#this is all my back would let me draw so we fr getting no context

[ninja-knox-ur-sox-off]

[planetdream]

— REVERSAL !

this post contains: smut [d/s dynamics—brat!reader kinda sluts out minho. slapping (once). dumbification. oral—m.rec. drool/spit play. a couple tears. a lil degradation/praise (stupid/pretty boy). finger sucking. coming on command. creampie <3. slight overstim] the idea of control.

pairing: lee minho x reader | words: 1553 | next part ->

concepts of control masterlist

💌 idk how to explain this fic, just that it initially went through several different drafts, and i liked this version the most. like fr ngl i blast writing this :) as always, feedback is lovely and helps me improve :)

In this context, the definition of Control is to hold [someone or something] in check. Now, if this is the definition we choose to play with, then the truth of the matter stands clearly: Minho has no control over you. And as a man who prefers and craves to play the dominant role, this is surprisingly not a problem for him. In fact, Minho loves the fact that he can’t control you and make you submit to him so easily. With you, control is something that he could give up easily.

Of course, having a bratty submissive who can only bite back for so long until he has them stuttering over their words and begging him for some kind of forgiveness is fun, absolutely. But you, on the other hand, are someone who continuously bites back, no matter how severe or teasing the punishment might be. And that’s because, in the end, Minho always gives you what you want—it's nearly impossible for him not to.

Originally, he thought he’d get sick of it, the fact that he can’t break you as he has done to countless other subs who’d been in the picture before you got here. He also thought that he would be able to separate romantic affairs from sexual ones, but the truth is that you’re too good of a catch not to pursue in both ways. Point is, this defiance from you (which at times can be extreme—but nothing Minho can’t handle) is something that draws Minho in so deeply, and sometimes, it actually makes him go a bit dumb whenever you fuck.

Take tonight for example; you’re riding him so well, lifting yourself up and down his cock with all the grace in the world. Each time you bring yourself back down onto him, he stretches you out so wonderfully, cock hard and nudging against the soft spot deep inside of you. It’s gone unspoken for a while, but there’s no denying that Minho’s cock fits so well inside you, it’s like your pussy was made just for him, or maybe his cock was made specifically for you. Regardless, the fact that Minho gets so achingly hard for you is proof of the spell you have him under.

You’re using him like he’s disposable, a toy—and he fucking loves it. In fact, he loves it so much that he’s drooling as you ride him. Eyebrows furrowed together with his eyelids so low that they are almost closed—but they’re open, and he’s fixated on the way you ride him, so good that you’re creaming and clenching around him. His mouth is open, letting him unleash whatever degrading phrases he chooses, though, it’s occupied by deep moans and the lines of drool that leave his lips.

Then you do something you’ve never done before—although you’ve thought about it—raising your hand and landing a quick slap at Minho’s face. It’s not necessarily hard, but you’re still rewarded with the most beautiful, pornographic moan you’ve ever heard leave Minho’s mouth. He’s not that much of a moaner, typically choosing to grunt or to cover up his noises by degrading or praising you. But you find that when you’ve got him like this, completely under your mercy, he has the prettiest moans you’ve ever heard. And you wish you’d hear them more often.

“My eyes are up here, you know?” You tease.

But when he still doesn’t look at you, you grab him by his face, fingers digging into his cheeks as you tilt his head up; forcing him to look at you. His gaze finally meets yours after minutes and he’s just so fucking perfect. The softness of his eyes and how glassy they look with tiny tears brimming in his waterline. And the way he wears a little pout, almost like he’s begging you for more when at any point he could take the control back into his own hands—and he knows it.

“There you are, pretty boy. Was beginning to think I’m fucking you too dumb,” You slow down your movements, and Minho’s cock twitches at your words.

His hands, which had previously been resting at his sides, come up to grab at your waist, not wanting for you to stop anytime soon. But you stop him before he can touch you, taking his wrists in both of your hands. “Thought I told you no touching, baby? Maybe I should tie you up like you do me?”

He holds back a moan, attempting to thrust up into you, but fails when he realizes he’s too weak to do it. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? If I called you a stupid slut just like you do me? Hm? Make you beg to cum?”

Minho can’t bring himself to answer, no. The words are in his head, stringing together along the tip of his tongue in an incorrect order, and still, he can’t begin to answer. Every time he opens his mouth, only moans and incomprehensible murmurs leave it. His mind is clouded with a thick haze, only being able to concentrate on the feeling of you, all wet and warmly wrapped around his cock, and the words that spill from your mouth.

He shuts his eyes once you start moving again, and you’ve got him exactly where you want him. To an audience, this would seem like a brat getting payback for all the times their gorgeous dom punished them—and in part, it is. If Minho gets to see you all dumb and fucked out, don’t you also get to see him like that?

“Wanna help me cum, pretty boy?” By this point, you’re rolling your hips on him, at a slow and steady speed. “Or are you too stupid and fucked out to do it?”

“Always wanna make you cum,” He speaks! Looking up at you in a haze, bottom lip between his teeth.

You let go of his wrists, bringing your hand up to his mouth and prying it open with your fingers. You let two fingers rest on his tongue, your middle and ring, before spitting into his mouth and thrusting those same fingers deeper into his mouth. Minho closes his mouth around your fingers and sucks them in.

“Such a good boy,” You laugh as he moans around your fingers.

But just as quickly as you started, you take your fingers out of his mouth, rubbing the saliva all across the bottom half of his face. You plant a quick kiss onto his lips, and he lifts his head, following you for more. You deny him the kiss, lifting yourself into a squatting position—planting your feet against the soft cushion of the couch. You place your hands against his chest and begin moving on his cock again, gradually increasing your speed.

Minho’s thumb meets your clit, rubbing tight circles on the bud. With his other hand, he holds your face and makes you look at him, similar to what you did to him not long ago. His eyes meet yours and they’re no longer glossy and filled with tears, rather, his eyes are filled with such a deep hunger that makes you shiver and clench around him. It’s a sudden contrast from how spaced out he previously looked and now he looks like he’s ready to devour you whole.

“Oh, don’t be scared now,” He says, wearing a dangerous smirk on his face. “You didn’t even get a chance to make me your slut.”

He wants that to sound intimidating, he truly does, but you can see right through the facade. And the fact that he’s biting back his moans just makes it better. You laugh, smiling widely at him—hair a mess and sticking to your forehead, and still, you’re the prettiest person on the planet.

“You were my slut the second I laid my eyes on you. And you always will be, pretty boy. Now cum.”

Minho’s never cum on command before, and it’s like his cock has a mind of its own, twitching and releasing his cum deep inside of you. Still, you continue to bounce on him, not letting the aching in your thighs deter you from getting as much cum as you can from him. His thumb still working on your clit and driving you into your own orgasm. Not even getting the chance to cry out for him because he silences your moans with his lips. He continues slow, tight circles against your clit until you come down from your high, planting multiple kisses on your lips as you begin to catch your breath.

You lift yourself off of him, watching as cum leaks out of you and back onto his cock. You smile, coming up to pepper kisses all over his face, his chest, and abdomen. Once you’re face to face with his cock, you lick along his shaft, swiping up all the cum with your tongue before spitting it back onto his cock and taking him whole in your mouth. Minho bucks up into your mouth with a cracked moan leaving his before he pulls you off of him. You laugh teasingly at his sensitivity.

“You were so good for me,” You smile at him, booping his nose—to which he rolls his eyes, trying to contain his smile at the praise. “Next time, you can do whatever you want to me.”

© PLANETDREAM 2022

[caffernnn]

Ok, not to be like all in your tags, but I haven’t met many people that like both mdzs and free! I’ve seen you mention it a few times now and would love to hear your thoughts on it, if you’re fine with sharing. Wangxian and the juniors, best characters in the story.

Ahh feel free to look in the tags!! I forget sometimes that people see me clowning in there and I’m not just yelling into the void, but it’s essentially where I’m leaning over and whispering side comments into everyone’s ears 😌 (people who use tags in an actually systematic organizational way: you have my respect)

Recently started checking out the different MXTX stories after hearing about Hualian and Wangxian for so long without any context 😅 finally gave in by watching Heaven’s Official Blessing first, then moving on to the MDZS donghua. Finished that pretty recently, have read a few different chapter translations, and started The Untamed (which we’ll see if/when I make progress with that; I’ve been bad about starting new shows and keeping up with other ones to actually finish them once I’ve started OOPS). I get why everyone got attached to Wangxian now, like the brainrot is realll

To nobody’s surprise, I adore LWJ. WWX is a powerhouse and I love him for different reasons, but of course the character carved out of devout obligation to the point of feeling so intensely and struggling for years on how to ever process or show those emotions (if they feel they can show them at all) steals my attention. The fr! brainrot always has me trying to relate anything and everything I consume back to the characters and qualities I enjoy from fr! and it’s interesting to compare the way Wangxian’s dynamic/journey draws me in to some of the dynamics I enjoy talking about here. The stories are vastly different in the stakes involved, but the potential to explore devastating longing mixed with unique grief and emotional breakthroughs/catharsis is something I’m, like, totally into (because why be ~normal~ and enjoy media ~casually~ when I can be like ~this~).

