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September 6
[media presentation below] GospelThink Saturday, September 6 LUKE 6:1-5 The religious leaders were not at all interested in my new way of life. Prayerthoughts a. Our Sabbath day is Sunday. In general, have I kept holy our Sabbath Day, refraining from unnecessary work and giving myself to prayer? b. Jesus could see that an exception was given in the past to accommodate people, showing that people were more important than law. Have I shown a sincere love for all people in my immediate circle? In what area can I do better? c. When Jesus tells me to love everyone, are their some whom I have deliberately excluded? Perhaps I should take the time to pray for them right now. d. Jesus is lord of the Sabbath. The Pharisees had many laws about things that were not permitted on the Sabbath. Jesus has his own law. In your opinion from the Scriptures with which you are familiar, what are Jesus’s three most important laws for me right now? (This is the task of the meditation.) e. In general, what does Jesus mean when he says that the Sabbath was made for man? f. My prayerthoughts…. Today, I will read Colassians 1:21-23 and write an important thought from it.
Some Thoughts on the Liturgy THE LAW + The Gospel gives us one of the common points of disagreements between Jesus and the Pharisees, namely the law - and how important is the law - in this case, it is the law of the Sabbath - and in particular, what can be done on the Sabbath - we know from our study of Hebrew literature at the time of Jesus that the laws of the Sabbath were quite extensive - hundreds of laws, telling the Israelite men and women how they were to behave, how many paces they could walk, and exactly how much work could be done - one of those laws dealt with eating and the activity which led to eating, the case in today’s Gospel - today, Jesus points out to the Pharisees that eating is more important than the laws of the Sabbath - and in Jesus’ scheme of things, as he talks about the Kingdom of God that he was preaching, - he, Jesus, the Son of Man as he frequently calls himself, will put the law of the Sabbath into the proper perspective + As we search for an application of that Gospel in our lives today in the twenty-first century - probably that ideal is something that we should consider—we have to place law into the proper perspective - unfortunately, our own Catholic history and heritage has imitated a stress on law that has been too strong - and immediately, we have to say that law is important as a guideline - Jesus did not do away with all law - he just said that sometimes some things are more important than law, like people, and in particular ourselves, and our eating, the topic of today’s Gospel - the same with our Catholic tradition—some things are more important than the laws that we have come to know such as the Ten Commandments or the Canon law of the Church + When is something more important than the law? - usually the Gospels will suggest that situations involving people can be more important, like our eating, in today’s reading - that is, taking care of self - in the first reading from the letter to the Colossians, the apostle of Paul says that we have to be firmly grounded and stable in the faith - faith—and the carrying out of that faith—is more important than law + Even if law is most important as we live our Christian spiritual lives, there are things that are more important than the law - Jesus reminds us of that today - we have to have a healthy respect for what the law says, but we have to understand also that people—in today’s Gospel, ourselves—sometimes take precedence over the law.

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

The Gospel

MATTHEW 19:16-22

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? .