June 8

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Sunday, June 8, Pentecost

JOHN 20:19-23

I give you the Holy Spirit.

Prayerthoughts
a. The Lord wishes his disciples “peace.” Do I always bring peace to the situations that I am in or am I more argumentative?

b. "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." Jesus gives his task to his disciples. What was that task, and how am I involved in it at the present time.

c. Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to his disciples. I have also received the Holy Spirit in Baptism and Confirmation. Has the Spirit made me a person of love toward all?

d. It is significant that the Lord immediately centers in on forgiveness after He gives them the Holy Spirit. Do I forgive others well? Am I able to forgive myself when I think of my sins?

e. What gift of the Holy Spirit—wisdom, understanding, right judgment, knowledge, courage, reverence, fear of the Lord—is most necessary for me at the present time? Why?

f. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will read Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

USING THE GRACES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

+ There are many stories connected with Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, and my guess is that many of them are not true

- but according to this legend, there was a man by the name of Pietri Bandinelli

- whom da Vinci used as a model for Jesus in his painting of “The Last Supper”

- excellent profile, strong appearance, the picture of holiness

- a little later da Vinci was also looking for an image of Judas

- the image of Judas was one of the last ones he painted, and it took him some time to find a model for him

- not being able to find one, da Vinci finally decided to go to the slums of Milan

- and after a while, found the person he was looking for

- cloudy eyes, harsh face, evidently had a hard life

- after da Vinci obtained the man’s permission and was sketching him, getting Judas ready for his painting,

- he thought that he had seen the man before, so he asked him “Have we met?”

- very embarrassed, the man said, “Yes, I’m Pietri Bandinelli; much has changed since you chose me to be your Jesus.”

+ In a sense, every one of us decides whether we are a Jesus or a Judas

- because we have the choice to be either,

- because we have the Lord’s promise that he will give us the Holy Spirit to be what we should be

- we either use the Holy Spirit’s graces or we don’t

+ For example, just study the virtues that Paul mentions to the Galatians in the second reading (or one of the readings that we use at Pentecost)

-- love: the Holy Spirit has given to every one of us the graces we need to truly love

- whether it be our spouses or our family or the people around us, even the ones we don’t particularly care for

-- joy: the Holy Spirit has given to every one of us the graces we need to be people of joy

- even in the face of things that happen that are not so joyful

-- peace: the Holy Spirit has given to us the graces we need to be people of peace,

-- or to obtain those other virtues he mentions—patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control

- we have the grace that we need right now so that we can really have these characteristics of holiness

+ It boils down to whether we want to accept the characteristics of holiness or not

- most of us would say, “Of course, I want to”—in here, in front of the Blessed Sacrament, in front of others, as we have come to Church

- but do we really?

- when it comes to the tough Christian virtues—love and forgiveness, and the like,

- do we want to have those virtues in our lives with everyone?

- even if it means that we have to change some things that we are doing right now?

+ You and I have the possibility of being a Jesus in our world

- we have the grace because we have the Holy Spirit as Jesus promised

- unfortunately, we can choose to neglect that grace as well

- as Pietri Bandinelli did

- the Lord never will take away our free will

- one of the quotes that I often use is G. K. Chesterton’s famous quote about Christians, you and me, and how we go about our lives:

“Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not even tried.”

- the Holy Spirit calls us to try it!

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Anti-Hero" -- Taylor Swift

I'M THE PROBLEM

The Gospel

LUKE 15:20-24

LUKE 15:20-24

[Jesus continued the parable:] "So [the younger son] got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.' But his father ordered his servants, 'Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.' Then the celebration began.

Gospelthink: In my story of the Prodigal Son, the first son admitted he was wrong and turned his life around. Do I truly acknowledge my sins?

"I have this thing where I get older, but just never wiser. Midnights become my afternoons when my depression works the graveyard shift. All of the people I've ghosted stand there in the room. I should not be left to my own devices; they come with prices and vices; I end up in crisis, I wake up screaming from dreaming. One day I'll watch as you're leaving 'cause you got tired of my scheming. It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me."

Jesus's story of the "prodigal son" or "forgiving father" in Luke's Gospel has many lessons. It is a story of a father who truly loves both of his sons, and an older son who is jealous and who has to decide how he is going to act. Perhaps most of all it is a lesson of moral responsibility. The younger son faced what he had done, went back to his father, the person that he had harmed, and told him directly that it was his fault: he did it and accepted full responsibility for his actions: "I have sinned against heaven and against you," he said.

Or, in the words of Taylor Swift's song "Anti-Hero," "It's me. I'm the problem." In her own explanation of the song, Taylor Swift writes: "This song really is a guided tour through all the things I tend to hate about myself. We all hate things about ourselves."

Some spiritual critics in our world claim that we have lost the definition of sin, and therefore less and less people are turning to God as a necessity. Whether it is true or not, there is little doubt that the way to return to an understanding of sin is somehow to accept the possibility that there is sin in our own lives. We must look at the example of the younger son in Jesus's story, and understand that Jesus means the story for us, that we may be responsible for some sin in the world. It is our fault. I may be the problem.

Of course, admitting the problem is not enough; we must go further and want to do something about it. Taylor Swift in explanation of the song says, "It's all of those aspects of the things we dislike and like about ourselves that we have to come to terms with if we're going to be this person." That "coming to terms with" implies that once we know the problems that we are, we will do something about them so that we will become a person who not only sees the problems, but tries to solve them.

Our world is in dire need of more people who work for good no matter what the circumstances. It is a fact that we have some good examples, some of them even in modern music. Now it is up to us.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, we are sinners. We do not like to admit it all the time, but admit it we must. Give us the grace to accept any responsibility for any wrongs that we may have committed. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: To bring about a good life, we must begin with ourselves.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does the song "Anti-Hero" teach young people?
2. This Gospel is the second part of Jesus's parable. Read the complete parable (Luke 15:11-32) and then answer the question: what is the overall message of the parable? Why?
3. The story is probably better named "The Forgiving Father" rather than "The Prodigal Son." It is arguably the most important of Jesus's parables because it illustrates how God the Father acts on our behalf. See Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, number 1439. Do most Christians think that God is a merciful God? Yes or no and why?
4. What are some evils in our world right now and what if anything can I do about them?
5. Do you think that there are many people who really do not know what sin is? Yes or no and why?
6. What are some ways in which we can show that we are sorry for our sins?