ad astra 1

September 27

GospelThink

Saturday, September 27

LUKE 9:43b-45
I wanted my Apostles to understand what would happen to me.

Prayerthoughts
a. Jesus had the reputation of being someone great and probably could have attracted great crowds which he did often because they were amazed at his every deed. What is the most important thing that Jesus did as a human?

b. Jesus predicts his Passion by saying that he would be "handed over to men." From your knowledge of the passion of Jesus, what is most important for me to know?

c. "Handed over to men" sounds like an indictment of all, but of course, there are many people who did not agree with what happened to Jesus. Of all of the characteristics of people who are dedicated to God, what is the most important?

d. At times, the apostles did not understand Jesus. Do I spend sufficient time every day in meditation trying to understand what Jesus is saying to me?

e. My prayerthoughts….

Today, I will read Zechariah 2:2-9,14-15a and write an
important thought from it.

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Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

JESUS’S DEATH, OUR DEATHS

+ The Gospel today is the second prediction of Jesus’s passion and death in Luke’s Gospel

- Jesus’s whole life must be seen from the vantage point of his crucifixion

- the crucifixion—Jesus’s death, the fact that he was “to be handed over to men” as Luke records it—was to be the means whereby salvation comes to us

- and therefore extremely important in Jesus’s mind

- so that he foretells it a number of times in his life

- now in our minds and theology, as his followers, it must be just as important

+ A couple points of meditation for someone interested in the spiritual life here in the readings of the Liturgy:

1 – the whole thought of Jesus’s death should give rise to a thought about our own deaths

- making us ask the question: by the time of our deaths, what will we want to have accomplished?

- for the Christian, we will want to have a relationship with Jesus that is expressed in the good deeds and words of a person’s life

- that idea of relationship is an important thought in the Hebrew Scriptures

- in the reading from Zechariah, the Lord promises through Zechariah that God will always have a relationship with us if we want it:

“They shall be his people,” the book of Zechariah says

- in our lives, we have to be working on what we want to accomplish—that relationship with God through Jesus

2 – looking at Jesus’s redemption process and the fact that he died for us

- we don’t want to fail to understand as the Apostles did during Jesus’s public life as Luke says today

They did not understand this saying.

- Jesus did die for us, and our theology is that his death gave us the chance to have eternal life

- and consequently our lives here can be legitimate preparation of eternal life forever

- it should bring forth a gratitude for what he has accomplished for us as well as a certain desire to listen closely to his direction concerning what to do with our lives

+ Death is not a subject that we like to talk about

- it wasn’t for Jesus either, but was a fact that had to be dwelt with

Pay attention to what I am telling you, Jesus says

- paying attention to his death means also that we should pay attention to our own deaths

- not in a morbid sense

- but in a sense of understanding that the Apostles at that time in Jesus’s life did not have

- so that we can always be ready for death when it comes.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Song: "Applause" -- Lady Gaga

LIVING FOR THE APPLAUSE

The GospelLUKE 1:49-52

LUKE 1:49-52

[Mary said:] "The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly."

Gospelthink: My human mother's words--in praise of God. Do I praise God by the way I live?

"I stand here waiting for you to bang the gong, to crash the critic saying, ‘Is it right or is it wrong?’ If only fame had an IV, could I bear being away from you. I found the vein, put it in here. I live for the applause, live for the way that you cheer and scream for me. Give me that thing that I love—applause. I’ll turn the lights on. Put your hands up, make ‘em touch, make it real loud.”

One of most beautiful prayers contained in Scripture is the one attributed to Mary the Mother of Jesus. Known as the Magnificat, Mary takes justifiable pride in what God has done for her, and at the same time understands what will happen to those who are "arrogant of mind and heart." Both parts of pride are important for anyone interested in living a good life.

Singing of pride in her song "Applause," Lady Gaga calls attention to both parts of pride. First, there is a justifiable pride in being accepted by someone we love. The lady in Lady Gaga's song wants more than anything to have someone "cheer and scream" for her, a feeling that is justifiable in a love relationship because both must feel good about the other.

But, there is a pride that is harmful as well. A person who only wants applause, that is, a person who only wants praise from others can easily fall into arrogance, placing him/herself "above" others, making others feel less important in their lives, and in general, desiring only what they want as a guide to life in general.

In day-to-day living, we must be aware of both of those elements. We must have pride in ourselves, recognizing the abilities that we have, and understanding the contributions that we can make to the ones that we love. It is the foundation of being able to accomplish what we want to achieve as we grow. But we must know the sinfulness of pride as well. Too many people who are accomplished in life forget about the importance of others, what others have done for them, and often destroy any possible relationship, whether romantic or otherwise.

The virtue of pride helps us live well because we know that we can learn from others. The sin of pride makes us lose sight of others because we only see ourselves.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, your Son's earthly mother Mary is one of the great examples of living that you have given to us. May we learn from her as we understand what we can accomplish in life, and how selfish pride can harm us. Be with us, we pray.

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GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: We must have pride in ourselves, but not too much.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. The Magnificat may have been an ancient hymn that Luke inserted in his narrative and attributed to Mary. From the excerpt given in the reading, what is the overall meaning of the hymn?
2. Where is God's mercy shown the most?
3. Text analysis: "Lifted up the lowly." What is the meaning of the phrase?
4. Text analysis: "I stand here waiting for you to bang the gong." What is the meaning of the sentence?
5. What is the meaning of "applause" in the song?
6. Living for applause will cause problems when the applause ceases. How should we look at ourselves once we are no longer a center of attention?
7. Give an example in today's world of "justifiable pride."
8. The meditation says that we must have pride in ourselves. How do we show pride in ourselves without "being proud"?
9. In today's world, we cannot judge whether "celebrities" are proud. What is a good way of determining whether another person is proud or not?
10. What does the song "Applause" teach young people?

Questions, comments? Let me know. Email Fr. Mike