[media presentation below] GospelThinkTuesday, November 7 LUKE 14:15-24 I call you to be part of my Kingdom. Prayerthoughts a. I obviously desire to dine in the Kingdom, that is, go to heaven. Do I think of eternal life as often as I should? b. According to Scripture scholars, the excuses given are legitimate since the wedding feast could last a couple of days. Do I make excuses so that I do not spend enough time to pursue my spiritual life? c. An excuse that I use might be the thought of spending time with something that I have purchased. Could I make more time for spiritual things by temporarily ignoring something that is not spiritual? d. An excuse that I use might have something to do with my family. Do I spend enough time (or maybe too much time) with my family, and neglect spiritual things? e. Does the thought that the Lord has chosen other people “less than I am (in my selfish opinion)” upset me? Why? f. Our God is the type of God who “makes” people come to enjoy the Kingdom. Do I think of our God to be a compassionate God? g. The thought of being excluded from the Kingdom is a disturbing one. Am I disturbed enough to want to do something about it? h. My prayerthoughts…   Today I will read Romans, chapter 12, and write an important thought from it. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  SINCERE LOVE AND ITS REWARD  + Today’s reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans contains one of those passages that is very good for personal meditation           – first of all, it calls to mind the gifts that we have, and whether we are using them on behalf of others,           – then, in the second part, it gives a list of Christian characteristics, each of which can be studied, bringing them into our own reality by asking the question: do I do this?                      – perhaps with the overall directive being the statement: “Let love be sincere”                                – that is, our love of others must be real, covering every circumstance and every situation we are in  + Such a person will hear the man who is inviting them to dine in Jesus’ parable           – and will not make excuses when it comes to putting God into our lives                      – the main part of Jesus’ parable is the part in which people make excuses and will not pursue what it takes to be part of the Kingdom                                – we are called to be people who are knowledgeable of God’s presence, but we excuse ourselves                                – God doesn’t exclude us; we do it to ourselves                                          – we exclude ourselves by our love of the world                                                    – and we may not even know that we are doing it                                                    – yes, we have to pay attention to our livelihood and our life here on earth, but we may be doing too much of it                                                               – we use our involvement in the world as our excuse not to respond to the call of God                                                               – and thus, we exclude ourselves from that call                                                                         – and in Jesus words, it is a “final” exclusion                                                                                   – not one of the originally invited will taste a morsel of his meal  + A further note about the people who make up the Kingdom of Jesus           – they are the “outcasts” of society                      – not exclusively the people who can be categorized as poor, crippled, blind and lame                                – but the people who in terms of Paul’s reading today, people whose love is sincere, real                                          – that is people who finally understand what they have as they possess the Kingdom of God  + If our love is sincere, we will be part of the Kingdom of God           – such is our desire, such is our commandment as we go about our world. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Unholy” — Sam Smith & Kim Petras A TRULY PERMANENT COMMITMENT The Gospel JOHN 18:1b-3 Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered. Judas his betrayer also knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards from the chief priests and the Pharisees and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.

Gospelthink: Judas was a friend to me at one time, but he lost sight of what “love” really meant.

“Mommy don’t know daddy’s getting hot at the body shop, doing something unholy. A lucky girl she got married to a boy like you. She’d kick you out if she ever knew. Dirty boy, you know everyone is talkin’ on the scene. I hear them whisperin’ ‘bout the places that you’ve been and how you don’t know how to keep your business clean. He left the kids at home so he can get that.”

As we study the Scripture passages at the very beginning of Jesus’ passion and death, there are a number of people that a person interested in the spiritual life can study and learn from. One of them is the Apostle Judas Iscariot. It is clear that Judas knew Jesus in an intimate way. He knew where Jesus liked to pray. He knew where Jesus and His Apostles met for private conferences. Judas used that knowledge to set up the downfall of Jesus’s human life. Judas had no doubt felt the love that Jesus had for him and it could have been a lasting love if he had pursued it. Putting such a situation into the romantic love relationships of our modern life, young lovers can easily identify the same feeling. At some point in the relationship as they move toward a permanent commitment, each person in love must decide and choose whether he/she will work for such a commitment. Unfortunately, sometimes he/she will make the permanent commitment and it is false. Such is the case in the song “Unholy” from Sam Smith and Kim Petras.  It is clear that the permanent commitment has been made. They have even created a family. But the father’s commitment was not as permanent as he said at first, and it will no doubt throw the family into some type of chaos unless he comes to his senses and realizes what the word “permanent” means. In any love relationship, whether it is romantic or not, we must decide whether it will lead to a permanent friendship, and in the case of romantic love, a permanent commitment with each other. The “deciding” is of course the difficult part. Usually, the decision will take some time to feel some good moments and bad moments. It is possible to determine whether our love will be lasting or not, but the decision will always have an element of “indecision.” We simply must make the decision to go into the desired permanent relationship and not look back.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, there are many decisions that we must make in our human situations, particularly with our interaction with others. Help us to understand the love that we must have to bring about a true lasting love. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT   Theme: If we want love to last, we must be certain that it is a permanent love.   DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. What does the song “Unholy” teach young people today? 2. In your opinion, why would Judas completely turn against Jesus the way he did? 3. The mediation uses the words “permanent love.” In your opinion, what is “permanent love”? 4. In your opinion, how long should young people “date” before they make a permanent commitment of living together? 5.  In your opinion, should it be the man or the woman who is the aggressive one in the relationship? 6. Many people decide about their love too early, and therefore we have very unhappy marriages. What are the characteristics of a truly happy marriage? 7. In your opinion, do you think that most young people are truly prepared to make the decision of a permanent commitment? Yes or no and why?