I don’t talk about sourin as much as makoharu, but the feelings I have about Wangxian are comparable to those I have with sourin and love to see explored in sr AUs and meta posts. Hear me out: two characters who have immense prowess in their own rights and have their own barriers with displaying/confronting emotions, but it presents vastly differently to people on the outside looking in. It’s a sun and moon dynamic in the classic redblue “stoic vs spitfire” way where outsiders overlook how much passion/devotion actually resides in the moon character and how much emotional baggage the spitfire is hiding in their facade of brazen vulnerability. There’s the character who doesn’t verbally express emotions (because they never figured out how, because it hurts, because it could destroy, because because because) and covertly expresses their devotion through repression and covert actions. Then, there’s the object of their affection, who seems like an open book and lives life vibrantly, who cares about the other character but takes forever to actually process just how deep that emotion resides in them until there’s that one moment of breakthrough. LWJ realizing his feelings for WWX and enduring behind the scenes for years is very reminiscent of Sousuke’s feelings in those years where Rin was ghosting everyone, plus the emotions that led up to the “because I knew you would cry” scene. Rin is a character we know is emotional and is regarded for being emotional by others, but tried to put up a stubborn front of being numb and fine with being hated in the pursuit of his dream for a time. His breakthrough of learning to rely on a team again, embrace his friends, and let himself be vulnerable feels similar to WWX’s breakthrough in the confession scene — that immediate confrontation with how deep LWJ’s care ran, plus getting hit by a bus with his own longing that he hadn’t fully processed before that point, followed with the immediate urge to do something about it?? Very Rin. Not to bring a whole other show into the mix, but this specific type of dynamic is also what draws me into bonrin/bonfire in the AoEx universe. The flavorrrr of it all!!

Also I’m with you on loving them with the juniors; some of my favorite moments are watching WWX guide and teach them in his own way, resigned to himself of having less pride in his second life (still cocky, but he’s internalized how much he was hated and what led to his downfall the first time), and just knowing LWJ is inwardly preening because “look at you, look at how wrong the world was; they thought you only knew how to bring about ruin, but I keep getting to bear witness to how you care and create.” Lighthearted and humorous and sappy sappy sappy 🥰🥰🥰

[wesleyhill]

The Voice from the Whirlwind

A homily on Job 38:1-11, preached at Trinity Cathedral, Pittsburgh, on the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost 2021

Our Old Testament reading today is taken from the book of Job. Many scholars consider Job to be a literary masterpiece and its poetry the most beautiful in the entire Hebrew Bible. In light of that, I’m going to read our text again from the King James Version, which does better than most any other version at capturing the grandeur of the language.

 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. 4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. 5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? 6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; 7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? 9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it, 10 And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, 11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

This portion of Job comes from the very end of the book. In the thirty-seven long chapters that precede it, we have heard the story and the voice of Job, as well as the rebukes of some friends of his that have come to visit him.

Let’s recall that story so that we have the context for the portion we just heard. Job is a kind of Everyman character, a timeless figure. He does not seem to be descended from Abraham; he is not an Israelite. He is from Uz, some faraway city, and he is described as “the greatest of all the people of the east” (1:3). We might picture a wealthy sheikh with a palace and a retinue. His city and his lifestyle are meant to transport us into a sort of fairy tale setting (and remember — as C. S. Lewis and the Inklings remind us — that doesn’t mean the story is any less true! To be swept up in a good fairy tale is to be forced to grapple with something true about us).

One day, according to the story, an accusing, adversarial angelic figure makes a proposal to God in his heavenly court. He claims that Job only worships God and lives a virtuous life because it’s easy for him to do so. “But stretch out your hand now,” the adversary tells God, “and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” And God gives the adversary permission to take away Job’s family (his ten children are all killed), his wealth, and his health. And Job’s response is to continue, through it all, to worship God: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (1:21).

At this point in the story, three friends of Job travel from far away to see this greatest of all men reduced to sitting in an ash heap scraping his inflamed skin with a shard of pottery. For seven days they simply sit in silence with Job (as Jews to this day practice sitting shiva with the bereaved), “for they saw that his suffering was very great” (2:13).

But then, for the next thirty-five chapters of the book, Job howls out his innocence in poem after poem, speech after poetic speech, and his three friends remonstrate with him. They rebuke him for his arrogantly supposing that he can call God to account, and he retorts, “Miserable comforters are you all” (16:2). Back and forth it goes. So many words. So many “vain,” “windy words,” as the poet calls them at one point (16:3, KJV; NRSV).

And then, out of a storm that overwhelms all the words, the LORD finally speaks. Job had earlier wished that the day of his birth had been shrouded in darkness, but God turns that wish around and asks Job why he has shrouded everything with ignorant speech: “Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?” Then the LORD declares that He intends to question Job: “Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.”

And then comes some of the most memorable imagery in the entire book. I encourage you to open your Bible at home and read the passage again later, slowly, and pay attention to the striking imagery and metaphors. The LORD asks of Job:

You who are so full of opinions and recriminations, where were you when I was hoisting the rafters of the universe? Where were you when I was taking a plumbline to the Milky Way? Were you there, Job, when the roar of exploding galaxies sounded like a thundering choir of praise? Were you there when the ocean’s water broke, and I wrapped the sea with clouds like a mother wraps an infant in a warm blanket? If you know so much, Job, tell me, were you there? Because I was!

The LORD goes on like this for four whole chapters, giving Job a tour of all the wonders and terrors of creation.

And it’s at this point many readers have felt that the book of Job is at its least convincing. Here is Job, in psychological and bodily agony, crying out from the depths, “Why me?” And God’s answer is… to talk about oceans and stars and ostriches and crocodiles, as if merely asserting His power as the Creator were enough to put an end to honest, gut-wrenching questions, as if God were saying, “Shut up and just look at how much bigger and stronger than you I am.”

That’s a common interpretation that people have of our reading for today, but I don’t think it does justice to the text. Because God isn’t silencing Job so much as He is inviting Job to see in a new way. The LORD is not simply cataloguing His creatures for Job, as if He were curating a nature exhibit. Job has been trying to relate to the LORD as if He were a contractor; the LORD is trying to tell Job that, from the very beginning of creation, He is a covenant-maker. The LORD is reminding Job that back behind and underneath Job’s calculus of guilt and innocence; deeper than tit-for-tat human schemes that would supposedly sort out all the rational, moral reasons for why things happen in the world the way they do; beyond all this, at the heart of everything there is an unending, un-endable generosity, a light that can never be extinguished, an unfathomable source of life and goodness and wisdom. This isn’t merely some impersonal source of inspiration or fortitude that will get you safely through grief and out the other side; this ceaseless gift comes from the presence of the LORD Himself, the God who addresses Job, who speaks with Job, who seeks Job out precisely in his pain and loneliness. Beyond all deserving or undeserving, the LORD comes to Job. The LORD reveals Himself. Job is not given a platitude; he encounters a Person. The LORD is there — in majesty and mercy. And ultimately, in repentance and trust and hope, Job says to God, “I had heard You with my ear, but now my eye perceives You. Therefore, I recant and relent, being but dust and ashes” (42:5-6, NJPS). Job has not had his questions answered, but he has met the One who made him — the One who will open a future for him beyond all deserving or comprehending, the One who asks not for comprehension but for humility and trust.

Some of you may have seen Terrence Malick’s film The Tree of Life from ten years ago. It was nominated for multiple Oscars and struck a chord with many Christian viewers in particular. It opens with a blank screen and the words from our reading, the words that the LORD speaks to Job: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth… When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” The movie follows the story of a family with young children in Waco, Texas in the 1950s. I don’t want to spoil it for you (if you haven’t seen it, I encourage you to), but I will say that tragedy of the most awful kind strikes this family, and throughout the film, the characters return to that haunting question God asks of Job, “Where were you?” — except, in the film, it is the people who say it to God, rather than God who says it to them. Where were you?

Astonishingly, the movie tries to visually depict God’s speech to Job by taking a full 18 minutes — roughly an eighth of the entire film — to show the unfolding of creation, from the big bang to the emergence of dinosaurs. It sounds bizarre, but it’s extraordinary to see. One minute you’re watching one ordinary family in Waco in the 1950s navigate ordinary human sorrow, anger, remorse, and longing, and the next minute you’re watching nebulae and planetary rings and cell divisions. At the same time that you’re seeing one particular family’s life play out in all of its quotidian drama, you’re seeing the dazzling, awe-evoking origin of all life.

Where were you? the characters ask God.

The answer to that question that the LORD gives to Job is, in essence, “I am here, and I was here before you, and I will be here ahead of you. I am here, speaking to you, addressing you, seeing you, knowing you, redeeming you. I, the Maker of heaven and earth, am the same God who draws near.”

One scene in the movie takes place at a funeral, in a church. The text for the sermon is the same one we have heard this morning. And you can hear the priest say (and by the way, in real life, the priest in the film is an Episcopal priest who helped write the words he would perform!), “Is there some fraud in the scheme of the universe? Is there nothing which is deathless? Nothing which does not pass away?”

And at that point the camera slowly pans away from the character sitting in the pew listening, who has endured and will endure so much grief in the course of the story — the camera pans up to a stained glass window where we see the LORD of Israel who spoke to Job — the LORD as a human being, the man Jesus, bound with ropes, crowned with thorns, looking out from the glass with eyes of grief and unceasing love, ready to give His life for the world He had made.

