June 4

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Wednesday, June 4, Easter Weekday

JOHN 17:11b-19

I pray that you should be consecrated in truth.

Prayerthoughts
a. The Lord prays that we be “one.” As I go about my life, do I have a tendency to be divisive in the way I think and talk with others? What can I do better?

b. The Lord again makes a distinction between the world and what He teaches. What does the “world” consist of in today’s understanding. What is good about it and what is bad? (This is the task of the meditation.)

c. The Lord prays that I be kept from the evil one. What are the tendencies toward evil in my life? What can I do about them?

d. The Lord prays that we, and therefore I, be consecrated in the truth of His Word. Do I read the Gospels with the thought of wanting to know His truth in my life?

e. The Lord says that he sends His disciples into the world. I am sent into the world in the sense that the people around me should know that I am a Christian. In general, is that thought getting through to people? Go through yesterday and grade how well I did.

f. Jesus wants me to be consecrated in truth. In general, am I a truthful person?

g. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will carry out letter b.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

KEEPING OURSELVES IN JESUS’ NAME

+ Today’s Gospel is taken from what Scripture scholars call Jesus’ high priestly prayer to his Father

- Jesus prays for his apostles and by extension, all of us, saying:

I do not ask that you take them out of the world.

- it is quite a significant statement because for John who is recording Jesus’ words here, the world is not good at all, and in fact, evil

- therefore, we are called to remain in the world, but all of us are called to be holy as well

- Jesus again:

Keep them in your name.

- in terms of spirituality, we are all to remain in God’s name, that is, all of us are called to be holy, even as we stay in the world

+ And, if a person is going to do this well, if a person is to stay in the world and at the same time develop a deeper spiritual life, I believe that there are certain things that have to be done

- every liturgy of the Word—that is the readings of the Mass—suggest something to be done to remain in Jesus’ name

- there are actually several things to help us, but today’s readings might suggest these:

- if you are going to remain in Jesus’ name while we are in this world,

- 1 – from the reading from Acts, we must work hard to “help the weak” as Luke writes

- and the way that you do that, according to Luke, is to remember one of the principal doctrines that Jesus gave us: “It is more blessed to give than to receive”

- we have to learn to give of ourselves to others

- really one of the more difficult virtues to develop well in life

- 2 – a second way to develop a spiritual life for all of us comes from John’s Gospel again and might be phrased: you must have the truth

- Jesus prays about that on behalf of his Apostles and us in the high priestly prayer in the Gospel:

Consecrate them in the truth--your word is truth.

- the “word” is, of course, Scripture,

- the Scriptures must be read and assimilated and acted upon

+ So, while we develop a spiritual life, Jesus prays that we not be taken out of the world

- and we set about developing the spiritual life by giving of ourselves and reading closely the Lord’s word in Scripture.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Sucker" -- Jonas Brothers

A SUCKER FOR ANOTHER

The Gospel

LUKE 22:31-34

LUKE 22:31-34

“Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.” He said to him, “Lord, I am prepared to go to prison and to die with you.” But he replied, “I tell you, Peter, before the cock crows this day, you will deny three times that you know me.”

Gospelthink: Peter had gone intentions, but was unable to carry through with them. How am I doing with keeping my good intentions?

“We go together better than birds of a feather, you and me. We change the weather: I’m feeling heat in December when you’re ‘round me. I’ve been dancing on top of cars and stumbling out of bars. I follow you through the dark, can’t get enough. You’re the medicine and the pain, the tattoo inside my brain. It’s obvious, I’m a sucker for you. Say the word and I’ll go anywhere blindly. Any road you take you know that you’ll find me. I’m a sucker for all the subliminal things."

Peter is known in the Scriptures to be a person who definitely loved Jesus but he did not understand himself enough. He often made statements without too much thinking and based more on feelings than anything else. He tells the Lord during the Last Supper that he would rather die than give up faith in him. And yet, he denied that he knew Jesus just a little while later, as Jesus predicted. He allowed his feelings of the moment to dictate what he thought was correct.

In the song "Sucker," the man in the relationship is speaking from his feelings. He knows how he feels when it comes to his significant other, but at the same time, the relationship is not as strong as it should be yet. He is thinking only from his point of view, saying that everything will be okay because he thinks it will be okay. He is directing the relationship, and he is totally committed, he thinks. He is a sucker for the other and will go anywhere blindly, as he admits.

In the song, we do not know whether the other is responding to his feelings or not. With human nature being what it is, when things change a little with time, as Peter in the Gospel, he may change completely. Mainly because is he is thinking only with his feelings of the moment. When reality becomes something other than what a person feels should happen, our feelings may indeed change.

The lesson here in life is that we must know our feelings, and consider carefully whether those feelings will be the same no matter what happens. In love relationships, there are always two people involved, and reality may be different from what we feel should happen.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, as human beings, we often have very strong feelings without really thinking them through. Give us the grace to understand our feelings, and help us be able to change for the better no matter what our feelings. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: In learning to love, we must be careful that we are not misled by our feelings.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does the song "Sucker" teach young people?
2. Obviously we know what Peter should have done when he was asked later whether he knew Jesus. In your opinion, would most Christians do what Peter did and deny him? Yes or no and why?
3. In your opinion, what are the "subliminal things" in a love relationship?
4. In your opinion, do most people follow through with their original feelings of love of another? Yes or no and why?
5. Song analysis: What does it mean when someone says "I am a sucker for you."
6. In your opinion, what is the best way to make sure that we know our feelings to be correct?