media presentation below] GospelThink Thursday, June 8 MARK 12:28b-34 Through the Scribe, I give you the basic laws of love again. Prayerthoughts  a. Jesus is giving me His two commandments of love. Is it clear that my love of God is a strong part of my life? b. As I listen to Jesus say that I must love my neighbor as myself, is there anyone that I am excluding from that love right now? What can I do about it? c. The scribe seems to have caught exactly what Jesus meant since Jesus said that the scribe answered with understanding. Do I spend enough time with the Gospels of Jesus?   d. In choosing the image that Jesus chooses—“worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices”—Jesus is showing that love of God and neighbor even surpasses worship of God. Is my acceptance of Jesus’s directive of “love of God and neighbor” as strong as it should be? e. I obviously want to be close to the Kingdom of God. Today, how can I choose to be closer? f. My prayerthoughts….   Today I will read Tobit, chapter 6 and write an important thought from it. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  GOD WORKS THROUGH OUR LOVE  + The story of Tobit continues in the first reading:          (again, I invite you to read the book of Tobit in the Bible, chapters 4-8 today)          – Tobit tells Tobiah to go for the money that Gabael has in Media, and to choose a companion for the journey          – the angel Raphael disguises himself and leads him to Gabael          – on the way, Tobiah catches a fish, and at Raphael’s direction, takes out its gall, heart and liver          – they journey on and go to Raguel, and Tobiah marries Sarah, the first reading today          – Tobiah burns the heart and liver of the fish which chases away the demon, then Tobiah and Sarah turn to God in prayer, and they are free to enjoy their marriage  + Principally, the story is how God brings all things to good, no matter how badly they may look at one particular time          – that, of course, is a solidly Christian belief                   – and practically, the way it is worked out—the way God works in our world—is through our practice of love                            – love of God and love of each other                                     – in the story, Tobiah and Sarah are in love as they work out God’s plan          – it is significant that the young man in the Gospel is blessed for his understanding by Jesus                   – his insight was that this doctrine of love was much more important than even worship of God—“burnt offerings,” the way the Hebrew people worshiped God  + As Catholics, we have always considered worship of God to be of primary importance in our scheme of understanding things—and rightly so          – it is a fact that if more people would acknowledge their dependence on God                   – there would be less evil in our world          – but Jesus’ statement is of primary importance in his doctrine                   – even more important than worship of God is God’s all-embracing doctrine of love  + It naturally leads us to think in terms of our love of God and love of each other          – the liturgy is a challenge as to how we are helping bring God’s action into the world with our own working out of the love. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Anti-Hero” — Taylor Swift I’M THE PROBLEM The Gospel LUKE 15:20-24 [Jesus continued the parable:] “So [the younger son] got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then the celebration began.

Gospelthink: In my story of the Prodigal Son, the first son admitted he was wrong and turned his life around. Do I truly acknowledge my sins?

“I have this thing where I get older, but just never wiser. Midnights become my afternoons when my depression works the graveyard shift. All of the people I’ve ghosted stand there in the room. I should not be left to my own devices; they come with prices and vices; I end up in crisis, I wake up screaming from dreaming. One day I’ll watch as you’re leaving ’cause you got tired of my scheming. It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me.”

Jesus’ story of the “prodigal son” or “forgiving father” in Luke’s Gospel has many lessons. It is a story of a father who truly loves both of his sons, and an older son who is jealous and who has to decide how he is going to act. Perhaps most of all it is a lesson of moral responsibility. The younger son faced what he had done, went back to his father, the person that he had harmed, and told him directly that it was his fault: he did it and accepted full responsibility for his actions: “I have sinned against heaven and against you,” he said. Or, in the words of Taylor Swift’s song “Anti-Hero,” “It’s me. I’m the problem.” In her own explanation of the song, Taylor Swift writes: “This song really is a guided tour through all the things I tend to hate about myself. We all hate things about ourselves.” Some spiritual critics in our world claim that we have lost the definition of sin, and therefore less and less people are turning to God as a necessity. Whether it is true or not, there is little doubt that the way to return to an understanding of sin is somehow to accept the possibility that there is sin in our own lives. We must look at the example of the younger son in Jesus’ story, and understand that Jesus means the story for us, that we may be responsible for some sin in the world. It is our fault. I may be the problem. Of course, admitting the problem is not enough; we must go further and want to do something about it. Taylor Swift in explanation of the song says, “It’s all of those aspects of the things we dislike and like about ourselves that we have to come to terms with if we’re going to be this person.” That “coming to terms with” implies that once we know the problems that we are, we will do something about them so that we will become a person who not only sees the problems, but tries to solve them. Our world is in dire need of more people who work for good no matter what the circumstances. It is a fact that we have some good examples, some of them even in modern music. Now it is up to us.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, we are sinners. We do not like to admit it all the time, but admit it we must. Give us the grace to accept any responsibility for any wrongs that we may have committed. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: To bring about a good life, we must begin with ourselves. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. What does the song “Anti-Hero” teach young people?   2. This Gospel is the second part of Jesus’ parable. Read the complete parable (Luke 15:11-32) and then answer the question: what is the overall message of the parable? Why? 3. The story is probably better named “The Forgiving Father” rather than “The Prodigal Son.” It is arguably the most important of Jesus’ parables because it illustrates how God the Father acts on our behalf. See Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, number 1439. Do most Christians think that God is a merciful God? Yes or no and why? 4. What are some evils in our world right now and what if anything can I do about them? 5. Do you think that there are many people who really do not know what sin is? Yes or no and why? 6. What are some ways in which we can show that we are sorry for our sins?