It is He whom Job meets. It is He who is alive and here with us today, who speaks to us, who feeds us with His own Body and Blood.

Amen.

[tfw-no-tennis]

mtmte liveblog issue 15

death awaits!

oh god the cover. I aint ready 

the cover of overlords open mouth w/rodimus floating inside or w/e,,,,the overlord mouth fixation continues i see

and of COURSE its by nick roche. of course

oh god the tension and dread in the first page, as we get overlords sinister promise to murder everyone, starting with rewind, and then seeing chromedome rush over to open the door, and knowing that 30 minutes have passed already...

that full page spread of everyone vs overlord is amazing

also I always thought that ambulon was trying to kick overlord but now that I look closer he’s actually jumping away from overlord, having just crashed one of those hover...thingys....into him...which is honestly cool as hell. also I'm never over the fact that ambulon kinda looks like he’s smiling here, just having a grand ole time as overlord tries his best to murder everyone

and chromedome just seeing this and saying ‘rewind?’ is fucking killing me thanks

PIPES NO DONT DO THIS. YOURE JUST RUBBING SALT IN THE WOUND. PLEASE don't talk about how much fun you're having on your wacky space adventure oh god, that’s just asking to be murdered,

GOD AND THERE HE GOES, DRIVING TO HIS DOOM. PIPES NO

AUGHHHHHHHHHH AND THERES OVERLORD WITH HIS GIANT FOOT. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

PIIIIIPES ;_; 

his messed up goodbye thoughts are brutal...plus the final shot of him laying all busted up....god :( 

that guy seriously had some awful luck this trip. rip lil guy

BUT he sounded the alarm!!! so good for him!! that's a pretty amazing final act right there

oh my god I forgot abt this scene where rewind is like ‘so brainstorm why is my husband saying your name in his sleep :))))’ and brainstorm is like ‘haha idk its certainly not because we’re working on a secret project together, so jot that down!’ lmao brainstorm....

also dw rewind brainstorm is not fucking ur husband, just look at his evidentially extensive collection of perceptor-style microscopes...my man is microscopesexual 

I forgot abt the metabomb omfg

‘some of my favorite words are monosyllabic’ rodimus ily, himbo of my heart,

fort max :( rung :( 

oughhghghg I forgot abt the scene of tailgate making cyclonus a new horn ;_; and then cyclonus materializes menacingly bc tg dared to volunteer their room for movie night hvbfshdjkfbaskj cyclonus anti-social icon

AUGHHHH GOD THE PANEL OF RATCHET TALKING ON THE COMMS AND OVERLORD IS JUST, RIGHT BEHIND HIM, WITH HIS BIG STUPID LIPS, OH MY GOD

what the fuck, is drift a flying car??? hello??? what the hell????

seriously he’s got like, rockets and shit, what the fuck

anyways, the entire exchange b/w ratchet and drift here kills me, for multiple reasons.... ‘my faith and my sword’ lmao love it. and then ratchet refusing to leave drift and calling him his friend ;_; aughhh

rodimus w/the squad like ‘lets go gays!!!’ 

also I guess cosmos WAS on the lost light lol, totally didn't remember that, I'm guessing he left at some point to go be in the other series lmao 

I'm sorry but ‘amazing. you speak entirely in name’ is so fucking funny, but also like stfu overlord you're not allowed to be funny

MAGNUSSSSSSSS

now I'm confusing myself lmao, rodimus DID know abt overlord, didn't he??? wasn't that the whole thing???? I don't remember if he was involved w/the whole mnemosurgery plan but he at least knew that overlord was there...but we haven't been told that in-story yet so now I'm questioning that lmao

oh god I forgot that overlord almost kills magnus, jeeeeesus. good thing he’s a russian nesting doll otherwise he probably would've died fr 

also damn that's gotta be scary for everyone else, bc magnus is The Big Guy, and a renown fighter...plus drift got all fucked up...yall are in for a bad time 

tailgate gettin his panic on I see

swerve w/the meta narration lmao 

cyclonus ily sm.......

rodimus charging at overlord....ohhh my boy not your best idea

cd and rewind both saying ‘I thought you were dead!’ HHHHHHHH I'm destroyed fuck it all

rodimus (inadvertently) saving the day by saying ‘til all are one’...iconic!!

FORT MAX IS HEREEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

drift just casually chillin w/no legs

chromedome going into extreme detail about all the mnemosurgery he’s been doing on overlord for WEEKS while rewind is Right There....my dude.

this issue has a LOT of completely white backgrounds but I cant even rlly blame milne bc this seems like more drawing work than usual

oh god cd don't say ‘we’ll finish this conversation later’ at a time like this, that’s never a good idea,

rewind no don't do it :( :( :( 

that panel of cd’s arm getting cut off...AUGHHH

GODDDDDDD IM FUCKING CRYING. AUGHHHHHHHHHHH I.....

so incredibly fucked that cd does what’s best for rewind by blowing the pod up....hhhhh god 

and then that last panel of cd laying on the ground....fucking destroy me!!!!!!!!

also I love that at the beginning of the issue we see whirl with the missile launcher thing, and that’s what cd uses at the end here....good bookends. jro is really great about putting stuff in the story that just seems like innocuous filler/fun character building but turns out to ALSO be plot relevant later

HOLY SHIT I forgot about the cast page with the big red X’s thru the dead people’s profiles....jesus christ 

AUGH this issue was a rollercoaster, phew...and the emotionally devastating conclusion to this arc is still yet to come! 

I will say that it’s super interesting looking back on this, in the sense that rewind & chromedome are introduced as the first ever gay tf couple, and a few issues after we get told this explicitly, rewind is killed. this doesn't really end up being an issue representation-wise bc literally everyone is gay and there are a bunch of other significant gay characters/relationships later on, AND rewind comes back later 

but still! it’s interesting to think about how, at the time this came out, the phrase/concept ‘bury your gays’ wasn't really something that was talked about a lot (or like, it was, but not as often as nowadays, and not really under the term ‘bury your gays’ iirc), but at the time of publication this would have fallen under that trope (though rewind coming back later negates it imo). I think it would've been tough for this story to come out nowadays due to the backlash that would've occurred from rewind’s initial death (it also makes me wonder if there was any backlash when this DID come out) 

to be clear, this isn't a writing criticism - in fact, the reason this is able to work at all is because of the crazy amount of representation mtmte has. it’s like, youre able to kill off gay characters without it being ‘bury your gays’ if literally all your characters are gay by default, and there are a bunch of significant gay relationships happening - technically speaking, any death in mtmte is bury your gays lmao 

this is a completely disjointed rant but my point is like, if this issue came out in 2020 people would probably be pretty put off by rewind dying (understandably), but in the context of the series as a whole I don't consider this to be bad writing/bad representation/bury your gays 

and like, WERE people really mad about this in 2013? I am curious now, bc I would definitely feel kinda betrayed if I didn't know all the stuff that happens later 

but its pretty nice, because now I'm free to enjoy the writing and be emotionally devastated by rewinds death in a normal way, and not a ‘I'm angry at the writers for killing off one of the only gay characters’ kinda way

anyways I'm tired as hell so I'm going to bed, ill continue the emotional devastation later, phew

[sicut-in-caelo-et-in-terra]

Hi! I came across your blog and I’m so happy I did. I recently started to open my eyes and wanted to know Jesus and I am beyond happy I did because I already feel like a more calming presence around me. However, I was wondering if you have advice on how to stop with the ‘false idols’ thing? I spent the last few years only feeling validated when getting notices, spending money or whatever for meeting celebrities I liked and I’m so exhausted + tired of doing this. I’m just scared of falling back

Thank you so much for the ask! And I'm so happy you've been coming to know Jesus!

Yeah, false idols are tough. We all have them, and there's extensive literature on why they're bad and how to get rid of them - read the writings of almost any Saint. The first one that comes to mind is St. Thérèse of Lisieux and her little way. For more info I would recommend reading one of her actual works like Story of a Soul, or you can read something about her writings by someone else, like I Believe in Love by Fr. Jean C. J. D'Elbée. But here's my take largely based on the Little Way.

Here's the thing that might kind of seem surprising to hear in a discourse on purging idols. Money, power, fame, sex (although sex is a bit complicated of a topic, for a different post), things you buy, food, celebrities, likes on social media, politics, all these things that can become idols, aren't actually intrinsically bad. They become bad when they become your source of meaning. They become bad when they become the center of your life. They become bad when they stand in between you and God. They become bad when you stop seeing them as gifts God has given you, and start seeing them as things you deserve, or things you need, or things you can't be happy without.

Okay, great, that's why we've come here, so that we can figure out how to make those things be not like that.

Let's talk about chocolate. Chocolate is good. Chocolate is exquisite. I love it. I just had a piece of chocolate earlier today because it was my cousin's wedding and my mom was making candy baggies for the guests and there was some candy left over. I had a dark chocolate Kit Kat. I ate it and it was great, and I didn't think much about it and went on with the rest of my day.

But before time began, before the creation of the angels, before the beginning - God, who would go on to create massive spheres of plasma millions of times bigger than the sun, and black holes and quasars and dazzling crystals of amethyst and waterfalls and physics and kittens, who would go on and send his dear Jesus to die because he would rather endure that pain than be separated from me, who even now has sent an angel to watch over me who is so powerful that he could extinguish any one of those gigantic stars with a swing of his sword, God said, "On October 10, 2020, my beloved son Jared is going to eat a dark chocolate Kit Kat bar and I can't wait to make him even just a little bit happy for it."

