[media presentation below] GospelThink Monday, June 12 MATTHEW 5:1-12 I give you a summary of the moral life for a follower of mine. Prayerthoughts a. Jesus addresses the words to the crowds and therefore to me. Do I truly listen to all of the words that the Lord gives me? b. Poor in spirit: do I allow material things to dominate my life? c. Mourn: there is pain in my life, but Jesus and what he teaches is the answer to that pain. d. Meek: this is a direct statement against power and the people who want more power. Do I try to be more important than others? e. Righteousness: do I really work at prayer and closeness to the Lord, and desire to be a holy person? f. Mercy: do I reach out to the hurting people around me and help them if I can? g. Clean of heart: am I honest, sincere, chaste, and do I lie to protect myself? h. Peacemakers: do I really try to reconcile the factions that divide us? i. Suffer insult: I should expect criticism for trying to be a good person, but I should be a good person anyway. j. My prayerthoughts…   Today, I will read 2 Corinthians 1:1-17 and write an important thought from it. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MORAL LAW  + The Gospel reading today begins the most important set of daily Gospel readings in the Church year in my opinion:           – namely, Matthew 5-7, what we have come to call the Sermon on the Mount                      – where Matthew has gathered most of the major moral teachings of Jesus into one place                      – it is important for the spiritual life that we re-read those Gospel passages and meditate on them sometime during the day                                – because they require time to study what Jesus said exactly, and what their application is to us + Matthew begins this most important section by an introduction that will be “fleshed out” in the Sermon itself           – it is a program of life, saying in effect that here is the general pattern for living a life well                      – or living a life with Christian thought in mind                      – it is “general” but significant in itself  + The first reading during the next couple of weeks will be from the second letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians           – it is part of a number of letters that Paul wrote to the Corinthians                      – in fact, the letter itself is a combination of a couple of letters           – it was written in the latter part of the 50’s and contains many personal references to Paul himself so that the letter gives us a very good idea of how Paul looks at himself  + We can look at the two readings today from the point of view of giving us a list of characteristics for the spiritual life of a Christian           – they are ideals that we all should strive for           – first, from the beginning of the second letter to the Corinthians, one of the major themes of the book immediately, the ability to suffer well           – then from the Gospel:           – poor in spirit, the anawim who have the favor of God                      – Matthew added “in spirit”; Luke’s idea of “poor” is probably what Jesus meant                      – “poor” implies those who cannot function as adult spiritual persons                                – these are the special people that God is concerned about           – mourn, those who especially mourn the evil of the world           – meek, those slow to anger, gentle           – interested in what is truly just, that is, righteousness           – merciful, pardoning of one’s neighbor, love, especially of needy and enemies           – clean of heart, people dedicated to justice, faithful to God’s law           – peacemakers, those who have shalom, total well being, especially seen in the way they love others           – persecuted, probably placed in the Beatitudes because Matthew’s readers were in severe persecution                      – translated to today: those who suffer either mentally or physically because they believe in Jesus.  + In a sense, all of the moral characteristics of the true Christian are contained in that list           – the important thing for us spiritually is that we study the list with our own lives in mind so that we can lead better lives. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Bad Blood” — Taylor Swift THE PROBLEM OF BAD BLOOD The Gospel LUKE 9:49-50 Then John said…“Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company.” Jesus said to him, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”

Gospelthink: Everyone who helps you in some way is good for you. Do I listen as well as I should to the people who want to help me?

“‘Cause, now we got bad blood. You know it used to be mad love. So take a look what you’ve done. Hey, now we got problems, and I don’t think we can solve them. You made a really deep cut, and, baby, now we got bad blood. Did you have to do this? I was thinking that you could be trusted. Did you have to ruin what was shiny? Now it’s all rusted. Did you have to hit me where I’m weak? I couldn’t breathe. And rub it in so deep, salt in the wound like you’re laughing right at me. Oh, it’s so sad to think about the good times, you and I, ’cause, baby, now we got bad blood.”

Taylor Swift’s song “Bad Blood” presents the occasion to talk about relationships that do not work out for some reason. There are many such times in life and perhaps the most common is the romantic one that the lady in the song is singing of. There was a breakup that occurred and the lady in the song is reflecting on it. But the situation carries over to other instances as well. Friends have a falling out, we move away from people who were close to us, or the like. What the person in the song expresses is extremely important–there may be times when things do not work out between people, but what she sings should never happen because it will only make matters worse. The falling out ought to be civil, and never with the malice as described in the song. It is the Christian principle of allowing others to be different from us, and accepting it as such. Jesus pointed out to his followers that even though there are others who are not following the way he was proposing, it does not make them bad people. It merely means that they have chosen another way of living their lives and attaining happiness. Unfortunately, many times we have not learned that lesson very well. We especially see it in a romantic relationship after some sort of breakup, as the song “Bad Blood” describes. What was described as “mad love” has ceased, but through someone’s fault–the song describes it as the other’s fault–it is not an amicable breakup at all. In the song’s case, the other ruined the relationship, and hurt the person in the song, “rubbing” it in, like salt in a wound. It is a situation that could easily lead to revenge, and therefore real problems in life. It is not an easy lesson, because someone is hurting very badly in the relationship. When it happens, it is very difficult to accept the consequences, let the other go their own way, and forget about it. It is true of course that we will never be able to forget about it completely, but it will lead to a happier life if we just ignore the malice that can be part of the break up, and move on without being vindictive. It is never easy to live with “bad blood” between people, and so it is best to let time heal the relationship and merely move on.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, our human interaction often involves some sort of falling out between people. Give us the grace to accept what happens without the desire to retaliate in any way. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: We will have to leave some relationships when they do not work out, but we should never do it with malice.   DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. In the Gospel, Jesus is advocating tolerance of others who may not be following what he is teaching. Religious tolerance is a virtue that is very important in our complicated world. In general, do Catholic Christians show enough tolerance of other religions? Yes or no and why? 2. Why have we not been able to be as tolerant as we should? 3.The two obviously had quite a confrontation. Why do confrontations often end up in heated arguments? 4. Analysis: As you study the song, what do you think will happen next in their relationship? 5. Why is it generally so difficult for a romantic breakup to be “civil”? 6. In general, do you agree that “revenge” is something that we should not allow in our lives? Yes or no and why? 7. Why is it true that one cannot just forget about something that has happened? 8. To act well after a difficult happening is very difficult, and many experts say that if we do, our lives will be better because of it. Why is it a true statement? 9. The meditation suggests that we allow time to help heal. What else can help a relationship heal?  10. What does the song “Bad Blood” teach young people?