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June 8

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Monday, June 8

MATTHEW 5:1-12

My Guide in Life

Prayerthoughts

a. Jesus addresses the words to the crowds and therefore to me. Do I truly listen to all of the words that the Lord gives me?

b. Poor in spirit: do I allow material things to dominate my life?

c. Mourn: there is pain my life, but Jesus and what he teaches is the answer to that pain.

d. Meek: this is a direct statement against power and the people who want more power. Do I try to be more important than others?

e. Righteousness: do I really work at prayer and closeness to the Lord, and desire to be a holy person?

f. Mercy: do I reach out to the hurting people around me and help them if we I can?

g. Clean of heart: am I honest, sincere, and do I lie to protect myself?

h. Peacemakers: do I really try to reconcile the factions that divide us?

i. Suffer insult: I should expect criticism for trying to be a good person, but I should be a good person anyway.

j. My prayerthoughts…

Today I will read I Kings 17:1-6 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

THOSE WHO KEEP THE LAW OF JESUS

+ The Gospel reading today begins the most important set of daily Gospel readings in the Church year in my opinion:

- namely, Matthew 5-7, what we have come to call the Sermon on the Mount

- where Matthew has gathered most of the major moral teachings of Jesus into one place

- it is important for the spiritual life that we know exactly what they say

+ Matthew begins this most important section by an introduction which will be “fleshed out” in the Sermon itself

- it is a program of life, saying in effect that here is the general pattern for living a life well

- it is “general” but significant in itself

+ The first reading is from the first book of Kings which studies for a couple of chapters the work of Elijah the prophet

+ The list of characteristics that come from these two readings should be part of the spiritual life of a Christian

- they are ideals that we all should strive for

- first, from the first reading – obedience to God’s word

- this is the most important characteristic that comes from the Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures

- then from the Gospel:

- poor in spirit, the anawim who have the favor of God

- Matthew added “in spirit”; Luke’s idea of poor is probably what Jesus meant

- “poor” implies those who cannot function as adult spiritual persons

- these are the special people that God is concerned about

- meek, those slow to anger, gentle

- mourn, those who especially mourn the evil of the world

- merciful, pardoning of one’s neighbor, love, especially of needy and enemies

- pure of heart, people dedicated to justice, faithful to God’s law

- peacemakers, those who have shalom, total well being, especially seen in the way they love others

- persecuted, probably placed in the Beatitudes because Matthew’s readers were in severe persecution

- translated to today: those who suffer either mentally or physically because they believe in Jesus.

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?