TGIMMhabits

May 8

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Thursday, May 8, Easter Weekday

JOHN 6:44-51

I compare the bread from earth and me in the Eucharist.

Prayerthoughts
a. God the Father draws me through Jesus. The Lord gives me graces throughout my life to embrace the spiritual life more. Do I thank the Lord for the graces that I receive daily?

b. God teaches me through Jesus. What are the three principal teachings that I should listen to more than any others? (This is the task of the meditation.)

c. “Whoever believes has eternal life.” Am I showing my belief every day?

d. Jesus is the “bread of life.” Do I receive the Lord in the Eucharist often?

e. The bread of life or Jesus is given not only to me, but for the life of the world. In my own little world around me, do I try to bring about “life” through my actions?

f. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will carry out letter b.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

THE EUCHARIST IS NOT ONLY FOR US

+ John’s Gospel, chapter 6, is recognized to be the evangelist John’s treatment of the Eucharist in his Gospel

- he says some things that add to the theology of the Eucharist that you and I believe in totally

- we believe that the Eucharist that we receive is the bread that comes down from heaven

- and that we have eternal life if we receive this bread and let it act on us

- it is indeed a magnificent gift from God

- but one of the phrases that is especially important in John’s understanding of the bread of life, and therefore our theology of the Eucharist is the phrase from the Gospel today:

The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.

- that is, this Eucharist is not only an individual gift for each of us—to give us eternal life, but it is a gift for the life of the world

+ This bread of life should bring about life for that world

- and so, an important question that comes out of this theology is a spiritual question: is this Eucharist that you and I receive today giving life to the world around us—through us?

- or another way of saying it:

- is this world that you and I live in any better because of the fact that we have the privilege of receiving this bread of life today?

+ Our reception of the Eucharist should move us to do something

- if indeed this Eucharist is given for the life of the world, which Jesus says,

- then the Christian must be moved, like Philip allowed himself to be moved by the Spirit in the book of Acts today

- maybe not moved to baptize people like Philip was, but at least moved to interact with others in a Christian way by the very fact that we become good people because we have received the bread of life

+ The fact that you and I receive the bread of life today carries with it an awesome responsibility

- we are the people now who have received the bread of life for the life of the world

- that world—outside and within—should receive life through us

- the Eucharist should make us better people who will help the world wherever we are be the best that it can be.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Habits" -- Tove Lo

STAYING IN THE "PLAY PRETEND"

The Gospel

JOHN 18:25-27

JOHN 18:25-27

Now Simon Peter was standing there keeping warm. And they said to him, “You are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with [Jesus]?” Again Peter denied it. And immediately the cock crowed.

Gospelthink: Peter denies that he knows me. Do I fall into the temptation of not showing that I am a follower of Jesus?

"I gotta stay high all the time to keep you off my mind.” In the process, the person in the song mentions all of the bad habits that keeps her high--among them are binge eating on bad food, drinking too much and sexual pleasure--but she realizes that it will get her nowhere. As she sings, “I’m staying in my play pretend where the fun ain’t got no end."

Habits are described as routines of behavior that are repeated regularly. They tend to occur subconsciously without directly thinking about them. We have all set up habits in our lives in which we do something that we always do, and it becomes comfortable to do them the way that we do them, and so we keep at it. There is nothing wrong with that, of course.

Sometimes we establish habits that dictate our behavior, and a person interested in living well might want to study such behavior patterns to determine a possible change. Tove Lo’s song "Habits" is a very interesting song to study because its conclusion although unwritten is that bad habits will never take away a problem. Her problem is that her boyfriend left and the lady of the once-upon-a-time relationship sings that she has to stay high all the time because she misses him so much. But she realizes that it does no good because as she sings, “I’m staying in my play pretend.” She has discovered that trying to rid herself of a problem by following bad habits will never solve the problem.

Peter the Apostle had a bad habit of lying when he saw that things were not going the way he wanted. Even though he had said that he never would desert Jesus, he denied that he knew him at the end of Jesus' life. Lying was no doubt a habit that he had fallen into, and he discovered once again that such a bad habit would never solve a problem. It may have given him temporary relief, but in the end he understood that he had denied his Lord and master. In terms of Tove Lo's song, he was living in a "play pretend."

We like to live in a "play pretend" because it is easy, and it allows us to use the bad habits that we have chosen to ease our pain. The bad habits that Tove Lo sings of are habits that our twenty-first century know only too well, and many people use those bad habits to pretend that everything is okay with their lives. The thought of Peter in the Gospels and the messed-up lives of so many people ought to teach us that bad habits will never solve a problem. It is a lesson we would do well to never forget.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, we are people who are into establishing habits of behavior. Help us follow your Son's direction as we choose our habits of doing things so that they will always be good habits . Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Trying to rid ourselves of a problem by following bad habits will never solve the problem.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. From what you know of Simon Peter's character in the Gospels, how would you describe him?
2. If Peter would have acknowledged that he did indeed know Jesus, what do you think would have happened to him?
3. In what ways do people "deny" Jesus in our modern day?
4. As you study the bad habits mentioned in the song, what are the opposite good habits that should replace them?
5. What are the reasons why people get "high" in our society?
6. What is your definition of "play pretend."
7. What are some regular habits that are neither good nor bad that we get into as human beings?
8. In the place where you live, what are the bad habits that young people choose most often?
9. Besides the reason given in the song, why do we get into bad habits?
10. What is the best way to solve a serious personal problem?
11. Drugs and alcohol are a serious problem for young people today. What is the best way to treat the problem?
12. Peter the Apostle chose "lying" as a way to solve a problem. Why is "lying" such a common problem among young people?
13. If you have a friend who has a serious bad habit, what is the best way to help him/her?
14. What does the song "Habits" teach young people?