 2. In your opinion, allowing for the differences of time, was Jesus’s early life like our own? 3. In your opinion, why is it necessary to have a “good” life as a child? 4. In your opinion, what percentage of people in the United States have a “healthy” early life? 5. Do most families have good communication with their young children? With their teenagers? With their grown children? 6. Do most married couples commuicate “well.”