good

September 17

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Wednesday, September 17

LUKE 7:31-35
I speak about the virtue of true listening.

Prayerthoughts
a. Jesus speaks of “this generation,” a negative term speaking of my time now. In what ways have I agreed with this world when I should not have.

b. Sometimes I act like a child when things do not go my way. Do I show this behavior often?

c. Jesus points out that the people of his time were like children who were not listening to His message. How are my “listening skills”? Do I listen to others the way I should?

d. Jesus and John are rejected. Do I always accept God/Church/religion as a guide to my life?

e. Do I listen to the difficult words of Jesus, especially in the way I should act toward others?

f. Jesus has the wisdom I need in my life. Do I pray with that in mind?

g. My prayerthoughts….

Today I will read 1 Timothy 3:14-16 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

TRUE LISTENING

+ Jesus goes into a little psychology in the Gospel

- saying in effect: you are like children arguing and playing in order not to really listen

- you are ignoring what John and I (Jesus) are saying because we are saying difficult things

- and you are playing games instead

- you see what you want to see, hear what you want to hear

+ Perhaps we should spend a moment or two on the virtue of listening

- for a Christian, the listening comes principally in the form of listening to the New Testament of the Bible, especially the Gospels

+ And that will mean three basic things:

1 – We have to come to him

- we have to make time for him in our lives

- quality time that is just as important for us as any other action that we have to do during our day

+ 2 – We have to place his yoke on us

- as the Lord tells us in another part of the Gospel

- his yoke: his law, his words, his actions, his whole attitude

- so that it becomes second nature to us to think as Jesus does

- again, taking the time to do that thinking—

- not only what would Jesus do, but how would he think

+ 3 – We have to learn

- that is, actually dwell upon that Christian attitude

- in such a way as to educate ourselves in his attitude

- comparing that education to any type of formal education, say to learn a profession, and all the ramifications of it

- so that we become versed in being a Christian

+ If we allow the Lord to lead us

- we must listen carefully to what he says

- here: come to him, place his yoke on us, and learn

- and our reward will be: an easy time of it in the sense that we will be with God—always.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "good 4 u" -- Olivia Rodrigo

SARCASM AND ANGER SOLVE NOTHING

The Gospel

MATTHEW 5:4,7

Jesus said: "Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."

Gospelthink: I want you to be a person who forgives and has mercy on everyone if those who have wronged you. How well do I do that?

"Well, good for you; I guess you moved on really easily. You found a new girl and it only took a couple weeks. Remember when you said that you wanted to give me the world. And good for you, I guess that you’ve been working on yourself. Well good for you. I guess you’re getting everything you want. It’s like we never even happened. What is up with that? Well, the heck with you. You will never have to hurt the way you know that I do. You look happy and healthy. Not me, if you ever cared to ask. Maybe I’m too emotional, but your apathy’s like a wound in salt.” [Lyrics adjusted]

Good moral behavior must be a guide for a person who wants to live a good life. It is a fact that if the human being is involved in behavior which is wrong or hurtful to others, the person will not enjoy happiness the way he/she wants. Jesus knew that fact as he spoke his Beatitudes at the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount. He knew that if a person could not mourn well or a person who was not merciful toward others would have a difficult time in life.

It is a fact that is true not only in living one's regular life, but especially true when the element of romantic love is added to it. It is a case in point for just about every young human being who is discovering the love of another in a romantic way, that is, when a person begins to date. Most of the songs in whatever genre of music one studies are about romantic love. And of course, many times those different romantic involvements do not work out. And the person will move on to another love situation.

In the dating world, such a fact is called a "break-up." As is often mentioned in these meditations, It is generally known that people will not marry the first person that they love. Granted that there are a few exceptions, but for the most part, the fact means that people will have a “falling out” with people that they once liked, even loved. Many times such a break-up is hostile and angry, and burdens the person for a long time.

Such is the case with Olivia Rodrigo's song "good 4 u." The lady in the once-upon-a-time relationship is very angry at the man in that relationship even while she sarcastically says “Good for you.” The relationship has ended, obviously: they had some problems that they could have talked out, but they ran away from the problems rather than try to solve them.

The point must be made that her sarcasm and anger not only did not solve any problem that she and her friend had, but it ruined her life at least for a time. Jesus's thought about mourning well and showing mercy could very easily help the lady in the relationship to get over the pain a lot quicker than simply remaining angry and sarcastic. It is axiomatic that if we manage to be a little bit better in our relationships with others, we will feel better ourselves.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, we fall in love in our lives here on earth as you designed it to be. Help us recognize that even in very difficult situations, especially in close personal relationships, we should be open to try to reconcile with others rather than try to hurt them. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: In dating, when a person breaks with a partner, being sarcastic and angry will not help the situation.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does the song "good 4 u" teach young people?
2. Read all of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12 and determine the meaning of each one.
3. In general, why are people not happy when they treat others poorly?
4. Does every "break-up" necessarily involve some hurt? Yes or no and why?
5. What causes most break-ups?
6. The meditation mentions that a poor break-up will ruin one's life for a time. Is this a statement that is always true? Yes or no and why?