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September 6
[media presentation below] GospelThink Friday, September 6 Luke 5:33-39 Fasting. Prayerthoughts a. Spiritual practice includes some type of fasting, whether from food or things (such as television, Facebook, etc.). Do I spend too much time with created things? b. Jesus gives a new meaning to fasting. It involves not the old idea of restraint, but the new idea of love of God. When I am asked to fast (by Church law), do I spend the time when I am fasting to turn to God in prayer? (This is the task of the meditation.) c. The bridegroom, Jesus, is never taken away from us in the sense that the Lord is always with us. Do I acknowledge the Lord’s presence during the day as often as I should? d. Jesus’s approach to life is something new. How do I describe the Lord’s law in general? e. New wine is poured into fresh wineskins. I must adjust my life to what the Lord wants. At this time in my life, what should I change the most? f. My prayerthoughts…. Today, I will spend ten minutes of “fasting” from something that I like, and spend the time in some type of prayer.
Some Thoughts on the Liturgy THE NEW TEACHING OF JESUS + Jesus’ response to the scribes and Pharisees in the Gospel today was a statement that Jesus was establishing a new teaching, a new and up till then, unheard of, concept - what he called the Kingdom of God - defined as a time of God’s presence on earth that was to culminate eventually with union of God in heaven - and while here on earth, it had to be understood as different from the religious teaching of the scribes and Pharisees - such a teaching did not go over well with the scribes and Pharisees obviously - Jesus was intimating that their religious beliefs—that which they had given their lives to—was inadequate or lacking in some way - Jesus in this Gospel tells them that although there may be some elements that are the same, for the most part, you can’t put “new wine”—his teaching—into “old wineskins”—the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees + As we apply this thought to our situations today, - generally, we are not into any fights about our religious beliefs - for the most part, the people that we know are all Christian in one form or another—they accept the new teaching of Jesus Christ concerning the Kingdom of God - it is an embarrassing fact that we do fight about beliefs even as we profess the same basic ones + With our situation today, I believe that we as spiritual people, believers in the Kingdom of God - have more of a disagreement with what might be called the teaching of the world - a teaching that would involve the acceptance of too much pleasure, power, and money - those are the “wineskins” that we would like to pour our wine into, so to speak - in general, our human natures want what the world has to offer—the teaching of the world, if you will - and it is a difficult task to keep our human natures in control + We need to hear over and over again the different directives of Scripture - for example, Paul today saying that we must remain servants of Jesus, stewards of the mysteries of God, not worried about the judgments of earth, but only worried about God’s judgments - and at the same time, withholding our judgments of people - we need to spend the time of prayer that we are today - to keep us attuned to what Jesus wants, - and what the Kingdom of God is all about + You and I profess the new teaching of Jesus, - the belief that we are all working to establish the Kingdom of God in our lives right now - that teaching is at odds with the teaching of the world - our call is to be aware of that, and continually work to keep our spiritual balance as we live in the world.

MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: "Good Old Days" -- Macklemore featuring Ke$ha MISSING OUT ON THE NOW

The Gospel

MATTHEW 19:16-22

Someone approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother”; and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Gospelthink: i call you to be as close to perfect as you can be, and that calls for you to be able to give away some things. How am I with regard to giving to others?

"I wish somebody would have told me: someday, there will be the good old days, all the love you won’t forget and all these reckless nights you won’t regret—someday soon, your whole life’s gonna change. Now look at where we are, still growing up. Now that I’m here, wishing for those good old days. Been scared of the future, thinking about the past while missing out on now.”

Whether the subject is love or life, dwelling on the past is not a way to maturity. The rich young man of Matthew’s Gospel was a person whose past had been profitable to the point of “having many possessions.” When Jesus called him to further growth, asking him to give up the past he had loved, he was not able to do it. With his refusal, the young man walked away from Jesus “sad.” The young man had missed an opportunity to improve.

It seems that the person in Macklemore and Kesha's song "Good Old Days" has had some good times in the past. The person is wishing that he/she could have them again, but there is the possibility that the person will miss out on the "now" when dwelling too long on that past.

Young and old often miss the opportunity to improve because of their devotion to the past. In general, people do not want to let go of something that makes them comfortable, even when it is obvious that they should be choosing something else, or someone else. Such seems to be the case with Macklemore and Kesha's song.

But the missed opportunity because of a desired past goes further than personal relationships. As in Matthew’s story in the Gospel, many people cannot understand the promises of real perfection because past material possessions cloud their vision. In life, the pursuit of what is better is often hampered by a glorified past.

There are many things that can be learned from the past, both good and bad. If we have made mistakes, we can learn from them. If we experienced something good or beautiful, our lives are so much the richer. But to remain in the past often condemns us to solutions of the past. We must all learn to live in the present and allow the past to be a teacher rather than a dictator.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, we all have a past, and sometimes some actions of the past have been good and some not good for us. Help us to study our past, and then give us the grace to learn from it so that we can live well in the present and future. Be with us, we pray.

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GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: We must live in the present while remembering some things about the past.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does the song "Good Old Days" teach young people?
2. Why does it seem that having too many material goods may block a good spiritual life?
3. In general, have the good old days been good most of the time? Yes or no and why?
4. What is the best way to insure that we will never miss an opportunity to improve our lives?
5. What is the meaning of "missing out on the now" when dwelling too long on the past?
6. What is the meaning of a "glorified past"?
7. It is true that to remain in the past often condemns us to the solutions of the past. What are some instances in which you have seen this to be true? .