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MARK 8:34-36 Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? |
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Gospelthink: You cannot give yourselves completely to material things. Do I spend too much time using the material things of this world?
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The IMF team, Ethan Hunt, Luther Stikell, and Benji Dunn, Ilsa Faust, a disavowed MI6 agent and “Grace,” a professional thief end up in Venice. They battle Gabriel, a sadistic Entity liaison, the arms dealer Alanna Mitsopolis and Paris, an Entity operative. After Ilsa is killed, Grace and the IMF team eventually find themselves fighting their enemies aboard a train with Hunt winning the battle with help of Paris who turned to fight with the IMF team. Finally in possession of the cruciform key, together with his team, Ethan Hunt set out to find the Entity and destroy it. |
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When God created man and woman as recorded in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Scriptures, He gave them the directive to develop what they could from the world that He created (Genesis 1:28). And they did. Over the years they discovered the workings of the universe in such a way as to bring about incredible accomplishments, especially in our modern era. But God also said in the words of the prophet Hosea speaking for the people of God: “We will never again say, ‘Our god’ to the work of our hands” (Hosea 14:4). It is a struggle—we have developed our intellects in such a way that we can forget about who created all of this in the first place. Hence the creation of the “Entity” in the movie. It has amazing powers and has such a control over the created world that the nation that owns it can control everything else. The challenge is to keep the “Entity” away from evil people who want to hurt others. There can be an argument made that anyone who wants the “Entity” makes them evil because they want the control, but in the movie, the IMF team manifest what is right and good. Presumably once they control the “Entity,” they will be able to control their own evil desires. They are devoted to obtaining it, no matter what personal effort it may take. “Control” is an interesting phenomenon. It is obvious in some cases, those who will use their control of others to bring about selfish goals. In other cases, it is not so clear because one usually does not know the intentions of the person who wants control. Our prayer as Christians must be that we want control of what we have created with God’s initial help so as to help all people. Thus, we show the virtue of love even as we have the power to bring about evil. |
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PRAYER Good and gracious God, You have given us unbelievable intellects. Thank you for Your gifts to us; help us remember at all times the love that You have for us so that we may always show that love to others, no matter what our technology develops. Be with us, we pray. |
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+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT
2. In your opinion, what are the greatest achievements of our time here on earth? 3. Do most people depend on our creations too much? 4. Why would a nation want to possess the “Entity”? 5. Is “control” always an evil? Yes or no and why? 6. What is the most loving thing that we can do in today’s world? 7. What does the movie “Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One” teach young people?
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©2007
Capuchin Province of Mid-America |
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