may 23

May 23

[media presentation below]

Gospelthink

Friday, May 23, Easter Weekday

JOHN 15:12-17

Love One Another

a. Incredibly, the Lord calls us to show others a “divine love”: “love one another as I love you.” In particular, what does that mean for me in my life right now?

b. The greatest love is to lay down one’s life for a friend. Most of us will not have to give our lives for another, but the passage might mean that we must sacrifice something of ourselves for a friend. Given my life right now, should I sacrifice something to help a friend?

c. In the Hebrew Scriptures, some holy people were called “slaves” of God.” Jesus makes it clear that he is a “friend” of ours. What effect should that fact have on us as we live our daily lives?

d. The Lord has chosen me to bear fruit that will remain. In my situation right now, knowing that the Lord has called me to it, what is most important for me to do?

e. My prayerthoughts….

Today, I will read the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 15 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

LOVE FOR OTHERS: A “DIVINE LOVE”

+ The Gospel during this part of the Easter season is from the Last Discourse of Jesus as recorded by John the evangelist at the Last Supper

- in yesterday’s Gospel passage, we heard Jesus say:

As the Father loves me, so I also love you.

- “you”, meaning the disciples and us

- and today we hear:

Love one another as I love you.

- in both instances, we are talking “divine love”

- they are tremendously strong statements:

- the way Jesus loves us is with a “divine love” and therefore we are incredibly blessed

- and the way that we must love one another is with a “divine love”

- a love which is infinitely greater than a human love

- this is very difficult, even impossible on a human level, but it is what Jesus calls us to—as if he exaggerates to make a point

- our love for others must be much more than human love

+ To love other people with a divine love implies a couple of things as we study specifically the Liturgy today:

1 -- we must love them as friends, not as slaves

- to love people as slaves means that we give to them with the idea of getting something in return:

- I give to you only for you to give to me

- to love people as friends means that we give without expecting anything back

- not an easy thing to do in our society

2 -- we must love others because we deliberately choose to love them

- as Jesus/God chose us, we choose to love them with God-like affection

- not because some religion says to do it, not because we are expected to, not because it is the law or the like

- we choose to do it—period

- with “choose” being the operative word

- making it “real” love

3 -- we love them even to the point of changing the way we think and act for them

- at the Council of Jerusalem, what the reading from Acts is describing, Jewish Christians changed their ways to accommodate the Gentile Christians

- we have no knowledge of how difficult this was because we do not have the Jewish mind like they had

- it had to be extremely difficult

- but they did it, presumably out of love

- so we are called to change on behalf of others

+ Our love of others should be as Jesus’ love for us

- that should put love of neighbor in a whole new perspective.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Cake by the Ocean" -- DNCE

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING

The Gospel

LUKE 4:1-4

LUKE 4:1-4

Filled with the holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"

Gospelthink: The devil tempted me to satisfy myself. Do I tend to give in to my selfish desires too much?

"Oh no, see you walking 'round like it's a funeral. Not so serious, girl. You’re a real life fantasy, but you're moving so carefully; let's start living dangerously. Let's lose our minds and go crazy. I keep on hoping we'll eat cake by the ocean. See you licking frosting from your own hands, want another taste, I'm begging, ‘Yes, ma'am.’ I'm tired of all this candy on the dry land.”

If there is an encouraging part of Jesus' temptations before he began his public ministry, it may be that he was tempted. As we accept Jesus as our primary guide, we realize that he was tempted just as we are. Perhaps the first temptation as recorded in the Gospels had to do with something that everyone of us desires in some way, namely pleasure. Eating would be pleasurable especially after fasting for a significant time. The devil tempted Jesus by telling him to give in to the feeling of pleasure. Jesus teaches us a lesson as he dismisses the devil.

During Jesus' life with us, he obviously had pleasure in eating, drinking, having friends, helping others with his power, and so forth. But it must be noted that he was always in control, never allowing too much pleasure to dominate his thinking. One of the aspects of the songs of pleasure that are produced today is that enjoying ourselves a lot may be a good guide. Such is the thought of DNCE's song "Cake by the Ocean." The man in the song implores his girlfriend to "live dangerously," to "lose our minds," and to "go crazy." By any standard, such a description may imply going "too far" and wanting "too much" in the way we are living.

Jesus' reminder that we do not live by bread alone can easily be interpreted to mean that feeling good as a sole means of living happily leaves much to be desired. Pleasure and having a good time is part of our desire in life, even a necessary part of our desire. But too much can only lead to emptiness. Cake is enjoyable; but too much cake will make us sick.

Perhaps our goal as we live the life that God has given to us is to truly enjoy ourselves, but never to enjoy ourselves in such a way that we may cause hurt to ourselves or others.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, we are tempted to give ourselves to too much of a good thing. May we learn the lesson that Your Son gives us, and enjoy what you have given us, but never in a way that causes pain. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Pleasure is a true force in people's lives, but we must understand that sometimes it is dangerous.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. The Spirit was active in Jesus' life. How do we see the Spirit working in today's world?
2. The meditation interprets the temptation to be a temptation to satisfy oneself. In our world today, how are we tempted the most?
3. Text analysis: "Cake by the ocean." In DNCE's explanation of the song, the phrase refers to "Sex on the beach." In your opinion, why are many of the songs of our current culture so deliberately explicit in their content?
4. Do you believe that a song such as this affects our young people in a significant way? Yes or no and why?
5. Do you believe that Jesus was tempted "just as we are"? Yes or no and why?
6. In your opinion, are there a lot of people in our world who give in to too much pleasure? Yes or no and why?
7. Why do you think the meditation says that "pleasure" is a necessary part of our lives?
8. Give an example of a situation in which "enjoyment" was a harm to oneself or others.
9. What does the song "Cake by the Ocean" teach young people?