March 17

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Tuesday, March 17, Lent IV

JOHN 5:1-16

Life-Giving

Prayerthoughts

a. Jesus sought out one man in particular who was most in need of help. In my life, do I seek out people in need of help, and attempt to give them the help they need? Yes or no and why?

b. Do I try to heal those who need it, that is, do I bring life to whatever situation that I am in?

c. Jesus had healed the man and slipped away. He had done the good deed, and then did not care whether he was given the credit or not. Do I seek recognition from others?

d. Jesus tells the man not to sin. In my spiritual life, do I sincerely admit that I am a sinner?

e. The man told the Jews about Jesus. Am I willing to spread my faith when I have the opportunity?

f. The Sabbath was a sacred time for the Jews, and they tried to use the fact to persecute Jesus. Is the Sabbath, Sunday for us, a sacred time for me?

g. My prayerthoughts…

Today I will read Ezechiel 47:1-9,12 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Gospel

THE CHRISTIAN IS LIFE-GIVING

+ The beautiful imagery of the reading from Ezekiel is acted out in the Gospel

- it is water from the temple that gives life and makes trees bear fruit and the trees’ leaves are used for medicine

- that is, water that is truly from God

- Jesus is the perfect image of the living water who truly cares for people

+ The application for the Christian is clear and quite challenging

- we are people who freely choose the Christian life and we should therefore be the living water to others

- flowing from God, that is, having our source in God now present through Jesus Christ here in the Eucharist, in the Sacraments

- and now everything we touch should be just as life-producing as Jesus was life-giving to the man in the Gospel

- the symbolism of the two readings together is magnificent for the Christian, and it has direct bearing in our daily lives

+ The personal question from the liturgy should be:

- as we flow from God through Jesus, is our touch life-giving?

- that is, in whatever situation we find ourselves, are we bringing life to it

- life-giving to our family in whatever form that comes as parents, grandparents, friends

- do others recognize God in us?

- if others judged God by us, how would they view God – mean, good, negative, positive?

- life-giving to our workplace

- is our attitude at work what might be called the attitude of Jesus?

- life-giving to the different people we meet

- in the Gospel, Jesus sought out the person that was most hurting

- do we seek out situations in which we can help with the talents that we have?

+ The drawback of the beautiful imagery of the readings is that it may be lost in the mundane world of day-to-day living

- we can’t let that happen, because the world really needs us to be life-giving in our approach.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Lose You to Love Me" -- Selena Gomez

I NEEDED TO LOSE YOU

The Gospel

LUKE 21:25-28

Jesus said, “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”

Gospelthink: Do not be afraid of the final days: you will have eternal life. I should prepare myself for the final days by leading as good a life as I can.

“You promised the world and I fell for it, set fire to my forest and you let it burn, sang off key in my chorus, cause it wasn’t yours. I saw the signs and I ignored it, rose colored glasses all distorted set fire to my purpose and I let it burn. You got off on my hurtin’ when it wasn’t yours. To love, I needed to lose you.”

Jesus knew about signs. Much of his ministry was spent trying to move people to read signs. It was evident when Jesus spoke of the Second Coming. There will be "signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars," Jesus says. "People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." But Jesus also says that there is no reason to fear since we will rejoice at being saved. He says, "Stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand." That is to say, although there are signs that are negative, we will be able to "read" them correctly and thus enjoy our redemption.

Involvement in a love relationship is a complicated undertaking. Two people are involved and therefore there will not always be agreement, and sometimes they may find themselves at odds with each other too often. If that is the case, it is a "sign" which the couple ought to read. Such was the problem In Selena Gomez' song "Lose You to Love Me." The lady in the relationship says that she "saw the signs" and "ignored" them.

It is important what the ignored signs were. They all had to do with the selfishness of the other party in their relationship. The man in the relationship promised, but did not follow through; he initiated a good relationship at first, but let it dwindle away, blamed her when things were not going well; he was interested in his own pain, and not hers. It is a true statement that she makes: in order to discover love for herself, she had to lose the person that was causing the pain because of his own selfishness.

Jesus wanted his disciples to read the signs of the times, explaining to them that they were quite capable of doing it. In a relationship, if it is to last, both should be knowledgeable of the signs that each gives to the other. They can do it if they do some reflection on their actions and words. If selfishness is a problem with either one, it is time to cease the love relationship. It was the result of the situation of the song.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, when we fall in love, we set up a special relationship with the one loved. Help us do our own individual parts in order to make the relationship a good one. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: We can read the signs when a relationship is not what it should be.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does the song "Lose You to Love Me" teach young people?
2. What part of the "end of the world" gives you the most concern?
3. From your knowledge of Jesus's ministry, what was his principal message?
4. In general, do you feel that couples who are dating communicate enough with each other? Yes or no and why?
5. Give your own definition of "selfishness."
6. Is there another course of action besides a breakup that a couple should enter into in order to solve the problem of selfishness? Yes or no and why?
7. Why do couples often not "read the signs" in a relationship?