TGIMMlocked

September 10

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Tuesday, September 10

LUKE 6:12-19

After I prayed, I made the serious decision of choosing my immediate disciples.

Prayerthoughts
a. Prayer in Jesus’s life once again comes up in the Gospels. (In St. Luke’s Gospel, this is a common occurrence for Jesus, especially at the important times in his life.) In my life right now, have I set aside enough time for prayer? Perhaps I should arrange my days to include more time for prayer.

b. Jesus chose the men who would work with him. What have been the most important choices that I have made? -

c. The Apostles no doubt checked with their families about the future choice of following Jesus. In my life right now, who are the people that I can talk to? Am I honest in my words to them?

d. One of the apostles was a Zealot, a member of a rebellious group who was working for an overthrow of Roman authority. What is my attitude toward the authority of the people elected to govern my country right now? How can I make my attitude better?

e. Jesus chose Judas. What lesson does this teach me?

f. In what ways have I betrayed the Lord in my life, and have I begged for forgiveness?

g. In his ministry, Jesus healed many. Jesus also heals me. What should I ask the Lord to heal in my life?

h. My prayerthoughts…

Today I will write a prayer for those people whom I most trust.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

A TRUE APOSTLE

+ In Jesus’ early ministry, Luke refers to the power that Jesus had

- not with the idea of redemption yet, but the whole thought of power going out from him

+ And as Jesus did that, he needed help

- he prayed to his Father to help him in his selection of helpers

- and then he selects the Twelve, recalling the twelve tribes of Israel, and therefore the connection with the Hebrew Scriptures

- those Twelve were of immense importance for Jesus and what he did

+ It is of immense spiritual importance that we recognize ourselves as modern day apostles, that is, our role in making Christianity be present around us

- we might meditate for a few moments on our own role as apostles

+ The Apostles were primarily the people who passed on the Christ-Event to others

- modern day apostles—you and I—are called to the same

- and coming from the liturgy today, that means a couple of prerequisites (actually there are a number of things that it means):

1 – it means prayer, and Luke’s mention of how Jesus spent time with God is significant

- he spent time in communion with God

- not necessarily with words, although I’m sure that’s part of it

- just significant time with God, thinking of God’s presence and what that meant for his life

- our prayer should pattern that

2 – from Paul’s words to the Corinthians, we must have a willingness to work out differences

- only after we do that can we be the apostles we should be

3 – there should be the desire to “touch” Jesus, to read more and more about him

- with the knowledge that power will come from it

4 – and there should be a “curing” of others

- not in the sense of physical, although that may be part of it

- but just sharing of the Christ-Event as directive in people’s lives

- which we do primarily by our actions and sometimes direct teaching

+ You and I are called to be modern day apostles in our world today.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Locked Away" -- R City featuring Adam Levine
WOULD YOU STILL LOVE ME

The Gospel

LUKE 23:27-28

[As Jesus was carrying his cross,] a large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children."

Gospelthink: As I was carrying the cross (along with Simon of Cyrene), I appreciated the concern of some women. Have I appreciated the concern that others show me?

"If I got locked away, and we lost it all today, tell me honestly, would you still love me the same? If I showed you my flaws, if I couldn't be strong, tell me honestly, would you still love me the same? Right about now, if a judge for life me, would you stay by my side? Or is you gonna say goodbye? Can you tell me right now? If I couldn't buy you the fancy things in life, would it be alright? Come and show me that you are down. Now tell me would you really ride for me? Tell me would you die for me? Would you spend your whole life with me? Would you be there to always hold me down? Tell me would you really cry for me? Don't lie to me: if I didn't have anything, I wanna know would you stick around?"

R City and Adam Levine's song "Locked Away" is an extended question in the form of individual questions that one of the couples in a relationship is asking. It concerns the permanent commitment that the couple is about to make and presents an examination of conscience of sorts for a person who is about to commit him/herself to something, in the song, to marriage.

Summarizing the questions into one, one might label it: "Do we intend to make a permanent commitment that will cover every possible situation that will happen?" We, human beings often say words that convey a promise that we never really intend. We may not have thought through exactly what the words mean or could mean in situations that become challenging and difficult. We may think thoughts like "I could never have known this when I said that I was committed to it."

Jesus never had such a moment with his commitment to redeem us. He was our redeemer to the end of his life. It is especially seen at the time of his death. The women who met him on his way to Calvary were despondent when they saw the cruelty of the human beings who caused his suffering. But his words, ever the redeemer and teacher, restated his desire, telling the women not to worry about what was happening to him, but to worry about their own redemptive work in their lives.

You and I make permanent commitments. We say to a lover that we will always be devoted to them. We say to the Lord that we will give ourselves to him through thick and thin. We say to a friend that we will never forget them. But our track record often does not match the significance of the words we speak. We must look at the example of the person who committed himself to our redemption or study the words of R City and Adam Levine's song to honestly understand a true commitment.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, Your Son committed himself to be our Redeemer, and he never backed down from doing it well. Help us to study any words of commitment that we make, and give us the grace to carry them out. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: A true commitment will mean the complete acceptance of whatever happens as part of the commitment.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. One of the resolutions to the Gospel of Luke is that "large crowds" must follow Jesus. In your opinion, do Christians follow Jesus as much as they should? Yes or no and why?
2. What does the passion of Jesus Christ teach us?
3. The song could easily be used as part of preparation for marriage. In your opinion, speaking in a general way, do the couples of our world prepare well for marriage? Yes or no and why?
4. Our divorce rate is very high--over 50%. What is the best way to prevent divorce in our world today? 5. Speaking in a general way, do the people of our world understand what a permanent commitment is? Yes or no and why?
6. Why is the excuse "I never knew what I was getting into" not a good one to use to get out of a commitment?
7. In general, why do people use words like "always" and "forever" too much?
8. What does the song "Locked Away" teach young people?