[media presentation below] GospelThink Sunday, June 4, The Holy Trinity JOHN 3:16-18 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. A little further into this portion of John’s Gospel. John mnetionds that 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. A little further in the Gospel, 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 KNOWLEDGE, DIRECTION AND COURAGE            The doctrine of the Trinity, today’s feast, is, of course, one of the major beliefs of our religion: three persons, one God—Father, Son and Spirit. To understand it better and how we should think about the mystery, it might be good to look at each person separately.           “The Father” could signify “knowledge” and the knowledge of God that we should possess. I tell the story often of a fourth grader at one of the grade schools where I once taught. As we were passing each other in the hallway, I asked him “What do you know?” He stopped, looked up at me, and very deliberately said: “More than you want me to.” He was right. We know a lot, that is, our minds are filled with much material, but the question is: what is important for us to know as we live in this world?           Obviously, there are many things that are important, but maybe the most important deals with how we approach life, and what that means. That is the area of religion and God, the area of solutions to the problems of life. As Christians, thinking of God the Father, we should be thinking of the knowledge that we should have of how God wants us to live our lives.            “The Son” could mean for us the idea of the direction we ought to be choosing. Not only do we need knowledge of what we are doing, but we need a direction. That comes through the choices we make. And so, the question is: what are our choices saying about the direction we are choosing right now?           In many ways we lock ourselves into a life that is controlled by our choices. It can easily be seen in movies if you study them from the choices that are made. In the fantasy movie, the close of the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” Harry and his friends made choices early on as they chose to eradicate evil in the world. They were choices that affected their entire lives. We all make choices, often when we are very young. One of those choices for us as Christians should be the acceptance of Jesus Christ. If we choose him early on, our choices will be formed with his light and lead us to a better understanding of who we are.            And “The Spirit” could signify the idea of the courage to do what is good for us and for the world around us. It is not easy to do the right thing. Let’s face it: the world outside has a significant influence on us, and we have to face it head-on. We must ask ourselves whether what we are doing in whatever moment is good for us and our world. And if it is not, to have the courage to change.            Again, movies can help to understand such courage. In the movie “The Help” which is a statement of the early prejudice in our country, a young lady by the name of Skeeter Phelan wrote a book that disturbed the status quo of black maids in the South in the 1950’s. It could have meant the end of her good reputation and the end of employment of the black maids who helped her. Courage often costs something in our world, but the Spirit leads us to say and do the right thing.            We believe that the acceptance of the Trinity is necessary for our spiritual lives. A good way to understand it is to look at the three things that are necessary for life—knowledge of what is really important in life, direction about the way to make choices in life, and courage to make the proper choices.            Such is our prayer on this Trinity Sunday. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Sucker” — Jonas Brothers A SUCKER FOR ANOTHER The Gospel LUKE 22:31-34 “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.” He said to him, “Lord, I am prepared to go to prison and to die with you.” But he replied, “I tell you, Peter, before the cock crows this day, you will deny three times that you know me.”

Gospelthink: Peter had gone intentions, but was unable to carry through with them. How am I doing with keeping my good intentions?

“We go together better than birds of a feather, you and me. We change the weather: I’m feeling heat in December when you’re ‘round me. I’ve been dancing on top of cars and stumbling out of bars. I follow you through the dark, can’t get enough. You’re the medicine and the pain, the tattoo inside my brain. It’s obvious, I’m a sucker for you. Say the word and I’ll go anywhere blindly. Any road you take you know that you’ll find me. I’m a sucker for all the subliminal things.”

Peter is known in the Scriptures to be a person who definitely loved Jesus but he did not understand himself enough. He often made statements without too much thinking and based more on feelings than anything else. He tells the Lord during the Last Supper that he would rather die than give up faith in him. And yet, he denied that he knew Jesus just a little while later, as Jesus predicted. He allowed his feelings of the moment to dictate what he thought was correct. In the song “Sucker,” the man in the relationship is speaking from his feelings. He knows how he feels when it comes to his significant other, but at the same time, the relationship is not as strong as it should be yet. He is thinking only from his point of view, saying that everything will be okay because he thinks it will be okay. He is directing the relationship, and he is totally committed, he thinks. He is a sucker for the other and will go anywhere blindly, as he admits. In the song, we do not know whether the other is responding to his feelings or not. With human nature being what it is, when things change a little with time, as Peter in the Gospel, he may change completely. Mainly because is he is thinking only with his feelings of the moment. When reality becomes something other than what a person feels should happen, our feelings may indeed change. The lesson here in life is that we must know our feelings, and consider carefully whether those feelings will be the same no matter what happens. In love relationships, there are always two people involved, and reality may be different from what we feel should happen.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, as human beings, we often have very strong feelings without really thinking them through. Give us the grace to understand our feelings, and help us be able to change for the better no matter what our feelings. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: In learning to love, we must be careful that we are not misled by our feelings. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. What does the song “Sucker” teach young people? 2. Obviously we know what Peter should have done when he was asked later whether he knew Jesus. In your opinion, would most Christians do what Peter did and deny him?  Yes or no and why? 3. In your opinion, what are the “subliminal things” in a love relationship? 4. In your opinion, do most people follow through with their original feelings of love of another?  Yes or no and why? 5. Song analysis: What does it mean when someone says “I am a sucker for you.” 6. In your opinion, what is the best way to make sure that we know our feelings to be correct?