[media presentation below] GospelThink Saturday, June 3 MARK 11:27-33 I knew what the chief priests were doing of course, and I tricked them at their own game. Prayerthoughts a. The religious leaders continually tested Jesus during his public ministry, hardly ever with the correct intentions. As I work with the different people in my life, am I sincere and truthful? b. Jesus chooses to point out the religious leaders’ hypocrisy. As I study my life, especially my spiritual life, do I see any hypocrisy? What should I do about it? c. Jesus tricks them with the thought about John the Baptist and baptism. This is a good time to review my promises at my baptism (this is the task of the meditation.) d. In my arguing with people about various things, am I as respectful as I should be? e. My prayerthoughts… Today, I will meditate on the promises I made (or someone for me) at my Baptism: [Do you reject Satan / And all his works / And all his empty promises / Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty / Do you believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father / Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?]   Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  TRULY LISTENING TO JESUS  + Jesus said at one time that you have to be as wise as serpents in your approach to life             – part of that wisdom comes in how we say in English, “choosing your battle”                         – that is, choosing what you want to argue about                         – Jesus knew that the chief priests and religious leaders were not interested in really finding an answer—they wanted to trick him—so, he decided to expose their trickery, and use a trick of his own  + For the person interested in spiritual development, it is good to study the attitude of the chief priests and religious leaders of Jesus’ day             – they didn’t want to listen to Jesus, and so Jesus pays no attention to them                         – they were interested in tricking Jesus for the sake of getting him out of the way             – their attitude leads us the question:                         – do we really want to listen to Jesus                                     – that is, in the words of the letter of book of Sirach, to seek the Wisdom that the Lord gives  + This listening with the idea of following through is very difficult to do well             – the words of Scripture contain directives that if we really would listen to them, would direct our lives extremely well                         – it is easy to listen to, difficult to carry out in our own little worlds                                     – because our own little worlds are our main concern, and not the worlds of anyone else—our tendency is to be selfish  + The chief priests and religious leaders were not sincere in their questioning of Jesus,             – and so, the Lord would not answer them                         – and they missed out on being able to have a guide for their lives             – if we are sincere, the Lord will answer                         – the goal of our spiritual lives must be to be sincere in our approach to Jesus                                     – and that means that we will be in the state of willingness to really listen to the directives that Jesus gives,                                                 – that is, to read the Scriptures with the knowledge that Jesus is talking to us, and we want to listen. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Demons” — Imagine Dragons I CAN’T ESCAPE…UNLESS The Gospel MATTHEW 17:14-21 When they came to the crowd a man approached, knelt down before Jesus, and said, “Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you. Bring him here to me.” Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured. Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there, and it will move.’ Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Gospelthink: You must become a person of faith in me. Do I show my belief in the Lord in my life?

“When the days are cold, and the cards all fold and the saints we see are all made of gold, when your dreams all fail, and the ones we hail are the worst of all, no matter what we breed, we still are made of greed. When you feel my heat, look into my eyes: it’s where my demons hide. Don’t get too close, it’s dark inside. Your eyes, they shine so bright. I wanna save that light. I can’t escape this now unless you show me how.”

The song “Demons” by the group Imagine Dragons is a dark song. They sing of the demons that are within us, the demons that hurt and cause pain, the demons that make us feel useless, the demons that lead us to despair. The excellent video names some of those demons to be the feeling of loss, the feeling of despair over how we look, the horror of abuse, and the horror of war. We want to hide from the pain, and sometimes hurt ourselves just to relieve the mental pain. The demons conquer by making the person feel that there is no way to win. The group sings the thoughts of the man or woman in despair, “I can’t escape this now.” But there is light in the song. The group sings of hope because the person in the song also realizes that there is help–you, they sing, whoever “you” may be–you can show me how to conquer those demons. The song becomes a cry for help. It could be a prayer to God, or a note to a friend, or a plea to someone capable of helping.               In the Gospels, Jesus controls every demon he faces. He expels them by the power of faith, telling his disciples that they can do the same. In Jesus’ mind, demons have no power over a faithful person. People of faith will understand that they will win the battle over demons every time because they have the help of God or others. The demons of our lives–the depression, the desire to give up, the mental pain–are real and are part of every one of our lives in one way or another. The point of the song is the same as that of the Gospel: there is a solution. We can work with the pain, we can understand that the demons are there in our lives, and we can work against them. We may not be able to conquer them completely, but we will conquer when we have the help, help from our God however we understand God, or from friends or parents or concerned people who will help us.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, your Son conquered the demons that he encountered on earth. We ask for the same grace. Give us the desire to follow your Son completely so that we can overcome the demons that are part of our lives. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: There are demons within us, but we can overcome them when we accept some help.   DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. In the Gospel, Matthew concentrates on the faith of the apostles. What is your definition of faith? See Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, numbers 156-165. 2. Text analysis: “The saints we see all turn to gold.” What is the meaning of the phrase? 3. Obtain a copy of the excellent video to the song, discussing what is most striking about the video. 4. What are the most common demons that bother us in life? 5. Give your definition of a “person of faith.” 6. What does the song “Demons” teach young people?