[media presentation below] GospelThink Saturday, June 24, The Nativity of St. John the Baptist LUKE 1:57-66,80 The hand of the Lord was on John the Baptist, the person who prepared for my way. Prayerthoughts a. The Lord has shown great mercy toward me as well. Perhaps I should take some time right now to thank the Lord for his love and mercy toward me. What should I thank the Lord for the most? (This is the task of the meditation.) b. Who would you choose among your acquaintances that you would most like to imitate? c. Zechariah followed the directive of the angel to call his son by the name of John. Do I try to discern the personal directives of the Lord each day for me in these Scriptures? d. In my speech, do I “bless God” enough, that is, offer praise to God? e. The crowds wondered about what John would do. In the time that I have left on earth,  what do I most want to accomplish? f. John grew physically and in the spirit. Am I growing in a spiritual way? g. My prayerthoughts…   Today, I will carry out letter a. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  THE CHARACTER OF A CHRISTIAN  + The Gospel today is an introduction to the person of John the Baptist with the question, “What will this child be?”             – the people around him recognize the circumstances of the child’s birth                         – if this man is surrounded by the miraculous, could it be that he will be someone special + John the Baptist was a special person because of who he was             – the spiritual conclusion for us, of course, is that we are all special people because of who we are—namely, Christians             – a good meditation today on this feast of John the Baptist might be a thought about that question of just who we are                         – or better said, what kind of persons we ar + There are a number of psychological tests out today which tell us what kind of people we are             – what should be of interest for us who have chosen the Christian way of life                         – is not only what kind of person we are, but, whether the Christian virtues are part of our makeup or not                                     – virtues like dedication to God presented in the book of Isaiah today,                                     – or humility and dedication to truth that the Acts of the Apostles reminds us of                                     – or simply put as the Gospel does, whether we have the strength of spirit that a John the Baptist had                                                 – virtues that everyone of us should know about—love, forgiveness, peace, the way Jesus was  + One of the things that you learn when you live with the same group of people all the time, like I do             – is that there are a number of real characters in your group                         – people who are just a bit different                                     – with some of them more different than others             – but the fact is: we are all characters, everyone of us                         – and the liturgy reminds us today that no matter what kind of character we have, or are                                     – we are called to be truly Christian in our approach                                                 – and that has some specific characteristics that we should try to develop. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Stressed Out” — Twenty-One Pilots STRESSED OUT BY MATURITY The Gospel MATTHEW 19:16-22 Someone approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother”; and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell, what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Gospelthink: If you wish to be perfect, give to the poor. Do I possess too many things? Can I give something away to a shelter?

“I was told when I get older all my fears would shrink, but now I’m insecure and I care what people think. My name’s ‘Blurryface’ and I care what you think. Wish we could turn back time, to the good ol’ days when our momma sang us to sleep but now we’re stressed out. Out of student loans and treehouse homes, we all would take the latter. We used to play pretend, give each other different names; we would build a rocket ship and then we’d fly it far away. Used to dream of outer space but now they’re laughing at our face, saying, ‘Wake up, you need to make money.'”

The young man in the evangelist Matthew’s Gospel had a good past. He had led a fairly good spiritual life, keeping the commandments of his Jewish religion, and he had also been somewhat prosperous in his life up to that point. Matthew mentions that he had “many possessions.” However, when Jesus answered his question about what he should do in the future, he could not give up his past, even though Jesus promised him “treasure in heaven.” In Twenty One Pilots’ song “Stressed Out,” the person wants to live in the past as well–“when our momma sang us to sleep” and we had “treehouse homes.” Such living was easier, and he loved to pretend and dream. Now, he is “stressed out” because of the responsibilities that he must take on. He has student loans and he needs money. He has left the security of someone taking care of him, and now must face the insecurity of the future, of not knowing exactly what will happen in that future. A young man or woman growing up in today’s world knows exactly the situation of the song. They must give up the security of a past that usually is without care and worry. Everyone around them has given to them, and now they must face a present and future that is not as kind and is much more demanding than anything they have had to face up to that point in their lives. Becoming “stressed out” is a good way of describing such a birth into maturity. We would much rather live in a past where everything is not nearly as complex as a present in which we have to make it on our own. We do not want to worry about the future, but because we are not sure of what will happen in that future, we feel obliged to worry about it, to begin to care what others think, as the song reminds us. The rich young man in the Gospel even turned down the “treasure” of heaven in order to live in his past. He no doubt discovered later in his life what we must discover in our own lives. We must become a little “stressed out” because we must work in the present and in the future no matter how good our past may have been.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, you call all of us as Your Son called the young man in the Gospel to the treasure of eternal life. Give us the grace to accept Your call and turn to you in order to be Your true follower. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT   Theme: Remembering the past is easy, but we must live in the present and prepare for the future. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. In general, why do you think that in the Gospel Jesus is so outspoken against people who have riches? 2. In general, do you think that Christian people follow the Lord’s directive to “give to the poor”? Yes or no and why? 3. If someone wants to donate a large amount of money, to whom should it be given? Why? 4. According to the duo, “Blurryface” is a name that was made up signifying an insecure person. Give your own definition of someone who is insecure. 5. If you could turn back time, what time would you like to live in more than any other time? 6. What are the ways in which we act “stressed out” in our world?   7 . In general, why would people prefer “many possessions” instead of “treasure in heaven”? 8. What is fearful about the future? Why? 9. What is your definition of maturity? 10. What do you think the meditation means when it says that we must “become a little stressed out” as we enter maturity? 11. What does the song “Stressed Out”  teach young people today?