TGIMMPompeii

October 8

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Wednesday, October 8

LUKE 11:1-4
I teach you a very important prayer.

Prayerthoughts
a. Jesus once again is in prayer as he is so often in the Gospels. In my prayer life, am I spending enough time thinking directly of the Lord and what he has done for me?

b. We want to know “how to pray” as the Apostles asked Jesus. Jesus gives an “informal prayer,” that is one un-memorized, a prayer from the heart. Studying prayer might be helpful.. perhaps the Catechism's presentation, numbers 2558 ff.

c. The first part of Jesus’s prayer is praise of God. Do I praise the Lord enough for all the good things of the world and my life?

d. The second part is a prayer of petition. In my prayer of petition, do I spend too much time on myself rather than others?

e. The Lord calls us to pray for ourselves, in which we should ask for our “daily bread,” that is, the Lord’s help as we live our day today. As I look at my day today or tomorrow, when can I seek the Lord’s presence more?

f. In the prayer for ourselves, the Lord tells us to forgive. First of all, we must ask for forgiveness, that is, we must recognize our sinfulness. What especially should I show sorrow for in my life?

g. Part of the forgiveness is forgiving others. Do I criticize other’s imperfections too much in my thoughts or words?

h. Finally, the Lord says that we should pray for protection from the evil around us. Have I allowed the love of material things take over too much of my thinking?

i. My prayerthoughts…

Today I will read Jonah 4:1-11 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

THE ATTITUDE OF FORGIVENESS

+ Today’s and tomorrow’s Gospel deal with prayer

- here, Luke’s version of the Our Father, which version is probably the closest to what Jesus actually said,

- with the obvious stress on forgiveness

- both asking God to forgive us, and we forgiving others

- it carries with it an attitude of respect and love of others

+ An attitude that Jonah did not have, as one studies the conclusion to the book of Jonah in the Hebrew Scriptures

- Jonah seems to have had a good prayer life—he was talking to God directly anyway

- but he didn’t get what he prayed for

- he thought that the people of Nineveh should be punished more than God was going to punish them, and became angry at God

- then he thought that God should protect him more than God was doing, and again he became angry at God

- God said basically, “grow up”

- and you’re led to question whether he did or not because the book ends with no conclusion except that God was merciful toward the people of Nineveh

+ Jonah is a picture of us in many ways: we want our way,

- that is, we want what we want—the basic problem from which all other problems come, I believe

- we want what we think should be done

- and when we don’t get it, we complain, we sulk, we become self-righteous

- and it becomes an attitude, that is more or less unconscious—we don’t even know it is there

- it forms a mind-set that is closed to the possibility that God really could have other plans

- and more often than not, much of what we want has to do with other people—we want what they have, or we think that they have too much, or we judge how they are acting or the like

- we don’t have the attitude of forgiveness that Jesus teaches in his prayer

+ We should study carefully our own attitude of forgiveness

- are we looking at others from the prism of forgiveness or from the prism of judgment

- Jesus teaches a prayer in which forgiveness is of primary importance

- that must be a guide for us who follow him.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "A Bar Song” (Shaboozey)

THE IMPORTANCE OF RELAXATION

The Gospel

JOHN 2:1-11

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So, they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So, they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an interior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.

Gospelthink: Jesus’s first miracle was worked so that some people could relax better.

“Someone, pour me up a double shot of whiskey. They know me and Jack Daniel's got a history. There's a party downtown, near 5th Street. Everybody at the bar gettin' tipsy. I've been boozey since I left, I ain't changin' for a check. Woke up drunk at 10 am, we gon'[na] do this stuff again. Tell your girl to bring a friend.”

John the evangelist presents the setting of a marriage to be the place of Jesus's first miracle. Often cited by Christian authors as a miracle enacted at Jesus's mother's request, the setting of the miracle is important as well. Jesus and his apostles were celebrating the wedding of some people that they probably knew. As Jesus blessed the marriage with his presence, he was also blessing the marital activity, and therefore, Jesus in a sense, is blessing the fun that people were having, and in particular blessing the fact that the people were drinking alcohol, since he provided more of it. And, maybe to excess.

Many modern songs speak of having fun and in particular by using alcohol. Shaboozey’s song “A Bar Song” is just that—a song that can easily be part of a raucous group of people gathered around an alcoholic bar while partaking of the drink that is present in abundance at that bar.

The question must be asked by the Christian: did Jesus want what happens to a group of people as they consume large amounts of alcohol? Did he want the drunkenness and the sexual interaction that often takes place when people are having fun with alcohol? Did he want people to allow the effects of alcohol to cause the pain that often happens because of the misspoken words and misguided actions that happen when people have too much alcohol to drink?

Obviously, the answer must be in the negative. No, Jesus did not want that. First of all, Scripture scholars speak of wedding celebrations in Jesus’s day as being totally different from the type of celebrations when modern people typically speak of parties with too much alcohol. Secondly, the same evangelist who reported the miracle at Cana also says to a sinful woman, “Go, and from now on, do not sin any more” (John 8:11). Jesus did not bless the wine so that people would sin. He blessed the wine because he wanted a married couple to enjoy a time with their friends.

Jesus knew about human nature. And therefore he knew the importance of relaxation. He knew that it was important because it helps us deal with stress and therefore it improves our health. He knew that we reduce the risk of stress-related health problems such as heart disease and dementia. Likewise, he knew that relaxing could be easy and enjoyable. Believers know that Jesus was divine, but they also know that as a human being, he understood our needs, not only in a spiritual way, but materially as well.

Jesus called us to be responsible people. Yes, it is good to relax, but we must also know that too much of a good thing is no longer good.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, we know the importance of following you through Your Son. As we learn to help our human bodies with relaxation in our lives here on earth, give us the grace to truly understand our personal responsibilities as well. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: There are times to relax, but we must remember to relax in a mature manner.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does the song "A Bar Song" teach young people?

2. How can we help an alcoholic friend in our world today?

3. Do songs like “A Bar Song” cause more drinking in our world today? Yes or no and why?

4. The meditation makes the point that we should drink alcohol responsibly. Exactly what does that mean?

5. Is drinking alcohol a problem among the young people under 18 today? Yes or no and why?

6. In general, what is the best way for people to relax in our world?