avengers2

August 7

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Thursday, August 7

MATTHEW 16:13-23

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? (This is the task of the meditation.)

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?

Today, I will write out the answers to letter c.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM

+ In the Gospel today, Peter answers Jesus directly after the other Apostles had answered with general answers

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

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

Who do you say that I am?

Who do we say Jesus Christ is?

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

- the truth is, as Peter says in the Gospel, although he did not completely understand it, 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

+ In answer to the question of who Jesus is for us, many have said for example that Jesus for them is someone who punishes evil and punishes evil people

- and in that case, Jesus becomes a God who condemns—and these people form their religion in that light

- and when they do, there is a lot of anger and hatred and what they might call “justifiable” revenge

- that is not a very good picture of who Jesus Christ is, and therefore religion is not a pleasant thing at all

+ Still others have answered that Jesus is someone who is not real

- because they see so many people who are hypocritical in the Church or in religion

- or because they have had things go wrong for them in one way or another

+ Every Christian in our world is called to answer this question

- the truth is that Jesus is Lord, the way, the truth and the life, the Lord contained in the Scriptures that we read

- God who gives real hope to our world, as the God of the Israelites gave hope of the Promised Land in the first reading

- we must accept that truth and let it be our guide.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Movie: "Avengers: Endgame" -- final session

RESISTING THE HOLD OF EVIL

The Gospel

MATTHEW 27: 45-50

MATTHEW 27:45-50

From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachtani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Some of the bystanders who heard it said, "This one is calling for Elijah." Immediately one of them ran to get a sponge; he soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed, gave it to him to drink. But the rest said, "Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him." But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit.

Gospelthink: I died for you. Do I act as though I am grateful to the Lord for all He has done for me?

After they had gone back in time in the movie "Avengers: Endgame," the team of Avengers each found a way to get the Infinity Stones back to their original place. But it took a fight in each instance since it was not an easy task. Finally, with all the Stones ready to go to their original resting place, they came back only to have Thanos there to attack them, and it seems with superior force. After another lengthly battle, Iron Man managed to move the Infinity Stones to himself, destroying Thanos and his army, but at the same time mortally wounding himself. Finally, Captain Marvel is tasked to go into the past, returning the Stones to their original time line, but decided to stay in the past to enjoy his past.

The greatest example of commitment to a cause that a Christian has is what Jesus Christ did for us. The theological word for it is "redemption." In the Scriptures, it is clear that Jesus knew what he was doing, and set out to do it with firm conviction. He understood the power of evil, but accomplished redemption while suffering in the most violent of ways, and in Matthew's Gospel, even feeling that God the Father had forsaken him. But Jesus did it. And in so doing, Jesus showed that even in the greatest of difficulties that could destroy him, he was up to the task. Jesus gave us eternal life by his action, but also showed us the importance of putting up with demons, and conquering them.

The life of the Avengers in the movie "Avengers: Endgame" is fantasy, of course, but as portrayed, their job was extremely difficult. Evil because of Thanos had taken over the world. It seems that there is no hope, but with the discovery of time adjustment, the Avengers discover a way to confront the evil that surrounds the world.

It is the grace of God that has led us out of the evil and away from the demons that want to destroy our time on earth. Those demons go by the name of selfishness, substance abuse or sexual temptations or the like. Jesus has redeemed us and those demons no longer have a hold on us. Our problem is that we are not willing to do the difficult task of perseverance to stay away from the demons that are present.

Our prayer as we consider movies like "Avengers: Endgame" is a prayer of thanksgiving that we have had our Redeemer who conquered forever the evil that has worked itself into the world. But at the same time, we pray that we will be able to resist the hold that demons still want to have over us.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, Your Son has accomplished the work of the ultimate battle over the demon. Give us the grace to continually turn to Him so as to constantly be free to live our lives well. Be with us, we pray.

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GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: It is difficult to work against the demons that want to destroy us.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 85 minutes)
1. What scene during this session of the movie was most striking to you? Why?
2. What does the movie "Avengers: Endgame" teach young people?
3. What is most striking about Jesus' death?
4. In the movie, Iron Man was willing to sacrifice himself for the cause of life. It is what martyrs have done throughout our lives. In what way are we called to be "martyrs"?
5, What are the strongest demons in the world in which we live, that is, what evil is the strongest in our society right now?
6. How do we best confront the world that surrounds us?
7. Why is it so difficult to overcome the evil around us?
8. What is the best way to continue to stay away from the evil (demons) that want to overcome us?