Like can you understand that?! This modicum of joy that I received, which I barely paid any mind to before moving on with my day, was a gift that since before it all happened God has been giddy to witness me experience. Even now as I move my thumb across the screen to write these words, God watches with utter love, in total enjoyment. You know how when you see a gif of a celebrity you like doing some normal movement in their day and you fall a little more in love? God experiences* a million billion kajillion times that, towards you, specifically, every second of every day.

(*to say 'God "experiences"' is not quite right but in this context it is a sufficient explanation even if not technically accurate)

Okay, so idols.

Everything that is good, is good because of God. And any and every good that happens to you, ever, is because God specifically wanted it for you (delight that comes from sin is not counted here as a good) because He loves you.

Why is there something rather than nothing? Why is there a you rather than no you? God doesn't need you, and He doesn't lack anything without you. He made you out of love, because He wants the good for you. Everything is a gift.

And suffering? That's also a gift. But for a different post.

So, go ahead and eat a dark chocolate Kit Kat bar. You might be tempted to think, "I deserve this." You might be tempted to eat the first one and then seek after infinite dark chocolate Kit Kat bars because you love them so much. You might be tempted to treat the dark chocolate Kit Kat bar as an end unto itself. I guess you might be tempted to construct a golden dark chocolate Kit Kat bar statue and have an orgy all around it until Moses comes down from the mountain and grinds it into powder, mixes it with water, and makes you drink it. But instead, do this - recite these words: "Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts, which we have received from thy bounty, through Christ, our Lord." And really understand the words. Know that this is a gift, given to you freely by God. Let this dark chocolate Kit Kat bar be a sign, from God to you, that He loves you. That is what good things are for.

When all your candy is eaten for the candy's sake, or to vainly fill some hole that a wound has left in your heart, it will leave you, as you described, empty. But, properly ordered, no good thing will ever go to waste.

Now, some more practical tips (and anyone reading this please feel free to add)

1. Fast. This is a good practice for everyone, but especially if you've identified a particular idol in your life that you're having trouble ordering properly. If there's something that keeps making you feel empty, something that keeps getting in your way on your path to God, give it up. If it's not a sin, give it up only for a time, and break the fast sometimes. As Catholics we break our fasts on Sundays and solemnities to celebrate the Resurrection, but it's also a good practice because having something you really like but haven't had in a while, makes you appreciate it more and it's easier to see it as a gift. Also bask in the silence that has been brought to your life when this thing you often turn to is no longer available. It's uncomfortable at first but it's good.

2. Thankfuls. I do this every night, once over the phone with my girlfriend and once right before bed as part of my examen prayer. Now, psychologists are recommending it for people with depression as well so. Basically what you're going to do is review your day and notice the gifts you have been given. You can tell someone or write it down, or just pray it. Thank God for everything you've received. If your mind tends to wander like mine, I recommend with starting with a set number, like 3. Or try and think of everything you can.

3. Replace. This is another psychology tactic, also useful when conquering sin. Feeling like you want to watch porn? Draw instead (doesn't have to be a good drawing). Feeling like you're going to gossip? Excuse yourself and say a quick prayer instead. Gonna post something funny (and maybe a bit mean) for the sweet sweet dopamine from getting likes? Maybe journal instead. Have a plan for when you notice yourself being about to idol something. Fasting can enhance this practice cause it makes you more aware and more likely to catch yourself as well.

That was a very long post, but I hope it was helpful. Thank you for reading! And I'll be praying for you.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

8th May >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on John 14:1-6 for Friday, Fourth Week of Easter: ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life’.

Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

John 14:1-6

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.

Trust in God still, and trust in me.

There are many rooms in my Father’s house;

if there were not, I should have told you.

I am going now to prepare a place for you,

and after I have gone and prepared you a place,

I shall return to take you with me;

so that where I am

you may be too.

You know the way to the place where I am going.’

Thomas said, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus said:

‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.

No one can come to the Father except through me.’

Gospel (USA)

John 14:1-6

I am the way and the truth and the life.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.” Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Reflections (10)

(i) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

When someone you love deeply is seriously ill and is not going to get better, it is a real way of the cross. You feel helpless before the physical decline of the person who has meant so much to you for so long. You sense that all you can do is to travel this difficult journey with your loved one, doing all you can to make that journey a little easier. At the last supper, the disciples were aware that Jesus who had come to mean so much to them was soon to die, and there was nothing they could do about it. That is the setting of today’s gospel reading. In that highly charged moment, Jesus turns to his disciples and says, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me’. It is a word that Jesus speaks to all those who are being called to let go of those they love because of illness. It is not easy to trust in God at such times. When Jesus calls on his disciples to trust, he also gives them a reason to trust. He assures them that in dying he will be going to the many roomed house of God his Father; he will be returning home to God his Father. Jesus also assures them that where he is going is where he will bring all who trust in him when they come to the end of their earthly lives. ‘I will return to take you with me’, he says, ‘so that where I am, you may be too’. Jesus has passed through death to a new and fuller life for all of us. Where he has gone, he wants us to follow. The decline associated with approaching death is the prelude to a great fullness of life in God our Father’s heavenly home. These words of Jesus to his disciples on the night before his own death give hope and comfort to all us all as we face into the death of our loved ones and our own death.

And/Or

(ii) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

This morning’s gospel reading is one of the better known passages from John’s gospel because it is read so often at Funeral Masses. These are words of reassurance that Jesus spoke to his disciples in the context of the last supper, on the evening before his crucifixion, the evening of his betrayal. His disciples needed reassurance. Jesus has announced that one of those at table will betray him; he has been talking about his departure from this world. The tone of the evening is ominous. Jesus senses that his disciples are troubled and fearful. He calls on them to trust in God and to trust in himself. Sometimes when times are bleak we have to trust in God and in Jesus that all will be well. Jesus goes on to explain why this trust in God is appropriate. Although Jesus is going away and leaving them, he promises to return to them, to come again and to take them to the Father’s house with its many dwelling places. This has been interpreted as referring to Jesus coming to his disciples at the hour of their death, and this is a valid interpretation. However, Jesus will first return to them after he rises from the dead and he will remain with them through the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit. In that sense, the many dwelling places of the Father’s house or household can already be experienced in this earthly life. The community of disciples, the church, is the house or household of God the Father. Within that household, with its many dwelling places, we are all sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus and of each other. In and through this household of faith, the church, we already enjoy a foretaste of eternal life. Dwelling in the house of the Father is not postponed until after death. These are the reassuring words that Jesus speaks to his disciples and to all of us, his disciples today.

 And/Or

(iii) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

This morning’s gospel reading is very familiar to us because we often hear it read at funeral Masses. It has brought and continues to bring consolation to people who are grieving the loss of loved ones. Jesus speaks of eternal life as his Father’s house with many rooms or dwelling places and he promises to take his disciples with him to that house of his Father so that where he, Jesus, is they may be also. This promise of dwelling with Jesus in the house of his Father does not only apply to life after death. In this gospel according to John, Jesus invites his disciples, and all of us, to dwell in him here and now, just as he is dwelling in the Father. There is a sense in which God the Father’s house with its many dwelling places is a present reality for all of us, in and through the church. The church is sometimes spoken of in the New Testament as a household. Here and now we are members of God’s household. We have the privilege of dwelling with Jesus in his Father’s house as his sons and daughters and as brothers and sisters of Jesus. To that extent, there is great continuity between our life now as believers and are life in heaven when our faith gives way to vision. Our present dwelling in and with Jesus in God’s household is a wonderful privilege. It also entails a calling. Jesus wants to dwell in us, as we dwell in him. He wants his love to dwell in us so that we are clearly recognizable as his brothers and sisters and as sons and daughters of his Father and ours.

 And/Or

(iv) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

Thomas is one of the twelve apostles who features in the gospel of John a couple of times. We associate him with that scene in John’s gospel where he refuses to believe the other disciples who announce to him that they had seen Jesus. He is clearly not afraid to speak his mind. He is portrayed in a somewhat similar way in this morning’s gospel reading. When Jesus says to his disciples, ‘You know the way to the place where I am going’, Thomas pipes up, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus had just declared that he was going to his Father’s house, where there were many rooms. On the night before he dies Jesus declares that he is on his way to the Father, from whom he came. He declares that the journey he is about to travel is a journey that is open to all his disciples, ‘I shall return to take you with me’. His ultimate destination is also our ultimate destination, and the way to that destination is Jesus himself. ‘I am the way’. One of the earliest terms for Christians was ‘followers of the Way’. We are those who take Jesus as our Way. In taking Jesus as our way, we will find truth and life, we will find God, both in this life and in eternity. Every day we try to orientate ourselves towards Jesus, we keep taking him as our way.

