TGIMMinception2

August 23

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Sunday, August 23, Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

MATTHEW 16:13-20

The Rock

Prayerthoughts

a. The phrase “Son of Man” may simply be a way of Jesus speaking of himself as a human person. I too am a human person. If I want to compare myself to Jesus, what must I change?

b. Whom do I consider to be prophets in my world?

c. I obviously agree with Peter that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. In what ways should my belief make my life different?

d. Peter and the community are the solid rock foundation of the Kingdom of God. As a member of my Church, do I show to others how important the Kingdom of God is?

e. Jesus knew that suffering was part of his future. We also may be aware of present suffering or suffering that will afflict us in the future. How can I suffer well?

f. There are some people who really do not like me—as Jesus felt in his life. How can I be less threatened and more accepting of those people?

g. Jesus gives us a great way to think in the Gospel passage. How am I presently showing that I am thinking as a human being rather than the way God wants me to think?

h. My prayerthoughts...

Today, I will read Romans 11:33-36 and write an important thought from it.

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Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

LIVING THE TRUTH

+ There are many people who have strong opinions about things

- and often they have no problem expressing that opinion and letting it be known

- for example, I see it in the way people react to things that happen in a parish

- when I was pastor at St. John’s in Lawrence, one of the Masses was always led by a choir with music that is a little more upbeat

- one particular Sunday, the choir had led the congregation in a couple of songs that called for some reaction which we often do with our young people—clapping of hands, some body movement, very peppy songs

- after Mass as I greeted the people, one woman was absolutely furious, really couldn’t contain her anger, and said:

- that was absolutely the worst Mass I have ever been to in my entire life; that is not the way to celebrate Mass, and I will never come here again

- about a minute later, a man likewise quite excited, came up to me and said:

- that was a wonderful experience, I really appreciate what the Church is doing—that is the way Mass should be

- strong personalities, and neither of them had the truth—they were acting on what they thought the truth was

- neither of them understood what the Mass was all about

+ According to most Scripture scholars, Peter was a strong personality

- in today’s Gospel, he is the one who directly answers Jesus after the other Apostles had spoken with general answers

- and he speaks the truth—he doesn’t hide it, he doesn’t give his opinion of the truth, he knows that this is a fact, and he lets it guide his thought:

You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

+ I believe that the question of the Gospel is among the five or so most important questions that we must ask ourselves as we develop our own spirituality:

Who do you say that I am? that is,

Who do we say Jesus Christ is?

- it is among the most important spiritual questions because depending on our answer, we develop our approach to Jesus, and we direct our spiritual lives—rightly or wrongly

- the truth of faith is, as Peter says in the Gospel, that Jesus is the Lord of our lives, the living and true God, the person that we must pattern ourselves after, the way, the truth and the life

+ There are many Christians who believe that they know what they think the truth is or better put, what they want it to be

- for the people who came up to see me after Mass that day, they thought that they had the truth of the Mass

- they didn’t understand that the music is only there to help them understand the Lord’s presence in the Mass and Eucharist better

- they didn’t understand that the Lord had given us the Eucharist as a way of remembering him and his truth

- they formed their opinion on what they thought about the situation

+ One of the common criticisms of people who will not change their thinking when they should is the exasperation expressed by the phrase: “You just don’t get it, do you?”

- in the field of religion, I believe that there are a number of people who just don’t get it

- for some reason, Jesus’s basic truths about love of others and concern for people, and the real reasons why we are here, namely, to make the Lord’s presence in our lives something that is real / doesn’t sink in

- they just don’t “get it” and probably never have, maybe never will

+ Peter “got it” in the Gospel today:

- he knew that Jesus was the truth that had to guide him

- we are called to “get it” as well, and truly understand what Jesus and this Church is all about.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Movie: "Inception" -- final session

THE SELFISH DREAM

The Gospel

LUKE 11:42-44

Jesus said: "Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk."

Gospelthink: I was quite direct to the Pharisees because they were not doing what they should have done and would not recognize it. Am I following through with my promise to be a Christian?

