January 17

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Saturday, January 17

MARK 2:13-17

Calling a Sinner

Prayerthoughts

a. He taught them. The Lord is my teacher and his textbook is the New Testament especially the Gospels. Do I pay enough attention to these Gospels?

b. Jesus wanted Levi, a converted sinner, to be with Him as He went about his ministry. Have I sufficiently changed my behavior so that I can be called “converted”?

c. Once again, the sin of the Pharisees here is from their thinking. I must look at my own thinking and try to purify it a little more.

d. There are many who are “sick” in my acquaintance. They may not be physically sick, but they need the help of someone who cares. Am I that type of person?

e. As I condider my “thinking,” what do I think of the most and why? Should it be a little more “Christian” than it is?

f. My prayerthoughts...

Today, I will read 1 Samuel 9:1-4,17-19,10:1 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

CALLED BY GOD

+ In the readings today, the liturgy presents us with two people who were called by God

- Saul in the first book of Samuel, anointed by Samuel to rule the Israelite people

- Levi in Mark’s Gospel, most probably Matthew as he is called elsewhere—Jesus probably changed his name, or the early Church did

- Jesus calls him from a life of sin, since tax collectors always collected more taxes than they should have for themselves

+ So the idea of “calling” is a good one to think about in a spiritual way today

- you and I are all called to the Christian way of life in our spirituality

- and we have responded by our Baptism

- most of us having accepted that Baptism after it was conferred on us at an early age

+ What is interesting about the two people that we have given to us is the outcome of the call of God

- Saul, first of all, became a very good king

- he governed well, he fought the enemies of Israel well, he depended on Yahweh, God, well

- but toward the end of his life, he lost his devotion to God, and he lost it because of jealousy—selfishness

- he became much more interested in himself than he was in what he was called to do—namely governing the Israelites with care and concern

- it may be that much of it was not his fault as he may have had a mental illness

- but whether that is true or not, Saul in some way turned away from God because of his own selfishness

- Levi—Matthew—on the other hand, realized that he was a sinner, changed his ways, and became a true follower of Jesus

- he understood his need for God, and he let that guide him in life

+ As we consider our call, we have to consider both of these men

- are we more like Saul, who at first accepted God’s call, but then because of selfishness, gave it up to follow his own pursuits

- or like Levi—Matthew—who recognized his sinfulness and stayed close to Jesus all of his life

+ Obviously, we want to be like Levi—Matthew

- and the way to do that is to continue what we are doing here

- keep coming back to the Lord here at Mass, keep recognizing our sinfulness, making our Baptismal promises something real to us

- such is our prayer at this Mass.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Movie: "The Karate Kid" -- final session

STAND UP AGAIN

The Gospel

MARK 6:1-6a

Jesus came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. He went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching.

Gospelthink: The people of my hometown thought they knew me and did not have faith. I truly know the Lord and should renew my faith in Him daily.

In the movie "The Karate Kid," the karate tournament finally comes. Dre Parker and his trainer Mr. Han rapidly advance to the semi-finals and finals. During the tournament, they run into the students of a school of karate that teaches violence with no mercy, some of whose students had been Dre's original tormentors. Dre feels the pain of defeat when one of those students deliberately hurts one of Dre's legs to the point of not being able to walk. Begging Mr. Han to help him, Dre reminds Mr. Han of a statement that Han had made earlier, "Life will knock us down, but we can choose whether or not to stand back up." Because Han knows what to do to give Dre temporary mobility, Dre eventually goes to the finals, winning the match by using a technique that he learned during his training, a technique that demanded Dre to completely focus on a problem.

There may be reasons why one should give up a good undertaking, but difficulty should not be one of them. One of the marks of maturity is that people will pursue what is good while at the same time work with any difficulties that may come. Jesus knew that his mission was good, indeed, necessary for the world, and therefore the rejection he received in his hometown was not enough to prevent him from continuing his work. In terms of Mr. Han's words in the movie "The Karate Kid," life knocked him down, but he chose to stand up again, and went immediately back to his task. As Mark the evangelist remarks, "He went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching." That is, he went right back to doing what he had to do.

There are many good things that demand us to go above the ordinary, and often they are quite difficult. Perhaps it is the task of achieving maturity amidst the distractions of society. Maybe it involves turning away from friends who are choosing wrong. Maybe it is nothing more than accepting the tedious task of bearing down and studying a subject that will help us in life. If it is good, being difficult is no reason to prevent us from pursuing it.

There are two important considerations as we consider the words of Mr. Han in the movie. First, "life will knock us down." There will be difficulties in any undertaking, whether it be a job that we have or the general thought of living our lives well. But, the second point must be made immediately: the mature human being can choose to stand back up again. It is up to us: we choose. We can feel sorry for ourselves and stay in pain, or we can make the decision to do something about it.

As we choose to stand back up and go about our task, the movie also suggests how to do it well. Dre managed to win the tournament by focusing on the problem so completely that every distraction was eliminated. If we achieve total focus, admittedly a difficult undertaking, we will be able to accomplish important things in our lives. In terms of Christian living, such a focus will mean concentrating on the message of Jesus Christ, allowing it to be a true guide to living.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, your Son felt rejection while he was here on earth. But he was able to overcome the rejections, and accomplish what you wanted him to do. Give us the grace to always focus on your Son and follow you. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Life will knock us down; we can choose whether or not to stand back up.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 43 minutes)
1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why?
2. Why is a prophet often not accepted by his own people?
3. The point of this session is that Jesus kept right on working “in the vicinity” even after the rejection in the synagogue at Nazareth. The human Jesus was dedicated to his mission. Describe what you think Jesus wished to accomplish in his life.
4. The meditation makes the point that a mark of maturity is working with difficulties. What are some other marks of maturity?
5. The meditation mentions some difficulties that must be overcome. What are the major difficulties in our lives that must be overcome?
6. The meditation makes the point that Christians should be focusing completely on Jesus. Do you think that most Christians have a total focus on Jesus in their lives? Yes or no and why?
7. Scene analysis: Mei Ying’s parents forbid her to see Dre anymore. Should parents have this much control over their children’s friends? Yes or no and why?
8. Scene analysis: Mr. Han cries because of his pain. What is the most difficult pain a parent will suffer?
9. Dialogue analysis: Mr. Han says that winning or losing does not matter. Learning respect does. What does “learning respect” mean?
10. Scene analysis: Master Li tells his student to hurt Dre. There are teachers who instruct people to do bad things. What can be done to remove them from teaching children?
11. Scene analysis: Cheng offers the trophy to Dre. What does this say about Cheng’s character?
12. What does the movie “The Karate Kid” teach young people?