 And/Or

(v) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

The gospel reading we have just heard is often chosen as one of the readings for the funeral liturgy. It is easy to understand why that is so. Jesus is speaking to his disciples on the eve of his own death. He assures his troubled disciples that in going from them in death, he is only going to his Father’s house; he is journeying back towards the one from whom he came into the world. Jesus also assures his disciples that the journey he is about to make is one that they too will make one day. Jesus will return to take his disciples to the Father’s house, so that they can be with him there. Jesus promises all of us that he will take us to the Father at the end of our lives. Jesus came among us to show us the Father, to reveal God to us. The purpose of his mission was and is to bring God to us and to bring us to God; at the end of our lives he will bring us finally and fully to God. Jesus’ description of his Father’s house as many roomed suggests the great hospitality of that house. Heaven, it seems, is not a confined space for a selected few; it is an open space for the many, just as Jesus himself did not come for the few, for the elect, but for all. Jesus is the Way to the Father for all who turn to him in faith. That is why he said, ‘when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself’. We pray this morning that we would always take him as our Way so that at the end of our lives we would join him in his Father’s house.

 And/Or

(vi) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

This morning’s gospel reading is set in the context of Jesus’ words to his disciples on the night before he died. He had been speaking about his going away. Understandably, his disciples are distressed by this prospect. Jesus seeks to reassure them that his going away, his going to the Father, is a journey that he is travelling for them, for all of us. In going to the Father, he is opening up a way for all of us to make the same journey. As he says in the gospel reading, he is going to prepare a place for us and then to come and take us to that place, to the many roomed house of his Father. Jesus is the Way; he is the way to the Father for all his disciples. As John the Baptist prepared a way for Jesus, so Jesus has prepared a way, opened up a way, for all of us. That is why his leaving this world and going to the Father is good news; his departure is the gateway to new life, not just for him but for us all. Furthermore, in going to the Father, he will send the Holy Spirit, and through the Spirit he will remain with us and within us, until that day when we go where he has gone, and join him in the house of the Father.

 And/Or

(vii) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

Many of us find departures difficulty, especially when the person departing from us is significant for us in some way. The words Jesus speaks in this morning’s gospel reading are set by the evangelist within the context of the last supper on the evening before Jesus was crucified. Jesus is about to leave his disciples. Yet, in leaving them he also assures them that he is not abandoning them. He will in fact come back to them. That is the promise of Jesus to the disciples in the gospel reading we have just heard, ‘I shall return to take you with me’. That promise is generally heard as a promise that at the end of our earthly lives Jesus will come and take us to the many roomed house of his Father, which is why this reading is so often chosen for the funeral liturgy. However, Jesus goes on to assure his disciples that we don’t have to wait to the end of our lives to experience his coming. He will come to us in and through the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit, the Lord comes to us here and now, today, and his coming through the Spirit is a foretaste, an anticipation, of his coming to us at the end of our lives. That is why Saint Paul refers to the Spirit as the first fruit of the final harvest, eternal life.

 And/Or

(viii) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

The context of this morning’s gospel reading is the evening before Jesus is crucified. Jesus’ disciples are troubled because they are aware that Jesus is heading into danger; they sense that this may be their last night together. In that difficult moment Jesus turns to his disciples and says to them, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me’. At this very difficult moment of transition and loss, Jesus invites his disciples to keep trusting in God and in himself. Jesus wants them to trust in him and in God because the pain of loss they will experience when he is taken from them will not have the last word. Indeed they will experience a new relationship with Jesus beyond his crucifixion and death; ‘I shall return to take you with me’. God will bring something new and worthwhile out of the pain and loss they are about to suffer. When we find ourselves in difficult moments of transition and loss we too are invited to trust, to trust in Jesus and in God. God will always work to bring new life out of the pain relating to the losses we suffer, and that is why we can trust God at such difficult times.

 And/Or

(ix) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

The gospel reading we have just heard is one that is often read at funeral Masses. It is easy to see why. As Jesus takes his leave of his disciples on the night before he dies, he assures us that there are many ‘rooms’ or ‘dwelling places’ in his Father’s house and he promises them that, although he is soon to leave them, he will come again and take them to his Father’s house of many dwelling places, so that where he is they will be too. He is promising his disciples that in leaving them he is not breaking his communion. That is his promise to us this morning also. Jesus remains in communion with us, and his communion with us will be brought to perfection beyond this earthly life. He desires to take us to the heavenly home of his Father, but in the meantime he wants to make his home in us and he calls on us to make his home in him. A few verses later Jesus will say to his disciples, ‘Make your home in me as I make mine in you’. One of the primary ways that Jesus makes his home in us and we make our home in him is in the Eucharist. It is not by accident that we refer to the Eucharist as holy communion; it is a moment when the Lord enters into communion with us in a special way and we enter into communion with him, as a community of faith. In that sense, the Eucharist looks ahead to that more complete moment of communion in the Father’s heavenly home.

 And/Or

(x) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

This morning’s gospel reading is a reading you will hear many times when a funeral takes place. It is one of the most frequently chosen gospel readings for funeral Masses. On the night before his own death, in the context of the last supper that Jesus had with his disciples before his crucifixion, Jesus speaks about the many roomed house of God his Father towards which he is journeying. He is reminding his troubled disciples that the Roman cross will not be his final destination. Beyond that shameful death there is the heavenly house of God his Father where he will be received with great honour and glory. Even on the night before his own death, Jesus is not only thinking of himself; he is thinking of others, of his own followers. He assures them that the heavenly house of God his Father is not only his own ultimate destination but it is also the final destination of his disciples. At the end of their earthly lives he promises to come to them and take them to that heavenly house so that where he is they may be too. Where Jesus is going, his disciples will follow; to that extent, he is the goal of their journey. This is a very reassuring message for all of us. That is why Jesus begins what he has to say with those very reassuring words, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled’. As well as declaring himself to be the goal of our earthly journey Jesus also declares himself to the way to that goal, ‘I am the way’. He is our present way and our future hope.  

Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland.

Email: sjtbclontarf@eircom.net or  revmartinhogan@gmail.com

Parish Website: www.stjohnsclontarf.ie  Please join us via our webcam.

Twitter: @SJtBClontarfRC.

Facebook: St John the Baptist RC Parish, Clontarf.

Tumblr: Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin.

[silverknowsmusic]

Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying, But What Does It Mean To Save The Scene?

A Fall Out Boy song from 2005 still baffles Overcast Kids, Youngbloods, and Champions alike.

If you haven’t yet heard Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part To Save The Scene And Stop Going To Shows), pause for a moment to give it a listen before continuing on.

- - - - - - - - - -

During the band’s earlier days, Fall Out Boy was infamous among fans for their longer song titles, including ¨Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued,¨ ¨I Slept With Somebody In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me,¨ and ¨I´ve Got A Dark Alley And A Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth (Summer Song).¨ Over time their titles have shortened, but the legacy remains. One of their songs, ¨Thnks Fr Th Mmrs,¨ is said to have had the vowels removed due to the producers asking for shorter song titles. In the band´s album From Under The Cork Tree another song, ¨Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part To Save The Scene And Stop Going To Shows),¨ takes the spotlight as having one of those longer titles. The lyrics of this song raise many questions, and as you look more into the meanings you find more than what meets the eye.

The song starts on the opening line, ¨This has been said so many times that I´m not sure if it matters,¨ which is repeated multiple times during the song. This thought-provoking line immediately catches the attention of most listeners and gets them to start asking questions. Different contexts for this line are proposed throughout the song, but what if the lyric´s meaning was itself? ¨This has been said so many times that I´m not sure if it matters.¨ This specific line. Lyrics can easily have their meanings lost if not given the proper attention or analyzed properly. The speaker is directly questioning whether this lyric will have any power behind it despite it being repeated so frequently.

Following directly after the previous statement, another lyric says, ¨But we never stood a chance, and I don´t know if it matters.¨ This seems to direct some context to the opening line, giving it new meaning. If you never had a chance in the first place, will it matter? Would people root for the underdog or simply drag you down? The idea of never standing a chance could lead to tragedy, and in modern society people tend to avoid negative connotations. Instead of going to friends or family for comfort in tough times, people stay to themselves because they tend to feel ignored.

A line later on in the song states, ¨We never thought you would pick it apart,¨ This seems more directly spoken to the listener, and could correlate to the idea of tragedy. If most people simply ignore negative situations instead of comforting friends in everyday life, they might not be expected to notice and pay attention to negativity in a song. This lyric specifically calls out the people who take the time to find these deeper meaning.

Another point in the song refers back to the main statement, saying, ¨But it must be said again that all us boys are just screaming / Into microphones for attention / Because we´re just so bored.¨ This could suggest that the narrator´s reason for feeling like their statements might not matter could be related accusations from their critics. If the band is commonly generalized as just being some attention speakers who want to cure their boredom they might not be taken seriously. Despite some serious cries that are obviously stated, they´re still just pushed aside and ignored.

The song´s chorus begins with, ¨I know this hurts, it was meant to / Your secret´s out and the best part is it isn´t even a good one.¨ Connecting these lyrics back to the idea of people accusing the band of just being attention-seekers, these lines start to fall in place. They´re beginning to call people out for what they´re saying, the ¨secret¨ the people are trying so hard to hide being their ignorance. The chorus ends with, ¨And it´s mind over, you don´t, don´t matter.¨ This places the weight on a specific person, saying, ¨you don´t matter¨ to contrast with, ¨I´m not sure if it matters.¨ This could be directed at that same group of people, saying their ignorance or criticism doesn´t matter to the band. On the other hand, it could be directed to a specific person as well.

