December 10  [media presentation below] GospelThink Wednesday, December 10, Advent II MATTHEW 11:28-30 Come to me and rest. Prayerthoughts a. Do I come to the Lord in silent prayer as much as I could? b. What schedule should I set up in order to make the Gospel more real to me? c. What is most burdensome to me at the present time? What am I doing about it? What should I be doing about it? d. Have I truly placed the Lord’s yoke on my shoulders, that is, have I tried to follow all of the Lord’s directives in my life? e. The Lord is gentle with me. Should I be more gentle in the way with others as I go about living my life? f. My prayerthoughts….  Today, I will read Isaiah, chapter 40:25-31 and write an important thought from it.
Some Thoughts on the Liturgy COMING TO THE LORD + The book of Isaiah speaks of the Lord giving strength and people soaring like eagles                 - namely, those who put their hope in the Lord         - the Gospel goes further into how that strength is given to us   + “Come to me…”         - the Lord wants us to come to him in prayer, especially when things are not going the way they should or at least the way we think that they should                 - life is difficult—and we need God’s grace in order to get by         - we have to remember that the idea of going to the Lord must be understood with the idea that it is a constant thing                 - and the comfort and rest will be there   + But there is a condition placed on that comfort and rest-         - the way the comfort is going to come is that we actually place the yoke of Jesus Christ on our shoulders and learn from him                 - that means that we honestly accept what Jesus says                         - accept all of Jesus’s directives and make them part of our lives                 - and we learn them, that is, not only put them into our minds, but let them be a personal guide for us with all the ramifications that they bring                         - so that our lives are actually affected by them   + Then we will find rest for ourselves         - because in the words of Isaiah, the Lord truly becomes our strength                 - and nothing can hurt us, even the ultimate hurt that we have—death or death of someone close to us                         - it will have no power over the true believer                                 - because the true believer knows that accepting the yoke of Jesus ultimately leads to eternal life with him   + This is one of those passages that we should meditate on often         - it is the secret of living well in this world and the next for any Christian.
MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: "Dog" -- final session MATURITY MEANS CARING

Gospelthink: Peter displays some selfishness here. How much selfishness do I have in my life?

Jackson Briggs and the dog Lulu travel on to the funeral of Briggs's friend who had the services of Lulu during that friend's time in Afghanistan. After the car breaks down, Briggs decides to walk the short distance to the funeral. On the walk, Lulu became so tired that she simply refused to go any further. Briggs ended up carrying the dog to the funeral, and the dog immediately goes to his friend's memorial effects to "protect" them. It became clear that Briggs was growing attached to the dog, so that rather than euthanize her, he tried to get her to run away, but she wouldn't. That night Briggs suffered from seizure, and Lulu comforted him. In the morning, as he was ordered, Briggs dropped Lulu off at White Sands, scheduled to be Lulu's final resting place, but as he left, he saw the dog panicking, and he took the dog back to become his dog from then on. 

Many spiritual writers suggest that there may be only one basic problem that human beings have, and that every other problem comes from that one. It is labeled plain old every-day selfishness. It is defined to be "wanting what WE want."

The Gospel narrative of Jesus's walking on the sea is both a fact and an allegory. The storm is a symbol of our world. There are many problems, messes, things that go wrong, and even though we may think of ourselves as experienced in those problems, there will be turmoil. The Apostles thought they were good with a boat. In the midst of those problems, Peter becomes selfish. He sees that Jesus has calmed the sea, and so he asks of Jesus: "Command ME..."  Me, Me, Me.

In many ways, Jackson Briggs was very selfish as he was struggling with how to mature in his life. But the point of the final part of the movie was that he managed to overcome much of it. He turned to the dog Lulu and says, "Thank you for saving my life." He saw how much the dog cared for his friend, and he saw how much the dog began to care for him. He learned the lesson of caring.

We all have problems, whether they are of our own doing or not. The circumstances of our day-to-day lives, whether it is in school, at work, or during times of relaxation always involve difficulties that will affect us in one way or another. There are pressures that tend to be overpowering. Our lives are often not easy to live. The lesson of Jesus in the Gospels and Briggs in the movie "Dog" is one to learn therefore.  Even in the midst of our own problems, we must be aware of other human beings or in this case, a dog, who can use our help, offering them the care that we can give.

We do not want to miss the lesson of Briggs at the end of the movie. Perhaps the way to solve the problems that we have is to learn the lesson of caring.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, the world with all of its problems must have the example of your Son and some good people. Give us the grace to work with the problems that we have by learning the virtue of caring for others. Be with us, we pray. 

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GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: A remedy for selfishness is learning to truly care for another.
      
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 46 minutes)
1. What scene during this session is most striking and why?
2. In your opinion, what do most people desire in the world in which they live?
3. What are the three most significant problems in our world? In general, what can I do about them?
4. In your situation right now, what are some ways that we can "care" for others?
5. Why does "caring for another" overcome "selfishness" in a person's life?
6. In our world right now, what are some good examples of "true caring for another"?  
7. What does the movie "Dog" teach a young person?

©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America