[media presentation below] GospelThink Wednesday, April 19 JOHN:3:16-21 I came into the world, hoping to give it the light I wanted for you, but people and sometimes you chose the darkness. Prayerthoughts a. Having eternal life is what I want. As I think of my death, what are the best ways to prepare for it? (This is the task of the meditation.) b. The promise of God concerning his Son—everyone who believes in Him might not perish—is the most important promise that God has given to us. Have I truly made Jesus the center of my life? Go through yesterday, and determine whether Jesus was truly the center of each activity. c. People often preferred darkness to light, as I admit that I have at times. As I study my past, and the sins and faults, have I sufficiently asked for forgiveness? d. Jesus wants me to “live the truth.” Is the truth important for me as I live from day to day, that is, always being aware of the facts before I say something? e. My prayerthoughts…   Today, I will carry out letter a. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  LIGHT AND DARKNESS  + The Gospel today proclaims a truism for Christianity, namely, Jesus is central to our spiritual lives           – he is the nucleus, the focal point around which we function                      – here in the Gospel, he is the light that comes into the world, and since he is the focal point—either people will accept the light or they won’t                      – that thought leads to serious consideration, consideration that arises from John’s analysis: “This is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.”  + Like all good spiritual people, we would like to say that we are choosing light rather than darkness           – if we are, there are certain elements of our living that should be present                      – some of those elements are part of our readings today           1 – from the Acts reading, we must overcome jealousy                      – that which the religious leaders of the Jewish church could not do                                – we tend to judge what others are doing and why they are doing it                                          – and always we think that we are better than others           2 – also from the Acts reading, if we are choosing the light of Jesus rather than the darkness of evil, we must preach                      – the angel’s message to the apostles was to preach, saying: you are freed from prison to preach the word                      – preaching involves the obvious, that is, using words                                – but it involves action as well, and especially what we should be doing as spiritual people—working on our thinking process, to try to learn to think Christian thoughts toward others and toward the world           3 – from the Gospel discourse, as Jesus was sent not to condemn the world, we are not meant to condemn the world                      – we can pray for the people of the world, and condemn certain things that people do in the world, but “hating” the world gets us nowhere                                – we are called to redeem the world with Jesus           4 – also from the Gospel, if we are choosing the light of Jesus rather than the darkness of evil, we are called to truth                      – that is, honesty with ourselves and with others, openness to what we are really doing with our lives  + Summarizing, there is ample material for meditation today: if we are choosing Jesus as light rather than the darkness of evil,           – we will be aware of our jealousy, we will preach Jesus’ thought by word, action and thought, we will work with God in working for the people of the world, and we will be honest with ourselves and others. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Carry On” — Fun. SUN WILL COME The Gospel JOHN 9:1-7 As [Jesus] passed by he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him. We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means ‘Sent’). So he went and washed, and came back able to see.

Gospelthink: The Lord has blessed me with the sight of eternal life. I should be showing it by my actions.

“Well, I woke up to the sound of silence and cries were cutting like knives in a fist fight, and I found you with a bottle of wine. You swore and said, ‘We are not, we are not shining stars.’ If you’re lost and alone or you’re sinking like a stone, carry on. May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground. Carry on. My head is on fire, but my legs are fine. After all they are mine. Show me how no one’s ever gonna stop us tonight ’cause here we are. We are shining stars, we are invincible, we are who we are on our darkest day when we’re miles away. Sun will come. We will find our way home.”

Fun.’s song “Carry On” tells the story of a relationship that the man in that relationship possessed at one time. It had fallen apart, and he began to reflect about himself. As a result, he began to see things differently, and the couple’s relationship healed, concluding that “If you’re lost and alone or you’re sinking like a stone, carry on.” That is, make the past the sound of your feet walking away, and start working on the present and future. The sun will come, we will find our way. We cannot forget about the past completely, of course, nor should we, but we can make ourselves see things differently, and approach life with a new attitude that will carry us out of our darkness into the light. Jesus spoke of such an attitude often in his life. For him, it was an attitude often defined to be light overcoming darkness. Or in Fun.’s words, the belief that the sun will come. In John the Evangelist’s story of the blind man in his Gospel, the darkness of the man’s blindness could not overcome the light of Jesus in the world. The man born in darkness met the light of Jesus, and was able to see. Fun’s song “Carry On” and Jesus’ attitude of light overcoming darkness is important for Christian leadership and for life in general. There are times when we will feel lost and alone, like we’re sinking into the drowning waters of things that simply will not go right. We feel it in school when things continue to pile up; we feel it in life when relationships are not falling into place; we feel it in our work when our efforts seem to get us no where. It is then that we have to step back a little, think some serious thoughts about our past, and then force ourselves to see what is real in the present and future–we really do have light, the sun will come, we can “carry on” even if we are hurting for some reason. One of the phrases that describes a Christian in the Bible is the phrase “children of the light” (1 Thessalonians 5:4). The phrase carries with it the implicit understanding that darkness will never be able to overcome the Christian’s ability to carry on well in life. We always have light, we always have sun, we will always be able to see the way–the way “home.” We will always be able to “carry on.” It is the only way to truly live.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, your Son is the light of the world that you created. May we always turn to his light, and thus find our way in this world, and eventually come to live with you forever. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: “If you’re lost and alone or you’re sinking like a stone, carry on.” THE GOSPEL 1. Jesus always denies that there is a one-to-one connection between sin and suffering. In general, why do people make the connection? 2. In your opinion, what are the works of God that Jesus must do? 3. Jesus is the light of the world; what should this mean for the world?   THE SONG 1. It is clear that in the beginning, the people in the song were not enjoying life. What causes people to be most upset in life? 2. Text analysis: “shining stars.” What is the meaning of the phrase? 3. Text analysis: “May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground.” What is the meaning of the sentence? 4. Text analysis: “We are who we are on our darkest day when we are miles away.” What is the meaning of the sentence? 5. Text analysis: “Sun will come.” What is the meaning of the sentence? 6. Text analysis: “home.” What does the word “home” mean in the context of the song? THE MEDITATION 1. What is the principal reason why relationships fall apart? 2. In general, do most young people take the time to reflect on themselves and their lives? Yes or no and why? 3. Define a “Christian attitude.” 4. In your opinion, in today’s world, who are the “people of darkness”? 5. The meditation lists some examples of “things that do not go right.” What are some of your own examples? 6. What is the best way to “carry on” well in life? 7. What does the song “Carry On” teach young people?