[media presentation below] GospelThink Tuesday, September 12 LUKE 6:12-19 After I prayed, I made the serious decision of choosing my immediate disciples. Prayerthoughts a. Prayer in Jesus’s life once again comes up in the Gospels. (In St. Luke’s Gospel, this is a common occurrence for Jesus, especially at the important times in his life.) In my life right now, have I set aside enough time for prayer? Perhaps I should arrange my days to include more time for prayer. b. Jesus chose the men who would work with him. What have been the most important choices that I have made? – c. The Apostles no doubt checked with their families about the future choice of following Jesus. In my life right now, who are the people that I can talk to? Am I honest in my words to them? d. One of the apostles was a Zealot, a member of a rebellious group who was working for an overthrow of Roman authority. What is my attitude toward the authority of the people elected to govern my country right now? How can I make my attitude better? e. Jesus chose Judas. What lesson does this teach me? f. In what ways have I betrayed the Lord in my life, and have I begged for forgiveness? g. In his ministry, Jesus healed many. Jesus also heals me. What should I ask the Lord to heal in my life? h. My prayerthoughts… Today I will write a prayer for those people whom I most trust. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  ROOTED AND PREPARED  + Our readings today reflect an answer to the question: “when do you make a good decision?”             – the answer suggested by the readings is: “when you are properly rooted in some guiding thought or principle and have prepared to do it”  + In the Christian understanding of things, we want to make good decisions with our lives that reflect what Jesus wants us to do             – the way to make such decisions is:                         – one: we have to be people who really are “rooted in Jesus,” that is, people who are interested in discovering who he is, what he is all about, what he did, what he said, and to struggle to discover what may be most important—how he thought                         – and two, we have to spend time in prayer with the person we are rooted in—Jesus                                     – one of the patterns of the Gospels, especially Luke’s Gospel, is that before any major decision that Jesus made, he spent time in prayer                                                 – here he is about to choose the people who will later on begin the movement named after him,                                                             – and so he spends the night in prayer to God his Father                                                                         – asking his guidance, and only then choosing                                     – and it is interesting to see that even though he did this, he made a mistake—in choosing Judas, something that he had to work with throughout his life  + The application is a relatively obvious one for us             – we make decisions all the time—some of them are momentous, some of them are incidental                         – when is it a good decision?                                     – when we have become people who have allowed ourselves to be rooted in Jesus, and have taken the time to talk to him in prayer                         – but even though we do this, sometimes we have to work with a bad decision                                     – because of our free will, the Lord allows us to make such decisions, and then our call is to work with those decisions as best we can  + Any good decision begins with the proper preparation             – that is a principle of leadership,                         – and it is a principle of Christianity when the preparation includes being rooted in Jesus, and preparing ourselves in prayer. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “If I Can’t Have You” — Shawn Mendes A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF INDEPENDENCE The Gospel MARK 5:15-20 As they approached Jesus, they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion, sitting there clothed and in his right mind. And they were seized with fear. Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened to the possessed man and to the swine. Then they began to beg him to leave their district. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him. But he would not permit him but told him instead, “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed.

Gospelthink: I wanted the man I cured to go home to his family and proclaim the message. Do the people who are closest to me realize that I am a Christian?

“I can’t write one song that’s not about you. Can’t drink without thinking about you. Is it too late to tell you that everything means nothing if I can’t have you? Oh, I’m good at keeping my distance. I know that you’re the feeling I’m missing. You know that I hate to admit it, but everything means nothing if I can’t have you. I’m trying to move on, forget you, but I hold on.”

One of the most intriguing passages of the Gospels is in Mark’s Gospel after Jesus had cured a man who had many demons by sending those demons, Legion by name, into a near-by herd of pigs. Perhaps what is most intriguing about the passage is what Jesus says to the cured man, namely, not to follow him directly, but to “go home to your family and announce to them” the message of the Kingdom. Apparently the cured-man was so appreciative of Jesus that he was ready to give up the rest of his life completely and follow the Lord as the Apostles did. But Jesus tells him “no” and to tell the world about him as an independent preacher of the Kingdom at “home.” It gives rise to the thought that the disciple of Jesus may be in one of two categories, namely giving up everything and following the Lord or simply telling others about the Lord. By far the majority of Christians in today’s world are in the latter category. All Christians do give up some things, but most of us are called to “go home and announce” that is to stay in the confines of the world, and spread the message of the Kingdom of Jesus. The former group of people are asked to be completely dependent on Jesus, staying with him, doing what he directs. These are the religious and priests of our day who have given up everything and have “remained” with the Lord. The other category of disciples are those who are dependent on the Lord, but have chosen to be somewhat less dependent by going back to their homes and remaining disciples in their own way. In our day-to-day living, as we use the idea of being a good person in the world, dependence on another is a virtue for those who have said “forever” to the other person. It is necessary for survival that such a dependence be carried out. But by far for most relationships in our world, namely friend to friend, there cannot be too much dependence on another because our well-being demands that we have a certain amount of independence. And so, in the song “If I Can’t Have You,” in a relationship not fully developed into a “forever” commitment, complete dependence on another may destroy the growth of each other. It seems that Jesus set up two basic groups of those who followed him. In our world also, there are too basic groups of people, those who are totally dependent on someone else, namely those who have said “forever” to each other as in marriage. But many people, especially those still growing to maturity must be people who are working toward some type of dependence on another, but must strive to be independent–depending on themselves–as they grow..

PRAYER Good and gracious God,  I must learn the virtue of being dependent on you for life. But in the world in which I live, help me learn to be somewhat independent in my thinking so that I can be fully human in my approach to others and to You. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: Depending on another too much too soon can lead to difficulties in relationships. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. What does the song “If I Can’t Have You” teach young people? 2. Why do you think the people of the vicinity “begged” Jesus to leave them? 3. In your opinion, how well are the Christians of our world “announcing” the Kingdom Jesus preached? 4. Because of our divorce rate in the world, there are people who have said “forever” to each other, and have not meant it. Why do those people forget about their promise to stay together forever? 5. In general, why is it wrong to be totally dependent on another in young love relationships? 6. In young relationships today, do you think that the two are usually too dependent on each other? Yes or no and why?