June 3

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Tuesday, June 3, Easter Weekday

John 17:1-11a

Jesus Prays for Me

Prayerthoughts

a. It is evident from the Gospels that Jesus spent a significant time in prayer. Do I spend enough time with the Lord, and can I do better than I am right now?

b. Jesus prays for eternal life for me. That should have a direct effect in my life. Am I sufficiently thankful for the gift of eternal life that He has given me? (This is the task of the meditation.)

c. Jesus gives me a definition of eternal life: namely a life spent with Him. As I prepare for my life with Jesus, are there things in my life that should be changed?

d. Jesus did the work of God the Father. What is my work right now, that is, what do I spend the most time on in my life? Is it something that I can make a little more Christian than I am doing now?

e. The Lord tells his Father that he did the work of God, namely “revealing God’s name.” In my conversation with others, is it clear that God has been revealed to me? For example, the language that I use?

f. Jesus says that I know that everything that is given to me is given by God. Do I look at my life and what has happened to me to be the will of God in my life, no matter what has happened?

g. Jesus prays for the disciples and in a sense for us. What does it mean to me personally that Jesus actually prayed for me while he was here on earth?

h. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will write a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord for all the things that the Lord has given to me.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

OUR WORK AND OUR FUTURE

+ St. Paul’s speech in the reading from Acts is a significant speech because it is Paul’s final instruction as he ends his missionary activity

- and Jesus gives a final instruction of sorts in the Gospel

- this is the beginning of his High Priestly prayer, a prayer for the Apostles and a prayer for us

- from these two instructions, there comes two major thoughts which can lead to meditation on our lives

1 – both Jesus and Paul finished their work

- Jesus, making known the person of God to the people of the world

- Paul, never shrinking from preaching repentance and faith

2 – both Jesus and Paul were prepared for the future

- both were ready for the suffering that was bound to come

+ Both of those points come to play in our spiritual lives

- first of all, the idea of work

- our spiritual work is basically to do the will of God

- that is, nothing more than making the Lord’s name known in whatever way of life we have chosen

- which means that we add the element of Christianity to our daily circle of things

- that is, bring about a truly Christian atmosphere in whatever we do

- and secondly, the idea of the future

- we have to always think in terms of the future

- recognizing that as Christians we have here no lasting home, but we are preparing for our home in heaven

- celebrating eternal life with God

- and so we live our lives with that in mind.

+ One of the things that is most interesting about Jesus’ High Priestly prayer is that Jesus not only prays it specifically for the Apostles,

- but he prays it specifically for us as well:

- he will say during this prayer: “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word”

- that’s all of us

- and that concept of Jesus praying for us

- is one of real encouragement for us

- our Lord and leader remembering us

- it should lead us to a true desire to make him more a part of our lives.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Demons" -- Imagine Dragons

I CAN'T ESCAPE...UNLESS

The Gospel

MATTHEW 17:14-21

MATTHEW 17:14-21

When they came to the crowd a man approached, knelt down before Jesus, and said, “Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you. Bring him here to me.” Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured. Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there, and it will move.’ Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Gospelthink: You must become a person of faith in me. Do I show my belief in the Lord in my life?

"When the days are cold, and the cards all fold and the saints we see are all made of gold, when your dreams all fail, and the ones we hail are the worst of all, no matter what we breed, we still are made of greed. When you feel my heat, look into my eyes: it’s where my demons hide. Don’t get too close, it’s dark inside. Your eyes, they shine so bright. I wanna save that light. I can't escape this now unless you show me how."

The song "Demons" by the group Imagine Dragons is a dark song. They sing of the demons that are within us, the demons that hurt and cause pain, the demons that make us feel useless, the demons that lead us to despair. The excellent video names some of those demons to be the feeling of loss, the feeling of despair over how we look, the horror of abuse, and the horror of war. We want to hide from the pain, and sometimes hurt ourselves just to relieve the mental pain. The demons conquer by making the person feel that there is no way to win. The group sings the thoughts of the man or woman in despair, "I can't escape this now."

But there is light in the song. The group sings of hope because the person in the song also realizes that there is help--you, they sing, whoever "you" may be--you can show me how to conquer those demons. The song becomes a cry for help. It could be a prayer to God, or a note to a friend, or a plea to someone capable of helping.

In the Gospels, Jesus controls every demon he faces. He expels them by the power of faith, telling his disciples that they can do the same. In Jesus' mind, demons have no power over a faithful person. People of faith will understand that they will win the battle over demons every time because they have the help of God or others.

The demons of our lives--the depression, the desire to give up, the mental pain--are real and are part of every one of our lives in one way or another. The point of the song is the same as that of the Gospel: there is a solution. We can work with the pain, we can understand that the demons are there in our lives, and we can work against them. We may not be able to conquer them completely, but we will conquer when we have the help, help from our God however we understand God, or from friends or parents or concerned people who will help us.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, your Son conquered the demons that he encountered on earth. We ask for the same grace. Give us the desire to follow your Son completely so that we can overcome the demons that are part of our lives. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: There are demons within us, but we can overcome them when we accept some help.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. In the Gospel, Matthew concentrates on the faith of the apostles. What is your definition of faith? See Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, numbers 156-165.
2. Text analysis: "The saints we see all turn to gold." What is the meaning of the phrase?
3. Obtain a copy of the excellent video to the song, discussing what is most striking about the video.
4. What are the most common demons that bother us in life?
5. Give your definition of a "person of faith."
6. What does the song "Demons" teach young people?