[media presentation below] GospelThink Monday, March 27 JOHN 8:1-11 I treated the woman with the respect that she deserved as a human being. Prayerthoughts a. Jesus went to the Mount of Olives, probably to pray. Prayer is significant in the Lord’s life. Is prayer a significant part of my every day? b. Jesus taught them. What do I consider to be Jesus’ most significant teaching for me? c. The woman caught in adultery was treated with no respect. How do I think of people who have done wrong? Do I judge them instead of pray for them? d. Harsh treatment was given to people who did evil in the past. In my thinking, do I judge evil people in a harsh way? e. We have no idea what Jesus wrote. Perhaps a good thought would be: if Jesus would write something to me, what would it be? f. The meditation is more about not condemning people than forgiveness, although certainly forgiveness is part of the thought. Right now, are there people than I am judging too harshly? g. Jesus tells the woman not to sin any more. Sinfulness has been a part of my life. Perhaps now is a good time to make an act of contrition. h. My prayerthoughts…   Today I will write an act of contrition as suggested in letter g.  Some Thoughts on the Liturgy GOD DON’T MAKE JUNK            In the Gospel today Jesus acts out one of his teachings with regard to how we should treat others. The teaching is that everyone is important. The scribes and Pharisees wanted to make Jesus look like he would not follow the law, and so they use a woman caught in adultery to suit their purposes. Jesus says basically, “This is a human being, and everyone is important; you do not treat human beings this way.” Jesus separates the sin from the sinner. He does not condone the sin as he tells her:           Go, and from now on do not sin any more. But he treats her, the sinner, with the utmost respect. To Jesus, everyone is important.            We must all listen to that teaching, just as everyone in the Gospel story had to listen to what Jesus wanted to get across to them. He actually made them think by getting everyone there to look closely at what they were doing. Whatever that writing on the ground was, it could easily have been nothing more than taking up time to get the Pharisees to understand what they were doing and likewise to make the woman understand the sinfulness of her ways. It was time to make them think about what they were doing, making them question themselves a little.            Evil does not like that. The devil, or Satan, or however we look at the dark side of life would much rather cause dissension and chaos. But Jesus gave everyone time to think, and eventually they came to the conclusion that somehow this woman was an important human being because everyone is important.            That fact—that everyone is important—was brought home to me in a striking way a number of years ago. A very handicapped human being called me to visit him when I was in his facility, and he told me something that no doubt had been said about him: “God don’t make junk.”            God don’t make junk. From the most insignificant person who died during this minute to the child who was just conceived by a man and a woman, everyone is important because God don’t make junk.           One of the movies that I think everyone should see is “Seabiscuit,” the story of a horse who could have been junk, and turned out to be a magnificent animal. One line keeps going through the movie that is very apropos here and something that we can learn from: “You don’t throw away a whole life just because it’s banged up a little.”             Jesus acted that out today; it is a necessary lesson to learn for the Christian.   MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “How Long” — Charlie Puth TELL ME HONESTLY The Gospel MATTHEW 26:20-25 When it was evening, Jesus reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, “Surely it is not I, Lord?” He said in reply, “He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” He answered, “You have said so.”

Gospelthink: My betrayer Judas bothered me so much that I told all the disciples that it would happen. I haven’t totally betrayed the Lord, but have I turned away at times?

“She said, ‘Boy, tell me honestly. Was it real or just for show?’ She said, ‘Save your apologies, I just gotta know. How long has this been going on?'” The man admits it is his fault, and she is just about to leave if it continues to be a problem.

The study between Judas and Jesus in the New Testament Scriptures is an interesting one. Judas was a confidant of Jesus as can be seen in that Jesus chose him to be the keeper of their necessary money. One would also assume that as one of Jesus’ disciples, he cured people and preached the Kingdom of God as the Lord had instructed. What the Lord wanted from him was loyalty and most of all honesty. At the Last Supper, Judas could have admitted his fault and been honest with Jesus. If he had, quite literally, Christian history would have changed. In Charlie Puth’s song “How Long,” after the man had made a mistake, his girlfriend wants to know whether it is the end of the relationship or not. She asks him to tell him “honestly.” If he responds in an honest way, they will be able to discuss the future of the relationship. If he does not, she should probably get out of the relationship forever. She has “gotta know,” she says, and in a true relationship, both should know the honest feelings of the other. Perhaps one of the most common faults of young people is not telling the truth.They usually are not large lies, but ones that are often named “harmless.” Sometimes they are harmless and no one gets hurt except maybe the one who tells the lie. The one who tells the lie often can develop a habit of telling lies, and in the end becomes less of a person as a result. Telling lies is not only a fault of young people, of course. Adults also fall into the habit, and for them, most of the time, it is not harmless. Generally speaking, adults fully understand what they are doing when they tell a lie. Often the lie is nothing more than a cover-up for an action that they do not want to admit, or a way to make themselves appear better than they are. Honesty is an important quality for a romantic relationship as can be seen from Charlie Puth’s song, but as one studies Jesus and Judas, we learn that it is an important quality for all of our lives.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, Your Son wanted honesty from all of his disciples, a desire that we should be aware of as we study His life. May we have the grace to accept honesty as a virtue that we practice all the time. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDELINES FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: The most important part of communication is being honest with the other.   DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. What is the greatest sin that human beings commit today? Why? 2. When is the best time to give up on a relationship? 3. Besides honesty what are some other characteristics of good communication? 4. From your understanding of the Scriptures, what was Judas’ main problem? 5. What was the main difference between Judas and the rest of the Apostles? 6. In your opinion, are there some exceptions when a person does not have to tell the truth? 7. If a person finds himself/herself constantly lying about some issue, what is the best remedy to correct it? 8. What is your definition of “being an honest person”? 9. What does the song “How Long” teach young people today?