April 30   [media presentation below] GospelThink Wednesday, April 30, Easter Weekday JOHN 3:16-21 Know the difference between light and darkness. Prayerthoughts a. At God’s direction, Moses lifted up the image of the serpent in the desert so that everyone who looked on it would be healed. As I study my thinking where do I need most healing? b. Having eternal life is what I want. How do I best prepare for my death? c. The promise of God concerning his Son—everyone who believes in Him might not perish—is the most important promise that God has given to us. Have I truly made Jesus the center of my life? Go through yesterday, and determine whether Jesus was truly the center of each activity. d. People often preferred darkness to light, as I admit that I have at times. As I study my past, and the sins and faults, have I sufficiently asked for forgiveness? e. Jesus wants me to “live the truth.” Is the truth important for me as I live from day to day, that is, always being aware of the facts before I say something? f. My prayerthoughts…   Today, I will read Acts of the Apostles, chapter 5:1-26 and write an important thought from it. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy LIGHT AND DARKNESS + The Gospel today proclaims a truism for Christianity, namely, Jesus is central to our spiritual lives - he is the nucleus, the focal point around which we function - here in the Gospel, he is the light that comes into the world, and since he is the focal point—either people will accept the light or they won’t - that thought leads to serious consideration, consideration that arises from John’s analysis: “This is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.” + Like all good spiritual people, we would like to say that we are choosing light rather than darkness - if we are, there are certain elements of our living that should be present - some of those elements are part of our readings today 1 – from the Acts reading, we must overcome jealousy - that which the religious leaders of the Jewish church could not do - we tend to judge what others are doing and why they are doing it - and often we think that we are better than others 2 – also from the Acts reading, if we are choosing the light of Jesus rather than the darkness of evil, we must preach - the angel’s message to the apostles was to preach, saying: you are freed from prison to preach the word - preaching involves the obvious, that is, using words - but it involves action as well, and especially what we should be doing as spiritual people—working on our thinking process, to try to learn to think Christian thoughts toward others and toward the world 3 – from the Gospel discourse, as Jesus was sent not to condemn the world, we are not meant to condemn the world - we can pray for the people of the world, and condemn certain things that people do in the world, but “hating” the world gets us nowhere - we are called to redeem the world with Jesus 4 – also from the Gospel, if we are choosing the light of Jesus rather than the darkness of evil, we are called to truth - that is, honesty with ourselves and with others, openness to what we are really doing with our lives + Summarizing, there is ample material for meditation today: if we are choosing Jesus as light rather than the darkness of evil, - we will be aware of our jealousy, we will preach Jesus’s teaching by word, action and thought, we will work with God in working for the people of the world, and we will be honest with ourselves and others.
MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: "Red Tails" -- final session THOSE "OTHERS"

Gospelthink: I wanted my disciples to be aware of other people who are doing their best to lead a good life. Am I truly tolerant of other people, especially those who are very different from me?

What is the way to overcome prejudice in our world and in our own understanding of things? To a certain extent, such is the message of the movie "Red Tails." The movie works out the answer as we study the setting of the air wars at the close of the Second World War. The movie began with the statement of prejudice from a College Study of 1925: "Blacks are mentally inferior, by nature subservient, and cowards in the face of danger. They are therefore unfit for combat." The movie shows the effects of prejudice: the hating of another person, the inevitable personal battles, the feeling of superiority over others, the condescending feelings, and most of all, the devaluing of a human being. In a sense, the movie also shows the only way to overcome prejudice, namely the ability to discover the truth about a situation. The truth simply is that all people are created equal. In pursuit of that truth, the United States Army awarded one of their highest awards, namely the Presidential Unit Citation to the 332nd Fighting Group from the Tuskegee training program,. 

The Jewish people understandably had a difficult time with the early Christians. Jewish Christians had accepted that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, and the Jewish faithful had not. From the day of the Christian belief of the Resurrection, therefore, there was animosity, sometimes bitter. It was an animosity that continued through the early centuries and was especially strong at the time of the writing of the Gospel of St. John. In common parlance, both parties were "prejudiced" against the other. Scripture scholars look at Jesus' words of wanting to be shepherd of the sheep that did not belong to his fold to be a reflection of the early Church's desire to be unified, especially with the Jewish people.