A shift in the song switches from Patrick Stump´s vocals to Pete Wentz, the lyricist and bassist. This intensely spoken bridge starts with, ¨I used to obsess over living, now I only obsess over you,¨ which supports the possibility of this song being associated with a specific person. It seems to be on more of an individual level now, no longer seeming directed to a full group. The bridge´s ending repeats the opening line once more, ¨This has been said so many times that I´m not sure if it matters.¨ Stump takes over the vocals again for the chorus.

After this final chorus, attention is shifted back to Wentz. He speaks for the rest of the length of the recording, reciting a poetic verse. It focuses more on the instance of what may have happened with the person in question, starting with, ¨From day one I talked about getting out / But not forgetting about / How all my worst fears are letting out.¨ The rest of the song continues on with themes about loneliness and questioning the worth of living, now repeating the line, ¨Why put a new address on the same old loneliness?¨ This could conclude the arc of the narrator and this person, implying that the song could be the story of a breakup. Going back to the first line, ¨this¨ could be referring to the phrase ¨I love you.¨ It´s been said time and time again, but after a heartbreaking situation you could start to question the meaning of those words and if they really matter. You could even substitute the phrase into the lyric, creating, ¨´I love you’ has been said so many times, and I´m not sure if it matters.” The song draws to a conclusion on the final note of, ¨And this is you and me / And me and you / Until we´ve got nothing left,¨ supporting this theory.

¨Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part To Save The Scene And Stop Going To Shows)¨ is a beautifully crafted tragedy, a brilliant show of heartbreak through lyrics and song composition. Fall Out Boy has moved on since this song was written, and they´ve changed for the better. With newer lyrics such as, ¨If I can live through this, I can do anything,” (from their song ¨Champion¨), there is no doubt that the band members have found themselves in a better place. As the band moves forward and progresses, it´s still important to look back on their older music. You might find that there´s more than meets the eye.

[theworstbob]

yellin’ at songs, week twenty-five

capsule reviews of the pop songs which debuted on the billboard hot 100 the weeks of 30 June 2007 and 1 July 2017

30 June 2007

87) "Teenagers," My Chemical Romance

Y'know, I find Welcome to the Black Parade mostly disagreeable, but heck if this song ain't a bright spot, insofar as a song about bringing concealed weaponry of some kind to school is a "bright spot." (Hey, I dunno, if you have to add a disclaimer to the video saying "violence isn't the answer," you should consider a different song for the single? Just a thought, don't wanna backseat record executive, here, but that seems bad.) Like, apart from the "under your shirt" line, it's kind of a perfect angsty vibe, not Linkin Parky fml angst, more angsty in that eternally adolescent sense of "all adults are robots and I will never conform," it channels that really well, and it has a dope guitar solo. I don't think I've mentioned a guitar solo being fun, and I can't tell if that's because I don't typically care about guitar solos or this is the first memorable guitar solo we've gotten, but either way, best guitar solo of the project so far. I am spending a lot of time on this song because I'm like 60% sure it's gonna be the only song I like this week. (spoilers: it isn’t!)

93) "Imagine," Jack Johnson

You know what's another thing about "Teenagers?" Like, even before I ever listened to Welcome to the Black Parade, I could draw a line from "Welcome to the Black Parade" to "Teenagers." I could make sense of how "Teenagers" would fit in a narrative that began with "Welcome to the Black Parade," how that kid would become angry and sullen and start scaring adults. I wish more singles had some sort of thematic throughline, like I don't necessarily mean Future should write a rock opera, I mean that I should be able to get the sense that like "Shape of You" and "Castle on the Hill" are from the same album. But maybe I'm just projecting, maybe I'm stuck in MUSIC WAS BETTER IN 2007 mode when, as seen here, it clearly fucking wasn't.

94) "Shawty," Piles ft./T-Pain

wait hold up is that the "shawty, yeah-e-yeah, yeah" from the start of "i'm on the boat." did t-pain start all his features with "shawty yeah-e-yeah yeah" and i'm just noticing it now, or did t-pain reuse a run. anyway, piles is the goat: grossest of all time. he drops bars that would make yachty wince. like, this is just the first verse: "i pointed at the donk & told her this s'posed to be yours/showed her a couple stacks and told her i'd let her blow it" what body part is the donk in this context. if piles calls his dick 'the donk' i might throw up, especially since he believes being able to suck on it is a wonderful privilege. "i taught her how to talk to me while she take pipe" well, communication is key to any healthy relationship, i'm glad piles understands its importance "i gotta train her, now she suck me with ice" oh okay that's cool, yeah no, women need to be trained to give pleasure, i get it, totally, chill attitude that was the first verse. piles is the worst. i can't believe we squandered this hook and the "bust it baby, pt. 2" hook on this gross gross boy. oh hey second verse "member she used to run from me, now she like pain" cool. coooooooooooooooooooooooool. what a song!

no updates to the 2007 top 20 week but we’re gonna publish the top 20 because i didn’t last week and you may have forgotten 20) "Get Me Bodied," by Beyonce (5.26.2007) 19) "Lip Gloss," by Lil Mama (6.9.2007) 18) "I Don't Wanna Stop," by Ozzy Osbourne (5.26.2007) 17) "Stolen," by Dashboard Confessional (4.21.2007) 16) "Beautiful Liar," by Beyonce & Shakira (3.31.2007) 15) "Cupid's Chokehold," by Gym Class Heroes ft./Patrick Stump (1.13.2007) 14) "The River," by Good Charlotte ft./M. Shadows & Synyster Gates (2.10.2007) 13) "Say OK," by Vanessa Hudgens (2.17.2007) 12) "Alyssa Lies," by Jason Michael Carroll (1.13.2007) 11) "Never Again," by Kelly Clarkson (5.12.2007) 10) "Can't Tell Me Nothing," by Kanye West (6.16.2007) 9) "Get Buck," by Young Buck (4.14.2007) 8) "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," by Jennifer Hudson (1.13.2007) 7) "Thnks fr th Mmrs," by Fall Out Boy (4.28.2007) 6) "Candyman," by Christina Aguilera (1.13.2007) 5) "Because of You," by Ne-Yo (3.17.2007) 4) "Umbrella," by Rihanna ft./Jay-Z (4.28.2007) 3) "Beautiful Flower," by India.Arie (6.16.2007) 2) "Dashboard," by Modest Mouse (2.17.2007) 1) "The Story," by Brandi Carlile (4.28.2007) i still enjoy all 20 of these songs. alright, 2017, low bar for ya. maybe you wanna clear it?

1 July 2017

16) "2U," David Guetta by ft./Justin Bieber

There's something I really don’t like about Justin Bieber saying "Watch me speak from my heart when it comes to you," and then having that line immediately followed by an EDM drop. Like is the drop supposed to be a substitute for words? Is the drop supposed to communicate what's in Justin Bieber's heart? Because all I hear from the drop is "what a nifty drop I am!" But this feels less like a criticism than it does like pedantry. It's OK. David Guetta is a proven programmer of pop music, and this is another solid song that he has made that I wouldn't have been able to pin to David Guetta if I listened to this blind.

70) "Love Galore," by SZA ft./Travis Scott

Worth pointing out that the first autocomplete result for love galore is "love galore travis scott," which is cool. I'm also gonna cop to having this album in my library but letting it sit because there's so much else I have to get to and this wasn't a priority. This song doesn't move the album higher in my queue, but it does have me excited to get to it. This is a dope song, this portrait of an awful relationship neither party much wants to be in, but are staying together because they love each other, whatever that means. SZA regrets hooking up with Travis Scott, Travis Scott admits he was only looking for ass and titties, they both operate independently of one another, but there's love, so there's that. And then the end, when that extremely pleasant bass line disappears, there's that single note on the keyboard and SZA going "woah," then that beat switch into SZA saying "I came here to have sex with you, and if it weren't for that, I wouldn't be here," that's just so cool, like this song is complex and intricate and it does the thing "4 AM" did last week where the music occasionally goes out of tone and it does that thing to great effect. SZA's dope. I'm excited for whatever time I get to spend with her in the future. ...OK. OK, fine, I'll fucking leave this nice dark place and go to countrydudetopia.

79) "Do I Make You Wanna," by Billy Currington

Time for a YAS REWIND, because remember last week when we talked about how many people have made it from the 2007 Hot 100 to the 2017? THIS IS RELEVANT TO THAT, because Billy Currington just became the 29th member of the Decade Dance Party! We will share the full list later in this post, because there are only 10 songs this week and most of them blow so I'ma give you some other #content this week, but it's worth noting right here that 9 of the 29 members of Decade Dance Party are country dudes. You drive down enough dirt roads, you're gonna get stuck in the mud at some point. This is a song in which Billy Currington asks his girlfriend if he makes her feel complete and safe, which is either incredibly arrogant or pathetically needy.

89) "Escapate Conmigo," by Wisin ft./Ozuna

HELL YEAH LATIN POP. Gosh, the renewal of Latin pop as a thing we listen to has been one of the best things about doing this silly thing. Like, all the Latin pop is my second favorite thing about YAS, just ahead of Kendrick week but, let's be real, a million miles behind Ashley Tisdale's cover of "Kiss the Girl." This is such a nice song. The beat bounces nicely, Wisin's flow is like "what if Lin-Manuel Miranda rapped in Spanish and was also good" (like maybe it's been a while since I heard that dude rap, but they sound so very alike), and it has one of the best mis-translated lyrics of the year with "My supergirl/The one whose smiles steal me/Tremendous wolf." Tremendous wolf. I adore that.

