[media presentation below] GospelThink Monday, May 15 JOHN 15:26–16:4aI am giving you the Spirit who guides you. Prayerthoughts a. The Advocate or Holy Spirit has been part of my life. In what area of my life have I seen the Spirit acting the strongest? b. “You also testify”: the words are spoken to his disciples, but by extension to me. In what way do I “testify” to Jesus? c. I have not “fallen away” from what the Lord wants, but the chances are that there are some instances in my life where I have not behaved as well as I should. Is that true for me? d. Jesus tells us that people will be confused when it comes to what He says or means. If I find that I don’t understand something, do I seek information from a qualified religious person? e. My prayerthoughts… Today, I will read the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 16:1-15, and write an important thought from it. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy   OPEN TO LISTEN   + Both readings speak of being open to listen to the Lord           – in the Act of the Apostles, Paul is on his second missionary journey                      – he runs across a woman named Lydia                                –  and the Lord opened her heart to the message of Paul           – the apostles in the Gospel would eventually be open to listen to the Lord                      – Jesus says that the apostles will testify to him—                                – that is, they will be open to listen to him                                          – whereas the people who would persecute them (eventually kill them) were not able to be open to listen   + Obviously, if we are followers of Jesus, we have to be open to listen to the Lord           – and this liturgy suggests a couple of ways that that might happen:                      – 1 – from the Acts of the Apostles, we have to be open to listen to others when they talk of the Lord                                – as Lydia and her household were                                          – if we are willing to study the sincere belief of others, the chances are that we will grow in our faith                      – 2 – also from the Acts of the Apostles, our lives have to be in a stance of prayer                                – I think that it is significant that Paul and Luke were looking for a place of prayer                                          – the application for us is that we always should be looking for the opportunity to remain with the Lord                                                    – the Lord must become an active force in our lives                      – 3 – from the Gospel, we must realize that the Holy Spirit (the Advocate) is directing the things that are happening in our lives                                – and our sincere prayer must be to allow that Spirit to direct the way things should happen                      – 4 – also from the Gospel, there must be a certain understanding that suffering must be “listened to” as part of the word of the Lord                                – we will not have the personal rejection that the apostles had                                          – but there is suffering in our lives                                                    – and it is something that must be dealt with and integrated into our lives                      – 5 – finally from the Gospel again, the way that we listen is to remember who the Lord was and what he was all about                                – that is what we are doing right now and what we do with every celebration of the Mass                                          – we remember what the Lord has done for us and is doing for us right now   + Being open to listen to the Lord is part of our calling           – the Lord is speaking to us                      – and the believer will always be paying attention to what the Lord says. MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: “Vampire”–Olivia RodrigoNO PLACE FOR HATEThe GospelMATTHEW 5:43-45aJesus said: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father.”

Gospelthink: You must love everyone even your enemies.

“Hate to give you the satisfaction of asking how you’re doing now; how’s the castle built off people you pretend to care about. Just what you wanted. I loved you truly, you gotta laugh at the stupidity ‘cause I’ve made some real big mistakes. I should’ve known it was strange. You only come out at night; I used to think I was smart, but you made me look s-o naïve, the way you sold me for parts, as you sunk your teeth into me, oh, bloodsucker, dream crusher, bleeding me dry like a damn vampire.”

Olivia Rodrigo commented on her song “Vampire” with these words: “Writing this song helped me sort through lots of feelings of regret, anger and heartache.” Hopefully, she discovered what both Christianity and psychology say about “hatred.” Her song is all about the hatred of someone else: “Hate to give you the satisfaction of asking how you’re doing now; how’s the castle built off people you pretend to care about. Just what you wanted. I loved you truly, you gotta laugh at the stupidity ‘cause I’ve made some real big mistakes. I should’ve known it was strange. You only come out at night; I used to think I was smart, but you made me look so naïve, the way you sold me for parts; as you sunk your teeth into me, oh, bloodsucker, dream crusher, bleeding me dry like a damn vampire.” Speaking of “hatred,” It is clear what Jesus says to the Christian: “Love your enemies,” that is, stay away from hatred. He knew that allowing hatred to control one’s life would totally mess up that life. Likewise clear is the feeling of psychology toward hatred: “We are experiencing an increasing level of hate in our society. Hate fuels the cancerous divisiveness and polarization which now infect virtually every part of our lives. This culture of hatred will have serious effects on both our national and individual emotional, psychological, and physical health. We cannot be a strong and healthy nation if we consider hate an acceptable aspect of our daily life. Hatred has the destructive power to permanently damage the nation’s emotional psyche and core values”( See Pyschology Today, Dr.  Lobsang Rapgay, 2018) As in Olivia Rodrigo’s song, hatred is often part of a romantic breakup. There is little doubt that one of the most difficult times in a young person’s life is when a love relationship fails in some way. It happens when one of the partners decides that he/she wants to have the opportunity to search around a little more, or when one of them begins to sense that the relationship is not what it should be. Rejection, even when someone only thinks it is rejection, is not easy to take. In order to make the human being “feel better,” there can be some desire to retaliate and to punish the other in some way, that is allow “hatred” into our thinking. Revenge and hatred have no place in a person who is trying to be positive in thought and mind, and therefore cannot be a part of a such a person’s life, even in the most difficult of personal situations. Therefore, often the person who is trying to be positive cannot agree with the thought of songs like this. And given the nature of our world and our natural desire to “get back” at others, such positive people should not agree with the thought of revenge and hatred that is often present.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, unfortunately, being human, we sometimes give into hate and anger expressed in words and actions. Help us dwell on your Son’s directive to us, and truly respect and love enemies, no matter what has happened in our romantic lives. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: Romantic breakups often cause the couple to hate each other, an action that will harm one’s whole outlook on life itself. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. What does the song “Vampire” teach young people? 2. In your opinion, what percentage of the people of our world actually follow the directive of Jesus to love our enemies and stay away from hatred of them? 3. As we “sort through” (Olivia Rodrigo’s words) our negative feelings about life in general, what is the most important discovery? 4. Do you agree with the meditation that hatred can mess up one’s entire life? Yes or no and why? 5. Do you agree with the article in Psychology Today that hatred “now infects virtually every part of our lives”? Yes or no and why? 6. Specifically with romantic breakups, is it true that most of the time, the couples “hate” one another after the breakup? Yes or no and why? 7. How should a “positive” person view a breakup?