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MARK 1:21-28
Then they came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!” The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him. His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.

Gospelthink: I control every evil. What evil do you want me to work on with you today?

The movie "Red Tails" is the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American fighter pilots who were trained despite the racism entrenched in the United States armed services during the second world war. They were deployed to action, but at first it was to minor skirmishes, missions against trains and enemy ground transport. They were given worn out aircraft, and were considered to be lacking in intelligence, and therefore incapable of fighting the Luftwaffe in fighter-to-fighter combat. Finally given a chance to escort bombers, they were asked to stay with the bombers no matter what the Luftwaffe did to lure them away. It seemed an unglamorous task since the "glory" was to score "kills" of the enemy. But the Airmen did their job well, sacrificing their own desires, and teaching the lesson that the betterment of the whole is always more important than personal glory.

One can imagine the concentration that Jesus must have used when he taught. His was a different doctrine, and as Mark the evangelist remarks, a "new teaching with authority." When a disturbance in the synagogue where he was teaching occurs all of a sudden with no preparation, it could have ruined the whole sermon. It is important to see the reaction of Jesus. Someone else was in need, and therefore his goal changed. He dropped what he was doing, and took care of the person who needed help.

This was a common attitude of Jesus throughout his life. Many times he would be at prayer, for example, and he would be struck by the need of people; often he would interrupt his prayer so that he could do what another wanted him to do. It is the attitude of the Tuskegee Airmen in the movie "Red Tails." They had worked hard to get where they were; they were finally granted permission to do what could give them personal glory--show to the Army and the Germans exactly how good they were. But when asked to "merely" accompany other planes to accomplish what others had to accomplish, they did what they were told, giving up their own plans.

Our human natures want to show off what we can. When we are capable of doing something well, we want to do it, not only because we can do it well, but because we like the "glory" of appreciation that we might receive. Our pride wants other people to notice. But real progress usually does not come from individual achievement. It comes when many people are involved in a common goal. It may mean that we have to give up our own way of doing things, our own wants and desires, in order to accomplish some greater good. The glory of a common achievement is much more important than the glory of the individuals involved.

An old saying from sports people who are trying to bring about a specific goal is "There is no 'i' in "team." It is true in every facet of life as well.

Good and gracious God, your Son directed us to understand that the common good is always more important than personal glory. Give us the grace to accept his teaching and to carry it out in our lives. Be with us, we pray.

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Part of maturity is the ability to sacrifice personal glory in order to bring about the betterment of the whole.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 68 minutes)
1. What scene during this session is most striking and why?
2. For early Christians "unclean spirits" were a sign of powers hostile to God and all good. What powers in our world today are "most hostile" toward God?
3. Mark the evangelist's intention with the way he describes the scene in the Gospel is to make his readers confident in their Lord as teacher and healer. Define "confidence" in another. Why can we be confident in Jesus?
4. The point of the meditation is that Jesus allowed the interruption by the man and rather than continue his teaching, he took care of the person who was hurting. We obviously cannot heal, but what part of Jesus' action can we imitate in our spiritual lives?
5. What is the difference between a legitimate pride in what we are doing and the sin of pride? See Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, numbers 2317 and 2540.
6. Give some examples of "great things" that were accomplished by a group of people rather than by individual success.
7. The opening statement as registered in the 1925 US Army College Study: "Blacks are mentally inferior, by nature subservient, and cowards in the face of danger. They are therefore unfit for combat." We will study the statement later. What is most offensive about the statement? Why?
8. Analysis: "Ray Gun" and his devotion to "Black Jesus." What is the place of "religion" during war?
9. Analysis: In a war involving people who believe in God, both sides will pray for victory. How do you think God looks upon this?
10. Analysis: Easy's problem of alcohol. What could have been done to help him?
11. Scene analysis: Ray Gun begs Easy to keep him on the flight roster even though he has impaired vision. Do you think you would have behaved the way Easy did? Yes or no and why?
12. Scene analysis: the all white officers' club. Do you think that there was any "legal" way to accomplish the integration of the club? Yes or no and why?
13. Scene analysis: after a racial remark, the officer who makes it tells Colonel Bullard to "respect the uniform." In your opinion, is there any time when a soldier need not "respect the uniform"? Yes or no and why?
14. Dialogue analysis: Bullard tells Lightning to "use his head." What was his meaning and why?
15. Scene analysis: the theme of this session was that the fighters were to protect the bombers at all costs. In general, will most people respect the desires of others over their own? Yes or no and why?