[media presentation below] GospelThink Friday, May 12 JOHN 15:12-17 I call you a friend and call you to love as I do. Prayerthoughts a. Incredibly, the Lord calls us to show others a “divine love”: “love one another as I  love you.” In particular, what does that mean for me in my life right now? b. The greatest love is to lay down one’s life for a friend. Most of us will not have to give our lives for another, but the passage might mean that we must sacrifice something of ourselves for a friend. Given my life situation right now, should I sacrifice something to help a friend? c. In the Hebrew Scriptures, some holy people were called “slaves” of God.” Jesus makes it clear that he is a “friend” of ours. What effect should that fact have on us as we live our daily lives? d. The Lord has chosen me to bear fruit that will remain. In my life situation right now, knowing that the Lord has called me to it, what is most important for me to do? e. My prayerthoughts…. Today, I will read the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 15 and write an important thought from it. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  LOVE FOR OTHERS: A “DIVINE LOVE” + The Gospel during this part of the Easter season is from the Last Discourse of Jesus as recorded by John the evangelist at the Last Supper          – in yesterday’s Gospel passage, we heard Jesus say:          As the Father loves me, so I also love you.                   – “you”, meaning the disciples and us          – and today we hear:          Love one another as I love you.          – in both instances, we are talking “divine love”                   – they are tremendously strong statements:                            – the way Jesus loves us is with a “divine love” and therefore we are incredibly blessed                            – and the way that we must love one another is with a “divine love”                                     – a love which is infinitely greater than a human love          – this is very difficult, even impossible on a human level, but it is what Jesus calls us to—as if he exaggerates to make a point                   – our love for others must be much more than human love  + To love other people with a divine love implies a couple of things as we study specifically the Liturgy today:          1 — we must love them as friends, not as slaves                   – to love people as slaves means that we give to them with the idea of getting something in return:                            – I give to you only for you to give to me                   – to love people as friends means that we give without expecting anything back                                     – not an easy thing to do in our society          2 — we must love others because we deliberately choose to love them                   – as Jesus/God chose us, we choose to love them with God-like affection                            – not because some religion says to do it, not because we are expected to, not because it is the law or the like                                     – we choose to do it—period                                              – with “choose” being the operative word                                                       – making it “real” love          3 — we love them even to the point of changing the way we think and act for them                   – at the Council of Jerusalem, what the reading from Acts is describing, Jewish Christians changed their ways to accommodate the Gentile Christians                            – we have no knowledge of how difficult this was because we do not have the Jewish mind like they had                            – it had to be extremely difficult                                     – but they did it, presumably out of love                   – so we are called to change on behalf of others  + Our love of others should be as Jesus’ love for us          – that should put love of neighbor in a whole new perspective. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Heathens” — Twenty-One Pilots CRIMINALS OR TRUE FRIENDS The Gospel JOHN 2:23-25 While Jesus was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, many began to believe in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.

Gospelthink: I understand human nature. Therefore I understand you. Do I open up to the Lord in prayer with my deepest thoughts?

The song speaks of the fact that there are people in the world who are mixed up for some reason, and because of that, we must all be careful of people, even those whom we think we know well. “All my friends are heathens;” Twenty One Pilots sings, “Take it slow.” They sing of people who were loved and now are criminals. And when it comes to other people, their advice is to watch out.

Perhaps one of the most interesting lines of all of Scripture concerning our human nature is given in John’s Gospel: Jesus knew human nature. There were many people who said complimentary things to him because of the abilities that he had, many who thought highly of him, telling him, no doubt how much they admired him. He also probably had quite a following around him besides his Apostles whenever he spoke. They even told him that they believed in him completely. Jesus listened to them, but he also knew that human emotions are fickle. He knew human nature. He knew that there were people who were out to impress him or make him feel good, and then be completely different when he was not around or with a crowd of people who did not like what he was doing. Unfortunately, as Jesus attested to, human nature is that way. In Twenty One Pilots interesting song “Heathens” the same message seems to be present. Influenced strongly by the movie that inspired the song, namely “Suicide Squad,” people are presented as possibly good or bad depending on the circumstances. “Heathens” probably are the people in the writer’s acquaintance, and he does not know how to describe them well. Some are criminals, some may be okay. But human nature being what it is, his advice is to be careful. “Watch out” he says as he describes other people. Honestly, It may not be bad advice. Yes, it sounds like a rather pessimistic way of looking at other human beings, but as Jesus himself said, human nature has a tendency to be a little inconsistent. So, in terms of Jesus’ primary directive to “love,” we definitely must be aware that we should consider every person “lovable.” And we must always be very careful as we choose our friends.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, Your Son gave us the directive to love one another, and it is something that we always strive to do. But help us be careful as we try to be friends with the people that we love.  Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: We do not know the backgrounds of people, and therefore we must be careful of others, even as we want to help them.    DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. What do you think John the evangelist means when he says that people began to “believe in [Jesus’] name”? 2. Text analysis: “trust himself to them.” What is the meaning of the phrase? 3. What most of all  must be corrected about human nature? Why? 4. Why is it a true statement that human emotions are “fickle”? 5. Why do our early years have such an effect on our later lives? 6. What do you think is the meaning of the fact that we should choose our friends carefully? 7. Do you think that every one is “lovable”? Yes or no and why?    8. What does the song “Heathens” teach young people?