The solution for prejudice is to determine the truth before any judgments are made. Once the truth is known, then there can be acceptance of the other. It becomes more complicated when faith is involved as it was for the early Christians, but in principle, the truth should remove any prejudice. The atmosphere of the United States concerning African-American people leading up to the civil rights movement and even afterwards was one in which the truth mattered little. The truth that the color of a person's skin had nothing to do with the intelligence of that person was slow in coming. It took people like the 332nd Fighter Group in the Tuskegee training program to help America come to a solid understanding of the problem of prejudice.

Prejudice is still a problem in the United States of America. Only now, the problem is much more subtle. People usually do not make judgments that some group of people has less intelligence than another. But there are many false decisions made on the fact that people are Jewish or Black or Mexican or Asian or the like. One of the most important elements of love of others that is fundamental for a Christian is that given the truth of human equality, the Christian must show to everyone the love that Jesus taught.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, we are often overcome by our feelings about another based on who they are or what they look like. Give us the grace to always seek the truth, and to love everyone the way you desire. Be with us, we pray. 

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GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: The way to overcome prejudice in our world is for everyone to discover the truth about our humanity.     

THE GOSPEL
1. Analyze the comparison of Jesus to a shepherd.
2. In today's world, who do you think the phrase "sheep that do not belong to this fold" refers to?
3. What is your understanding of "ecumenism"? See Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, numbers 813-822.

THE MEDITATION
1. Project: arrange for a presentation of the Jewish faith from someone from a local Jewish congregation.
2. Analysis: Do you think that there can ever be any agreement between other religions and the Catholic Church? Yes or no and why?
3. Analysis: Generally speaking, do people of different religions show "prejudice" against each other? Yes or no and why?
4. The meditation says that the truth becomes more complicated when faith is involved. What do you think is the meaning?
5. Besides the truth being known, what other facts must be present in order to conquer prejudice?
6. Analysis: Is there prejudice against African-Americans still present in our world? Yes or no and why?
7. The meditation says that the problem of prejudice is still present in our world today. In what way do you see prejudice especially in high schools and colleges?
8. The meditation says that there are "false decisions" that come from prejudice. What are some of the false decisions that you see concerning people of other backgrounds? What can be done about it?

THE MOVIE, PART 2 (approximately 68 minutes)
***[the presenter may want to divide the session into two parts]
1. What scene during this session is most striking and why?
2. Scene analysis: the airmen pray before their mission. What should be the content of a prayer like this?
3. Dialogue analysis: "Every decision is not going to be the right one." What conclusion can be drawn from this?
4. Scene analysis: "Ray Gun's" role in the escape. What were the different virtues of heroism that he showed? In general, how should Christians treat prisoners of war?
5. Scene analysis: the romance of Lightning and Sofia. In your opinion, can there be true love between people who do not know each other's language or each other's customs? Yes or no and why?
6. Analysis: What is the principal "problem" for such a romance?
7. Scene analysis: Even though the 332nd have proved themselves, they are not originally charged with escorting the bombers to Berlin. What do you think guided the decision of those in charge? Why?
8. Scene analysis: The Germans have jet fighters. From your point of view, what is most important in an air battle? Why?
9. Scene analysis: Lightning downs the German ace pilot but gives up his life in the process. There are no doubt many stories of this type of heroism during the wars that we have fought. What are the most important characteristics of "being a hero."
10. Scene analysis: Easy conquers his alcoholism as he considers what Lightning had done for him. Obviously, he could have gone the other direction and given more into his addiction. Given the situation, do you think that most people would have acted the way Easy did? Yes or no and why?
11. Scene analysis: The 332nd is awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. Do you think that the problem of prejudice against the Blacks was any less after the award? Yes or no and why?   
12. What does the movie "Red Tails" teach young people?

©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America