TGIMMif

	LIVE AND LEARN

The Gospel

LUKE 9:10

When the apostles returned, they explained to [Jesus] what they had done. He took them and withdrew in private to a town called Bethsaida.

The Media

"If You Only Knew"

Shinedown

"If you only knew, I’m hanging by a thread; I’d sacrifice my beating heart before I lose you. I still hold onto the letters you returned. I swear I’ve lived and learned. It’s 4:03 and I can’t sleep without you next to me. I toss and turn like the sea. If I drown tonight, bring me back to life, breathe your breath in me. The only thing that I still believe in is you, if you only knew. If you only knew how many times I counted all the words that went wrong."

The apostles of Jesus were not theologians. They were simple men whom the Lord had called to preach the Gospel that he had taught them. They learned as best they could. Then, he sent them out into the towns of Galilee in order to prepare for his future preaching in those towns. Knowing themselves and what their lives were like before, they were absolutely amazed at what they could do. They had done incredible things. They had taught, and people had listened. They had discussed things about their religion that the people had never heard of. They had anointed people, curing their illnesses. No doubt very excited when they came back to Jesus, they reported everything they had done and taught. Jesus welcomed them back and gave them a chance to reflect on what they had done.

In Shinedown's song, the man in the relationship is begging his girlfriend to come back. It is an extremely difficult situation for him because he is on the point of losing it, a thought that is captured by the excellent video which takes place on the steel girders of an unfinished skyscraper in New York City. In reality, his girlfriend must be the one who has the decision to make. Should she come back? Has he really lived and learned a lesson? From the song, we do not know what she finally decided, but one is certain that the man learned a lesson.

One can never stop learning. The songs of our day reflect on many situations, most of them dealing with love, and they always give us something to think about and learn. The problem is that we do not like to live out what we learn because most of the time it is not easy. As we reflect on the words of the songs of our day, we reason that we must learn to communicate a little better; we must learn to forgive other people, not to use angry words even if we are angry; often we learn that we must change our behavior. They often urge us to make our world better, to do things a little differently from what we are doing now, to work at being better people.

Those ideas could very well be the same ideas that Jesus gave to his apostles as he took them to their retreat in Bethsaida. We all have so many experiences as we live our lives--they are indeed sources from which we can learn. We really can "live and learn."

THOUGHT
In general, what helps us live and learn more than anything else?

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, we can constantly learn from the things that you give us in life. Our problem is, of course, that we sometimes do not want to take the time to learn from what happens to us. Give us the grace to truly live and then learn. Be with us, we pray.

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