TGIMMgood

	THIS COULD BE A GOOD LIFE

The Gospel

JOHN 5:24-26

[Jesus said:] "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life. Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to his Son the possession of life in himself."

The Media -- "Good Life" (OneRepublic)

"Woke up in London yesterday, found myself in the city near Piccadilly. Don’t really know how I got here. Day turns to night, night turns to whatever we want: we’re young enough to say. Oh, this has gotta be the good life, this really could be a good life. Got this feeling that you can’t fight, like this city is on fire tonight. Please tell me what there is to complain about: when you’re happy like a fool, let it take you over; when everything is out, you gotta take it in. Oh, this could really be a good life. The hope is we have so much to feel good about."

Jesus spoke about many things during his life with us on earth. One of them was life itself. In John's Gospel, it is clear that Jesus was the Son of God, and that he had life through his Father. Jesus tells us that such a life is also given to us, that if we hear and believe in him, we will have such a life. Jesus was speaking of eternal life and we do not completely understand it yet, but we know it is infinitely better than this life, and certainly could be called "the good life."

The group OneRepublic's song "Good Life" is speaking of the life that we can easily understand: life here on earth. Their statement is simple enough: our life here on earth can be good: "this could really be a good life." It is an important statement given the amount of things that often go wrong in life. It makes no difference what the circumstances of our lives are; the fact is that it could be a good life.

A fact connected with the psychology of the human being is that life is what you make it, and wherever you are, whatever you do, you can make it something good. It is quite literally up to us if we want to make our lives good lives. As Jesus says, we have to hear and believe, or as OneRepublic sings, "night turns to whatever we want."

But we often need help in order to make the "good life." We must define the "good life" as something more than merely a selfish feeling of personal satisfaction, and define it more from the point of view of "inner peace with myself and others." If we do, then we quickly see that the "good life" is a matter of a decision that we make, a decision to be the best we can be at all times. In order to do that well, we can take the principles of Jesus who talked of this life leading to eternal life, and make them our own. Or we can take the principles of leadership or the insights of Eastern religions or the like, and allow them to be the guide to the "good life."

The point is that we can make a "good life" for ourselves and others, but we have to decide to do it, even as we use the helps that are given to us.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, you have given me a great and beautiful world and likewise a great and beautiful life. Help me make the decision to honestly make my life a "good life" by following what your Son wants of us. Be with me, I pray.

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GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: I can make my life "the good life" if I want to.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. In your opinion, do most Christians truly "listen" to the word of Jesus in the Scriptures? Yes or no and why?
2. The Gospel passage says that "the hour is ... now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God." In your opinion, what is the meaning of this statement?
3. Text analysis: "Tell me what there is to complain about." What do we complain about the most? Why do we do it?
4. Text analysis: What does "happy like a fool" mean?
5. The song refers to hope for humankind. What is our greatest hope? Can it really be achieved? Yes or no and why?
6. Describe "eternal life" as you understand it. (See Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, numbers 1023-1029.)
7. What are the principal drawbacks to a "good life"? Is there anything that can be done with what you listed?
8. With one phrase, describe life here on earth.
9. Do you agree with the statement that "life is what you make it." Yes or no and why?
10. If you had the power to make the world what it should be, what would you do first?
11. The meditation defines the "good life" to be a life of "inner peace with myself and others." Do you agree and why or why not?
12. The meditation suggests making the principles of Jesus our guide or to make some other leadership guidelines our guide. What are the leadership principles that should guide your life?
13. The meditation says that we must make a decision to have a "good life." What is the first decision that must be made as we make a "good life" for ourselves?
14. What does the song "Good Life" teach young people?

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