[media presentation below] GospelThink Sunday, February 4, Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time MARK 1:29-39 You must care for those who are sick and needy. Prayerthoughts a. Jesus led a human life like you and I do. As we visit friends, are we as kind and gracious as we should be, especially thinking of conversation about others? b. We will run into people who are sick or ill, maybe some in a hospital. Am I willing to visit them, showing that I truly care for them. c. Obviously, I cannot heal people physically. But I can psychologically simply by my  presence and concern and promise of prayer. d. Simon’s mother-in-law is a good example of showing gratitude. She rose from her bed and was open to other’s needs. Do I thank people enough? Do I spend time in    thanksgiving to God? e. Evil is very much alive in our world. Sometimes I must confront it head on, although always with caution. Perhaps, without judgment, I should pray a little more for those who are perpetrating evil. f. Once again we see Jesus taking the time to pray. Again the question comes: do we take the time to pray as much as we should? g. Jesus’s purpose was to preach. What are the main themes of Jesus’s preaching, and how do they apply to me? (This is the task of the meditation.) h. My prayerthoughts…   Today, I will list the answers to letter g, applying them to myself. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  WHY ARE YOU HERE?  + A Jesuit friend of mine was often asked to speak at high school graduations          – this one time at a high school in a town in Missouri                   – because of some problems the day before—actually the principal was taken to the hospital for minor heart problems                            – there was no one to greet him when he arrived, and he did not know where to go                                     – checked out a program for the graduation that was on one of the desks; he was listed as “Mr.” instead of “Fr.”          – someone finally took him to the superintendent who was running the graduation                   – the superintendent was visibly shook at the priest’s Roman collar                            – immediately and rather harshly said: “Why are you here?”                                     – told him that he had been invited by the principal to speak                            – superintendent very negative toward him                                     – mainly because he said that he did not want him to talk about God because it was a public graduation                                              – and literally did not say another word to him the whole evening  + Easy to imagine what my friend felt like          – good Jesuit that he was though, he remembered that question: “Why are you here?”                   – and he used it as a lead question in some of his talks          – if you take it as a deep question, it goes to the very heart of the matter          – if you know the answer, it will set the tone for your life          – Jesus knew the answer as we hear in the Gospel                   – he tells Peter the reason why he was there — why I have come to you, he says —                            – not to receive the acclamation of the crowds, but—                                     – so that I may preach the good news          – Paul in the second reading says the same thing: he was here to preach  + So, as we gather, it is good to consider the question of “why are we here”          – why are we here in Church                   – we’ve asked that question before because it is the type of deep question that comes up whenever people are serious about something in their lives          – I think that the underlying reason why we are here in Church, as well as life—                   – should not be far from Jesus’ answer this morning as to why he was here on earth—which was to preach the good news                   – not in the same way that Jesus did obviously,                            – but to preach the good news in the sense that we tell people by our lives that Jesus must be a guide for this troubled world                                     – there is the problem: enough of us may not be doing that  + One of the Christian voices around this time is former Secretary of Education, William Bennett          – a couple of years ago, he wrote in the Wall Street Journal that, in his view, the real crisis of our time is not economic, but spiritual                   – specifically, he said, our problem is what the old theologians called sloth, what the Catholic catechism calls one of the seven capital sins, defined as “a culpable lack of spiritual or physical effort, laziness”                            – spiritual laziness is our problem, a low esteem of divine things  + So, the answer to the deep question of why are we here might be that ultimately we want to gain the impetus, desire, grace to curb our spiritual laziness          – to allow the good news of the Gospel—religion—to get back into our lives and the lives of others  + Listening to the first reading, Job would say that we are here to prepare us for eternal happiness because this world cannot give happiness          – our problem is an inherent spiritual laziness that has allowed the happiness of this world be more important than the happiness we all want with God. MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: “Sound of Freedom” — beginning session THE SIN OF CHILD ABUSE The Gospel MATTHEW 18:6-7 Jesus said: Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.  Woe to the world because of things that cause sin! Such things must come, but woe to the one through whom they come!

Gospelthink: I speak in exaggeration about those who harm the very young.

Based on a true story, “Sound of Freedom” is a story of Homeland Security agent Tim Ballard and his fight against child sex trafficking. In this first session, a father, Roberto Aguilar, is tricked into giving his children, Rocio and Miguel, to be used as sex slaves. Tim heard from another agent that Homeland Security had arrested many child predators, but they had failed to save a single child from being exploited because most of them are outside the United States. Tim is able to rescue Miguel and asks him for information that would help him find other children. Learning that Miguel’s sister Rocio is still missing, Tim promises Miguel that he will do his best to find her. His search took him to Cartegena, Columbia where he met with Vampiro, a former cartel accountant who now works to save children from sex trafficking. After studying the situation, he came upon an operation in Thailand in which he could free some children, and perhaps Rocio was one of them.

In the Gospel discourses, Jesus often speaks with exaggeration. When he does, he is saying that the point he is making is extremely important. Jesus’s statements about children then should be studied carefully. Jesus worked with children when he wanted to teach the importance of honesty and the quality of being “child-like,” that is, innocence, trustfulness and wonder. And he also understood how vulnerable children were. They do not have the capacity to understand completely and can be taken advantage of easily. Therefore, he was strong in his condemnation of those who hurt children either physically or mentally. Jesus may or may not have seen child sex trafficking in his human lifetime, since we have no way of knowing.  But if he did, he could see the horror of it. Not only were the children torn away from their families, but their future lives would be completely ruined, even if they did escape from their enslavement.  One of the characteristics of a person interested in a good spiritual life is the ability to treat other people with the respect they deserve. Into that category is the way such a person treats those who are very young, those who cannot help themselves without the assistance of another. Children have a special place in the Christian scheme to things. The Christian will always recognize their importance.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, Your Son showed us the importance of children in our world, both by using them as an example and giving his feeling about those who harmed them in any way. Give us the grace to recognize your special love for them, and thus lead us to treat them with the utmost respect, especially those close to us. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: The sin of child sex trafficking is one of the worst sins human beings give into. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (session: approximately 61 minutes) 1. What does this session of the movie teach young people? 2. In your opinion, what is the fundamental reason  that causes child abuse? 3. As you think of the words of Jesus in the Gospels, in your opinion, what are the “strongest”? 4. What is your own definition of “child-like”? 5. In your opinion, why does an abused person feel the effects of child abuse in the later years of adulthood?t 6. In your opinion, do most people show respect to all people?  Why or why not?