November 18

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Tuesday, November 18

LUKE 19:1-10
Zacchaeus was anxious to see me.

Prayerthoughts
a. As Zacchaeus, I should be seeking to see Jesus in my life. How am I seeking to see Jesus right now?

b. Jesus says to us as well as Zacchaeus today: “Come down quickly because I must stay at your house.” As Jesus comes to be my guest, what can I change?

c. I am a sinner as the people concluded about Zacchaeus, and therefore what are some actions that I should do by way of repentance?

d. Zacchaeus deliberately makes himself a poor man. What are some things that I have in my possession that I should give away to the poor, that is, to a thrift store or the like?

e. I want salvation, of course. What is the one good thing that I should continue to insure that I will gain salvation?

f. My prayerthoughts…

Today I will read 2 Maccabees 6:18-31 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

ZACCHAEUS, ELEAZAR AND US

+ Zacchaeus was a politician

- his offical office was one of doing a legitimate job but at the same time it was cheating others

- his “wrong” was what we now call the sin of extortion

- in order to make his livelihood, he taxed his fellow Hebrews more than the Roman tax demanded so that he would be able to pay the Romans, and also enjoy a good life

- after his conversion, he changed his way of living

+ I believe that the Zacchaeus Gospel story is both a fact and an allegory teaching us about what conversion to God consists of

- and together with the first reading from 2 Maccabees, it gives us a good meditation

+ The first step to conversion is the climbing of the tree, that is, the necessity to see above the crowd

- many times we can’t see because of the crowd

- the crowd can be interpreted to be the crowd of this world and what it wants—the desire for power, the desire to control others, the pleasure syndrome, the desire for money, the desire for the good things of life

- that crowd is pretty strong, and pretty tough to see over

- and so we have to climb the tree

- that is, we have to make some efforts to control those things

+ And once we have climbed the tree

- we move to the second step of conversion: we make amends

- we do something

- Zacchaeus gave back one-half of his wealth to God, and four times what he had taken from others

- which meant that he deliberately became a poor man

- we are not called to make ourselves poor

- but we are called to do something significant, maybe even heroic

+ A third part of conversion is to realize that others are watching and therefore we learn to always act with integrity to give a good example

- the way Eleazar did in the first reading from Maccabees

+ Zacchaeus and Eleazar from our liturgy today teach us some things about conversion and what we should be doing with our lives.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Love Me Harder" -- Ariana Grande featuring The Weeknd

TRY, TRY, TRY AGAIN

The Gospel

MARK 10:17-22

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered him, ... "You know the commandments: ‘You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother.’” He replied and said to him, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Gospelthink: I know that the thing to make you closer to God is not to allow material things dominate your life. Have I allowed that to happen?

"Tell me something I need to know 'cause if you want to keep me, you gotta love me harder, and if you really need me, you gotta love me harder. So what would I do if I can’t figure it out? You got to try, try, try again. So what would I do if I can’t figure it out? I’m gonna leave again.”

The man described in Mark's Gospel had tried all his life to live a good life. He knew that it meant that one must keep the commandments of Moses. So, when Jesus counseled him to keep those commandments, in all honesty he could say that he had accomplished it even at a young age. But Jesus, knowing that a good spiritual life meant that he had to do more, told him in effect that he had to try even harder, giving him a formula for living which proved that he really wanted eternal life.

Such a thought is basic for the spiritual life, but it is also the foundation of good living, and in particular for a person who desires the romantic love of another. In Ariana Grande and The Weeknd's song "Love Me Harder," the premise is that there had been love in the past. But in order to keep it, both had to show a little more effort, or else it would be over.

Perhaps one of the most important words in our description of maturity is the word "try." To be mature in the spiritual life or good living and certainly in romantic love of another, one must constantly try again and again to make things the way they should be. The secret of achieving anything that we consider important is that we will continually try to make it better than it is already.

Jesus knew that growth in the spiritual life could not end at any particular time. It had to be continual, always paying attention to our innermost desires. Human love is exactly the same way. We can never rest with a feeling of contentment; we must always try even harder than we are already.

It is no accident in Jesus' story that the spiritual person could only achieve eternal life once he/she had placed material possessions in their proper place. Perhaps in all of living, including romantic love, we must learn that love is more important than any possession.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, your Son gave us one of the secrets of maturity when he told us to keep on trying to do better than we are. He told us to do it principally by controlling our desire for material possessions. Give us the grace to honestly understand his thinking. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: It takes effort to follow through with something that we promise.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. In your opinion, what are the three most important things that we must do to inherit eternal life?
2. In your opinion, why did Jesus mention these commandments and not the others?
3. Text analysis: "Jesus looking at him, loved him." What is the meaning of the sentence?
4. Jesus is speaking in an exaggerated way. In your opinion, why did Jesus often use exaggeration?
5. Analysis: Most spiritual commentators feel that we all have too many possessions. Do you agree and why?
6. Analysis: Why does the lady in the song "need to know" what she is asking?
7. In general, if you want to "keep" a friend, what three things must you do?
8. Text analysis: "Love me harder." What does the sentence mean?
9. Why is it so difficult to give away our possessions?
10. What are the principal reasons why a love relationship fails?
11. In general, do most people honestly try to lead a good life? Yes or no and why?
12. In human love, what are the signs that a person is honestly "trying"?
13. What is your understanding of the spiritual life? See Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, number 1699.
14. In general, have we learned that "love is more important than any possession"? Yes or no and why?
15. What does the song "Love Me Harder" teach young people?