bad

August 24

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Saturday, August 24, St. Bartholomew

JOHN 1:45-51

I know you just as I knew Nathanael.

Prayerthoughts
a. You and I have also “found” Jesus in our lives. Is it clear that I have chosen Jesus as the most important guide in my life?

b. “Can anything good come from Nazareth.” Most people consider this an insult. In my language do I find myself insulting other people for whatever reason?

c. Nathanael was a “true Israelite,” understood in the sense of no deceit or honest. Am I trying to deceive people by my words or actions?

d. The fig tree may be a symbol of peace, saying perhaps that Nathanael was a peaceful man. Am I a strong advocate for peace as I live my daily life?

e. Nathanael proclaims Jesus to be the Son of God. If the occasion arose, would I make this same profession?

f. Nathanael believes in Jesus. An act of faith might be in order as part of my meditation.

g. Angels in some form are mentioned often in the New Testament, mainly as messengers of God. Do I thank the Lord for the graces that I have received from the Lord through angels or otherwise? What are the most important “graces” that I have received in my life? (This is the task of the meditation.)

h. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will carry out letter g.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHRISTIAN

+ The readings are chosen because of the references to Nathanael/Bartholomew
          - 1^st: one of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb;
          - Gospel: the only history that we have of Nathanael/Bartholomew
                     - from tradition, we think that he was martyred for the faith, in fact, martyred in a brutal way

+ The readings present some characteristics of applying Christianity to our daily lives
          - characteristics that represent a continuous attempt by the Christian to improve his/her spiritual life
          1 – follow the invitation to accept Jesus
                     - here in the words of Philip to Nathanael/Bartholomew: “Come and see for yourself.”
                               - the only way to determine a spiritual life, of course
                                         - our own involvement with the Lord, involving two steps:
                     - Come
                               - that is, a real desire to come to the Lord’s directions, what the Lord wants of us
                     - See
                               - for Nathanael/Bartholomew, to experience Jesus
                               - for us, to read the Scriptures, understand as best we can exactly what the Lord wants of us by studying the Scriptures
          2 – that we be without duplicity, the way Nathanael/Bartholomew was
                     - without duplicity, that is, with openness and sincerity
                               - not controlling what I want the Scriptures to say
                                         - but studying what they actually say, with the desire to follow them
          3 – with Nathanael/Bartholomew, we acknowledge Jesus to be the Son of God, and be willing to acknowledge it with conviction
                     - in our words and actions, to be sure
                               - but especially in our attitudes
                                         - so that others just “know” that we are Christians by the type of attitude that we develop and portray
          4 – (from the first reading) we seek the reward of the Twelve Apostles—heaven—that is not the reward that the world seeks
                     - our reward is not here on earth with the material things that the world values so much, but in heaven

+ As usual, the liturgy tells us quite directly: we can be better Christians if we want to be.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Bad Habits" -- Ed Sheeran

BAD HABITS

The Gospel

JOHN 4:28-30

The [Samaritan] woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, "Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Messiah?" They went out of the town and came to him.

Gospelthink: I wanted the Samaritan woman to see exactly what she had done. Have I faced all the situations in my life that may be wrong?

The Media -- "Bad Habits" (Ed Sheeran)

"Every time you come around, you know I can’t say no, every time the sun goes down, I let you take control. I can feel the paradise before my world implodes, and tonight had something wonderful. My bad habits lead to late nights ending alone, conversations with a stranger I barely know, swearing this will be the last, but it probably won’t. I’ve got nothing left to lose, or use, or do—my bad habits lead to wide eyes stare into space, and I know I lose control of the things that I say. I was looking for a way out, now I can’t escape. My bad habits lead to you."

Habits are an interesting phenomenon to study. We all have them. Many times we establish habits that cause questionable behavior. Sometimes such habits should be studied and changed, especially if they have become "bad habits," the subject of Ed Sheeran's song of the same name. The conclusion of the song although unwritten is that bad habits will never take away a problem and may sometimes lead to real pain. Ed Sheeran sings what that pain consists of.

In John's Gospel, Jesus talked to a person that we have come to call the "Samaritan woman" about her life. It had not been a good one up until that point in her life. It is interesting that it seems to be the exact same problem that Ed Sheeran is singing about in his song "Bad Habits." The woman had fallen into bad habits as she was looking for a love relationship in her life. Jesus points the problem out to her and luckily she was able to face those bad habits. She apparently decided to change since she was able to tell the people of her town exactly what she had done.

Moving into bad habits is not only something that lovers in a relationship must face. Bad habits simply grow into our lives. We refuse to talk when we have been hurt, or we choose to drive in a dangerous way or we are not careful with the machinery that we handle. Like the Samaritan woman or the man in Ed Sheeran's song, we are looking for something good or happy. In the process, we fall into a habit of doing something that at first seems to help us find the good but eventually it causes pain.

What do we do about those habits? Well, first of all we have to admit them, which both the Samaritan woman and the man in Ed Sheeran's song did. But the second part of what to do is a little more difficult. It involves doing something about what we admit. The Samaritan woman was able to tell the whole town, saying that Jesus was the Messiah. The man in the song "Bad Habits" seems to be trapped in a relationship that is not working, and is unable or unwilling to do anything about it: "Now I can't escape" he sings.

The good news is that bad habits can be corrected. But we must make the effort to do it.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, sometimes in the course of our living this life, we develop habits of behavior that are not healthy. Give us the grace to admit the possiblity that we may have bad habits that should be changed, and the strength to do something about them. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Bad habits may feel good to begin with, but eventually they will lead to pain.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does the song "Bad Habits" teach young people?
2. What bad habit should most couples in a relationship worry about?
3. Love relationships have always been very difficult. What two or three qualities must every good love relationship have?
4. Why is it so difficult to correct bad habits?
5. The meditation suggests a remedy to bad habits, namely admitting them, and then making an effort to get rid of them. Both are difficult, but in your opinion, what is the most difficult.