In the movie "Inception," Cobb's team accomplished the three levels of dreams necessary to achieve "inception" to implant an idea in their subject's mind. But, one of Cobb's constant struggles was the projection of his beloved wife Mal who constantly came into his dreams. Meeting the projection of Mal again in his limbo, Mal begged Cobb to stay so they could once again experience the happiness of having anything they wanted in their dream world. Cobb argued with her, saying to her that she was not real. He had to let her go, telling her, "I wish I could be with you more than anything. But I can't imagine you with all your complexity, all your perfection, all your imperfection. Look at you. You are just a shade of my real wife. You're the best I can do; but I'm sorry, you are just not good enough." His statement is a statement of the "gift" of reality.

It is easier to live in a dream existence, when all we have to do is imagine, completely satisfying our every desire. Jesus sensed that problem with the scribes and Pharisees when he told them what they were doing. In Jesus’s eyes, the scribes and Pharisees were living two lives. In one life, they were acting like they were good upstanding religious citizens, paying tithes to God. But it was a dream world because they were paying no attention to the final judgment or to the love of God, the very things that religious people should have been doing.

In fact, they were insidiously leading others astray--leading them to be in contact with graves which brought about impurity for the Jewish mind--and only acting like they were paying attention to the Jewish law. Jesus wanted the Pharisees to face what they were really doing, and stop pretending to be holy when all they were doing was following the selfish desires of human nature.

When we live in a world that we have made up, we will end up missing exactly what life is all about. In the movie "Inception," Cobb tells the projection of his wife Mal that he wants to live with his projection of her, but it is not real. He cannot live such a fake life because life really is complicated and we must learn to live with the imperfections of life. In essence, he is telling her that as difficult as it is to live with reality, it is exactly what must happen. Facing a world of complexity and imperfection is what makes up the real life.

We have been given the "gift of life." We want it to be only good, beautiful and wonderful--as dreams can make it. But the reality is that life is not always good, beautiful and wonderful because the real world must deal with human nature, our own and others. Reality means facing the selfishness that is ingrained in each of us, selfishness which is always trying to disguise itself as reality or religion as in the Pharisees' case. We must live in our world and work with what happens to us. We must recognize the temptation to live in a dream world that caters to only what we want. Our task is to choose to live lives that deal not only with ourselves, but with others and what they want. It will be demanding because we will attack our selfishness, but in the end, we will truly live.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, too often we try to live in a world that we have defined according to our own interests, and often that world turns to evil because we are selfish people. Help us be people who are dedicated to the reality of life, and help us be people who want to improve that life. Be with us, we pray.

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GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: We want to live in a dream world where we can selfishly have our way, but we must live in the real world, working with the lives we have.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 66 minutes)
1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why?
2. In the Gospel, Jesus accuses the Pharisees of emphasizing externals in religion while overlooking the essentials in their own conduct. Do you see this happening today in the Church? Yes or no? Explain your answer.
3. What should religious leaders be most concerned about in the Church today?
4. The meditation says that the "dream world" is fundamentally a selfish world. Define selfishness and give some examples of that selfishness in the world today.
5. What makes real life so complicated and complex? What is the best way to deal with it?
6. Some people have a very difficult time dealing with their lives the way they are. How can we help them?
7. In what areas do you see selfishness displayed in high schools? In college? In married life?
8. Scene analysis: Cobb and Mal talk about reality. This is the theme of this session of the movie. What is your definition of reality? When people are accused of being "fake" in this world, what is the meaning? What is the best way to help someone who is "fake"?
9. Dialogue analysis: Mal and Cobb talk about the truth. In your opinion, in real life, do people tell the truth most of the time? Yes or no and why?
10. Scene analysis: Fisher begins to think the way the team wanted, and therefore the "inception" was successful. In general, what is the best way to "change" people's minds?
11. Scene analysis: The movie ends with Cobb's totem-trinket, with the audience wondering whether the scene is real or not. In your opinion, was the scene real? Yes or no and why?
12. What does the movie "Inception" teach young people?