miracle1

August 14

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Friday, August 14

MATTHEW 19:3-12

Divorce

Prayerthoughts

a. The Pharisees were testing him. There are things in my life that “test” me, make me anxious or whatever. How do I work with things that happen that are not expected?

b. Divorce is the topic of the meditation. In our age, some good people are divorced for good reason. Probably, the divorce has been difficult. Perhaps we should say a prayer for all of them.

c. Jesus gives his law on divorce: there is to be none. What is the biggest cause for divorce in our world, and does it apply to me at all in my life?

d. Jesus changed the law of Moses. Jesus’s laws are the important thing in my Christian life. What three laws of Jesus do I consider most important?

e. Matthew’s so called “exception,” “…unless the marriage…” is important since I cannot judge whether some divorce fits Jesus’s law or not. Judging another is something that I must stay away from. Am I?

f. Jesus refers to those who are not married, saying that all are to be considered as people of his Kingdom. Have I accepted everyone, not matter what their sexual preference in my world today or am I judging them in a negative way?

g. My prayerthoughts…

Today I will read Ezekiel 16:1-15,60,63 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

THE LESSON OF COMMITMENT

+ The first reading from the prophet Ezekiel is from the first part of the book, which is reproaching the Israelite people for past transgressions

- saying to Jerusalem, the symbol of the Israelite people, that she had broken the covenant

- with the Lord saying that he will re-establish the covenant

- the promise that he will be their God

- a covenant that is real commitment on the part of God

+ The Gospel is the classic statement about the indissolubility of marriage along with the idea of being faithful if we have promised something

- saying that marriage must be considered sacred even if one chooses not to marry

+ We heard yesterday about the difficult directive of Jesus to forgive others no matter what

- here, Jesus says that the granting of divorce can never be considered to be part of his doctrine

- there is a phrase here in Matthew’s Gospel with a possibility of an exception—the phrase “unless the marriage is unlawful”—

- but for the most part, in Jesus’s mind, the permanent commitment of marriage and being faithful is his doctrine

+ The media of our day often speak about love and almost always there is the idea of commitment that runs through it

- but, our world does not do well with commitments

- ruled by selfish human natures, people of our world too often make what might be called “temporary permanent commitments”

- of course, such commitments are a contradiction, but they are so much easier than “permanent permanent commitments”

- there are legitimate exceptions in which permanent commitments should be abandoned, but one must wonder whether there should be as many exceptions as there are

+ The subject of our meditation this morning should be the fact that our understanding of commitment isn’t as strong as it should be

- if we want happiness, and we all do, we have to understand the meaning of a permanent commitment, whether it is the promise to be a friend “forever,” or the promise to remain with someone as wife or husband all the days of one’s life

+ The Church calls on us to have an active faith, that is, an intellectual acceptance of doctrine, but also a witnessing to all that Jesus did: a new vision of God, the world and ourselves

- in terms of spirituality, that is called pursuing personal holiness and giving it to others.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Movie: "The Miracle Season" -- beginning session

THE TRAGEDIES IN LIFE

The Gospel

LUKE 13:1-5

Some people who were present there told [Jesus] about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them--do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did."

Gospelthink: Accidents happen; it is not a sign of punishment. It is a sign to be aware that you need to repent, and there is still time. How much time do I spend on improving my life?

Based on a true account, the movie "The Miracle Season" is the story of how a group of young people withstood a tragedy in order to do something close to impossible. The victorious volleyball team at West High School in Iowa City, Iowa had their sights set on winning a second straight State tournament and were likely to do it. But an accident took the life of their captain, Caroline "Line" Found, and the team was thrown into mourning. Also Ellyn, her mother, was very close to death because of cancer. Dr. Ernie Found, her husband found himself struggling with the two-fold loss, his daughter and his wife. It was a devastating loss for the team, and even more devastating for Ernie.

In the Gospels, Jesus was often confronted with evil and the accidents of life. His attitude was one of acceptance by trying to change what he could. But mainly Jesus was interested in what could be learned as he showed with deaths brought about by Pilate and the accident at Siloam. When he studied some evil or an accident, he taught his followers that such things will happen in life. The important thing is that we learn from it, and be willing to change as a result.

Evil and tragedy are often the subject of the media of our world because they are an important part of our human existence. Everyone of us either has suffered or will suffer through some situation that can be thought of as "tragedy" or "evil." Life is that way. Such is the setting for the movie "The Miracle Season." There are no words that can describe the loss of a friend as Kelly Fliehler felt in the loss of Caroline Found. Likewise the double loss that Dr. Ernie Found experienced with the loss of his daughter and later his wife. The inevitable questions of "why" and 'what if" are part of the grieving process. The horrible feeling of despair penetrates every fiber of one's being, leading all who experience the pain to the desire to simply give up.

There is no solution to take away the pain, of course, but there are ways to begin to find a solution. One of them is activity. Coach Kathy Bresnahan sensed that the activity which fit the painful situation was to continue Caroline's passion, namely volleyball. Line's, as they called her, desire more than anything was to win a second State volleyball championship. Coach Bresnahan set out to continue Line's wish.

In the process, Bresnahan was able to motivate Line's teammates to accomplish what many considered an impossibility and a true "miracle." The young ladies of West Volleyball were able to achieve what Line wanted, but more than that, they learned how to act in the face of tragedy.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, there are moments of severe pain that we experience in life. Be with us as we learn to work with that pain, and then move on in our lives to accomplish what You want of us. Be with us, we pray.

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GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: There will always be tragedies in life, but we must learn to work with them and live on.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 46 minutes)
1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why?
2. What is the greatest evil in our world right now, and what can we learn from it?
3. The pain of loss of a teenager is especially felt by other teens. What can one teenager do to help another who is feeling the pain of loss of a friend?
4. What can a young person do to console an adult who suffers loss as did Ernie in the movie?
5. What good change can be brought about by the death of a friend?
6. The fact that pain will happen in our lives could bring about fear. What can a person do about it?
7. The meditation suggests activity to overcome the pain of loss. What are some other ways to overcome the pains in our lives?