March 22

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Saturday, March 22, Lent II

LUKE 15:1-3,11-32
The story of the Prodigal Son or Forgiving Father is one of my most important stories.

Prayerthoughts
a. According to Scripture scholars, the action of the younger son during Jesus’ time was paramount to an insult to the father. Yet the father did not react in a negative way. How do I react to those especially in my family who insult me?

b. When bad things happen to me and the world around me, do I turn to the Lord for help or merely blame others?

c. “Tending the swine” was an insult to the Hebrew person. Do I find myself wanting to strike back in revenge against others who insult me?

d. The center of the story for the younger son was the idea that he came to his senses. Do I spend time every day thinking seriously about the direction my life is going at the present time?

e. The father shows true compassion toward both the sons. Who is the one person in my family, friends or co-workers for whom I have not shown enough forgiveness? What can I do about it?

f. The father was "there" for both of his sons. God is “there” for me always forgiving and helping me. Should I be more thankful to God than I am? To whom in my life right now should I be more open to help?

g. The father refuses to react to the sarcasm of the older son. How do I react to someone who is saying false things about me?

h. My prayerthoughts...

Today I will read Micah, chapter 7, and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

OUR FORGIVING FATHER

+ The Gospel is the very familiar story of the Prodigal Son or a better way of saying it, the Forgiving Father

- the story of the father is exactly the statement of the prophet Micah concerning God

- God does not persist in anger, delights in compassion

- the story has a number of points specifically for adult spirituality:

+ 1 – the younger man squandered his inheritance

- we sin, we make mistakes

- it is a familiar theme of Lent

- something that comes up in the readings all the time: we really are sinners, we think thoughts that are not at all Christian, we say words that should not be said, we do things that should not be done

+ 2 – the younger man comes to his senses

- the pivotal point for the younger son

- and what must happen if our spiritual lives are to grow—we have to come to our senses, some conversion experience

- in which we finally understand that we have to make God more a part of our lives, more than God is now

+ 3 – the father was watching for his son/ran/no reluctance on his part at all (this is not the way a father would act in the Hebrew tradition)

- this is the kind of God we have

- if we show the slightest sign of coming to our senses, some type of conversion, God is there and will remain with us

- this is so generous on God’s part, “generous to a fault”

- an image so foreign to people who do not understand God

- the father running to embrace his son, you and me

+ 4 – the older son was angry

- human beings are not always going to agree with how generous God is because we are so selfish

- we do not rejoice with another’s good fortune (the Hebrew religious leaders did not miss this reference)

- we want what we want

- again the selfishness thought that comes up so often in these Scriptures is present

+ 5 – but the father is also generous to the older son

- he goes to him, he begs him

- we who are so selfish—the Lord keeps pursuing us, hoping that we will come to our senses as well

+ 6 – Jesus leaves the story unfinished

- maybe leading us to believe that the selfishness could not be overcome

- the sin which is not forgiven most is selfishness because such a one finds it hard to come to his/her senses

+ I would suggest that we read the story again today, slowly, thinking of ourselves.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Movie: "Twisters" -- beginning session

OVERCOMING THE PAST

The Gospel

LUKE 7:44-48

LUKE 7:44-48

Jesus said to Simon ... “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has

not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. So, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Gospelthink: The sinful woman understood what she had done and expressed her sorrow.

The Media -- "Twisters" (beginning session)

Kate Carter pursued her interest in nature by entering into a way of life known simply as a “storm chaser.” She and her “team,” that is her friends, were “working a tornado”, trying to reduce its intensity to secure funding for further research. The attempt was unsuccessful because the tornado suddenly intensified into an EF5 storm, killing all of her team except herself and her friend Javi. She blamed herself for underestimating the tornado and immediately stopped experimentation. She joined the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) or National Weather Service. Five years after the incident which killed her friends, Javi invited Kate to a one-week position with his team who were testing a new tornado scanning system. Kate initially declined but after Javi told her that they could possibly save lives, she took him up on the offer. Popular YouTube storm chaser Tyler Owens and crew also arrived at the same tornado. During the chase, Kate suffered a panic attack but pulled herself together for the next tornado they tracked. She and Javi along with Tyler’s crew helped with a recovery effort in one of the towns.

Reading the story of the sinful woman in Luke’s Gospel, one can easily get into the woman’s mind as we study her actions. For some reason she knew that her life was not a good one. Maybe it was someone’s off-handed remark or maybe she had heard about Jesus and his call to repentance. For whatever reason, she finally realized that her life was not as it should have been. Then she heard that Jesus was in her neighborhood, and she decided to change her future.

The host of the celebration had no doubt deliberately insulted Jesus by not performing the usual cleansings and welcome. So, she decided to take care of that herself and at the same time show her repentance. She knew that she had not done what she should have done with her life, and rather than let it move her to simply admit it, she did something about it.

Her actions are a lesson for our behavior. There are many times in our lives when we realize that we have made a decision that has changed our behaviors and then for some reason have finally understood that we have chosen incorrectly. Kate Carter who worked for the National Weather Service knew that her decision to leave her tornado study was a problem for her. She remembered too well that an incident during one of her early experiments had ended in death of some friends. At that time, she simply gave up. But as she thought about it, and actually became involved again, she understood that her previous action to give up was a mistake and decided to follow her ambition again.

People change directions in life all the time. The sinful woman in Luke’s Gospel had done something morally wrong; Kate Carter had given up a dream that could help people. Both of them understood that they should make a change, and finally did. For both of them, their future turned out well.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, there are times in our lives when we have made some decisions that we should not have made. We made them for reasons which seemed good at the time. Give us your grace to study our decisions with the possibility of

changing for the better. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: In our lives, past actions may bother us, but to live well, we must overcome those times and move on.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

(session: approximately 57 minutes)

1. What scene during this session strikes you and why?

2. In general, why do we refuse to change even though we know we should?

3. From your study of Scripture, why did the Pharisees like Simon deliberately insult Jesus?

4. In our modern day, what are some examples of deliberate insulting others? Is there anything that you could do in order to correct it?

5. What are some examples from history that show the same desire to change that Kyle showed?

6. What are some reasons that lead a person to change their behaviors?