May 6

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Wednesday, May 6, Easter Weekday

JOHN 15:1-8

I am the vine and you are the branches.

Prayerthoughts
a. The image that Jesus uses implies some type of sacrifice. As I study my life right now, what should I work on to make it better?

b. Jesus’s words have already “cleansed” the apostles and us. Am I spending enough time with the Gospel to understand what the Lord means in the Gospel? What can I do today?

c. What is the best way that I have to “remain in Christ”?

d. What are the fruits that I should show for being a branch on Jesus’s vine?

e. Do I often choose to think of myself as being responsible for good things and not the Lord? How can I change this thinking?

f. Jesus uses a scare tactic in his words. If I do not listen to His word, I will allow evil to enter into my life. What are the principal evils that I should think about in my life?

g. The Lord will answer my prayers if I remain in Him. The Lord always answers my prayers according to His will. In my life right now, what should I pray for the most?

h. My prayerthoughts….

Today, I will read Acts of the Apostles 15:1-6 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

LIVING “IN” JESUS

+ One of the foundational Christian thoughts is given in the Gospel today, one of the guides to Christian living—Jesus saying that we must live and remain “in” him

- what does living “in” Jesus consist of?

+ There are a number of ideas that can come as a result

- working with this specific liturgy,

1 – living in Jesus does not take away dissension—we hear that in the 1st reading

- but working with that dissension must be part of it—discussing as the apostles did

- as we live in our day to day situation, there will be many things that we don’t agree with, that could cause “dissension”

- some of them, we can do nothing about, and so we simply pray for the situation, do our best to live with it

- but some of them, we can do something about

- but as we do something about it, we have to remember that there are opinions other than ours

- and so we must be willing to talk things out, as the Apostles were,

- willing to admit someone else’s opinion

- because of the fact that we are human beings, we will disagree

- to disagree well is the Christian element that must be added

2 -- living in Jesus implies being able to be pruned and trimmed

- being pliable in the Lord’s hands

- that is, being open to the Holy Spirit’s direction

- working with the Holy Spirit with the idea that “God and we” can accomplish great things in the Christian scheme of things

- and at the same time allowing the Lord’s Gospel direction and guide to actually gear our own lives toward what Jesus evidently wants in the Scriptures

- pruning and trimming ourselves in the process

3 – living in Jesus implies actually “working” with the Lord, bearing fruit

- going out into the world we live in—our own little worlds—and doing the work of the Lord

- that is living with prayer, good example, kindness, forgiveness etc—that is, all the virtues of the kingdom that Jesus preached

+ “Living in” Jesus means a number of things

- today we have considered the ideas of being able to work with dissension, being pliable by shaping ourselves to Jesus’ directives, and actually doing the work of the Lord as we go about our day-to-day living.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Shallow" -- Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper

"FALLING" AND THEN LOVE

The Gospel

JOHN 15:14-17

JOHN 15:14-17

[Jesus said:] “You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.”

Gospelthink: I have chosen you to help this world by love. Am I being faithful to my call?

“Tell me somethin’ girl,” the man sings, “are you happy in this modern world or do you need more? I’m falling.” And then the lady sings, “Tell me somethin’, boy, aren’t you tired tryin to fill that void? I’m falling.”

When Jesus spoke specifically about friendship in the Gospel of John, it was with the idea of being close to his Father. Since he had told his Apostles everything that the Father had revealed to him, the Apostles had a special place in his heart. Jesus called it a place in which everyone was equal, a place in which the Apostles should consider themselves "chosen" to be friends of Jesus. Within the friendship, the guide was "love." "This I command you," he says, "love one another." As they ministered to the world, their mission was to move everyone to search for love.

Love, as these songs speak of, is romantic love. Two people attracted to one another are discovering whether their love is one that turns into a commitment for life. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper sing of that search in the movie "A Star is Born" and in the song "Shallow." Their love may be "shallow" at first as they discover that love, but it gradually grows into a real commitment the more they interact with each other. They both feel that they are "falling" and they need someone to help them in some way.

The lesson is relatively simple to say--search for love, and when you find it, make a commitment to another. But it is immensely difficult to carry out. For most people, it may take years to be sure of the love they feel. They must work at finding it even as they are "falling" as the song describes it. That takes time and energy and real effort even as they must live their lives with all the different directions their lives take them. They truly are searching for the love that they desire.

Something should be said also about love which is not romantic in its origin. Jesus wanted his disciples to preach his message of love to everyone. It is true that we are all "falling" in one way or another, and we need the help of others who honestly love us just as we must honestly love them as they fall. Jesus's directive is of immense importance for the salvation of our world--love one another, and keep searching to understand how we can truly love everyone.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, Your Son taught us the importance of love. Many of us desire it as we are involved romantically. Help us understand also that we must search for ways to show love to all. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDELINES FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: In life, romantic and otherwise, we must try to search for love.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does the song "Shallow" teach young people today?
2. What is your definition of "friendship"?
3. It is obvious that we do not all love each other as we should. What is the best way for us to learn to truly love another?
4. Most of the songs we listen to, whatever genre, are love songs. What is the most important part of the virtue of love?
5. Why at times do many young people feel as though they are "falling"?
6. At what age is the best age to commit ourselves to a permanent commitment such as marriage?
7. Is it asking too much of the Christian world to truly love one another? Yes or no and why?

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