[media presentation below] GospelThink Sunday, February 26, First Sunday of Lent MATTHEW 4:1-11 I am tempted just as you are. Prayerthoughts a. It was the “Spirit” that led Jesus into the desert. God is very much part of everything that we do. Do I spend time realizing that God is always with me, no matter what happens? b. Jesus was tempted, just as I am tempted. It is a consolation to know that the human Jesus suffered because of human frailty just as I do. c. The first temptation was about “pleasure” in the sense of satisfying self. Here Matthew tells us that Jesus was also tempted to “power” and “riches.” d. Do I seek too much pleasure in any way? e. Do I seek having “power” over others in some way? f. As I study the money that I have, could I possibly give some away to a worthy cause? g. The devil tells Jesus to worship him. Is it true that sometimes we “worship” the devil in the form of created things too much, things like television or social media? h. The devil tempts Jesus to the sin of “presumption,” that of assuming that God will help us without doing anything ourselves. Am I too lazy in my pursuit of the spiritual life? i. Jesus quotes Scripture to the devil in the temptations. Do I read Scripture as much as I could in my daily life? j. My prayerthoughts…   Today, I will read Romans, chapter 5 and write an important thought from it. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy THE PROACTIVE CHRISTIAN           I’m often struck by the similarity between the ways to be effective in business and the ways to be effective as Christians. I’ve mentioned before the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. He says that the first habit of highly effective people is to be proactive which he defines as the ability to choose responses to whatever happens to us based on our strong values. When we are proactive, we control and transform our circumstances. The opposite of being proactive is being reactive, where our circumstances control us.            Jesus treats the temptations of the devil in the Gospel in a proactive way:                      – he chooses what to do as a response;                      – he does not let any of the temptations control him;                      – and he gains control over circumstances by using strong values as a guide.            No matter what spiritual reading that we do, the authors always speak of temptations and sin with idea of being proactive in our actions. They say that taking control of the situation means working with the values of Christianity. Here are some thoughts along that line:           ~ As we think of sin, we are in a battle between the “flesh” and the “spirit.”           Many spiritual commentators say that we are in a battle between allowing God to be our guide or selfishness to be our guide. One of the thoughts of Lent is that we have to allow God to be our guide at all times and control our flesh, our bodies. That is, make us understand that there is a battle between what we want—selfishness—and what God wants. Too often the “flesh” wins out, and our job as we strive to be better is to determine when we are letting “flesh” win the battle.            ~ Another thought: temptations to sin help us see what is right and wrong.           God allows certain temptations in our lives to make us discern was is right and what is wrong. The Lord allows temptations so that we may know ourselves better and see the evil inclinations that everyone of us has. God will not let us be tempted beyond our strength. With the temptation, God will also provide the way of escape, so that we may be able to endure it. We have the power to overcome any problem of sinfulness in our lives: that is an important part of understanding temptation.           ~ And a fundamental thought in all of this: we can conquer sin and temptation only through prayer.           Jesus was doing this at the time of his formal temptations as recorded in the Gospel: he was at prayer. That in itself is significant—evil, that is, the devil does not like us to pray, and therefore temptation will be present.           What about our prayer: should it be better than it is? That is, our formal prayer such as Mass every Sunday, prayer before meals, the rosary from time to time, the Sacrament of Confession, whatever.           And especially what about our mental prayer: my favorite spiritual directive—10-15 minutes every day in which we take a Gospel passage and ask the Lord about what we should be doing with our lives.           A phrase in English that we use captures the idea of the way to work with temptations and sin in a proactive way. It is the idea of being “one up” on evil, that is, to give ourselves to God in such a way that we develop strong values in our lives, taking control of what we do in light of those values.           A couple years ago, as I taught a class, a young man came to class with a T-shirt on—bright, and very clear letters spelling out two words—“Not Guilty.” One could easily read what was not written by the young man: it goes something like this: “Whatever the situation you might think or hear about, I am not guilty.” What the shirt reminded me of was the opposite of what the shirt said. The fact is that every one of us is guilty—because we are human—and the way to overcome the guilt is to be proactive, to work on a future for which we are prepared by accepting first the strong values of Christianity. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Thinking Out Loud” — Ed Sheeran LOVE EVERY SINGLE DAY The Gospel LUKE 9:23-25 Then [Jesus] said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”

Gospelthink: My formula for the spiritual life: deny oneself, take up the cross daily and follow me. Am I honestly trying to do that?

“When your legs don’t work like they used to before, and I can’t sweep you off of your feet, will your mouth still remember the taste of my love? I will be loving you till we’re 70 and my heart could still fall as hard as 23. And I’m thinking ‘bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways. Well , me—I fall in love with you every single day, and I just wanna tell you I am. I’m thinking out loud that we found love right where we are.”

The words of controlling behavior that Jesus gives are always challenging. When he was speaking of the spiritual life, for example, that is, denying ourselves, taking up his cross, and following him, it demands a truly difficult commitment. Denying ourselves of things that we like, taking up the difficult crosses of life and following his words rather than our own is a directive that takes years to accomplish. Achieving the spiritual life is never easy. Added to the difficulty is the word that Jesus uses to describe how often we must work at accomplishing these things, namely “daily.” Even if we could bring about what Jesus sets up as a standard at some point in time, Jesus tells us that we cannot just do it once, and then forget about it. We must commit ourselves to do it every single day. In effect, Jesus is telling us that in order to carry out a commitment to him and our spiritual lives, we must continue the effort it takes–daily. Deep commitments are never easy either. It is the reason why Ed Sheeran’s love song, “Thinking Out Loud” is such a beautiful love song. Not only has the commitment occurred at one particular time, but he says that he will “fall in love every single day.” There is no time limit when it comes to love. If we love someone, we will love them “right where they are,” that is, every moment, every day. The song is an excellent statement of the way that husband and wife must give to each other and likewise the way friends must behave in a true friendship. Love may begin with an initial “yes, I will,” but it implies that the statement will be made in all ways, daily. It is also the way the love of God works toward us, and the way we must show our love for God. The way of love implies difficulty because it means giving up things in order to love someone else every day. Ed Sheeran makes it clear for the romantic commitment. It is also the way of our spiritual lives as we love our God.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, your Son has given us the way to pursue our spiritual lives–denying ourselves, taking up our crosses, and following him daily. It is never easy. Help us learn from him so that we can be better spiritually, and in the process, learn the meaning of love itself.  Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: After people make a permanent commitment to each other, they must give of themselves every single day.   DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. What are the principal “crosses” that people must deal with in their lives? 2. Gospel text analysis: “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” What is the meaning of Jesus’ statement? 3. Gospel text  analysis: “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself”? What is the meaning of Jesus’ statement? 4. Text analysis: “People fall in love in mysterious ways.” Why is this a true statement? 5. In the song, he has to tell the person that he loves her. Why is it so important to say the words to another? 6. Text analysis: “We found love right where we are.” What is the meaning of the sentence? 7. In your opinion, why is achieving a good spiritual life difficult? 8. In your opinion, why are deep commitments never easy? 9. Many married couples do not love the way Ed Sheeran’s song advises. What is most important in marriage relationships? 10. Primarily, what must a person give up in order to love another? 11. Primarily, what must a person give up in order to love God?    12. What does the song “Thinking Out Loud” teach young people?