March 20

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Thursday, March 20, Lent II

LUKE 16:19-31

Rich and Poor

Prayerthoughts

a. Jesus sets up the ends of a continuum in his story: a rich person at one end, and Lazarus the poor person at the other. I am somewhere in between. As I study my income and money, where am I on the continuum?

b. In his story, Jesus exaggerates the status of the poor person. As I study my concern for the poor of the world, am I doing anything toward helping the poor?

c. Jesus’s picture of heaven is a picture of comfort and peace. What effect does this picture of heaven have on me?

d. Jesus’s picture of the chasm between heaven and earth is the picture of loneliness for the person in torment. What effect does this picture have on me?

e. The rich man wants to warn his family about the place of torment in which he is suffering. Obviously, I don’t want my family to be in hell. What can I do to help them?

f. Jesus tells us in the story to listen to Scripture, especially to him, the person that has risen from the dead. Am I spending enough time listening to the Lord in my life?

g. Jesus comments on how people listen to the prophets and him in this world in which we live. Perhaps a prayer right now is in order for people of our world to acknowledge the Lord’s presence in their lives. (This is the task of the meditation.)

h. My prayerthoughts…

Today I will carry out the thought of letter g.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

LOOKING AT WEALTH

+ The contrast set up in the reading from Jeremiah is a good one to learn from:

- the one who trusts in human beings—barren bush—finds emptiness, and is cursed

- the one who trusts in the Lord—a tree with water—bears fruit even in the year of drought, and is blessed


+ The person who trusts in the Lord will understand the meaning of wealth in his/her life

- studying the Gospel in particular:

- the rich man and Lazarus did nothing wrong or right

- they simply had money or didn’t

- Luke is the only evangelist who reports this story

- showing Luke’s feeling for the poor and his desire to make the downtrodden be important


+ There are some important conclusions from the Gospel:

a) there is a need for concern for the poor in our lives

- often the poor can do nothing about their plight

- they can’t get money because they can’t get a decent job because they don’t have money to educate themselves to have a decent job

- we are obliged as Christians to give to the poor, especially the money they need, as much as we can

- there are a number of different programs where we can give money: food pantries, United Way, the Bishop’s collections during the year

- b) there is a need for concern if we have more than what we need

- the Gospels, and therefore Jesus, especially in Luke’s Gospel, but the others as well, “hit” people with money pretty hard

- probably the idea of “rich” is defined by the thought of having more than we need

- we have to take to heart what Jesus has said about riches

- and consider whether we need a change of heart in that area

- c) in order to live well, we have to heed Moses and the prophets

- translated to Christianity, heed what Jesus said and why he said it

- here: looking at our riches, and our motivation concerning those riches, recognizing that we really do have to listen to the one who has risen from the dead, namely our way and truth and life, Jesus.








MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Pink Pony Club" – Chappell Roan

GROWING UP WITH ADVICE



 

The Gospel


JOHN 2:1-11


On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an interior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.   

Gospelthink: Jesus followed the advice of his mother.

“I know you wanted me to stay, but I can't ignore the crazy visions of me in LA. I heard that there's a special place. I'm having wicked dreams of leaving Tennessee. Oh, Santa Monica, I swear it's calling me. Won't make my mama proud. It's gonna cause a scene. She sees her baby girl, I know she's gonna scream--what have you done. You're a pink pony girl and you dance at the club. Oh mama, I'm just having fun on the stage in my heels. It's where I belong down at the Pink Pony Club.”

It is clear from the Scriptures that Jesus had a special relationship with his mother, and by extension, one would suppose, a similar relationship with his father, although his father is not present in his public ministry. His mother was present, and according to the Scriptures, was present during significant moments in Jesus’s life.

One of those moments is at the very beginning of his public ministry. As the evangelist John comments, "Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs...and so revealed his glory." Jesus’s love for his mother prompts him to begin the process of redemption, the process of saving humankind. It is no wonder that the Catholic Church has such a strong devotion honoring Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Jesus loved her with all of his heart.

Taking the situation into the twenty-first century, and in particular, Jesus’s relationship with his mother can inspire some serious thinking with any song that calls for the advice of people close to us. Take Chappell Roan’s song “Pink Pony Club.” The daughter is at a place in her life where she must make her own decisions, and her mother has some rather strong feelings about it. Her mother doesn’t want the daughter to waste away her life—as she sees it—as a dancer at a party club, especially when it would take the daughter a significant distance away from family.

Who is correct? Perhaps the daughter has a special gift as a dancer and is merely beginning a life that will involve dancing as a serious vocation. Certainly the mother knows her daughter and feels responsible as she makes a momentous decision. Whatever the case, the lesson we can learn from the song is two-fold. One, a young person will have to make a decision that will advance her life at some point in her life. And two, the mother is a person who can help the daughter make that decision.

If emotions are not involved, the daughter might be able to make a decision that is guided by her mother. The problem, as with most situations of doing something relatively momentous, emotions will run high, and the decision must be made together with how everyone feels. And that is never easy.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, our journey on earth together with the directions we could go are varied. Help us realize that we will always have advice from especially our parents, as we decide a future for ourselves. Be with us, we pray. 

 

+++++


GUIDELINES FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: We must move on in life, but we should take the advice of people close to us.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1.  What does the song “Pink Pony Club” teach young people today?

2. Should the devotion in honor of Mary the mother of Jesus be stronger than it is right now?

3. How much advice should parents of a young person give as the young person is deciding to leave from home?

4. Should parents “approve” their children’s marriages?

5. Should parents “approve” their children’s “life-style” when the child is 21? Yes or no and why?

6. In making a “momentous” decision, what should the child of a family keep in mind?

 

©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America