October 17

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Thursday, October 17

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 Ephesians, chapter 1 and write
an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

THE PLAN

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

- the only reason for being this upset was that the Pharisees and Sadducees were not what they claimed to be in the area of religion, the area of a relationship with Jesus’ Father

- 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

+ We work with the same truth

- the truth of God’s action in our lives

- establishing that truth is the purpose of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in one way or another

- Ephesians was probably one of the later letters of the New Testament—80-100 AD

- someone closely connected with Paul was the author

+ The truth about Jesus in particular is the primary focus

- and the letter is literally full of great meditation possibilities:

- right at the beginning of the letter, the author—we’ll call him “Paul”—points out that Jesus was set forth by God the Father as “a plan”

- that plan is that we have been redeemed through Jesus

- and therefore we have the opportunity of eternal life

- the prayer of thanksgiving is in order

- and that plan is the plan that you and I have chosen as spiritual people

- that means that the most important meditation book for us is the New Testament where we discover the plan of Jesus—how he talks, acts, and especially try to get into his thinking process

+ Getting into his thinking about the Scribes and Pharisees, we can see that it was a personal thing—they were only acting like they knew his Father, God, and it was pure hypocrisy

- we know the truth, the plan of Jesus—we can’t only act like we know it

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

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: “Beautiful Things”—Benson Boone

THE NEED TO BE BETTER

The Gospel

MATTHEW 9:9-13

Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

The Media

"Beautiful Things”

Benson Boone

“For a while there, it was rough, but lately I’ve been doing better than the last four Decembers I recall. And I see my family every month and I found a girl my parents love. She’ll come and stay the night and I think I might have it all, and I thank God every day for the girl He sent my way. But I know the things He gives me; He can take away, and I hold you every night and that’s a feeling I wanna get used to. But there’s no man as terrified as the man who stands to lose you. I hope I don’t lose you. Please stay. I want you; I need you. God, don’t take these beautiful things that I’ve got.”

Jesus’s call of Matthew to be an apostle is an interesting one. We know that Matthew was a tax collector, and we know that in general, the way that tax collectors were “paid” by the Romans was for them to charge extra as they collected taxes. The practice therefore invitied the tax collector to charge more than necessary as they followed the guidelines of their occupation. It would amount to “extortion” in today’s world.

Whether Matthew followed this practice is not known, but if he did, and there is a good chance that he did, his following of Jesus would amount to being repentant. It somehow meant that he realized that he had to better his life in order to be a good person.

Benson Boone’s song “Beautiful” is a love song and tells the story of the love from the man’s point of view. According to the song, his past “love life” was not so good—he had probably spent the last four years in a selfish way, and for some reason, he felt a change was necessary. And he made the change, choosing a partner that his family approved and choosing a lifestyle that included his own family. And it is no accident that he realized that God was very much a part of his new-found way to be a better person.

You and I can easily learn from this love song. As we pursue our life and in particular our love life, we really should be aware of our family that we grew up in. Our parents no doubt want to be included in our pursuit of love and no doubt want to be part of our lives. It is a necessary “awareness” that grown up children ought to know. We must never forget the Christian directive of the fourth commandment.

And we can learn from his words about God as he considers his love-life. The more we are aware of God’s love for us and what we want to do, the better people we will be.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, as we go about our lives, you have given us a free will to direct those lives. Help us as we do so to learn to be very aware of our family of origin and the need that we have for you in our lives. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: We can always improve ourselves to be better people.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. In general, we are also called to follow the Lord. What is the best way to follow God as we live our lives?

2. Is the desire for money the basic desire of human beings? Yes or no and why?

3. How does having too much money work against a truly spiritual lifestyle?

4. Do most young people of marriageable age think of who their parents would want them to choose for marriage? Yes or no and why?

5. Do most young people think in terms of God helping them choose a marriage partner? Yes or no and why?

6. Why is it important for young people who have left home for one reason or another to keep in touch with their parents?

7. What is the best way to keep God to be part of our lives?

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