[media presentation below] GospelThink Easter Wednesday, April 12 LUKE 24:13-35 When I appeared to the two disciples on their way to Emmaus, it took a while for them to recognize me, but they finally did. Prayerthoughts a. There are many times when we do not “recognize” Jesus in the person of others. Who are the people that I have most neglected over the past couple of weeks and how can I make things better? b. How would you describe Jesus to someone who knew nothing about him? (This is the task of the meditation.) c. The disciples were hoping that Jesus was the one who would redeem them. What do I hope for the most in my life? Why? d. The disciples no doubt knew that Jesus had said that he would suffer and rise from the dead. In your opinion, why did they not conclude that Jesus rose as they heard of the empty tomb? e. Jesus showed the disciples that they had to look at the Scriptures with Jesus in mind. As I read the Scriptures, do I always attempt to find what the Lord wants me to do? f. Is my prayer always asking the Lord to stay with me, even when there are times when I do not understand what is happening in my life? Do I find myself “giving up” on the Lord? g. The disciples understood who he was when he broke bread with them, a symbol of the Eucharist. When I receive the Eucharist, do I prepare well and thank the Lord afterwards the way I should when I receive the Lord? h. My prayerthoughts…   Today, I will write out letter b, describing Jesus to someone who does not know him. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy THE STAGES OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE.             If we study the disciples in the Gospel and this whole Emmaus event carefully, one can see a picture of the spiritual life, I believe. As we study it, we can see people at three different stages of the spiritual life, and it is a good meditation for us to ask where we are.           The first stage can be labeled the stage of confusion. The two disciples had left Jerusalem disappointed because they did not understand what was happening. Many people are at this stage in their spiritual lives, and they choose to go no further. They may know that Jesus is the way, truth and life, but they have not had any recognition experience. Perhaps they simply do not want to take the time and effort to develop spiritually, that is they are giving into what I call the principal problem in the spiritual life today. It is that people do not consider God important, and therefore they will not become interested until there is some crisis in their lives. Perhaps they are disappointed in God because they may have been hurt by the Church or someone connected with Church. They confuse Church with the human people in the Church, and give up on God when it is not God’s fault.            The second stage may be called the stage of partial recognition. It may be the most important stage because it is where most of us are. The two disciples were attracted to this stranger. Many people feel attracted to Jesus as an answer, but too many other things get in the way. They have too much concern for money and material things, and they have a difficult time with Jesus’ directive to give of their time, talent and money to others. They may have their own agenda and think that God should be a certain way, and when things do not go the way they want, they give up on God. They think that religion is important, but not as important as other things.            The third stage is that of total recognition, those who have moved through the stages of the spiritual life successfully. These are the people who look at Christianity, and can say, “That’s what it is.” It finally dawned on the disciples of Emmaus who this Jesus was and what they had to do, moving them to action. It is a significant part of the story to see that they gave up what they were going to do—headed as they were for Emmaus, and went back to Jerusalem. It says symbolically that they “turned things around” and were accepting Jesus and his way as important. It is difficult, and takes effort; it requires things like conversion, and recognizing that we may have to do some re-thinking.           Primarily, it means making God truly important in our lives. This is the central point of what we must do in order to be spiritual people. The disciples on their way to Emmaus were asking questions because they did not understand what was happening. They were questions that dealt with their belief system—what this Jesus meant for their lives. And when they began to see the answers, they literally turned around and went back to the important things in life—Jesus and his way.           If we manage to look on God as truly the most important thing that we will do in our lives, we will turn things around in our lives here and in eternal life. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Love Yourself” — Justin Bieber LOVE OF SELF VERSUS SELFISHNESS The Gospel MATTHEW 16:24-26 Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?”

Gospelthink: Jesus gives us the threefold directive to deny oneself, take up one’s cross and follow him. It begins with denying oneself. Am I too selfish in the things that I do?

“For all the times that you rain on my parade, and all the clubs you get in using my name, you think you broke my heart, you think I’m crying on my own. Well, I ain’t, and I didn’t wanna write a song ’cause I didn’t want anyone thinking I still care. I don’t. I don’t wanna hold back. Maybe you should know that my mama don’t like you and she likes everyone, and I never like to admit that I was wrong. And I’ve been so caught up in my job, didn’t see what’s going on. But now I know. You should go and love yourself.”

The threefold directive that Jesus gives in order to be his follower begins with arguably the most important statement, namely to deny oneself. Actually, the correct understanding of love of self is quite necessary in our world of love and life, but the evil of selfishness is the subject of Jesus’ condemnation. Selfishness is too much love of self. Related to pride, it is probably the number one evil in a person’s personal life as pride is the “first” capital sin. Justin Bieber speaks of a man in the relationship who finally has realized that his girlfriend is quite selfish and therefore has lost his love. He speaks of it in rather strong terms, saying that he just does not care anymore. He may have been at fault because he was caught up in his job and does not like to admit that he was wrong, as he says, but for sure, now he knows. He tells her that her love of self is only selfish. And selfish love is not love at all. Perhaps one of the most important distinctions in life is the difference between love of self and selfish love. It essential to learn it if we want to enjoy a true love relationship. Love of self involves a true understanding of what we should be in life. It includes the importance of humility and objectivity as we study who we are and the way we treat others. It involves an honest assessment why we do the things that we do. Selfish love is nothing more than the evil of pride run rampant. We feel internally that the only way of thinking of life is in the way that we want. It loses sight of the importance of others, and only pays attention to another when we can get something out of it. Love for such a person is always conditional and never will be defined in terms of mutual love. When we manage to achieve a true love of self, then selfishness will never be part of our lives.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, Your Son told us that in to be a true follower of His, one had to control selfishness. Give us the grace to shun selfishness and to learn a true love of self in all that we do. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: Selfishness destroys any relationship. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. In your opinion, how should we “deny ourselves”? 2. In your opinion, what does it mean to “carry one’s cross”? 3. In your opinion, do most Christians really try to follow Jesus in the way they live? Yes or no and why? 4. The song has rather direct words that are almost words of hatred of another. What is the Christian way of “breaking a love relationship”?  Do most people carry through with it? 5. The song says that we often get so “caught up in our jobs” that we miss important things like forming correct love relationships. What are the best ways to bring about good love relationships?  6. Why is “selfishness” such a evil? 7. In your own words explain the difference between true love of self and selfishness. 8. Give an example of “selfishness” that is clear from the news. 9. What is the difference between conditional love and unconditional love? 10. What is the best way to get rid of selfishness in our lives? 11. What does the song “Love Yourself” teach young people?