TGIMMAugust28

August 28

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Wednesday, August 28

MATTHEW 23:27-32
The scribes and Pharisees in general did not try to purify their interior thinking.

Prayerthoughts
a. The Lord condemns the filth inside us, which is primarily what our thinking is leading us to. As I study myself, say, yesterday, what are the top 3 things that I am thinking about?

b. I present myself to be a certain way. Basically, am I being honest with others who see me?

c. If I were living at the time of the Israelites, would I have taken part in the killing of the prophets?

d. If I were living at the time of Jesus, would I have believed him, given that the religious leaders were saying that he was not what he said he was?

e. There are many now who do not accept Jesus as a religious teacher; is there anything I can do to bring about a greater acceptance of Jesus in my own little world?

f. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will read 2 Thessalonians, chapter 3 and write
an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

“WORKING” FOR HOLINESS

+ As we continue reading the list of seven woes, Matthew’s Jesus uses what commentators call “ugly” language or “terrible” language to describe the Pharisees and Scribes

- quite capable of making the Scribes and Pharisees very angry

- to the point of retaliation, which happens in Matthew’s Gospel with Jesus’ death

+ Jesus, in this particular attack

- uses similar words as previous statements:

- yesterday, cleaning the outside of the cup and dish and not the inside

- here: comparing them to a tomb which is decorated outside, but inside is full of decay

- it is the same idea as before: the Scribes and Pharisees looked fine outside, but their inner core was diseased

- we might center in on the contrast of the holy and the evil, that is, in particular hypocrisy

+ As with all of these woes of Jesus, we have to take what applies to us and learn from it

- here, we all know we want holiness

- the goal of the spiritual life is to make us whole with God

- and so we work toward that in various ways

- the problem with holiness is its shadow side

- holiness almost automatically compares ourselves to others

- in the thought of “we are better” or “not so bad”

- and once we do that, we become hypocritical and evil

- holiness is always very close to evil

- if we begin thinking that our development of our personal spiritual life is therefore higher than anyone else’s, we are evil

+ We have to work—Paul word’s in the first reading

- work to make our spiritual life better

- work to try to be as holy as we can, given our circumstances

- and that is what we are doing here: we absolutely need the Eucharist to do that well

- but we always have to watch that we are not judgmental of why others aren’t here, or how other people worship or what their motivation is

+ The spiritual life that we want to develop is personal to us

- and the evil never wants us to be spiritual people

- and so we have to continually move ourselves to overcome the possible evil and embrace the work of being holy.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Unstoppable" -- Sia

SHARING INTIMATE FEELINGS

The Gospel

JOHN 4:16-19

Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, "Go, call your husband, and then come back here." "I have no husband," replied the woman. "You are right in saying you have no husband!" Jesus exclaimed. "The fact is, you have had five and the man you are living with now is not your husband. What you said is true." "Sir," answered the woman, "I can see you are a prophet."

Gospelthink: In my encounter with the Samaritan woman, I gently guided her to study her life. As I study my life and my choices, am I happy with what I have done?

"I know what it takes to fool this town. I’ll do it ‘til the sun goes down. And all through the night time, I’ll tell you what you want to hear, keep my sunglasses on while I shed a tear. I break down; only alone I will cry out loud. You’ll never see what’s hiding out deep down. I know I’ve heard that to let your feelings show is the only way to make friendships grow, but I’m too afraid. I’m unstoppable, I’m a Porsche with no brakes, I’m invincible. I win every single game, I’m so powerful I don’t need batteries to play. I’m so confident, I’m unstoppable today.”

One of the interesting incidents to study in the Gospels is part of John's Gospel and the interaction of Jesus and the person that we have come to call "the Samaritan woman." It is interesting to study it with modern songs in mind because most modern songs are about "love" in one form or another. In light of that, we focus on the teaching that comes from the thoughts of the song "Unstoppable" with Jesus's words to the Samaritan woman.

Jesus's words to her at one point of their conversation deal with the way she feels about her present boyfriend. Jesus brings out her inability to stay with any of her boyfriends, and his teaching is about the deep feelings that should be part of her intimate relationships. Making her admit that she had no husband at that point in her life was a statement by her of the lack of a deep feeling in her present relationship. She finally looked at her relationships in light of the deep feelings that should have been part of her love life.

In her song, Sia understands that she is hiding deep feelings. She actually admitted that she had heard that letting feelings show was the only way to make an intimate friendship grow. But, she says, she is too afraid to do it. She then goes into her strong statements that she is quite capable of not showing deep feelings. But such a resolution leads to loneliness, as she sings, "I break down."

What she does not see in her relationships is that she and her partner must share their deep feelings. Without saying those words exactly was what Jesus was teaching the Samaritan woman. Communication is the foundation of any important relationship that we may have, and sharing our intimate feelings is very much a part of that communication.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, it is part of our human nature that we will fall in love. Help me understand that I must be able to share how I feel with the person whom I love. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: A most important part of communication with another is the ability to share deep feelings.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does the song "Unstoppable" teach young people?
2. What are the most important characteristics of a good marriage?
3. In your opinion, what would Jesus's opinion be about modern marriages?
4. Why are people who are close to each other afraid to share deep feelings?
5. What are the most important ways to overcome loneliness?
6. In your opinion, do most of the married couples you know communicate the way they should?