September 26   

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Friday, September 26

LUKE 9:18-22

Who Is Jesus to Me?


Prayerthoughts

a. Jesus was praying. His relationship to his Father was precious to him. Is prayer crucial for me?

b. The Lord questions the Apostles. In these Scriptures, the Lord questions me with regard to my spiritual life. Really, how well do I listen to the Lord?

c. Both John the Baptist and Elijah were forerunners of Jesus. Do I consider myself to be a “forerunner of Jesus”, that is, do I announce that Jesus is alive by the way I live?

d. The most important question for us as for the Apostles is: “Who do you say that I am?” Who is Jesus to me?

e. My faith tells me that Jesus must be the center of my life. Is it clear by my actions?

f. Jesus foretells his Passion, Death and Resurrection. Perhaps this is a time to thank the Lord for his redemptive action for us.

g. My prayerthoughts…


Today I will read Haggai 2:1-9 and write an important thought from it.





Some Thoughts on the Liturgy


WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?


+ Yesterday’s Gospel dealt with Herod’s wonder about Jesus

- and as we grow in our spirituality, we concentrated on two questions:

- one, the basis of our spirituality: who is this Jesus?

- the second, the beginning of all spirituality: how do we try to see Jesus?

- this second question, only finding an answer in the acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior

+ Today’s Gospel also deals with a question, this time from Jesus

- incidentally, Luke took this portion of his Gospel from Mark most probably, and left out any negative reference to Peter

- in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus rebukes Peter for not understanding the cross

- here, Jesus rebukes the apostles, but Luke doesn’t explain why—the reason probably being that they didn’t understand the cross

- the question from Jesus is similar to yesterday’s questions: this time—

Who do the crowds say that I am?

- and more importantly, asking the disciples directly and asking us:

Who do you say that I am?

- it is an important question because Jesus is looking for more than what others are saying or what the disciples learned from some outside source

- Jesus is looking for some type of commitment from his Apostles

- and Peter responds very well—Jesus is the Christ of God, the Anointed One, the Fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures, the One that they, the Apostles, want to follow


+ As yesterday, the question can lead to some deep thought—

- who do we say that Jesus is for us?

- as we study the liturgy from today’s readings, there are a couple elements that should be part of our answer


+ 1 -from the first reading—we should say that for us Jesus is the means whereby the Lord our God is with us

- Yahweh, speaking through Haggai in the first reading says that God is with us and we don’t need to fear

- for us, Jesus and our relationship with him is the means whereby God is part of our lives

- and therefore we will constantly try to develop a relationship with the Lord in prayer and by reading spiritual books, especially the Gospels


+ 2 - from the Gospel—we should say that for us this Jesus is a person who has “sanctified” suffering

- as suffering was a part of what Jesus endured—as Luke says, he “suffered greatly”—so suffering is something that we have to work with as a preparation for eternal life

- a suffering that deals with psychological problems, as well as physical problems

- as we grow older, we are well aware that we suffer for whatever reasons

- Jesus took this thought of suffering, and told us that it is part of our spirituality

- who do we say Jesus is for us?

- he is a person who taught us that suffering has a fundamental part in our lives

- we have to deal with it as best we can, trying to alleviate it, etc.,

- but in the end, it is part of our spirituality


+ 3 - also from the Gospel—we should say that for us this Jesus is a person who leads us to eternal life through his Resurrection

- this suffering is something that will not continue

- there will be eternal life, just as Jesus was raised from the dead

- and part of that eternal life—we know from elsewhere in the Scriptures—depends on the type of life that we lead while we are here on earth, as we dwell in a suffering state


+ There are many parts to our answer of who Jesus is for us,

- but three in today’s liturgy are good meditation points

- who do you say that Jesus is for you?

- a person who wants to establish a relationship with us so that God will always be part of our lives

- a person who teaches us to suffer as best we can

- and a person who leads us to eternal life. 

 

 

 

 

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Movie: "Creed III" -- beginning session

SHARING LIFE'S EXPERIENCES

 

The Gospel


LUKE 2:39-40

When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

Gospelthink: The Holy Family grew up in a normal way in their home town.

Early on, Adonis Creed and Damian Anderson were best friends as they grew up together in a foster home. One day during that time, Adonis impulsively attacked Leon, the abusive caregiver of the home. He was joined by Damien who showed a gun that he had. Damien was arrested, but Adonis ran away. That fact was something that was always part of Adonis' thought but never shared with his wife Bianca. After Damien came out of prison, he looked up Adonis who was the retired Heavyweight Champion with his own gym. Damien wanted to be Heavyweight Champion and tricked Adonis into sponsoring him. Adonis does and eventually Damien becomes the Champion. All the while, Adonis was acting out of character because of what happened in the past.

We know very little about Jesus's early life. We only know what Matthew and Luke tell us in their Gospels, and that is not a lot because they are so different from one another. Here in Luke's Gospel, after Jesus's birth in Bethlehem, he and his mother and foster father settle in Nazareth. Luke's explanation covers about thirty years of time, time in which both Mary and Joseph celebrated their marriage and their son Jesus "became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him."

As can be discerned from Luke's explanation, Jesus's life foundation was a good one. No doubt, the Holy Family was the perfect place for Jesus to grow, and therefore have the basis upon which a full later life could be experienced. Judging from his future life, he could teach and show the compassion necessary to help people.

Perhaps it is profitable to look at what did not happen in Jesus's early years. There is no indication that Mary and Joseph had difficult times and therefore did not communicate with each other, or that they experienced so many difficulties that they had to separate. Likewise, there is no indication that Jesus had some falling out with either parent. Probably Joseph died during those thirty years and Jesus remained with his mother in support of her and the family needs.

It is important because there are so many difficulties with growing up for a young person. They absolutely must have the support of both parents, and when they don't or when the parents have diffiulties communicating, the life of the whole family will be affected. In the movie "Creed III," Adonis and Damien, the best of friends, had a falling out, and the fact should have been shared with the partners of Adonis and Damien later on. The fact that Adonis did not share his early life with his wife Bianca was a dificulty and could have caused a major breakdown in their adult lives.

We all have things that happen to us early on in our lives. Realizing that they could affect what happens with later lives, those difficulties should be shared with the people who are important to us later on.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, you know how difficult it is to grow into maturity because your Son in his human form had to experience it. As we grow into adulthood, give us the grace to live happy adult lives by sharing experiences that have influenced our early lives. Be with us, we pray. 

 

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: When there are difficulties when people are young, they should share them with loved ones later on in life.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 58 minutes)
1. What scene during this session of the movie was most striking to you? Why?
2. In your opinion, allowing for the differences of time, was Jesus's early life like our own?
3. In your opinion, why is it necessary to have a "good" life as a child?
4. In your opinion, what percentage of people in the United States have a "healthy" early life?
5. Do most families have good communication with their young children? With their teenagers? With their grown children?
6. Do most married couples commuicate "well."