At first, you might hear this gospel as being harsh.  That is, after the third attempt to work out a difference, you just let the person go and have nothing more to do with them.  But you must remember that Jesus asked us to forgive those who have wronged us and never stop forgiving.

In this Gospel, Jesus is giving us a formula for working out differences that will arise in every human group and community.

First, if you feel you have been wronged, go to that person in       private and see if you can reason together and work things      out. Most of the time, you will be able to do that. But not every time.

Second, If that doesn’t work out, take a friend and with his/her support, tried to negotiate the differences.

Third, if it still doesn’t work, then use a higher authority. That        is, get an adult to assist you in addressing the problem.

We go by any problem solving techniques here that we call success planning.  It is based upon a process developed by Dr. William Glasser called Reality Therapy. It is quite simple.

First, we identify the problem. But we don’t spend a lot of time going over and over. And we never criticize, blame or complain about it. We just state it.

Second, we find out what each person wants.

Third, we briefly ask is what we are presently doing helping each person get what they want.

Four, we ask what can we do to help each person get what they want.

Often times this is a question of timing, sharing, saying I’m sorry, making up for a loss, forgiveness and a commitment to a plan to better connect.

This process can be used in any of the gatherings that Jesus mentions in the Gospel.  It is one of the key skills of this school and everybody will learn and it will help you now and throughout your life to solve problems as they arise.

Your teacher will talk with you more about this. And you can always go to any adult in the school who can help you as well because we use it as well.

It helps us follow Jesus is teaching and be the wise, peaceful, faith community he calls us to be.

I hope you find that helpful and with that new information listen to the Gospel and begin to think how you can use Success Planning in your life.

Please enjoy the last Chapel Podcast Reflection of the 2010 – 2011 school year.