[media presentation below] GospelThink Friday, December 8, Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary LUKE 1:26-38 My earthly Mother said “yes” to being a mother for me on earth. Prayerthoughts a. An angel of the Lord has probably not spoken to me directly, but the Holy Spirit has inspired me to certain actions. Where have I seen the Holy Spirit acting in me directly? b. Mary was troubled by the angel’s greeting. What troubles me the most in my life right now and what can I do about it? c. The angel’s statement to Mary, “Do not be afraid,” is a statement that Jesus would make often in his ministry. I must remember that the Lord is always with me, no matter what the circumstances of my life, and therefore I have no reason to be afraid. Do I find myself too fearful at times? d. The angel tells Mary that Jesus’ Kingdom will have no end. What is most important about Jesus’ Kingdom for me at this time of my life? e. As Mary, we do not always understand how the Lord is working in our lives. In what area of my life do I need to understand more how the Lord is working? Formulate a prayer concerning that area. f. Where have I seen the Holy Spirit most at work in the world? g. The angel tells Mary about Elizabeth. Who among my acquaintances right now should I reach out to in some way? h. Mary says “yes” to God. In my life, where have I made a commitment to God, and how am I following through on it? i. My prayerthoughts…   Today, I will read Ephesians, chapter 1 and write an important thought from it. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy BRING THE WORLD TO LIFE            There is a song that was popular a couple of years ago called “Bring Me to Life.” It is a cry to someone, maybe to God, for help. The song goes: “Wake me up inside, call my name and save me from the dark. Save me from the nothing I’ve become. I’ve been sleeping a thousand years it seems, got to open my eyes to everything. There must be something more.”            The statement can be interpreted to be the cry of a world that needs divine interaction. It could well have been the cry of the Hebrew people as they studied their situation right before Jesus came into the world.            It could easily have been Mary’s thinking. As a good Hebrew, she probably was hoping for something that could wake up her world. She knew that things in the world had not gone well up to that moment. And then she was asked to make a decision to help bring the world to life. Of course, her decision was to do it: “Let it be done.”            In terms of the song, what Mary agreed to was to bring life to the world. She brought into our world the person of Jesus who taught us and gave us the chance of eternal life. But her action is much more than her saying “yes” to an event. It was saying “yes” to a way of life. What she agreed to is exactly what we agree to as we try to live a deeper spiritual life.            Spirituality could be defined as bringing the world to life. It begins with us, of course. We must have the spirituality before we can bring life to the world. It must begin with us which means that we have to work at becoming better people.           The Advent liturgies bring that point home:           The first Sunday of Advent – look at the materialism involved in your life and do something about it.           The Second Sunday of Advent – study how you are using the time you have, and use it better.           The Third Sunday of Advent (upcoming) – look deeply at your love of neighbor and what it means to you right now.           The Fourth Sunday of Advent (upcoming) – trust that the Lord is in charge no matter what happens to you.            But we must do more than bring ourselves to life. The spiritual life that you and I are trying to develop must be concerned about our external world as Mary was. Mary’s “yes” certainly brought life to her, but tremendously impacted the whole world. In a sense, the world around us is crying: “Wake me up inside. Save me from the dark. Bring me to life.”            The way to bring the world to life is really very simple to say, but very difficult to carry out. It involves doing the best we can to help the situation we are in. Make our world right now better than it is—our family, our friends, our job, our school, the situation around us.          Mary reminds us of what the spiritual life is all about: bring ourselves to life, and then bring the world to life. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Blame” — Calvin Harris featuring John Legend DON’T BLAME IT ON ME The Gospel LUKE 6:41-42 [Jesus said:] “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.”

Gospelthink: I want you to see another clearly. Do I judge others too harshly?

“Guilt is burning, inside I’m hurting. This ain’t a feeling I can keep. So blame it on the night; don’t blame it on me. Can you see it: I was manipulated. I had to let her through the door; I had no choice in this. I’m so sorry, I promise I will be better this time. Don’t blame it on me.”

Human beings consciously and unconsciously constantly make judgments about other people. The psychological criteria for judging others often shows some degree of supposed superiority.  It often is a way of devaluing others, with the end result that the blamer feels better than others, seeing others as less worthwhile making the one who blames “perfect” in some way. Off-loading blame means putting the other person down by emphasizing his or her flaws. Jesus knew our human nature, of course, knowing that we often will do anything to make ourselves look as perfect as possible. We will deliberately not recognize that we are at fault in any way, allowing the wooden beam in our inner selves to block what we should see. Thus we blame others when the blame ought to be placed on us. Calvin Harris and John Newman’s song “Blame” says exactly the same thing, using as an example the dating patterns of modern life. It is the story of how we act in our lives when we have done something that is not right. The truth of the scenario in the song was that it was the person in the song’s fault: he did not have to let the other lady into his life, but he did. Placing the blame on others is a common fault of human beings. It makes headlines when it happens among the important people of the world–the leaders of government and the like. But what we should be interested in is what makes the personal headlines, namely in our own lives and people close to us. Do we find that we shy away from responsibility for our actions more than we should? Do we place blame on other situations? Or in Jesus’ words, are we telling others to get rid of the splinter in their eyes while we deliberately neglect the beam in our own? There are negatives in anyone’s life, and to acknowledge our part in them will place the blame where it should be.

PRAYER Good and gracious God,  Your Son was clear about how we try to place any blame away from ourselves, placing it on others or on things that we cannot control. Help us honestly see the truth when we place blame. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: We tend to place the blame on others when we should place the blame on ourselves.   DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. Give an example of what Jesus is speaking of in his sermon in the Gospel. 2. Jesus uses exaggeration here. Why do you think Jesus used exaggeration so often in his sermons? 3. Give your definition of “hypocrite.” 4. Do you believe that there is very much hypocrisy among Christians? Yes or no and why? 5. Text analysis: “Guilt is burning; inside I’m hurting.” What is the meaning of the sentence? 6. Sometimes the guilt really is with someone or something else. What is the best way when there is legitimate blame on someone or something else, and you were “blamed” in the process? 7. Should the lady trust this man now that he has said that he is sorry? Yes or no and why? 8. Do you agree with the psychology expressed in the first paragraph of the meditation? Yes or no and why? 9. What should we do when a friend of ours is placing blame on someone or something else when we know that the blame should be placed on our friend? 10. Give an example of someone on the national or international scenes who have placed the blame on something else when they should have blamed themselves. 11. What does the song “Blame” teach young people?