TGIMMhappy

March 15

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Saturday, March 15, Lent I

MATTHEW 5:43-48

This may be the most difficult of my teachings, but you must forgive your enemies.

Prayerthoughts
a. This has been called “the unique” doctrine of the Christian, to love one’s enemies. In general, do I “love” those who disagree with my way of thinking, even though they disagree with me and would never “love” me?

b. There are a number of believers in God, especially in special circumstances such as war, who still believe that they should do harm to enemies. I should pray for them as well.

c. “Pray for those who persecute you.” Generally, I do not have persecutors as such, but I should think in terms of the early Christians or those who are persecuted in our world. Would I have the thought to pray for them?

d. The reasoning behind loving everyone is that God created everyone. I should look at all creation as God’s gift. I should take the time to praise our God for God's creation. (This is the task of the meditation.)

e. I should think in terms of doing “more” than merely acknowledging people. I should “love” them. Studying my actions with others, say yesterday, did I show that I truly accepted them as people that I “loved”?

f. Jesus tells me to be perfect as God is. As a human, obviously I cannot accomplish that, but do I come close to it in the way I speak, act and think?

g. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will list the gifts of creation that for which I am most grateful.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

LOVE OF ENEMIES

+ This particular Gospel is from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel that he begins with treating six different moral principles

- the last one is “love of enemies”

- it was the law of Moses in the Book of Leviticus that the Hebrew people had to love members of their own national or religious group

- here Jesus gives a totally new directive

- that no religious leader had ever spoken before

+ It is based on the reasoning that Jesus gives:

- God makes the sun rise on good and bad alike, rain falls on the just and unjust

- when God’s love and care for all people are taken as the standard

- the disciples of Jesus cannot limit their love

- as Jesus says: the disciples’ perfection reflects and is measured by God’s perfection

+ The God of the Old Testament was a strict God of justice

- and the Hebrew people had thought in terms of God hating the enemies of Israel

- Jesus changed all of that

- in the first reading from the Hebrew Scriptures’ Book of Deuteronomy, the Israelites are promised to be a people peculiarly God’s own, but they are called to walk in God’s ways and hearken to God’s voice

- and God’s voice in the New Testament, in the Gospels, in particular, is the voice of Jesus

- who teaches in no uncertain terms one of the most difficult, if not the most difficult, of all moral doctrines—love your enemies

+ Love of enemies is not an easy doctrine for any Christian, and we know how difficult it is because everyone of us has relationships with others, and sometimes those relationships are not the best

- it is not our place to talk about any global problem of hatred of country for country, and so forth

- we have to think about our own small involvement with Jesus’ words

- we know what we feel toward those who dislike us

- we know what we want to do with those who hurt us or our families

- we know what our past has been

- often choosing to “hurt” in some way those whom we call enemies

- whether it be in talking them down, or some type of revenge

- but Jesus says quite plainly that we must love our enemies

+ Perhaps we should spend a couple of moments in meditation today

- and determine the people that we really do not like, the people that we would categorize as “enemies”

- and then do something on behalf of them, at least praying for them.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Happy" -- Pharrell Williams

BECAUSE I'M HAPPY

The Gospel

MATTHEW 13:15-16

MATTHEW 13:15-16

[Jesus said:] "'Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted and I heal them.' But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear."

Gospelthink: I was happy with the people who really listened to what I said. Do I follow the Lord and his directions well?

"It may seem crazy what I’m about to say. I don't care by the way because I’m happy. Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof. Because I’m happy: clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth. Because I’m happy: clap along if you know what happiness is to you. Because I’m happy: clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do. Your love is too high. Can’t nothing bring me down."

Pharrell sings of an attitude in his song "Happy." It can be described as a positive attitude toward life. There are a number of negatives in our world--fights, wars, disagreements, unhappiness, things that just do not go right--and we can dwell on them and feel badly about life. If we can do something about them, we should, but whether we can or not, much of how we approach life and the negatives depends on "attitude." It may seem "crazy" as Pharrell sings, to act this way, but the positive attitude can actually change us for the better, even in the midst of negatives.

Jesus had a positive attitude toward life, mainly because he knew that our lives could end with the ultimate positive, namely eternal life with God. And so he could tell his Apostles, in contrast to the negative people who do not hear God, that they were "blessed." Many English translations use the word "happy." "Happy" are you, Jesus says, because you are seeing and hearing the word of God.

Interestingly enough, the word of God can translate into what Pharrell is singing. Happy are they who feel open to God, happy are they who search for the truth, happy are they who understand they can always be happy because of the love they have received and give to others. In fact, there is nothing that can bring such a person down because their approach to life is always positive.

Positive thinking is the active ingredient in flourishing businesses. It can also be a guide to living fulfilled lives.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, your Son showed a positive attitude toward life. He wanted us to be the same way. Help us always be open to what you want so that we can be truly happy in the way we approach our lives. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: We can show a positive attitude in life if we want.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. In the Gospel, Jesus is quoting from the prophet Isaiah, commenting on the way many of the Hebrew people did not truly listen to God. In general, do you believe that our world really listens to God's direction? Yes or no and why?
2. In the world, who is most in need of "conversion."
3. Give some examples of people who have truly heard and seen the word of God in their lives.
4. Text analysis: "It may seem crazy what I'm about to say." Why is it "crazy" to be happy?
5 Text analysis: "Feel like a room without a roof." What is the meaning of the phrase?
6. Text analysis: "Happiness is the truth." Why is it "happy" to speak the truth?
7. Text analysis: "Your love is too high." What is the meaning of the statement?
8. What brings us down more than anything in our lives?
9. The meditation reflects many of the thoughts of the song "Smile" by Uncle Kracker. The presenter may want to refer to that song during the presentation.
10. Give your own definition of a "positive attitude."
11. How do you understand "eternal life." See Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, numbers 988-1001.
12. How do you understand the thought that we should feel "open to God."
13. Why is a positive attitude so important in business?
14. What does the song "Happy" teach young people?