[media presentation below] GospelThink Tuesday, June 21 MATTHEW 7:6,12-14 I tell you to enter through the narrow gate, that is, choose the path that truly leads to God. Prayerthoughts a. The Lord reminds me that I must treat things that are holy with the proper respect. Do I show the proper respect around the things in my life? b. The Lord reminds us of the Golden Rule. Is there anyone in my circle of people whom I am not loving as I should? What can I do about it? c. The Lord uses some strong condemnatory language to remind me that I should enter through the narrow gate, that is, I should be dedicated in my approach to my spiritual life. Am I following the “narrow gate” idea as I work on my spiritual life? d. The Lord uses a scare tactic again in his words—those who find the narrow gate are “few.” Are there some things that I should change in my life as I try to be more spiritual? e. My prayerthoughts…   Today, I will read 2 Kings, chapter 19, and write an  important thought from it. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  THE NARROW GATE   + The conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount in chapter 7 of Matthew’s Gospel summarizes some of the ideas that have been said in the Sermon         – here mentioning the golden rule, a rule that the people would have known, but not stressed very much         – and the narrow gate – an image coming from shepherding sheep, and therefore known to the Hebrew people, but not applied to the spiritual life this way  + The narrow gate is one of the truly difficult spiritual concepts that Jesus gives us—ranking along with love of enemies and no revenge         – it is a summarizing concept for the spiritual life                 – it is an ominous one, perhaps a scare tactic         – the narrow gate implies some restrictions, some getting rid of unnecessary things so that one can pass through it, some denials, and implies taking the time and effort to go through it                 – and the ominous part, the scare tactic:                         – the road to damnation is wide and many take it                         – the road to salvation is narrow, constricted, and only a few take it  + The narrow gate is a necessary image for our modern spiritual lives         – it means accepting the truly difficult, the truly confining words of Jesus and the Scriptures                 – like the directives of the Sermon on the Mount, and what we heard today, the Golden Rule                         – note the importance of others in the scheme of Christian reality                 – it means accepting the difficult directives of the Hebrew Scriptures                         – and today in the 2 Kings reading, the total dependence on God by Isaiah and Hezekiah                                 – like there is no one else to turn to                                         – that is the type of dependence necessary for the narrow gate image         – and the narrow gate implies much more than what the Scriptures say or what is written down for us                 – it calls for a certain regulation of self so that we do not get so cluttered from material things that we forget about the basic spiritual things:                         – things like time for God, real effort at loving others, and limiting luxury  + The narrow gate is one of those directives that we don’t like to hear         – living the spiritual life is really a difficult learning experience                 – and just as any art, it must be worked at continually, day and night. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Marry Me” — Train GETTING THE NERVE The Gospel MATTHEW 4:12-17 When Jesus had heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulon and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled. … From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Gospelthink: I began my ministry with the thought of repentance, asking you to change. Have I listened to the Lord and truly repented for my sins?

“Forever can never be long enough for me to feel like I’ve had long enough with you. Forget the world now; we won’t let them see. But there’s one thing left to do: now that the weight has lifted, love has surely shifted my way. Marry me, today and every day. Marry me. If I ever get the nerve to say ‘hello’ in this café, say you will. Together can never be close enough for me. You wear white and I’ll wear out the words ‘I love you.'”

The group Train speaks of marriage and the proposal of marriage in their song “Marry Me.” It is an interesting story because the perfect marriage that he sings of is only in his mind: he must first get up enough nerve to talk to her. When we study the life of the human Jesus, knowing that his incredible task was the redemption of humankind, we have to be interested in how he began the process. What were his feelings? How did he even go about starting it? What would it lead to, and what would it involve?  Matthew’s Gospel tells us that he went right to the task. It was as if he said, “Now is the time to begin; John prepared for it; it’s the perfect time. I will begin it by telling the people to repent.” The message was difficult enough; but it may even have been more difficult to begin to do it. The excellent music video that accompanies Train’s song “Marry Me,” begins with married couples who talk about their involvement with each other at the beginning of their marriages. In every instance, they talk of the courage to begin the process of discovery of the other person. Train’s song contains a double lesson: the one is the essence of marriage that will last “forever,” the first word of the song. The second is the nerve it takes to begin the commitment. Both are important for us. Because most of us get married, we must know what we are getting into, and completely understand that the word we use will be the word “forever.” Too often we have not understood what it means. The thought of “gaining the nerve” to begin the process is also something to consider. It certainly applies to the commitment of marriage, as the song and video show. But it also pertains to life in our world: if we want to accomplish any goal, we must have the courage to begin. One of the problems of putting ideas into action is procrastination–what our dictionary defines as consistently putting something off. It is a fault that can destroy ideas and even ruin lives. If there is something that we can do for others or for ourselves, something that will help us be better people, we must first begin to carry it out. Once we have begun, then we can refine it, develop it, and put it into practice. But to bring it about, we must begin to bring it about.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, we are eternally grateful to you for bringing about our redemption. As we study how Jesus achieved it, we learn the human lesson of how to accomplish our goals in life. Give us the continual grace to learn from him. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: If we want to accomplish anything in life, we must have the courage to begin. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. The message of the meditation centers in on beginning something. In your opinion, what were the thoughts of the human Jesus as he began his public ministry? 2. Jesus begins his ministry in a place different from John the Baptist because of Herod’s arrest of John. From the very beginning, Jesus had to be concerned about persecution. Why would Jesus’ message be such a problem for secular rulers? 3. Considering Jesus’ message, what is your definition of “repentance”? 4. The meditation mentions that the first word of the song is “forever.” The word should be said only with a permanent commitment. Give some examples of things that must be done “forever.” 5. The song speaks of the permanent commitment of marriage. In your opinion, what is absolutely necessary for a couple before marriage can take place? 6. Text analysis: why is it so difficult to “get the nerve to” talk to a person of the opposite sex? 7. Analysis: why can a married couple never “wear out the words, ‘I love you”’?      8. What is your understanding of Jesus’ redemption of humankind? (See Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, numbers 599-618.) 9. Obtain a copy of the video of Train’s song “Marry Me” and study the beginning dialogue of the couples. What is a common element in each of the stories? 10. In your opinion, do most couples who get married really understand the meaning of “forever”? Yes or no and why? 11. Given all the external preparations that are given to marriage especially in the Western world, do you think that the couple is really thinking about the real meaning of marriage as they prepare? Yes or no and why? 12. What does the song “Marry Me” teach young people?