93) "What Ifs," by Kane Brown ft./Lauren Alaina

I see you, dude. First off, this dude's voice is incredible. Like, after listening to dude after dude either whispering softly over EDM or bleating twangily over the country beat, hearing this dude belt was An Experience. I wish the production would calm down a little bit, like this dude and Lauren Alaina could have made this song an epic ballad on their own, but nah, gotta have the electronic drums spoil a perfectly good opening guitar line, gotta have the standard pop/country things choke the life out of what could've been some cool moments. This dude's a lot like that Luke Combs fella from a few months back, not stylistically or anything, just in the sense that I bet he's cooler than he is on this song, and I trust he's not just some bro country yutz, but I'm not in any rush to check out what else he's got, despite how appealing the song title "Used to Love You Sober" is.

95) "It's a Vibe," by 2 Chainz ft./Ty Dolla $ign, Trey Songz & Jhene Aiko

This was also OK! As stated, this song was a vibe, and gosh darn, if it didn't do much more than vibe, though. A fun way to kill three minutes, a less than fun thing to listen to if you're charging yourself with the task of coming up with some unique point to make about it for to generate likes and the whatnot. S'a'ight, y'know? I'm supposed to write, what, 100 words about something thats'a'ight? I mean, I don't have to, no one ever asked me to and they clearly don't want me to, but like. It's a vibe! It's another one. Fuck it, I don't, sigh, just give me the country dudes and let's get out of this actually-pretty-decent week.

100) "It Ain't My Fault," by Brothers Osborne

OK. OK! OK, hell yeah, no, I'm sorry for calling you country dudes, 'cuz hot damn, this was great. Like, Chris Stapleton gets a lot of hype for making classic country music, but he only makes the sad slow acoustic country music, and like Johnny Cash had "Folsom Prison Blues" and "A Boy Named Sue," y'know? Not to compare this song to those, but this is uptempo classic country, this is classic country with got damn STOMP, and it's dope as hell.

Two new songs in the Top 20 for 2017! 20) "It Ain't My Fault," by Brothers Osborne (7.1) 19) "Slide," by Calvin Harris ft./Frank Ocean & Migos (3.18) 18) "Felices los 4," by Maluma (6.3) 17) "Now & Later," by Sage the Gemini (2.25) 16) "Love Galore," by SZA ft./Travis Scott (7.1) 15) "Bad Liar," by Selena Gomez (6.3) 14) "DNA." by Kendrick Lamar (5.6) 13) "It Ain't Me," by Kygo x Selena Gomez (3.4) 12) "Craving You," by Thomas Rhett ft./Maren Morris (4.22) 11) "That's What I Like," by Bruno Mars (3.4) 10) "Chanel," by Frank Ocean ft./A$AP Rocky (4.1) 9) "Strangers," by Halsey ft./Lauren Jauregui (6.17) 8) "Either Way," by Chris Stapleton (5.27) 7) "Run Up," by Major Lazer ft./PARTYNEXTDOOR & Nicki Minaj (2.18) 6) "Green Light," by Lorde (3.18) 5) "ELEMENT." by Kendrick Lamar (5.6) 4) "Despacito," by Luis Fonsi ft./Daddy Yankee (2.4) 3) "Issues," by Julia Michaels (2.11) 2) "iSpy," by KYLE ft./Lil Yachty (1.14) 1) "Hard Times," by Paramore (5.13) I bumped “Selfish” this week. I have no idea how that happened. 2017′s slowly becoming stacked, and/or I’m an idiot.

Who won the week?

2017. Like? 2017.

2017: 13 2007: 12

Yooge opportunity for 2017 to widen this gap, too, so I’m stoked for a solid two weeks of Chainsmokers songs and memes. Anyway, THE IMPORTANT THING.

The Decade Dance Club

30 people have made or been featured on songs that charted in the years 2007 and 2017. They are: 1) Daddy Yankee (”Impacto,” “Shaky Shaky”) 2) Dierks Bentley (”Free & Easy,” “Black”) 3) Luke Bryan (”All My Friends Say,” “Fast”) 4) Gucci Mane (”Freaky Gurl,” “Make Love”) 5) Jason Aldean (”Johnny Cash,” “Any Ol’ Barstool”) 6) Lil Wayne (”Sweetest Girl” (feat), “Running Back” (feat)) 7) Missy Elliott (”Let it Go” (feat), “I’m Better”) 8) Maroon 5 (”Makes Me Wonder,” “Cold”) 9) Nick Jonas (”Year 3000″ (w/jobros), “Bom Bidi Bom”) 10) DJ Khaled (”We Takin Over,” “Shining”) 11) Beyonce (”Get Me Bodied,” “Shining”) 12) Jay-Z (”Blue Magic,” “Shining”) 13) Linkin Park (”What I’ve Done,” “Heavy”) 14) Rihanna (”Umbrella,” “Selfish” (feat)) 15) Josh Turner (”Me & God,” “Hometown Girl”) 16) Rick Ross (“We Takin Over” (feat), “Trap Trap Trap”) 17) Faith Hill (”I Need You,” “Speak to a Girl”) 18) Tim McGraw (”I Need You,” “Speak to a Girl”) 19) Miranda Lambert (”Famous in a Small Town,” “Tin Man”) 20) Enrique Iglesias (”Dimelo,” “Subeme la Radio”) 21) Flo Rida (”Low,” “Cake”) 22) Kenny Chesney (”Beer in Mexico,” “Bar at the End of the World”) 23) Paramore (”Misery Business,” “Hard Times”) 24) Miley Cyrus (”Nobody’s Perfect,” “Malibu”) 25) Blake Shelton (”Don’t Make Me,” “Every Time I Hear That Song”) 26) Shakira (”Beautiful Liar,” “Me Enamore”) 27) Rascal Flatts (”Stand,” “Yours if You Want It”) 28) Trey Songz (”Can’t Help But Wait,” “Nobody Else But You”) 29) Billy Currington (”Good Directions,” “Do I Make You Wanna”) 30) Wisin (”Sexi Movimento,” “Escapate Conmigo”)

Shout out to Wisin for making the list, too! So that’s 30, out of hundreds, who have had a career on the pop charts that spanned a decade. Specifically, the last ten years, there’s a few folks who’ve charted in 2017 that didn’t chart in 2007 despite being things back then, such as Darius Rucker, Eminem, John Legend, Mariah Carey, and Pharrell Williams. There’s also some folks who hit in 2008 that have hit in 2017, your Katy Perries and Ladies Antebellum, that cannot make this list because, hey, it’s kind of a dumb list. But music is dumb, and this list should illustrate how hard it is to last in the music business (unless you’re a dude who makes country music), which is why it’s vitally important we spend hours and hours dissecting Lil’ Yachty lyrics.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

17th May >> Fr. Martin's Gospel Reflections / Homilies on John 14:1-6 for Friday, Fourth Week of Easter:'Trust in God still'.

Friday, Fourth Week of Easter  

Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

John 14:1-6

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.

Trust in God still, and trust in me.

There are many rooms in my Father’s house;

if there were not, I should have told you.

I am going now to prepare a place for you,

and after I have gone and prepared you a place,

I shall return to take you with me;

so that where I am

you may be too.

You know the way to the place where I am going.’

Thomas said, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus said:

‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.

No one can come to the Father except through me.’

Gospel (USA)

John 14:1-6

I am the way and the truth and the life.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.” Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Reflections (10)

(i) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

When someone you love deeply is seriously ill and is not going to get better, it is a real way of the cross. You feel helpless before the physical decline of the person who has meant so much to you for so long. You sense that all you can do is to travel this difficult journey with your loved one, doing all you can to make that journey a little easier. At the last supper, the disciples were aware that Jesus who had come to mean so much to them was soon to die, and there was nothing they could do about it. That is the setting of today’s gospel reading. In that highly charged moment, Jesus turns to his disciples and says, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me’. It is a word that Jesus speaks to all those who are being called to let go of those they love because of illness. It is not easy to trust in God at such times. When Jesus calls on his disciples to trust, he also gives them a reason to trust. He assures them that in dying he will be going to the many roomed house of God his Father; he will be returning home to God his Father. Jesus also assures them that where he is going is where he will bring all who trust in him when they come to the end of their earthly lives. ‘I will return to take you with me’, he says, ‘so that where I am, you may be too’. Jesus has passed through death to a new and fuller life for all of us. Where he has gone, he wants us to follow. The decline associated with approaching death is the prelude to a great fullness of life in God our Father’s heavenly home. These words of Jesus to his disciples on the night before his own death give hope and comfort to all us all as we face into the death of our loved ones and our own death.

