[media presentation below] GospelThink Friday, December 15, Advent II MATTHEW 11:16-19 The religious leaders did not want to listen to what I had to say. Prayerthoughts a. Jesus speaks of “this generation,” a negative term speaking of my time now. In what ways have I agreed with this world when I should not have. b. Sometimes I act like a child when things do not go my way. Do I show this behavior often? c. Jesus points out that the people of his time were like children who were not listening to His message. How are my “listening skills”? Do I listen to others the way I should? d. Jesus and John are rejected. Do I always accept God/Church/religion as a guide to my  life? e. Do I listen to the difficult words of Jesus, especially in the way I should act toward others? f. Jesus has the wisdom I need in my life. Do I pray with that in mind? g. My prayerthoughts….   Today, I will read Isaiah, chapter 48 and write an important thought from it. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  WE ARE CALLED TO LISTEN TO THE LORD  + The great condition is given to us by the prophet Isaiah in the first reading:           If you hearken, if you listen                      – that which will bring about prosperity and descendants like sand, allowing us to never be cut off from the Lord                                – is that we listen to the Lord                                          – the Lord God saying: I teach you what is for your good, I will lead you on the way if you listen  + The natural human tendency may not be to listen, however           – in the Gospel, Jesus accuses the religious leaders of not wanting to listen either to John or himself                      – the interpretation of the parable of Jesus according to scholars is:                                – Jesus and John are the children calling people to rejoice and mourn                                          – but the people are refusing to listen to them                                                    – and the way they refuse to listen is that they make up excuses not to listen—they call one mad, the other a glutton, and therefore both are crazy, and not to be listened to  + The obvious question that comes out of the liturgy for a person interested in the spiritual life is: are we listening to the Lord?           – the Lord’s message and John’s message that the religious leaders were not listening to / was a message of the entrance into the Kingdom:                      – repent and be saved, change your ways so that you can enter the Kingdom           – two things should be considered:                      – not only listening to the message, but what excuses might we be giving to keep from listening to the message  + Listening to the Lord’s message of repentance and changing our ways involves what the Scriptures have said many times in many ways           – time spent with the Lord should increase           – there should be serious thinking about our lives           – there must be consistency in doing these things  + Giving more of an indication about our intentions, however, are the excuses we may use not to do that type of repenting and changing of behavior:           – One excuse: “I don’t have time” – saying we don’t have time for what is the single most important thing that we do on earth—prepare ourselves for heaven           – Another excuse: “There are too many circumstances in my life that have made me the way I am, and I can’t change.”                      – “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks; I am the victim of the circumstances in my life; my past has messed me up.”                                – the psychologist in me would say that some of that is true, but the fact is that we can change                                          – people do it all the time, and people who have many more problems than we have  + The Lord says today to look at how well we listen and even more telling, look at the excuses that we give for not listening. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Bang!” — AJR TIME TO GROW The Gospel LUKE 2:39-40 When Mary and Joseph had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child Jesus grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

Gospelthink: I grew into adulthood finding favor with God. Jesus’s growth is an example to imitate for me.

“I get up, I get down and I’m jumpin’ around. And the rumpus and ruckus are comfortable now. Been a hell of a ride but I’m thinkin’ it’s time to grow (bang! bang! bang!) So I got an apartment across from the park, put quinoa in my fridge, still I’m not feelin’ grown. Been a hell of a ride but I’m thinkin’ it’s time to go (bang! bang! bang!) Here we go.”

It is axiomatic in our age that the role of parents in their children’s lives is of the highest importance. If the parents of a child are responsible, showing that they are capable of providing education and direction to their children, the child will grow up well. In fact, psychologists suggest that children who grow up in a healthy environment will turn out to be mentally healthy adults. If anyone would have asked Joseph or Mary whether they felt that they had provided a “healthy environment” for Jesus, they probably would have said “no” because of the severe circumstances in which the family grew up. But the Scriptures attest that Joseph and Mary did provide a healthy environment when they finally could settle at home. In that environment Jesus was able to become strong and be filled with wisdom. Wisdom is not exactly the operating word as the group AJR describe the growth of the adolescent in their song “Bang!”  It is, as they wrote about the song, a time to feel “weird.” In explanation they said about the song, “It is about the weird middle ground between being a kid and becoming an adult: a time when we’re doing all the things adults are supposed to do, but we don’t yet feel grown up. The fact is, adulthood is bound to hit us at some point, so the plan we made in the song is to ‘go out with a bang’.” The word “wisdom” should be the word used as an adolescent grows into maturity. The evangelist Luke used it to describe how Jesus grew. It implies that the young person will indeed feel the anxiety of becoming an adult–when they are supposed to do the things adults do, but they do not want to. But to make this world be a better place, it is exactly what the young person must do–give up the things of “children” (even if the person leaves with a bang) and become an adult who is aware of what must happen in their adult lives. As Jesus, that adulthood can be described as “finding favor with God.” It means as St, Paul described to the Galatians, putting on the virtues of “love, joy, peace, patience, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). it is not easy, of course, and our human natures rebel against it, but it is what a Christian is called to do.

PRAYER  Good and gracious God, you have called us to imitate Your Son as we continue to grow into maturity. Give us the grace to leave the selfishness of youth, and embrace the adulthood that You want us to have. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: Like it or not, we must grow up, and with maturity. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. What does the song “Bang!” teach young people? 2. What are the characteristics of maturity? 3. What is quinoa and why is it important in the song? 4. What makes up a “healthy environment” for young people to grow? 5. Give your own definition of “wisdom.” 6. Studying the virtues mentioned from the letter to the Galatians, what is the most difficult to attain and why?