8

a

 April 14 

    [media presentation below]

GospelThink

April 14, Monday of Holy Week

JOHN 12:1-11

Judas was not able to understand the way that I thought.

Prayerthoughts
a. Martha was a person who liked to “take care of people.” It is a virtue that I should foster in my own life. Am I doing that well?
 
b. Mary was a person who liked to show her friendship to her close friends. Who are my closest friends, and how do I show that I care for them?
 
c. It was a “waste” to use the expensive oil in the way that Mary did according to Jesus.   Do I place too much emphasis on “things” in my life?

d. Judas was a thief. Do I find that sometimes I take things that are not mine?

e. Many were believing in Jesus. I should take the time, especially during this Holy Week, to express my belief in Jesus and His teachings.

f. My prayerthoughts… 

Today I will list the five most important “things” in my life, taking special notice of where I place anything of God/Church/Religion (Should it be higher than it is?).

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

OUR BELIEF IN JESUS CHRIST

+ The first reading is called the first song of the Servant of Yahweh in the prophet Isaiah

- the second and third are tomorrow and Wednesday in the first readings

- they are the statements about the Messiah and what he is all about

- with a list of his virtues and accomplishments—today: justice, compassion, a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, opening eyes of the blind, bringing people out of darkness


+ All of those virtues were enacted in the person of Jesus Christ

- he whom Mary anointed as recorded in the Gospel of John six days before the Passover, six days before he was killed


+ In that Gospel also, John the Evangelist gives us his reasoning as to why Jesus was killed

- showing us the thinking of Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, who was to betray him

- Judas was a thief according to John the Evangelist and therefore someone who was not thinking in a holy way

- and at the same time the chief priests wanted both Jesus and Lazarus killed because too many were believing in Jesus

- those two facts came together to make Judas betray Jesus


+ A good way to begin the weekdays of Holy Week is to ask ourselves about our own belief in Jesus

- Jesus who was evidently foretold in the Scriptures, as seen in Isaiah’s reading this morning

- the person presented by the Scriptures as our Lord and Redeemer

- many were believing in him

- what is our belief like?


+ As we close off this Lent, we can ask ourselves some difficult questions:

- for example, what is the amount of time that we spend knowing Jesus in the Scriptures?

- how much personal prayer, how much spiritual reading, etc.

- in comparison to the other major undertakings of our lives


+ And, in what way do we see the effects of our belief in Jesus?

- as Mary made her belief evident

- have we made progress in our words and actions, and especially our thinking?

- as we consider the things that happen to us and that cross our minds,

- do we try to put them into a truly Christian perspective?

+ The liturgy of Holy Week is designed to bring Jesus and his life directly before us

- one of the principal questions we should dwell on concerns how strong our belief in Jesus really is.








MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Ordinary" – Alex Warren

MAKE THE MUNDANE OUR MASTERPEICE



 

The Gospel


MATTHEW 5:48

Jesus said: ”So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Gospelthink: Jesus calls everyone to be holy.

“They say ‘The holy water’s watered down and this town’s lost its faith, our colors will fade eventually.’ So, if our time is runnin’ out day after day, we’ll make the mundane our masterpiece. I take one look at you; you’re takin’ me out of the ordinary. I want you layin’ me down ‘til we’re dead and buried. You got me kissin’ the ground of your sanctuary. At your altar, I will pray. You’re the sculptor, I’m the clay. You take me out of the ordinary.”

One of the Catholic Church’s principal documents called “Lumen Gentium” has a chapter entitled “The Universal Call to Holiness.” That is to say, that everyone is called to be perfect. It is an ideal that can never be reached while we are here on earth. But it is one that everyone can strive for. We are all called to be perfect, to be holy.

It means in terms of a song by Alex Warren that we are all called to be “out of the ordinary.” The song is a love song calling his relationship one of being “out of the ordinary.” And he implies that everything else falls into the definition of “ordinary,” that is a normal existence with nothing that is really “special” except his relationship. As he sings, our colors are all fading.

Actually, one of the principles of Christian living is that we are all called to be “out of the ordinary,” that is, that we are all called to holiness, and the way to accomplish it is to “make the mundane our masterpiece.” That is, take the ordinary things of living and growing and make of them something special. In terms of Jesus’s words, to be as perfect as we can possibly be.

If we manage to do that, it will change everything about us—our love relationships, to be sure, but our “living” relationships and situations as well. Everything about us will be “out of the ordinary.” We will show a positive attitude in everything that we do.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, you lead us to a high ideal as we live in this world of ours. Your Son Jesus spoke it as He was with us. Help us strive to be perfect in everything that we do, thus living away from the ordinary way of living. Be with us, we pray.

 

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: We are all called to live “out of the ordinary.”

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does the song "Ordinary" teach young people?    

2. If we are all called to be perfect, what should change most of all in our human natures?

3. If a love relationship is “out of the ordinary,” what does it mean most of all?

4. What is the principal means of actually making the “mundane our masterpiece.”

5. If we have a goal of being positive in everything we do, how do we deal with the truly negative things of evil and hatred?

6. Can the world honestly be positive in everything? Yes or no and why?

 

©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America