INTENTION

July 1
[media presentation below] GospelThink Wednesday, July 1 MATTHEW 8:28-34 Possessed Prayerthoughts a. “Coming from the tombs,” There are many who are “outcast” in one way or another. In general, should I treat them better than I am? b. The men were obviously in pain. What can I do to alleviate some of the pain of the people that I thought of in letter a? c. The demon addresses Jesus as God. Sometimes “evil” is caused by people who think that they are close to God. Is there some evil in my life that I have not tried to conquer? d. “Swine” were unclean according to Jewish Law. Therefore, to the Jewish mind, the “swine” were not important and could be destroyed. Should I have a better attitude toward the practices of other religions? e. Why do you think the people begged Jesus to leave their district? f. My prayerthoughts… Today, I will read Amos 5:14-15,21-24, and write an important thought from it.
Some Thoughts on the Liturgy CHURCH IS NOT ENOUGH + The prophet Amos is an interesting Old Testament prophet - working around 750 BC, in the northern kingdom of Israel - his principal message was one of challenge to the Israelites, even to the point of finally being exiled from Israel, - today’s reading contains the principal message of that challenge *- namely, church* is not enough, that is, holocausts offered to God - what is required as followers of Yahweh is justice and goodness: “I hate, I spurn your feasts, says the Lord. I take no pleasure in your solemnities, Your cereal offerings I will not accept….If you would offer me burnt offerings, then let justice surge like water, and goodness like an unfailing stream.” + Jesus gave many examples of justice and goodness that God wanted, and here in the Gospel today: caring for people - here, caring for people possessed by demons - the main point: Jesus has complete control over the demons because Jesus is God - and the secondary point Jesus will care for people no matter what, even though it means disturbing others, in this case, the townspeople who did not want him to stay around + Perhaps our spiritual thought could center around the worship that we do here in Church and our work of justice and goodness outside - for people interested in the spiritual life in a stronger way, as we are, it means looking seriously at how we behave outside of the confines of church: how we act toward each other, and how we do the things that should be doing - and understanding everything that we do with the overall umbrella of “caring for others” - we spend a lot of time in church - we no longer offer the holocausts and cereal offerings of the Old Testament obviously - our worship is basically the same idea, however—offering adoration to God, and at the same time learning what God wants of us - and what God wants of us is justice and goodness to those around us, namely caring for others + Obviously, the idea of “church” has changed from the Old Testament - but the message of the Lord through the prophet of Amos can be translated into New Testament language: - adoration of God, time spent in Church, with the Blessed Sacrament is great, but it must overflow into our lives outside—in the form of justice and goodness.**
MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: "Intentions" -- Justin Bieber featuring Quavo COMPLIMENT FOR NO REASON

The Gospel

LUKE 1:39-45

Thereupon Mary set out, proceeding in haste into the hill country to a town of Judah, where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and cried out in a loud voice, “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. But who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who trusted that the Lord’s words to her would be fulfilled.”

Gospelthink: Elizabeth recognized the importance of my earthly mother. Do I recognize the importance of my own family enough?

"Picture perfect, you don’t need no filter, gorgeous, make ‘em drop dead, you a killer. Shower you with all my attention--these are my only intentions. Shout out to your Mom and Dad for making you, standing ovation, they did a great job raising you. When I create, you’re my muse, that kind of smile that makes the news. Can’t nobody throw shade on your name in these streets. You make it easy to choose, you got a mean touch I can’t refuse."

John the Baptist leaped in his mother’s womb because the world was about to change. Elizabeth could sense it as Mary visited her, and so she showered her with true compliments. Mary was indeed blessed among all women, she was to be the mother of the Son of God, and she trusted that the Lord's words would be fulfilled in her. Elizabeth knew that Mary would help her as she gave birth to John the Baptist, but she knew most of all who Mary was and what she meant to the world.

Justin Bieber and Quavo's song "Intentions" sings a man's compliments to his girlfriend. The man in the relationship wants to shower her with all of his attention and that was his only intention. There was no "ulterior motive." He did not want anything in return. He wanted to simply say what he believed--the lady deserves to have compliments simply because they were the truth in his eyes.

In a love relationship, perhaps one of the actions that a couple will overlook is the simple statement of a compliment to the other. Giving a compliment is easy to do, but it must be honest; the one making the compliment must want nothing for him/her self as a result of the compliment. The compliment must be "free standing" so to speak, that is, a statement that is the honest truth and no other reason for saying it. As they sing in their song, "these are my only intentions."

The situation applies to every day living as well, maybe even more so than in a love relationship. There are many situations in our own lives when we could give compliments to someone else, whether romantically involved or not. In fact, an argument could be made that the reason why there is so much anger in a person's life is that he/she does not receive or give enough compliments for the good things that are part of every life.

In the thought of wanting better relationships with people, giving compliments to others is important. If we were better at doing it, perhaps our lives would be better.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, the example of Mary the mother of Jesus is so important for a Christian. She deserved the compliments that were given to her. Give us the grace to recognize when we should compliment another. Be with us, we pray.

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GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Part of every good relationship includes true compliments to each other.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does the song "Intentions" teach young people?
2. In the Gospel passage, it is clear that Elizabeth knew the importance that should be given to Mary. There are important people in my life: do I give them the attention they deserve?
3. Is it true that when we compliment someone else, we are looking for something in return? Yes or no and why?
4. Do you believe that people in a love relationship compliment each other as much as they should? Yes or no and why?
5. What are some situations in our everyday living in which we can compliment others?
6. Is the meditation correct in saying that an angry person has a difficult time giving compliments? Yes or no and why?
7. [Personal suggestion: today give a compliment to someone whom you have not complimented for a while.]