[media presentation below] GospelThink Thursday, May 18 JOHN 16:16-20 Your grief will become joy. Prayerthoughts   a. The Lord is referring to his physical presence with the Apostles. Of course, the Lord is present to us by faith. The faith that we have in the Lord should extend to everything that we do. Is that faith evident in the things that I have done lately? b. The Apostles did not understand the Lord simply because they did not fully understand his words yet. As we listen to the words of the Lord, are we truly paying full attention? c. Jesus knew what the Apostles wanted to know.  Do we address the Lord in prayer as if the Lord knows already what we need, believing that he will always help us? d. Jesus says that the world “rejoices” when he leaves. The secular world does not like to be challenged the way the Lord challenges our thinking. Perhaps I need to take some time to pray for the people of the world who are involved in bringing evil. e. The Lord knows that the Apostles will be sad when he physically leaves them. But he also refers to the joy that will be theirs especially with the knowledge that he will be present always, especially with the eternal joy of heaven. Do I think of heaven as a true place of joy? f. My prayerthoughts…   Today, I will spend some time thinking about how my life has been changed because of my faith.
Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  REMAIN IN THE WORLD, BUT…  + The “job” of a Christian missionary—if you can speak of one job—is to try to get people past their world of belief and activity           – and into the understanding of the message of Jesus                     – such was what Paul wanted to accomplish                                – here in the first reading, he is on what is called his second missionary journey, spending a significant time with some friends and in particular the people of the Greek town of Corinth           – Paul could not accomplish his goal with the Jews of the locale, that is, the ones whom he first wanted to evangelize           – and so he spent most of his time with the Gentiles  + Jesus in John the evangelist’s language is constantly “fighting” the world, but promises eventually to win the battle           – here in the Gospel, he is speaking of his going to the Father even while the “world” rejoices                      – presumably rejoicing because the people in the world no longer have to be challenged by Jesus           – signifying that there was indeed a “struggle”                      – and that his disciples can rejoice after the struggle  + In our work with our own individual spiritual lives           – we are involved in a struggle that is similar to what a missionary is called to do and similar to what Jesus referred to in John’s Gospel                      – our constant effort must be in keeping the “world” away from dominating our thought and our activity                      – it requires work, effort if we are going to “win”  + What does that work and effort consist of?           – the answer is the common conclusion to meditation on these Scriptures—                      – it takes prayer, significant prayer                      – and it takes awareness of the world—understood with John the evangelist’s eyes—and the evil connected with that world                                – the evils that are spoken of in general with the concepts of pleasure, power and money                                          – what might be called the “infection” of the world  + Most of us are called to remain in the world           – but we have to hold in check that world that doesn’t appreciate the challenge of a Christian mindset                      – we must understand that Jesus is Lord—as Paul tried to preach           – and live accordingly.
MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Wait’ — Maroon 5 LET ME APOLOGIZE The Gospel LUKE 23:27-28 [As he was carrying his cross,] a large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children.” Gospelthink: During my Passion, I was interested in the women who were feeling the pain with me. Am I a person who tries to take into account the pain of others? “Oh, let me apologize, I’ll make up for all those times. Your love, I don’t wanna lose, I’m beggin’ you. Wait, can you turn around, can we work this out, can you come here please? ‘Cause I wanna be with you. Can we talk for a moment?”    The man in the relationship described by Maroon 5 in their song “Wait” has hurt the lady in the relationship, and he begs her to forgive him. He is saying all the “right” things–he says he is sorry, he apologizes, asking her to turn around to work it out, begging her to be with him, and saying that he will communicate with her. It is a great lesson for all of us. Interpreting the cries and laments of the women who were following Jesus as he was led to crucifixion, one can easily think in terms of “apology.” The women were in a sense apologizing for what was happening to Jesus–the cruelty of the Roman soldiers, the hatred of the Hebrew religious leaders, everyone’s lack of concern for an innocent man. Jesus accepted their apology and told them to care for themselves, their children, and their future. People hurt one another. In the course of human interaction, it is bound to happen. One of the marks of maturity and leadership is the ability to recognize those things for which we are responsible, and then actually speak the apology with the intention to remedy what happened. A familiar poem describes it well: Three words, eight letters, so difficult to say. They’re stuck inside of me, they try and stay away. But this is too important to let them have their way. I need to do it now, I must do it today. I am sorry.As we study our lives, it becomes clear that we have hurt some people. As the man in Maroon 5’s song, if we want to be Christian in our approach to life, we must apologize once we understand that we have caused harm. Sometimes, and we do not know from the song, the apology may not even be accepted, but that is not the important thing. The important thing is that we have recognized the wrong, that we have said the words of apology, and that, as far as possible, we will try to remedy the situation.PRAYER  Good and gracious God, your Son was treated so shamefully when he closed his life, and he accepted the apology of some women who were there to help him. Help us learn to apologize when we have done something wrong.. Be with us, we pray. +++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: One of the most important characteristics of a good relationship is the ability to apologize. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. It was the women who mourned Jesus. No doubt there were some men as well, but why do you think Luke the evangelist only mentioned the women? 2. What concept is the most important part of  the ‘litany” of the man in the song who is begging for forgiveness? 3. Learning to apologize is only one thing that a love relationship should include. What are some of the others? 4. Most people in love relationships will learn to apologize to each other if they want the relationship to last. Do you believe that the people of our world have learned to apologize to others in the world as often as they should? Yes or no and why? 5. In general, why do we not like to apologize? 6. In general, what is the motivation behind people who apologize to another? Why does speaking the apology mean something to the person who apologizes? 7. What does the song “Wait” teach young people?