March 22

  [media presentation below]

GospelThink

Sunday, March 22, Fifth Sunday of Lent

JOHN 11:1-45

The Resurrection of Lazarus

Prayerthoughts

a. Jesus was friends with Lazarus, Mary and Martha. As a human being, Jesus both needed to have friends and wanted to have friends. In my acquaintances right now, there are many friends. Do I treat them with the respect that they should have?

b. Jesus delays going to see Lazarus and his sisters. We do not understand why. Maybe he wanted to teach his disciples that death is not something to be feared. In our lives right now, do I fear death or do I see it as a time to return to our God? How can I better prepare for it?

c. Friendship demands commitment. Jesus goes back to Judea even though there is danger there. Have I hown sufficient love in the closer friendships that I have right now?

d. We readily answer the Lord that we believe that he is the resurrection and the life. How can I show that belief a little more?

e. We also agree with Martha that Jesus is the Messiah who came into the world. If Jesus would meet me right now at this time of my life, what do you think he would say is the most important thing for me to do?

f. Jesus shows emotion as he works with his friend Lazarus who has died. I also show emotion as I live my life in this world. Are my emotions appropriate for the situations I am in?

g. Many began to believe in Jesus. Perhaps a personal act of faith is appropriate right now (maybe the Apostles’ or Nicene Creed).

h. My prayerthoughts…


Today I will read Romans 8:8-11 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

THE SUBJECT OF DEATH

+ In the Gospel, the Lord takes to task the subject of death

- it is a good time for us to think about it as well

- and, in particular, our deaths

- we are all going to die, and according to the law of averages, some of us are going to go through it pretty soon

- now, that may be a sobering thought

- but we should listen carefully to the Lord today


+ The whole incident with Lazarus is nothing more than a proof that God is in charge of all life and death

- the key to the Gospel story is not the raising to life of Lazarus, although that is what catches attention

- the key is Jesus’s words to Martha:

I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.


+ The important thing is the type of belief that we have in Jesus—whoever believes in me

- we must choose to believe in Jesus

- God never forces us: therefore, it is up to us—totally

- we are in the hot seat, so to speak

- no one else can do this for us: we either believe or not


+ Now, it is at this point at a funeral that we would say

- we know that so and so did that, and then talk about that a little

- and it is the place where one would never bring up the possibility that so and so may not have believed too well because that talk is painful to people

- but not being at a funeral today, we can say some rather straightforward things without making people feel badly

- the person who is next to die in here is right here with us today

- and that person—and indeed all of us--are determining right now what kind of a future life we are going to have, either eternal life, or eternal death

- and the criterion is very simple: does that person believe in Jesus or not


+ Believing in Jesus means primarily two things: loving God and loving neighbor

- put negatively—if we are placing other things above God in our lives and interacting with other people in a negative way,

- then we are not really believing in Jesus


+ It is a good spiritual exercise to write your own eulogy—what you think your friends will say about you at your funeral, and what you would like them to say about you

- things like:

- on a scale of 1-10 where 10 is high, how do you score your prayer life

- on that same scale, do you think about other people in a good way

- or how would you score your taking care of those less fortunate than you are?


+ There will come a time when you and I will have our funerals in this church or one very much like it

- the Lord’s message today is one of hope: you’ve got time left: use it well

- we are often told that we should make some funeral arrangements ahead of time

- well, I think that it is much more important to make some after-human death arrangements

- we have the time right now

- may we use it well.            











 

 

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? 
 

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