avatar1

July 27

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Monday, July 27

MATTHEW 13:31-35

The Kingdom

Prayerthoughts

a. We understand the Kingdom of God to be what Jesus wanted the world to become, culminating in eternal life with God. In my world right now, where is God’s presence most evident?

b. In Jesus’s comparison here, the Kingdom began very small, that is with Jesus and his Apostles. From my knowledge of Jesus’s teachings, what are the most important teachings for me?

c. The Kingdom of God is meant to extend to everyone without exception. Do I find myself “excluding” certain people from my consideration of God’s people? Perhaps I should take the time to pray for those whom I have forgotten.

d. The Kingdom of God was to develop throughout the world as yeast goes throughout the product. Am I promoting God’s Kingdom in my own small world?

e. Do I spend time with Jesus’s parables, that is, stories, thinking about how they apply to my life today?

f. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will read Jeremiah 13:1-11 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

THREE STORIES

+ The liturgy presents three parables for our consideration today

- one from Jeremiah, also called a symbolic action

- the other two from Jesus

- all three of them can be applied to our spiritual lives

+ First, from Jeremiah

- the reason why the Israelite kingdom will rot is that they did not listen to what God said

- the obvious conclusion from the action:

- we must listen to God

- and in order to listen, we must be aware of God’s presence

- in the Scriptures, and in particular for us, the Gospels and the New Testament

- in the actions of what happens in our lives, how the grace of God works in us

+ Then, from Jesus, two parables using first a man, then a woman

- the first concerning the mustard seed gives us Jesus’s mind concerning one of the elements of the Kingdom

-it was to begin small with his preaching and then grow large

- and for us, the nearest application is our Church

- it has indeed grown very large

- perhaps too large

- we have all the rewards, but all the problems of big business

- it is important to remember our roots and exactly what the Kingdom of God is all about

+ Jesus’s second parable in this liturgy deals with the way the kingdom in Jesus’s mind must be able to permeate all of life and influence it

- that is, the teaching of Jesus must take hold

- the teaching of Jesus in his words and actions was never meant to be an isolated action, never to be taken by itself

+ Three stories in today’s liturgy, all meant to teach us something:

- listen to the word of God, remember why the Kingdom started, and Jesus’s teaching must be the real guide for us as we claim to be Christian.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Movie: "Avatar: The Way of Water" -- beginning session
SELFISHNESS AND LOVE OF OTHERS

The Gospel

MATTHEW 2:13-15a

When the Magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him." Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod.

Gospelthink: Selfishness is extremely difficult to control; concern for others is always possible.

Two separate thoughts can be studied in this first part of the movie "Avatar: The Way of Water." First, we see once again the selfishness of the RDA (Resources Development Administration). The earth was dying, desperately needing something to help keep it alive, and a possible solution was found in the planet Pandora, home of the Na'vi. The RDA therefore decided to colonize Pandora using the RDA's weapons of war together with Recombinants, that is Na'vi avatars implanted with deceased soldiers' memories. One of the RDA's objectives was to capture Jake Sully who had left the military and had become part of the Na'vi people. During a military action, the RDA captured the children of Sully and his wife Neytiri. Sully and Neytiri were able to free them, but they realized that the RDA would harm the Na'vi people in order to find Sully. Rather than allow that to happen, Sully, Neytiri and their children decided to leave their home and relocated themselves to the eastern seaboard of Pandora. There, they were received by the people of Metkayina who were known as the reef people because of their love of the water.

Studying this first session of the movie "Avatar: The Way of Water," both thoughts which directed the activity of the movie--selfishness and concern for others--can be exemplified in the Gospels. At the very beginning of Jesus's life, Herod's selfishness controlled what the Holy Family did. And, it was the love of Joseph for Mary and Jesus that dominated the little family's early life.

The selfishness of the RDA in the movie is seen in their military activity and the reason for it. They were set on getting what they wanted and were going to get it, even if it meant that they had to hurt the Na'vi in the process.

As often mentioned in these meditations, we are not as evil as some people in history or case in point, as the military in the fictional story of the movie. But often our intentions are not completely pure either, and when they are not, we will usually concentrate on what we want, and what we can have. In such a state, we can become so selfish that we will hurt others in order to get what we want.

Interestingly enough, it is the selfishness of the RDA which brought about the concern of Jake Sully for the Na'vi people themselves. He didn't want them to be hurt as Quaritch and the RDA were seeking to capture Sully and his family. Rather than allow that to happen, Sully decided to move his family to a whole other area of Pandora. He moved to the eastern coast and the people of Metkayina.

There is little doubt that a person desiring a good spiritual life must learn concern for others. Jesus makes it clear that love of others is paramount in his teaching. That thought concerns both people that we know and interact with all of the time as well as people that we meet who are not part of our inner circle. The Christian will be concerned about everyone, and it must be more than talk.

The follower of Jesus will work on controlling selfishness, and perhaps a way to do it is to be more concerned about other people.

PRAYER
Good and gracious God, we know that selfishness is part of the world we inhabit, and it might even be part of my life. Help us to address it better than we are. And give us the grace to be truly concerned about every one we meet. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: The spiritual person will control selfishness and also will be concerned about other people.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What does this session of the movie teach young people?
2. Describe the person of Joseph, the foster father of Jesus from what you know of the Scriptures.
3. The two thoughts of "selfishness" and "love of others" are the themes of this first part of the movie. Give an example of both in the world today. [No personal examples allowed.]
4. Obviously, the military can be used for selfish reasons. As you study the conflicts of recent years in which the military was involved, do you see any selfishness? Yes or no and why?
5. Is "love of others" an ideal held by most people? Yes or no and why?
6. What is the best way to show "love of others" in our world today?