rogue2

July 16

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Wednesday, July 16

MATTHEW 11:25-27
I tell you to be childlike in your approach to me, totally trusting in me.

Prayerthoughts
a. “These things” refer to the “important things in life.” What are the three most important things in my life right now? In what way is God helping me with them? (This is the task of the meditation.)

b. The Lord wants us to be “childlike.” It means that we must become vulnerable and marginalized so as to want to receive the Lord’s message. In what ways can I pay more attention to the Gospel in my life?

c. Being childlike implies that there is no deception in the way I speak. Is there any situation in my life in which I should be more honest?

d. Being childlike implies that I will honestly listen to the Gospel of the Lord. Do I spend time with the Gospel every day?

e. Being childlike implies that there are no “ulterior motives” as I work with others, that my intentions are “pure.” Do I do and say things so that I will receive more honor or the like?

f. Continually in the Gospel Jesus refers to his closeness with the Father. Who are the people that I am closest to in my life? I should tell them how special they are sometime this week.

g. My prayerthoughts…

Today I will carry out letter a.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

BEING CHILD-LIKE

+ One of the marks of Jesus’ ministry is his openness to those who are not received well by society

- in the Gospel, Jesus says that there is a special place for those who are child-like

- because God reveals what was hidden to the child-like

- therefore, if we are to consider our spiritual life as a value, we are to bring ourselves to the thought of being child-like, like children

+ What are the elements of being child-like so that the mysteries of the Kingdom can be revealed?

- probably a number of characteristics but some thoughts from the Liturgy today

1 – the child-like person will be someone who understands that the Lord is calling us to be truly spiritual people

- the way God called Moses in the first reading, telling him to do a very difficult task, but assuring him that God would be with him

- the child-like knows that whatever the Lord calls us to, the Lord will be with us

2 – the child-like person has no pretenses

- the child is gullible with no reasons to suspect anything different from what is said

- there is no thought of saying one thing and doing another

- there is no possibility of “ulterior motives”

` - the child’s intentions are pure

- perhaps, that is the ultimate reason why the child can understand

+ In our modern society, it is difficult to be child-like

- first, our sophisticated minds do not understand how evil can be used

- because we don’t recognize our own guilt, perhaps

- we think that evil should be stopped—period

- and too often cannot comprehend how God works with evil

- the child-like can say: “I don’t know, I don’t understand, but God is in charge”

- and secondly, our motivation/intentions are often not pure

- we want what we want

- and we refuse to challenge ourselves to want what God wants

+ We must have a knowledge of the Father in order to grow spiritually

- and that knowledge, according to Jesus, comes to people who are child-like.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Movie: "Rogue One" -- final session

OUR ONLY HOPE

The Gospel

MATTHEW 12:15b-21

MATTHEW 12:155b-21

Many people followed Jesus and he cured them all, though he sternly ordered them not to make public what he had done. This was to fulfill what had been said through Isaiah the prophet: "Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my loved one in whom I delight. I will endow him with my spirit and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not contend or cry out, nor will his voice be heard in the streets. The bruised reed he will not crush; the smoldering wick he will not quench until judgment is made victorious. In his name, the Gentiles will find hope."

Gospelthink: I fulfilled the words of the Hebrew Scriptures. Do I make the Lord's presence known by my life?

In their fight to discover the plans her father left for the eventual destruction of the Death Star that the Empire was building, Jyn and her group including Cassian and K-2SO, a droid that has been programmed to work with the rebel forces, set out alone to find the information. When the rebel fleet finally discovered that they might be able to help Jyn and her friends, they began to help them in their quest. Although Jyn and many rebels were killed by Darth Vader and the Empire forces, a small ship managed to escape with the captured plans. They were given to Princess Leia who declared that the plans will provide hope for the Rebellion.

Matthew the evangelist often quoted the Old Testament showing how Jesus fulfilled the promises spoken by Old Testament prophets. He wanted his Jewish readers to know that Jesus was the chosen one that was spoken of by the prophets like Isaiah, and that therefore there was hope for the people who would believe in His name. Such a hope was what the people of Jesus' time needed. They knew only too well that life was not as good as it could have been, and they discovered how Jesus was the hope that they were expecting.

The rebel forces in the movie "Rogue One" understood that the destruction of the Death Star was the only hope they had. If they could not destroy it, the whole world would be governed by evil. Jyn and her fellow rebels gave up their lives, but were finally able to deliver the means by which the hope could be realized. All "Star Wars" fans know that Princess Leia was able to take what was delivered to her at the end of the movie and destroy the Death Star and free the world from evil domination. The last word spoken in the movie is the word "hope" and the message is that there is always hope for people who believe.

Of course, our hope is not in a plan to destroy death as portrayed in a fantasy movie. Our hope is in the True Force in a Christian's life, the same hope that Isaiah spoke of as quoted in Matthew's Gospel. Our hope is with the Lord Jesus who leads his believers to victory, both in this world and in the next.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, Your Son is the hope that we will always be Your sons and daughters. Give us the grace to accept His message completely so that we will be able to live that hope forever. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Sometimes the only motivation we have is hope in God.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 63 minutes)
1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why?
2. What is your definition of hope?
3. What is most hopeful about what is happening in our world? Why?
4. Why is Christianity a hopeful religion?
5. Analysis: Why did Cassian not kill Galen like he was told to?
6. Analysis: Can there be "peace" without warfare? Yes or no and why?
7. What does the movie "Rogue One" teach young people?