TGIMMcounting

June 26

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Friday, June 26

MATTHEW 8:1-4

Clean

Prayerthoughts

a. Jesus came down from the mountain, most probably after he had prayed for a while. Am I spending enough of my day with the Lord in prayer right now?

b. There were many people who continually followed Jesus. His human nature could easily have given in to pride, but he controlled it. There are some things on which I do well. Do I control my pride the way I should?

c. The leper has faith in Jesus saying “You can make me clean.” The Lord truly can help us in every situation. Do we always believe that the Lord is really working in our lives?

d. The Lord touched him, something that no one would do because of the disease. Am I willing to pay attention in a special way to those who need my help?

e. Jesus says to the cured leper that he should follow the law of doing what should be done. Am I a person who obeys the laws of the land?

f. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will read 2 Kings 25:1-12 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

THEOLOGY IS MORE THAN WORDS

+ In Matthew’s Gospel today, Jesus has just finished the Sermon on the Mount

- Matthew’s collection of most of the moral teachings of Jesus

- what might be called “high theology” in the sense of a collection of the principal teachings of Jesus

- theology that took Jewish moral thought much further and introduced the basic foundation of the moral law of Christianity

- theology that was to be the topic of volumes of literature throughout the years that followed Jesus, and still is

+ But, for all its grandeur and wonderful thought,

- it was still mere words, and Jesus says at the end of the sermon that the people who hear these words and act on them are people who build on a solid foundation

- that is, words of high theology must be translated into action before the theology comes alive, what can be called “practiced theology”

+ To digress just a minute, that has probably been the principal problem with Christianity throughout the years

- the words have not been translated into action

- and we have lived with the phenomenon of people calling themselves Christian and acting in an opposite way from what Jesus taught

- throughout the ages, we should have taken this high theology, and adapted it to our lives, to make it practiced theology

- but what many have done is to water it down significantly or eradicate it all together, so that they could follow it the way they wanted

- something the Israelites had fallen into far too often in their history as we see with the first reading today—the Babylonian Captivity being enacted as a result of the evil that the Israelites had said that they would never do, but they did anyway

+ Therefore it is quite significant what Jesus does immediately after speaking the high theology of Christianity in Matthew’s Gospel

- Jesus comes down the mountain and immediately puts the theology into action, making it practiced theology

- caring for another, accepting the poorest of society of his time, a leper and cures him

- for Jesus, talking about what to do, and doing it are two areas of the same theology

+ The conclusion to this must be that we as Christians must show that we believe the Christian moral thought that we say we accept

- that means a couple of things

- in that area in which we are called “active”, it is obvious

- we have to practice the high theology that we believe—we have to have ministries that help people, really help people

- and just as important, I believe, we have to be an example

- Christians are looking at us to show them how Christianity is—we have to move into “practiced theology” and people must see it

- Christianity that can be measured and that is real

+ And it means also—

- we must work at making ourselves understand the importance of God in our own personal lives and what it means

- and to pray for people—call people to our minds and continually ask the Lord to give those people the grace to understand what God wants them to do

+ Jesus shows in the Gospel that his “high theology” is more than words:

- it is also “practiced theology”

- we are called to do the same.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Too Sweet" -- Hozier

CAN TWO VERY DIFFERENT PEOPLE LOVE?

The Gospel

JOHN 19:38-40

[After Jesus died,] Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted it. So, he came and took his body. Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night, also came brining a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom.

Gospelthink: Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus bravely bury the body of Jesus.

“It can’t be said I’m an early bird, it’s ten o’clock before I say a word. I can never tell how you sleep so well. You keep telling me to live right, to go to bed before the daylight, but then you wake up for the sunrise. But while in this world, I think I’ll take my whiskey neat, my coffee black and my bed at three. You’re too sweet for me.”

The thought of romantic love is not presented in the four Gospels, but one can make a comparison to the love that different people showed toward Jesus in his life. There were many people according to the Gospels who interacted with Jesus, some of them with hatred and some of them with intense love. Interestingly enough, some were very cautious, and finally accepted the Lord after some time.

In the Gospels, a man named Joseph of Arimathea and the Pharisee Nicodemus are among the people who were judging whether their love for Jesus was a committed one or not. At his death, they finally decided that their love for Jesus was complete. There was no doubt that the love Joseph and Nicodemus had for Jesus was real as they knew how they would be judged as they took charge of the burial of Jesus. No matter what anyone thought, they showed their committed love to Jesus.

The Gospels provides many parallels with romantic love in a world in which we choose our love partners. That world of seeking love is captured in roughly 90% of modern songs. Studying how modern women and men choose committed love of each other, we see people who will not choose love at all and some who choose love completely after a time of love development.

Into that mix of songs is the story of a love couple who discover that they love each other, but their own personalities do not match at all. Case in point is Hozier’s song “Too Sweet” presenting two people who might work toward committed love, but they will both have to make compromises in order to carry it out.

It is not unlike Joseph of Arimathea or Nicodemus who finally chose to follow Jesus completely. A couple thinking of romantic love may be off and on throughout their lives, but in the end, they must decide whether they will compromise some feelings in order to completely love each other.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, as we choose our love spouses in life, we will have to make many compromises if we are to love each other completely. Give us the grace to understand our romantic love lives, and when we do choose our spouse, to make it a true commitment. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: When people choose a love commitment with each other, they will compromise some of their feelings.

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

2. What part of the Passion of Jesus is most striking to you?

3. If Jesus would have said anything to couples preparing for marriage, what do you think he would stress the most?

4. In your opinion, when is the best time for marriage?

5. As you study the song “Too Sweet”, do you think that the couple will make a permanent love commitment? Yes or no and why?

6. As you think of a permanent love commitment, what area of compromise is most important?