June 12

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Friday, June 12, Sacred Heart of Jesus

MATTHEW 11:25-30

“Child-Like” and Rest in the Lord

Prayerthoughts

a. “These things” refer to the “important things in life.” What are the three most important things in my life right now? In what way is God helping me with them?

b. The Lord wants us to be “childlike.” It means that we must become vulnerable and marginalized so as to want to receive the Lord’s message. In what ways can I pay more attention to the Gospel in my life?

c. Being childlike implies that there is no deception in the way I speak. Is there any situation in my life in which I should be more honest?

d. Continually in the Gospel Jesus refers to his closeness with the Father. Who are the people that I am closest to in my life? I should tell them how special they are sometime this week.

e. Do I come to the Lord in silent prayer as much as I could?

f. What schedule should I set up in order to make the Gospel more real to me?

g. What is most burdensome to me at the present time? What am I doing about it? What should I be doing about it?

h. Have I truly placed the Lord’s yoke on my shoulders, that is, have I tried to follow all of the Lord’s directives in my life?

I. The Lord is gentle with me. Should I be more gentle in the way I go about treating people?

j. My prayerthoughts….

Today I will read Deuteronomy 7:6-11 and write an important thought from it.

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Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

GOD’S LOVE FOR US AND OUR LOVE FOR GOD

+ The image of the Gospel has long been presented by the church as the statement of Jesus pouring out love for us

- our theology leads us to believe that this love is the source of our redemption

- the feast of the Sacred Heart was set up, then, as a celebration of that love

+ It is love that is totally undeserved by us

- God created us, we through free will rejected God,

- God could have let us be, to suffer forever

- but God’s Son comes because as Moses said in the first reading: “You are a people sacred to the Lord, your God”

+ The essence of what we are called to do now as a result of that redemption

- is given to us in the second reading: the whole first letter of John is written with the thought of what we have to do now

- and that is to love one another

- that should be the result of our redemption

+ A couple of things about that love:

- 1 – first of all, it begins with God

- God has loved us—“In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins”

- such an incredible thought: what a wonderful God we have

- God created us

- we did not obey God

- and then God redeems us

- and 2 – “If God so loved us, we also must love one another”

- the guide to the way that we live:

- love toward others

-since God has shown incredible love for us

- love of others must rule our lives

+ The feast of the Sacred Heart is a feast of God’s love for us

- what the liturgy says is that we must return that love in some way.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Die With a Smile" – Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars

A POSITIVE PEACE

The Gospel

MATTHEW 10:12-13

Jesus said: "As you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you."

Gospelthink: I want you to be primarily a peaceful person. Am I peaceful in all my dealings?

“I just woke up from a dream where you and I had to say goodbye; and I don't know what it all means, but since I survived, I realized wherever you go, that's where I'll follow. Nobody's promised tomorrow, so I'ma love you every night like it's the last night. If the world was ending, I'd wanna be next to you. If the party was over and our time on Earth was through, I'd wanna hold you just for a while and die with a smile...Lost in the words that we scream, I don't even wanna do this anymore 'cause you already know what you mean to me. and our love's the only war worth fighting for.”

One of the most important spiritual concepts in life is that we can be positive in our approach to life if we want. Granted that there are negative experiences that we all have, and some of them quite overwhelming, but in the end, we can still be very positive in the way we go about our living. We can make good things happen no matter what.

Such seems to be the thought of Jesus as he sent his disciples out into the towns which he intended to visit. He told his disciples to wish those places peace, saying in effect that they should allow their presence and their announcement about his coming to be a moment of peace for all, making good things happen in their lives. The wishing of peace became the first step toward the good things that could happen.

As one studies the song of Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, “Die With a Smile”, the relationship sung about is a truly committed one, and therefore quite real. In terms of positive and negative feelings, it is certainly a positive experience. But they sing of the negative as well. The relationship had to go through a negative experience first. They sing of the screaming words that they yelled and the war that they had to be fought between them before they got to the commitment. They made the good things happen, but they had to undergo some pretty negative things first.

It is a wonderful fact that many people in our world can be very positive about life, no matter what the circumstances. They can look at the kind of lives they have, and realize that even if things are not as wonderful as they might want them or as they might plan, their lives are still something very positive. For a Christian, the peace of Jesus can be the stimulus to make everything positive. The feeling is expressed in a reading called "Today."

TODAY
Outside my window, a new day I see,
And only I can determine
What kind of day it will be.
It can be busy and sunny, laughing and gay,
Or boring and cold, unhappy and gray.
My own state of mind is the determining key,
For I am only the person I let myself be.
I can be thoughtful and do all I can to help,
Or be selfish and think just of myself,
I can enjoy what I do and make it seem fun,
Or gripe and complain and make it hard on someone.
I can be patient with those who may not understand,
Or belittle and hurt them as much as I can.
But I have faith in myself,
And believe what I say,
And I personally intend
To make the best of each day.

Jan Lavalley

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, you have given us the grace of having a truly committed love of one another in either marriage or human living. Thank you for the grace of finding such a true commitment in our love, and continue to help us face the negatives that happen as we grow toward that love. Be with us, we pray.

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GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: In forming committed love, we will have difficulties, but we can overcome the pain.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What does the song “Die With A Smile” teach young people?

2. In your opinion, what are the principal characteristics of a truly peaceful person?

3. How does “wishing peace” to another express itself in action?

4. In your opinion, does every positive experience have a negative part of it? Yes or no and why?

5. What can be done for a person who has a negative attitude to make him/her more positive?