feel

October 19

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Saturday, October 19

LUKE 12:8-12
I will be with you if you want to be a follower of mine.

Prayerthoughts
a. Of course, I say that I acknowledge that the Lord is the guide of my life. But is it evident as I look at yesterday?

b. I obviously have not spoken against the Lord in my life right now, but there have been times in the past. I should recall some of them, and renew my sorrow by asking for forgiveness once again, knowing that the Lord will give it.

c. The sin against the Holy Spirit is the refusal of God's mercy when it is offered. I should take the time to pray that those who have refused (without being judgmental), will be open to the graces that God gives them.

d. The Holy Spirit is always there with me, no matter what the situation, giving me the guidance that I need. At what time in my life have I felt that Holy Spirit in particular. A prayer of thanksgiving is in order.

e. My prayerthoughts...

Today, I will read Ephesians, chapter 1:11-23

and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

THE HOLY SPIRIT CONTINUES TO TEACH US

+ The prayer of the author of Ephesians is that the Ephesians may be enlightened in such a way that they will know the Lord

- the way that that is done in Luke’s thought anyway is through the Spirit

- Luke through Jesus gives us what is the job of the Holy Spirit:

The Holy Spirit will teach you.

- the Holy Spirit’s job is to teach us the real hope, the real riches, the real power

+ With our human nature though, the problem comes in allowing ourselves to be taught

- especially in those areas that we don’t particularly like anyone to interfere with

- the areas where we might have to change and we don’t want to change

- but if we want to grow spiritually, we have to allow the Holy Spirit to teach

- according to today’s Gospel, that will happen when:

- we work on a relationship with Jesus

- again here, we see the importance of Sacred Scripture

especially the New Testament and reading it every day

- and it will happen when we do not blaspheme the Holy Spirit

- what this verse means is debated among Scripture scholars,

- but it probably means the sin of attributing to Satan—evil—what should be attributed to God

- that is, we are deliberately denying God

- that is, that we deliberately forgetting about God’s work in our lives

- it is an unforgiveable sin because we are denying the source who can forgive sin

+ From the liturgy, perhaps a couple of things for our spiritual growth:

- 1 – first of all, we have to allow the Holy Spirit to teach us

- that is, to put ourselves into a situation in which we will receive the Holy Spirit

- to allow prayer to happen in our lives, to give ourselves the quiet time that we need to allow God to speak to us

- to put ourselves in an atmosphere where the Holy Spirit can operate in us

- 2 – we have to listen to the Spirit

- which involves, listening to the words, thoughts and actions of Jesus

- listening to the things that happen to us in our lives

- and realize that God talks to us through them

- listening to our conscience telling us what to do in the situations in which we find ourselves

+ The Holy Spirit is just as much alive today as in the time of Jesus and the early Christian writers

- but we have to allow that Holy Spirit to work in us.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Feel It Still" -- Portugal.The Man

GOOD FEELINGS, PAST AND FUTURE

The Gospel

JOHN 1:47-50

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him.” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Phillip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.”

Gospelthink: I saw that Nathanael was a man of true integrity. Do I try to be a person of integrity, not fake in anything?

"Can’t keep my hands to myself, think I’ll dust ‘em off, put ‘em back up on the shelf in case my little baby girl is in need. Am I coming out of left field? I’m a rebel just for kicks, now I been feeling it since 1966, now might be over now, but I feel it still. Let me kick it like it’s 1986, now might be over now, but I feel it still. Is it coming? It's time to give a little to the kids in the middle.”

Nathaniel was a pretty good man. Jesus himself said that he was someone who had no duplicity in him, that is, that he was not fake or someone who pretended to be more than anyone else. No doubt, Nathaniel felt good about his life and relished the pleasant feelings that he enjoyed. But he knew that he had to move on. Good feelings in the past cannot be the deciding factor of a future life. He heard Jesus call him, and he had to change his lifestyle to include a future that was built around Jesus, one that also would give him a good feeling.

Past feelings are good to recall, of course, at least the feelings that made us feel good, but we cannot allow them to dominate our lives. The group Portugal.The Man in their song "Feel It Still" sings about a man who had been a "rebel," and he had a good time in the past. He had some "kicks," some real happiness in his life, and his "now--back then" were great feelings, and he wants to feel it still. But he realizes that he has to leave those good feelings, and "give a little" to other people, especially his "little baby girl" so that his future will be as good a feeling as his past.

God has allowed us to have good feelings in our past, and we can rejoice in them because feeling satisfied is important as we grow. But we also understand that we need good feelings in the present and the future. We cannot live in the past, and therefore we must work at making that future as happy as it was in the past.

Nathaniel was not only interested in the past in his life, but once Jesus came into his life, he became very interested in his future as well. We can learn from him, and we can likewise learn from Portugal.The Man's song that even though our past was good, our present and future can be happy as well.

For the Christian, such a happy feeling begins with acceptance of the ways of Jesus.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, You have given us good feelings in the past even though sometimes we may have been hurting for some reason. Help us learn from Your Son so that our feelings in the future will be happy. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Past good feelings are important, but we must work to bring about those good feelings in the present and future as well.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. In your opinion, what does it mean to say that someone has "no duplicity"?
2. How would you define a "rebel" in today's world?
3. In your opinion, is being a "rebel" good or bad?
4. What are the principal good feelings that we have had when we were younger than we are now?
5. What is the most important thing that we can "give" to another?
6. What are the ways that most people make themselves "feel good" about their present?
7. The meditation says that Christians must gain their good feeling from the ways of Jesus. Do you believe that Christians spend enough time trying to do this? Yes or no and why?
8. What does the song "Feel It Still" teach young people?