August 31

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Saturday, August 31

MATTHEW 25:14-30
I tell a story whose moral is to use the talents that you have.

Prayerthoughts
a. The man going on the journey is God who has given me spiritual “talents” or certain spiritual abilities that I can develop, according to my own capabilities. Those spiritual abilities deal with the spiritual things in my life such as prayer, spiritual reading, different devotions, spiritual retreats, spiritual workbooks, attendance at Mass, etc. Take the time to thank the Lord for the spiritual gifts that I have received.

b. The man who had the most spiritual talents immediately developed more, building on what he had been given. Which spiritual talent should I develop more in my spiritual life?

c. God has given me a long time—my life so far—and he will come to me at the end of it to settle accounts. How would I rate my development of the spiritual talents I have been given so far?

d. The one who did not make use of the talents he was given received no reward, in fact, some “punishment.” Obviously Jesus's story should move me to make a better use of the talents I have been given.

e. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will read 1 Corithians, chapter 1

and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

USING OUR TALENTS

+ Today’s Gospel is one of Jesus’ classic stories about using what we have, trying to do better with what we have been given, and also not using what we have

- its original meaning had to do with talents as money, but our English word of talent carries the idea of “gift” or “ability”

- there are some very good points to note in the story:

+ When we are given some talents, some abilities, we are meant to develop them, and do the best we can with what we have

- secondly, we are not all given the same—some of us receive five, some, two, some, one, but we all are given something

- we all can do something if we want to

- thirdly, doing nothing with what we have is condemned

- and, it is a rather strong condemnation for those who do not use their talents well

- in Biblical language, the person is sent to hell:

…to the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

- isn’t that interesting—no question of doing anything wrong except not using the talents one is given,

- and the person is sent to eternal death

+ Jesus’ story can be applied in the professional circle or the spiritual circle

- professionally, people must develop the abilities they have

- but, the obvious application to us as we gather for praise of God is the motivation that we should have toward the spiritual in our lives

- why aren’t we motivated properly in spiritual matters?

+ There are probably many reasons why we aren’t motivated in spiritual matters

- most of the time, it has to do with being too proud

- liking ourselves too much

- Paul writing to the Corinthians says what we have heard many times:

“whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.”

+ We can be truly spiritual people, holy people—if we use the spiritual gifts that we have been given.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Movie: "Ford v Ferrari" -- final session

CONQUERING ONE'S FEELINGS

The Gospel

LUKE 22:49-53

[After Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss], Jesus’ disciples realized what was about to happen, and they asked, “Lord, shall we strike with a sword?” And one of them struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said in reply, “Stop, no more of this!” Then he touched the servant’s ear and healed him. And Jesus said to the chief priests and temple guards and elders who had come for him, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? Day after day I was with you in the temple area, and you did not seize me; but this is your hour, the time for the power of darkness."

Gospelthink: I correct my Apostles when they think that they must defend me. Do I tend toward violence when I feel that I am right?

Because of an attitude problem, at Henry Ford II's request, Carroll Shelby asked Ken Miles, the irascible driver of the "Shelby American" race car to leave. He carried out Ford's request, but after losing some races and Shelby's insistence, Ford finally allowed Miles to be the driver of Shelby's car in the Le Mans race. He would win the race, but at the insistence of Ford, told Miles through Shelby to allow all three of the Ford race cars including his own to cross the finish line together. Shelby had told Miles that it was up to him whether he should do it or not. After a struggle with what to do, Miles finally allowed it, and further, was not declared a winner because of a technicality. Conquering his feelings, Miles told Shelby that Shelby had only promised him the drive, not the win. Miles died weeks later in a crash with a new race car. He was inducted posthumously in the Racing Hall of Fame.

Jesus calls the desire to pursue our natural feelings the "power of darkness." Put into the context of the apostles' feelings concerning their friend and leader Jesus when he was arrested as a common criminal, it meant for them to be violent. The arrest was not a just action, and when justice is not served, we want to fight, we want justice served, even if we must become violent in serving it. It is the whole idea of a "just cause" for violence. And it has merit at times: there is such a thing as a "just war." For that very reason, Jesus' doctrine is so difficult. Jesus' reaction to the way his apostles' showed their loyalty to him was immediate and without question: "No more of this!" He even healed one of the men who perpetrated the actions against him.

Ken Miles, the driver of Carroll Shelby's race car, had a temper. He showed it early in the movie "Ford v Ferrari" by throwing a wrench at Shelby. The wrench was to become a symbol of his temper. When Shelby asked him to come back after he proved to Henry Ford II that Miles was the best driver, Miles had to physically fight Shelby to get his point across. So, it is entirely out of character, it would seem, for Miles to accept willingly his "defeat" at Le Mans after he had clearly won. Perhaps, Ken Miles was learning to conquer his feelings as he matured.

We all have personal feelings, and many times those feelings become "violent" as we try to achieve what we think is right. Jesus could see it in his Apostles' defense of him. The mature person can study his own immature actions and see in them what is nothing more than selfishness as we think in terms of what we do and think.

And so, the mature man or woman will study carefully his desires or actions of "violence" in his/her life. Often he/she will find that even though the actions look like defense of justice, they are nothing more than self-serving, and thus in a Christian way of looking at things, must change.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, so often in our lives we think that we are right in the way that we behave. Help us study ourselves carefully so that we will not be selfish as we pursue what we think is right. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Perhaps the most important part of being a good person is to control our actions in the face of adversity.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 71 minutes)
1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why?
2. What does the movie "Ford v Ferrari" teach young people?
3. What fact would best show the "power of darkness" in our world today?
4. What is the best way to control your own anger?
5. What is your understanding of a "just war"? [See Catechism of the Catholic Church, number 2309]
6. In your opinion, is it possible to learn to control our temper?
7. Define selfishness and the way to conquer it.
8. In what area of our world right now do you see the most violence?