[media presentation below] GospelThink Tuesday, January 9 MARK 1:21-28 I control every evil. Prayerthoughts a. Jesus kept the Sabbath day holy. My Sabbath is of course Sunday. Do I give a proper amount of time to prayer and to my family on Sundays? b. Jesus was a teacher. In many ways I am a teacher to those around me. As I study what I do, say yesterday, what are the principal themes of my “teaching”? c. Evil knows when holiness is present. My holiness should control my words, actions and especially my thinking. Am I evil in these things? d. Jesus controls every evil. What evil do I want Jesus to help me with today? e. A good phrase to meditate on: “What is this?” We see holiness in action before our eyes. In our world, where do we see holiness the most? (This is the task of the meditation.) f. If your “fame” would spread in the place around you, how would people describe you? g. My prayerthoughts…   Today, I will list the places mentioned in letter e with an explanation why. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  THE POWER OF THE VISION  + One of the stories that I like is a story from song-writer Harry Chapin called “The Rock” in which a large boulder from a mountain nearby threatened the town and no one wanted to do anything about it.                     – the rock represents the problems that are plaguing us [The story:           There was a town located in a valley between a couple of large mountains. Anyone who entered the town knew that there was a problem because on the top of one of the mountains, there was a large boulder. It looked like if there was some type of earth movement, it would shake loose, come down, cause an avalanche and hurt the people in the valley. The song is about a young person who had a vision that said that it was going to happen exactly the way it looked—the rock would shake loose, cause an avalanche and hurt a lot of people. His job was to convince the people that it was going to happen so that they would take precautions. So, he went to his mother, first of all, who asked him one question: “Has that rock ever come down?” When he said “No,” she would not listen to his vision, and told him, “That rock has been up there for a hundred thousand years. It has not come down yet. It will not in the future. Go back to sleep, you’re having a bad dream.” So, he went to the school, thinking that they are smart people, and told them about his vision. They asked him one question: “Has that rock ever come down?” When he said “No,” they would not listen to his vision any longer, and told him, “That rock has been up there for a hundred thousand years. It has not come down yet. It will not in the future. We have more important things to study.” So, he went to the City Council, thinking that they have the interest of the city at heart, and told them about his vision. They asked him one question: “Has that rock ever come down?” When he said “No,” they would not listen to his vision any longer, and told him, “That rock has been up there for a hundred thousand years. It has not come down yet. It will not in the future. And they laughed at him, called him a “silly child” and chased him away. But he was convinced that the vision was correct, and decided to go up the mountain all by himself. He felt that if he could build a ledge around the edge of the mountain, he could stop the rock long enough to warn the people. That is exactly what he did. Sure enough, late one night, it happened exactly the way the vision said—the rock began to go. It made a lot of noise, and so the people in the valley came out of their homes and looked up at the mountain. They could not hear the young person when he called. And it was late at night, and the people could not see him when he frantically waved his arms. The young man panicked. What can I do?It is important to freeze the picture: what do you do when you want with all your heart to stop a tragedy from happening and you cannot? In a moment of decision, he decided to run under it in hopes that the rock would stop. And it did. And so did the sound. The people said: “Oh, that rock has been up there for a hundred thousand years. It will not come down. I wonder what happened to that kid.” And they laughed, went back into their homes, and back about their business. Chapin ends the song: “High up on the mountain, when the wind is hitting it, if you’re watching very closely, the rock slips a little bit.” Because it was still coming. + The problems that would destroy are still coming           – but there is an answer: what might be called “the Vision,” what Mark calls the “new teaching” in the Gospel, gives us the power to recognize those problems and to do something about them                     – the overpowering message of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ is stronger than the spirit of evil, and that we are not alone                                – Jesus casts out that spirit in the Gospel today with authority and a new teaching, what we just called the Vision                      – and he continues to cast out that evil                                – anytime Jesus comes up against an evil spirit, the evil spirit will never be able to withstand the Lord’s presence  + The people in the song didn’t even make a dent on the spirit of evil           – they may have had some vision                      – but the spirit of evil was too strong—it forced him to go it alone, and then it really was impossible to do anything           – there is the evil that is fighting against that Vision, that teaching:                      – an evil that counsels us to complacency – we’ve had those problems for a hundred thousand years                      – an evil that counsels giving up – there’s no way to solve these problems: they are too big, too many people involved, bigger than all of us                      – you are only one person, what can you do    + There is evil here—that is not a put-down of where we are because there is evil everywhere           – it can crush us           – the problems are still coming                      – but we have the Vision of Jesus Christ that will sustain us, if we allow it to truly influence us                                – if we truly allow that to happen, our world will change. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Calm Down” — Rema featuring Selena Gomez A MAJOR DECISION The Gospel LUKE 15:11-13a Jesus said to them: “A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that is coming to me.’ So the father divided up the property. Some days later this younger son collected all his belongings and went off to a distant land.”

Gospelthink: At the beginning of the story of the two sons, the younger son made his choice.

“Baby, calm down, girl, your body is put in my heart for lockdown. You sweet like Fanta. If I tell you, say, ‘I love you’, you know they tell me ‘no.’ Finally, I find way to talk to the girl but her friends gum up the meeting like chewing gum.” And she says, “Yeah, I know I look shy but for you I get down.”  [lyrics adjusted]

Most of us live long lives and we make many decisions during those lives. Probably the most important decision concerns the way of life that we will choose as we live through that life. That decision translates to either “marry or not to marry” and the decision is not made, say, during our mid-life when there would be more time to prepare for it; it is made relatively early in our lives. And as we learn more and more about the human brain, the decision is made when the brain may not even be fully developed. What happens as a result? The answer is easy to come by. As we study Jesus’s story of the “Prodigal Son”, we see a younger son make the decision to leave his home and family. Anyone familiar with the Gospel of Luke, knows that the decision did not turn out so well. Many songs speak of the decision to make the feelings of love permanent by a commitment to marriage or the like. Rema and Selena Gomez’s song “Calm Down” speak of a decision of the man in the relationship which he should not have made according to his friends, but he makes it anyway. It is his personal choice, and given our free will, it cannot be questioned. The song does not say whether it worked out or not. The point must be made that if a decision is made which will affect the rest of our lives, such a decision must have a proper preparation. At the same time, perhaps, we must listen to the people in our lives who give us their opinions about our decision. Perhaps the overall conclusion to such a meditation as this revolves around when the decision will be made. When it comes to the decision to commit my life to something for the rest of my life, perhaps such a decision must be made after a significant span of time has passed. Such a significant span will include time to consider what might happen if I choose something that will hurt me in the long run.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, we make many decisions concerning our lives, but perhaps the most important one is whether or not to make a permanent commitment that will affect all of our lives. Give us the grace to make the decision well. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: Choosing a permanent love relationship is a personal decision that must be made carefully. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. What does the song “Calm Down” teach young people? 2. When do most people make the decision “to marry or not to marry”? When should they make that decision? 3. Recall the story of “The Prodigal Son.”  See Luke 15:11ff. 4. If our best friends tell us that we should not get married, is it a good indication that we shouldn’t? 5. What is the proper preparation for marriage? 6. What is the proper preparation for a life-long commitment such as religious life or priesthood?