broken

October 16

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Thursday, October 16

LUKE 11:47-54
I want the religious leaders and you to look carefully at what you are doing.

Prayerthoughts
a. Jesus tells the Pharisees that they properly honor the early prophets, but that they were responsible for killing them. Who are the prophets in my day that I should listen to, and have I tried to follow them?

b. Jesus reminds the Pharisees that the Scriptures predicted the martyrdom of prophets whose death they brought about in the sense that they would have participated in killing them. I have not taken part in "killing" the prophets, but have I put their teachings into my life?

c. Jesus addresses the scholars of the law directly telling them that they have taken away the key of knowledge, that is, the law which brings people to God. What is the law that brings me closest to God, and am I following it right now in my life?

d. Jesus tells the Pharisees that they will not enter the place of God and that they are leading others away from God, strong criticism of people whose very being should have brought people to God. As I study my life, how well am I leading people to God?

e. The Pharisees and scholars of the law sought revenge. Is revenge part of my thinking and words and actions?

f. My prayerthoughts...

Today, I will read Romans 3:21-30 and write
an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

THE TRUTH OF THE “PRINCIPLE OF FAITH”

+ Luke’s Gospel today continues Jesus’s tirade against the religious leaders of his time

- almost embarrassing language as a follower of Jesus looks at it

- why would Jesus, the God-man, be so insulting to a group of people?

- the only reason: the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees were not what they claimed to be in the area of religion, the area of a relationship with his Father, something very personal to Jesus

- they claimed to have a knowledge of God, knowledge that Jesus had

- they should have been true followers of God, his Father

- and they weren’t

- they had the key of knowledge, as he said

- that is, they had the truth, but refused to let it influence them

+ The passages against the Hebrew religious leaders in the Gospels should have an effect on us, especially as we choose to reflect on the idea of truth

- all Christians because of Jesus, possess the truth, the key of knowledge and therefore it should influence us who are his followers

- and often it does not

- but especially those who try to get close to him—we who go to Mass daily and the religious

- since we are in a comparable situation to the Hebrew religious leaders

+ What we are called to—the truth—is the purpose of Paul’s letter to the Romans in one way or another

- in the reading today, Paul says: We “are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus whom God set forth…”

- the truth about Jesus in particular is the primary focus

- and the letter is literally full of great meditation possibilities

- right here at the beginning of the letter, Paul points out that Jesus was set forth by God the Father and that this principle of faith guides us

- our faith is that we have been redeemed through Jesus

- and therefore we have the opportunity of eternal life

- and that faith is what you and I have chosen as Catholic Christian people

- that means that the most important meditation book for us is the book of the Gospels (importance of it symbolized by carrying it in solemn procession) where we discover what the principle of faith is—how Jesus talks, acts, and especially try to get into his thinking process

+ Getting into his thinking about the scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees, we can see that it was a personal thing—it was personal for Jesus, and they were only acting like it was personal for them and that was pure hypocrisy

- we know the truth, based on the principle of faith—we can’t only act like we know it

- it has to have an effect on how we live.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Broken" -- lovelytheband

BROKEN LIKE ME

The Gospel

JOHN 20:11-16

Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher.

Gospelthink: After my Resurrection, I appeared to Mary Magdalene because she was one who loved me completely. Do I show my love for the Lord in the way I live and act?

“I like that you’re broken, broken like me. Maybe that makes me a fool. I like that you’re lonely, lonely like me, I could be lonely with you." They met at a party, and they sing "These aren’t my people, these aren’t my friends. She grabbed my face and said I like that you’re broken, broken like me, lonely like me."

A feeling that is often described in popular music is the feeling of loss and despair because of the loss. The songs of our day reflect the situations of our lives, and one of the most common ones is the feeling that things have not or are not going the way the person wants them to. There will be many relationships as one grows. Some of those relationships become close and the two choose a marital life, but eventually one of the spouses will die. And there will be pain. Sometimes relationships become close, but the relationship does not work out. There will be a breakup, and there will be mental pain, as a result.

And sometimes as in the song "Broken" from lovelytheband the couple meet after lonely backgrounds and they are hoping that their relationship will blossom. The title of the song captures the feeling exactly. Both people in the eventual relationship feel the loneliness and brokenness, and at the moment, there is nothing that can be done. About all they can hope for is that both of them will feel lonely together, and that will cure the loneliness, one would guess. Mary Magdalene felt lonely. In her mind, she had lost the one that she loved, lost him in a most brutal way, and she wanted to do what she could do. But even as she wanted to do her simple burial rite, once again, she could not find him, and she felt completely broken.

The cure of such a feeling is never easily heard because it always deals with time, allowing time to heal the mental wounds that accompany the brokenness. And during that time, the pain continues. But perhaps the Resurrection story for Mary Magdalene can encourage the people who suffer the pain of brokenness in relationships. The fact is that there will be a resolution to the situation. The couple in lovelytheband's song could feel that solution coming in that they were hoping that their loneliness would dissipate once they worked at being together.

The fact is that we will find an answer at some time. It may take time, but perhaps the end result will be even better than one could ever imagine. Mary Magdalene discovered exactly that.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, there are many times in our lives when we feel broken—the loss of a loved one either in death or a breakup of some relationship that we wanted to last. Help us during those times to look forward to the fact that with your help, things will always get better. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: There is hope even with broken relationships.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does the song "Broken" teach young people?
2. What is your own definition of "loneliness" ?
3. When a person is "broken," what does it usually imply?
4. Do most young people have mental pain as a result of a breakup?
5 What is the best way to behave when a person has had a breakup?
6. How does "time" heal all relationships?
7. What is the best way to "heal" loneliness?