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August 31

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Monday, August 31

LUKE 4:16-30

Acceptance and Rejection

Prayerthoughts

a. The people of Nazareth were proud of Jesus as their native son. Jesus did not allow this pride to dictate to his actions. Is there too much “pride of self” in my thoughts and words?

b. Jesus senses that there is jealousy involved as people speak about him. in my thoughts are there people of whom I am jealous? What can I do about it?

c. Do I tend to follow the people who are around me in the spiritual life? Without judging them, how can I try harder to grow in my own spiritual life?

d. Jesus refers to Elijah and Elisha who cured the widow and Naaman. They were also prophets who were working with their own people just as Jesus was. The people who did not agree with Jesus were merely making up reasons to dislike him. Our task is to help those around us if they need it. Is there anyone in my acquaintance I should pay more attention to?

e. The people of Nazareth rejected Jesus. I obviously do not reject him, but which of his teachings should I listen to more?

f. Jesus did not “punish” the people in Nazareth. He simply walked away. Do I tend to hold grudges against people who do not agree with me?

g. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will read 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

BEING TOLERANT

+ Both readings mention “the Spirit of the Lord”

- Jesus, saying that the Spirit that Isaiah talked of was with him

- Paul, speaking to the Corinthians, saying that he did his preaching through the convincing power of the Spirit

- and what does Jesus speak of with that power of God?

- that is, what caused the worshippers in Nazareth to go from honor to the point of wanting to kill him?

- it was what might be called “religious tolerance”

+ Jewish people were strong into the theme of election:

- throughout the Old Testament, God had told them that they were the chosen race

- here, Jesus opens up the possibility of salvation for all

- the widow of Zarephath and Naaman were foreigners, not Jews, and Jesus was saying that the power of God worked with them as well

+ An obvious application for a person who is pursuing the spiritual life is the whole question of religious tolerance

- God is working with others who are not of our belief, indeed not even Christian as well

- and on Labor Day, as we all work side by side, we are called to be tolerant of the others, and aware that God is working through all of us no matter what our belief about God

+ But I believe a more important application is one closer to home

- tolerance of other Catholics who may not agree with how we think

- tolerance of other people who have different opinions from us

- tolerance of family members who are older and have chosen different roads than the ones we wanted them to choose

+ Further, it is important to study the reaction of the people in Nazareth

- they were happy when Jesus agreed with them

- but they really lost it when he wanted to take them beyond their comfort zone

- with us, we read Scripture and tend to agree with those areas that agree with us

- the spiritual person will carefully study every Scripture passage with the idea that Scripture is telling us something new which we may or may not be doing.

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’s 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's doctrine is so difficult. Jesus's 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?