aman2

August 5

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Wednesday, August 5

MATTHEW 15:21-28

Rejection and Faith

Prayerthoughts

a. The girl had a “demon.” We are not sure what this means exactly, but we know that there was some affliction in the girl’s life. There are a number of people that I run into day after day who are afflicted with something. Do I try to pay attention to their needs?

b. The person was not Jewish. There are a number of people who are not believers in my faith as I believe. Am I open to their understanding of God?

c. The Lord does not pay any attention to the lady. There are times when I wonder whether the Lord is listening to me. What are some recent times, and perhaps I need to make an act of faith.

d. Jesus seems to insult the lady, probably as a means to test her faith. Is my faith in Jesus a guiding factor in everything that I do?

e. It is obvious that the lady had faith and accepted the insult, but did not lose her belief, and Jesus rewarded her for it. When I am insulted, I should respond with no thought of revenge. Has revenge played a part in the way I behave?

f. My prayerthoughts…

Today I will read Jeremiah 31:1-7 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

THE PRAYER OF PETITION

+ The prayer of petition is the topic of the Gospel today as we look at how the Lord treated the Canaanite woman

- and as we think of that prayer of petition,

- it is important to hear the promise of how God behaves toward us that comes from the prophet Jeremiah in the first reading,

- the Lord our God saying to us that we are God’s people, and the Lord loves us with “age-old love”

- and goes on to promise us a happy life

+ With that in mind, we are confident in asking the Lord for help

- something we all do at Mass since many of the prayers are written that way

- and something many of us are doing in a personal way today

- is asking God for some favor

- in fact, the prayer of the faithful at Mass is specific in doing this, asking God for several things

- this is called in theology text-books, the prayer of petition

-and I believe that there are some important lessons about the prayer of petition given to us in this Gospel today

+ The Canaanite woman is asking Jesus—Lord, Son of David—for something

- and a couple of things should be noted:

1 – she is persistent

- Jesus’s disciples complain that she keeps calling out after them

2 – she has to live with the fact that the prayer is not answered at first

- in fact, it seems that Jesus “toys” with her, ignoring her, and rubs in the fact that she is not a Jewish person, almost tells her to go away, something his disciples no doubt did

3 – but she withstands the criticism, even to the point of arguing with Jesus, and is finally granted her request because—and here’s the important point—she is a person of faith

+ All three of those factors are important to consider for the prayer of petition—persistence, the fact that it doesn’t look like there is an answer sometimes, and being a person of faith

- and maybe the best way to summarize all of that is in the phrase “person of faith”

- the Canaanite woman was a person of faith, even though she wasn’t even a Jew and Jesus clearly points that out to his disciples and the crowd, as he addresses the lady:

Woman, great is your faith

+ The Lord is our God all powerful and that God has promised to love us with an age-old love

- and so with confidence and faith in that God, we go to God asking what we need.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Movie: "A Man Called Otto" -- final session

THE FUNDAMENTAL LAW

The Gospel

MARK 12:32-34

The scribe said to [Jesus], “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, ‘He is One and there is no other than he.’ And ‘to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." And when Jesus saw that [he] answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Gospelthink: You are not far from the Kingdom of God if you follow the fundamental law of love of God and neighbor.

In the movie "A Man Called Otto," Otto had become a disgruntled, unhappy, angry man, and showed it in many ways. He was most of all angry at himself although he could not understand it. He should have understood it because he felt that he had to take his own life in order to overcome the pain of losing his wife Sonja. He finally had to face the fact that his wife was gone, and at the same time begin to "feel again" as he interacted with the different people in the place where he lived. They taught him that other people were important and slowly he began to accept the fact that his life was indeed worthwhile. He saw that he needed other people to improve his own life.

The insight of the scribe in the Gospel was that love of God and love of neighbor were even more important than "church" as the Hebrew people understood it. Throughout his life on earth, Jesus called people to such a love. It might indeed be called the "fundamental law of Jesus."

The standard Christian teaching is that if we follow that fundamental law, then the whole world will benefit because the world will be at peace with one another. The law will bring about a personal healing in the sense that once we understand how important other people are, it will do something to us. Otto in the movie "A Man Called Otto" was in pain after he lost his wife, thus making him bitter toward everyone. But when he began to understand that the people around him truly were important with their particular situations, he finally began to see that life was indeed worth something.

Unfortunately, such love does not fill our Christian minds the way that Jesus wanted. As can be seen in the movies that are produced in our world, when the possibility of our own survival is at risk, many of us tend to think only of ourselves. The prejudice, the favoritism for a privileged few, using panic for one's own profit all show a fundamental desire that too many have--we want to protect ourselves no matter what, even if we hurt others in the process.

Jesus wants us to be interested in ourselves. Otherwise he would never have told us to love others as we love ourselves. But loving God and others must have the priority. The Christian doctrine of love is written with the thought that even though we must work at self-preservation, our guide as we live must be the love that goes beyond ourselves. Jesus told us as much by his own death.

Personal conversion is possible in our world as can easily be seen with the progress that Otto made in the movie named after him. We must always be aware that any personal conversion will come about only when we have understood the love of God and others.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, you gave us your fundamental law of love. We all know it, and indeed we can all see the benefits of the law for humankind. But often we lose sight of the law because we are so concerned about our own situations. Help us help ourselves by understanding your law of love. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Conversion is possible only when we recognize the importance of others.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 63 minutes)
1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why?
2. In general, do most Christians follow the law of love that Jesus taught?
3. In general, what is the best way to show others that we care?
4. Every Christian should learn maturity as they grow. When do most people show their desire for more maturity?
5. What are the elements of true conversion?
6. Love of God is not seen in the movie in a direct way. Judging from Otto's life in the movie, do you think that there was prayer in his life? Yes or no and why?
7. Is it possible for someone to live a good life and show no acceptance of God?
8. What is the principal virtue that the movie "A Man Called Otto" teaches?