MATTHEW 28:18-20

Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Gospelthink: Jesus tells us that everyone must be baptized.

After House Harkonnen destroyed House Atreides, on the planet Arrakis, the Fremen troops accepted Paul Atreides and his pregnant mother, Lady Jessica, and they settle in the region of Sietch Tabr. Lady Jessica is a member of the Bene Gesserit, a powerful political sisterhood who seem to have superhuman powers. Some Fremen suspect that they are spies while the leader, Stilgar ben Fifrawi and some others see signs of a prophecy that foretold that a mother and son from the “Outer World” will bring prosperity to Arrakis. The Fremen accept Paul and his mother, telling Lady Jessica that she must succeed the region’s dying Reverend Mother by drinking the Water of Life, a drug obtained from a young sandworm’s bile. She does and it allows her to communicate with her unborn daughter Alia. The Fremen woman Chani does not believe the prophecy, but she begins to respect Paul and gradually she and Paul fall in love. Paul adopts the Fremen names of Usul and Muad’Dib. Meanwhile, the House Harkonnen led by Baron Vladimir Harkonnen directs Feud-Rautha to be Arrakis’s ruler.    

In the movie “Dune, Part Two,” connections to the “divine” are many and varied.  Perhaps the clearest reference is the “Water of Life.”  In both this session and the final session of the movie, it is featured as a power that can enhance the present moment to such a degree that the one who receives it will be able to sense the past and help improve the present.  In the next session, Paul will drink of it, and in this session, his mother Lady Jessica drinks it. As a result of receiving it, and also because of her Bene Gessurit training, she is able to understand what has happened in the past as she and the Fremen prepare for the future. 

The obvious reference for the Christian must be the concept of Baptism, the means that Christians have to enter the Church. Jesus tells us in Matthew’s Gospel that the job of the Apostles and their successors was very simply to baptize, thus bringing about the Church in our world. 

That Church began well, but has a history checkered with interruptions of evil.  In allegory, it matches this reading:

           On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur there was once a crude little lifesaving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves, went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. This wonderful little station saved many lives, so that it became famous.

           Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding area, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and money for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little lifesaving station grew.

           Presently, some members became unhappy that the building was so crude, so simple. Gradually, beds replaced cots and good furniture appeared in the enlarged building.

           The station itself came to be decorated beautifully, and was used as a club. The members became less interested in going to sea on lifesaving missions, so lifeboat crews were hired to do that work, especially when the people whose lives were saved were people who were different from the people of the station.

           Soon, there was a split in the club membership. Those members who wanted lifesaving to be its primary purpose were voted down by the others. They were told that if they wanted to save lives, they could begin their own station down the coast—which they did.

           As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another lifesaving station was founded.

           History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit the seacoast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along the shore.

Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown. 

           We are part of the Church in the world as a result of our Baptism, our “Water of Life,” that is, we are part of the “life-saving station” that Jesus established.  

           Perhaps we should be better “life-savers” than we are.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, you have given us the gift of the “Water of Life,” our Baptism.  Give us the grace to live out our Christian lives in such a way that we can “save” ourselves and the people around us.  Be with us, we pray.

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GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: The Water of Life has the power to bring about a good future and lead others to it.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 78 minutes)

1. What scene during this session was most striking and why?

2. Do most Christians follow their baptismal promises. Yes or no and why? [The leader of the group may want to go through each promise made in Baptism.]

3. Name some other concepts in our living that can be labelled “Water of Life.”

4. Many have chosen to leave the Church once they have studied its history. How does one answer the question of why hasn’t God allowed the Church to grow better than it has?

5. What is most striking about the reading in the commentary?

6. In what way do we see God’s presence right now in the Church?

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