And/Or

(ii) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

This morning’s gospel reading is one of the better known passages from John’s gospel because it is read so often at Funeral Masses. These are words of reassurance that Jesus spoke to his disciples in the context of the last supper, on the evening before his crucifixion, the evening of his betrayal. His disciples needed reassurance. Jesus has announced that one of those at table will betray him; he has been talking about his departure from this world. The tone of the evening is ominous. Jesus senses that his disciples are troubled and fearful. He calls on them to trust in God and to trust in himself. Sometimes when times are bleak we have to trust in God and in Jesus that all will be well. Jesus goes on to explain why this trust in God is appropriate. Although Jesus is going away and leaving them, he promises to return to them, to come again and to take them to the Father’s house with its many dwelling places. This has been interpreted as referring to Jesus coming to his disciples at the hour of their death, and this is a valid interpretation. However, Jesus will first return to them after he rises from the dead and he will remain with them through the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit. In that sense, the many dwelling places of the Father’s house or household can already be experienced in this earthly life. The community of disciples, the church, is the house or household of God the Father. Within that household, with its many dwelling places, we are all sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus and of each other. In and through this household of faith, the church, we already enjoy a foretaste of eternal life. Dwelling in the house of the Father is not postponed until after death. These are the reassuring words that Jesus speaks to his disciples and to all of us, his disciples today.

And/Or

(iii) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

This morning’s gospel reading is very familiar to us because we often hear it read at funeral Masses. It has brought and continues to bring consolation to people who are grieving the loss of loved ones. Jesus speaks of eternal life as his Father’s house with many rooms or dwelling places and he promises to take his disciples with him to that house of his Father so that where he, Jesus, is they may be also. This promise of dwelling with Jesus in the house of his Father does not only apply to life after death. In this gospel according to John, Jesus invites his disciples, and all of us, to dwell in him here and now, just as he is dwelling in the Father. There is a sense in which God the Father’s house with its many dwelling places is a present reality for all of us, in and through the church. The church is sometimes spoken of in the New Testament as a household. Here and now we are members of God’s household. We have the privilege of dwelling with Jesus in his Father’s house as his sons and daughters and as brothers and sisters of Jesus. To that extent, there is great continuity between our life now as believers and are life in heaven when our faith gives way to vision. Our present dwelling in and with Jesus in God’s household is a wonderful privilege. It also entails a calling. Jesus wants to dwell in us, as we dwell in him. He wants his love to dwell in us so that we are clearly recognizable as his brothers and sisters and as sons and daughters of his Father and ours.

And/Or

(iv) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

Thomas is one of the twelve apostles who features in the gospel of John a couple of times. We associate him with that scene in John’s gospel where he refuses to believe the other disciples who announce to him that they had seen Jesus. He is clearly not afraid to speak his mind. He is portrayed in a somewhat similar way in this morning’s gospel reading. When Jesus says to his disciples, ‘You know the way to the place where I am going’, Thomas pipes up, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus had just declared that he was going to his Father’s house, where there were many rooms. On the night before he dies Jesus declares that he is on his way to the Father, from whom he came. He declares that the journey he is about to travel is a journey that is open to all his disciples, ‘I shall return to take you with me’. His ultimate destination is also our ultimate destination, and the way to that destination is Jesus himself. ‘I am the way’. One of the earliest terms for Christians was ‘followers of the Way’. We are those who take Jesus as our Way. In taking Jesus as our way, we will find truth and life, we will find God, both in this life and in eternity. Every day we try to orientate ourselves towards Jesus, we keep taking him as our way.

And/Or

(v) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

The gospel reading we have just heard is often chosen as one of the readings for the funeral liturgy. It is easy to understand why that is so. Jesus is speaking to his disciples on the eve of his own death. He assures his troubled disciples that in going from them in death, he is only going to his Father’s house; he is journeying back towards the one from whom he came into the world. Jesus also assures his disciples that the journey he is about to make is one that they too will make one day. Jesus will return to take his disciples to the Father’s house, so that they can be with him there. Jesus promises all of us that he will take us to the Father at the end of our lives. Jesus came among us to show us the Father, to reveal God to us. The purpose of his mission was and is to bring God to us and to bring us to God; at the end of our lives he will bring us finally and fully to God. Jesus’ description of his Father’s house as many roomed suggests the great hospitality of that house. Heaven, it seems, is not a confined space for a selected few; it is an open space for the many, just as Jesus himself did not come for the few, for the elect, but for all. Jesus is the Way to the Father for all who turn to him in faith. That is why he said, ‘when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself’. We pray this morning that we would always take him as our Way so that at the end of our lives we would join him in his Father’s house.

And/Or

(vi) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

This morning’s gospel reading is set in the context of Jesus’ words to his disciples on the night before he died. He had been speaking about his going away. Understandably, his disciples are distressed by this prospect. Jesus seeks to reassure them that his going away, his going to the Father, is a journey that he is travelling for them, for all of us. In going to the Father, he is opening up a way for all of us to make the same journey. As he says in the gospel reading, he is going to prepare a place for us and then to come and take us to that place, to the many roomed house of his Father. Jesus is the Way; he is the way to the Father for all his disciples. As John the Baptist prepared a way for Jesus, so Jesus has prepared a way, opened up a way, for all of us. That is why his leaving this world and going to the Father is good news; his departure is the gateway to new life, not just for him but for us all. Furthermore, in going to the Father, he will send the Holy Spirit, and through the Spirit he will remain with us and within us, until that day when we go where he has gone, and join him in the house of the Father.

And/Or

(vii) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

Many of us find departures difficulty, especially when the person departing from us is significant for us in some way. The words Jesus speaks in this morning’s gospel reading are set by the evangelist within the context of the last supper on the evening before Jesus was crucified. Jesus is about to leave his disciples. Yet, in leaving them he also assures them that he is not abandoning them. He will in fact come back to them. That is the promise of Jesus to the disciples in the gospel reading we have just heard, ‘I shall return to take you with me’. That promise is generally heard as a promise that at the end of our earthly lives Jesus will come and take us to the many roomed house of his Father, which is why this reading is so often chosen for the funeral liturgy. However, Jesus goes on to assure his disciples that we don’t have to wait to the end of our lives to experience his coming. He will come to us in and through the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit, the Lord comes to us here and now, today, and his coming through the Spirit is a foretaste, an anticipation, of his coming to us at the end of our lives. That is why Saint Paul refers to the Spirit as the first fruit of the final harvest, eternal life.

And/Or

(viii) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

The context of this morning’s gospel reading is the evening before Jesus is crucified. Jesus’ disciples are troubled because they are aware that Jesus is heading into danger; they sense that this may be their last night together. In that difficult moment Jesus turns to his disciples and says to them, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me’. At this very difficult moment of transition and loss, Jesus invites his disciples to keep trusting in God and in himself. Jesus wants them to trust in him and in God because the pain of loss they will experience when he is taken from them will not have the last word. Indeed they will experience a new relationship with Jesus beyond his crucifixion and death; ‘I shall return to take you with me’. God will bring something new and worthwhile out of the pain and loss they are about to suffer. When we find ourselves in difficult moments of transition and loss we too are invited to trust, to trust in Jesus and in God. God will always work to bring new life out of the pain relating to the losses we suffer, and that is why we can trust God at such difficult times.

And/Or

(ix) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

The gospel reading we have just heard is one that is often read at funeral Masses. It is easy to see why. As Jesus takes his leave of his disciples on the night before he dies, he assures us that there are many ‘rooms’ or ‘dwelling places’ in his Father’s house and he promises them that, although he is soon to leave them, he will come again and take them to his Father’s house of many dwelling places, so that where he is they will be too. He is promising his disciples that in leaving them he is not breaking his communion. That is his promise to us this morning also. Jesus remains in communion with us, and his communion with us will be brought to perfection beyond this earthly life. He desires to take us to the heavenly home of his Father, but in the meantime he wants to make his home in us and he calls on us to make his home in him. A few verses later Jesus will say to his disciples, ‘Make your home in me as I make mine in you’. One of the primary ways that Jesus makes his home in us and we make our home in him is in the Eucharist. It is not by accident that we refer to the Eucharist as holy communion; it is a moment when the Lord enters into communion with us in a special way and we enter into communion with him, as a community of faith. In that sense, the Eucharist looks ahead to that more complete moment of communion in the Father’s heavenly home.

And/Or

(x) Friday, Fourth Week of Easter

This morning’s gospel reading is a reading you will hear many times when a funeral takes place. It is one of the most frequently chosen gospel readings for funeral Masses. On the night before his own death, in the context of the last supper that Jesus had with his disciples before his crucifixion, Jesus speaks about the many roomed house of God his Father towards which he is journeying. He is reminding his troubled disciples that the Roman cross will not be his final destination. Beyond that shameful death there is the heavenly house of God his Father where he will be received with great honour and glory. Even on the night before his own death, Jesus is not only thinking of himself; he is thinking of others, of his own followers. He assures them that the heavenly house of God his Father is not only his own ultimate destination but it is also the final destination of his disciples. At the end of their earthly lives he promises to come to them and take them to that heavenly house so that where he is they may be too. Where Jesus is going, his disciples will follow; to that extent, he is the goal of their journey. This is a very reassuring message for all of us. That is why Jesus begins what he has to say with those very reassuring words, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled’. As well as declaring himself to be the goal of our earthly journey Jesus also declares himself to the way to that goal, ‘I am the way’. He is our present way and our future hope.

Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland.

Email: sjtbclontarf@eircom.net or  frmartinhogan@gmail.com

Parish Website: www.stjohnsclontarf.ie  Please join us via our webcam.

Twitter: @SJtBClontarfRC.

Facebook: St John the Baptist RC Parish, Clontarf.

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