Mind your own business: The Things of God (Ta Tou Theou)

Gozzoli, "Francis"

Pargraph One:

“Where are your thoughts?”

“What were you thinking?”

It’s not that I wasn’t. It’s that I was thinking of myself, of what I wanted.

I was ashamed to tell him what I was thinking—because if I had it would’ve revealed how warped my mind was. And a warped mind in the presence of a true mind is very easy to notice. I hid myself because I was ashamed.

Notice how Peter approaches Jesus, not openly or publicly the way you would if you were confident in the righteousness of your cause. If going to Jerusalem is such a bad idea, make it known. Well, perhaps he was just trying to spare Jesus the embarrassment of publicly disagreeing with his plan. No. Jesus tells us clearly.

Jesus doesn’t say, “Thanks, Peter, for sparing me the public humiliation of rebuking me in front of everyone.” Peter conceals his opposition.

Jesus lays claim to his—and our—thoughts, publicly.

“You’re thinking,” he says, “not as God does but as people do.”

“What were you thinking?”

Does God really have a claim on my thoughts? Jesus says it himself. “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

We don’t get a moment’s rest ever from loving God, even with our thoughts.

Could you use a "vacation"? How about a vacation? Don't you "wish" you could.

Paragraph 2: Vacations

Paragraph 3: Wishes, "Whoever wishes to come after me..."

it's "schizophrenia" to mind god & love our neighbor"

9/8/2021

Theme:

Self-denial, bearing your own cross are pre-requisites to following Jesus.

Did any follower of Jesus ever promote exclusively himself, rejecting altogether his own cross?

The one who loses his life for the sake of Jesus and the Gospel saves it.

Peter illustrates what not to do—this part of his tale is cautionary: take Jesus aside, rebuke him. Your thoughts are not as God, but as of men. Publicly reproached. For our benefit. Your thoughts don’t even get to swerve from God’s path—your people depend on their not swerving. Jesus sees to it.

Don’t entertain devious, selfish thoughts. Ponder the law of the Lord day and night.

Whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the gospel will save it.

Homily prep

Gozzoli

The step of making these 200 words “internet-ready” I’ve found takes some time and can work against the objective. An integral part of 200 words is that it’s not, say 500 words, or even 300 words. This is to kick-start the brain for the day, to get it up and at ‘em. If the drill wallows and gets bogged down in downloading large files, copying and pasting, formatting and re-formatting don’t be surprised if the brain, momentarily awakened choses to check back out again. Or, if another problem altogether, my lack of punctuality, rears its ugly head.

A gradual assessment of whether substack or blogspot is marginally easier may be useful. Also, “Keep overhead low.” No need to develop right away thematic illustrations or to scour the internet for the most beautiful image. All that’ll do is stop you dead in your tracks. If you see a good one, grab it. If not, “posted without comment” might just have to suffice. Wake up your brain and get on with your day! Don’t be late!

The fantasy of scripting even parts of the homily remains a fantasy.

One thought was: Monday, pick an appealing theme from the Gospel—there’s the topic of the homily, or the exegesis on the scripture ‘part of the homily.’ I’m settling this at around five minutes. Tuesday, find one scriptural illustration of Monday’s theme and develop it for a hundred words. Wednesday, find a saint who’s life reflects Tuesday’s illustration for another hundred words. Thursday, find an accessible everyday example where my life and my parishioners lives resemble Wednesday’s saint for another hundred words. Friday, introduce Monday’s theme with any kind of introduction for another hundred words. Conclude, as always with Our Lady and Saint Joseph. The predictability is deliberate and practical.