june 1

June 1

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Sunday, June 1, Ascension of the Lord

Luke 24:46-53

The story of the Ascension of Jesus

Prayerthoughts

a. The suffering of Jesus is recalled many times in the New Testament Scriptures. What does the “suffering” of my life consist of? How can I “suffer” better?

b. Jesus’s resurrection is the basis of my faith. Have I been a “faith-filled” person throughout my life? How have I shown my faith in today’s world? Consider in particular yesterday.

c. “You are witnesses of these things.” What kind of a witness to Jesus am I? At this time in my life, who is the greatest witness to Jesus that I know? How can I imitate her/him?

d. As I study my life in the past week, to what did I primarily “witness”?

e. “The promise of the Father” is the Holy Spirit. Go through these “gifts” of the Holy Spirit and determine how I can live them better: Wisdom, Understanding, Reverence, Knowledge, Courage, Awe of God, Fear of God.

f. In theology, the Ascension of the Lord affirms the fact that Jesus is divine and has the true authority of God. Is it clear that I have really accepted Jesus into my life?

g. “They were continually in the temple praising God.” Such was the effect of Jesus’s life and teachings. Do I praise and thank God enough throughout the day?

h. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will read Acts of the Apostles, chapter 1 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

THE GRACE TO SEE

+ One of the people recently canonized by Pope Benedict XVI is an Austrian by the name of Franz Jaegerstetter who died in 1943

- his is an interesting story:

- relatively wild youth in which he had his share of fooling around

- became a farmer, married, had three small children

- called to serve in the German army in February, 1943

- and that was a problem for him because he felt that Hitler’s government was immoral, and the war was evil

- previously, he was the only man in his village to vote against Austria’s union with Nazi Germany

- went to the priests and even the bishop and was told to enter the army

- went to induction center and he told them that in conscience he could not serve

- he was placed in prison

- he was asked why he had a problem with joining when so many others had no problem

- his answer: “I guess I have the grace to see it”

- he was executed on August 9, 1943

- it is an amazing story that involves his decision even in face of his deep love for his wife and children

- the only reason why we know about him is a book by an author by the name of Gordon Zahn called In Solitary Witness

+ It is clear that we should think of the word “witness” from the readings today

- the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles mentions it

- the Gospel mentions it

- the word “witness” means literally “to know”

- and it implies that we know this Jesus, and are willing to make him known to others

- and I think Jaegerstetter’s description of “possessing the grace to see” is a good way to look at being a witness

- and it is especially interesting to study our own Christian witnessing in light of what Jaegerstetter did

+ What he did primarily was form his conscience from knowledge of the Gospels

- that is something we are all called to do

- for him, it was what Jesus said about evil

- for us, it involves the same thing, that is,

- it involves love of another, the golden rule, which the Gospel reminded us of a couple weeks ago

- it involves love and forgiveness which the Gospel reminded us of last week as Jesus described his idea of peace

- it involves the giving of valuable time to spiritual matters in our lives

- in general, it involves allowing Jesus’ words and actions to be the foundation for our thinking so that we have the “grace to see” what is right

+ That “grace to see” may be a lonely task because we may be the only ones who see what must be done

- Jaegerstetter’s sanctity came from that fact

- his was a solitary witness—no one else would do what he did

- further, his death would go entirely unnoticed (were it not for the book that was written about him)

- it would have absolutely no impact on the Nazi movement

- it would not hasten the end of the war

- who would remember or care about an anti-Nazi gesture of an uneducated farmer?

- but he did what he had to do because he knew it was right

+ Franz Jaegerstetter knew it because he was a witness—he knew Jesus

- and he knew what he did was right

- so do we

- our prayer is that have the grace to see, and when we see it, that we are willing to act.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Movie: "The Impossible" -- beginning session

WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO

The Gospel

MATTHEW 8:23-25

MATTHEW 8:23-25

[Jesus] got into a boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep. They came and woke him saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

Gospelthink: My disciples had the right idea when they were afraid--they turned to me. Do I turn to the Lord as often as I should in prayer?

The tsunami that hit Khao Lak, Thailand on December 26, 2004 may have killed close to 250,000 people including many foreign tourists, and is recognized to be the worst tsunami in history. The movie "The Impossible" is based on a true story concerning the Bennett family--Henry, Maria, and their children Lucas, Tomas and Simon from England--who were caught in the destruction of the tsunami and yet unbelievably they survived. They had no warning of the impending disaster; they could do nothing about it. Part of the study of any tragedy is how people behave during the tragedy itself, and therefore it is always a learning experience to look at the tragedy in terms of how people acted and thought. One of the characteristics of a mature individual involves good behavior when the circumstances of a situation are totally unexpected. We can learn much from the behavior of the Bennett family, and in particular during this first part of the movie from pre-teenager Lucas as he dealt with the tragedy of a wounded mother and the conduct of adults who were under stress.

Judging from the attitude of the Apostles during one of the storms when traveling on the Sea of Galilee, there were times during Jesus' stay with them when they feared for their lives. They honestly thought they were going to die in the storm, even though they were experienced fishermen who had seen storms all their lives. It was a tragedy that was real, and they were caught in the middle of it.

The situation was not unlike the situation of the Bennett family as they were caught in the midst of the worst tsunami in history. Her son Lucas told his mother in desperation immediately after the tragedy, "They are all dead." He honestly thought that his family was dead, and they very well could have been. It was a time of pain and stress.

But with Lucas' thought in particular, his moment's despair was temporary. He began to understand that he was called to a deeper maturity in his situation, forcing himself to see that his mother's and indeed other people's needs were more important than his own young feelings. Even when he thought that his mother had actually died--something that misinformed adults confirmed for him--he displayed an attitude of hope that had a true effect on his young thinking.

The type of thinking that Lucas manifested should have been the thinking of the Apostles, namely, to discover the truth of the moment, and then try their best to do something about it, always remembering the importance of others. Lucas was even helping others find their loved ones, even as he thought that he had lost his own family. The Apostles should have seen the reality they were involved in. They should have realized who was in their boat with them.

We do not want to miss the lesson of young Lucas Bennett in the movie: he wanted to discover exactly what was true and if possible do something about it, always remembering that other people were involved. When some tragedy strikes us--and it will in some form--we must remember the lesson.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, we do not want tragedy in our lives, but unfortunately, it will happen at times. Help us always behave as true followers of your Son as we try to understand what we can do to help in the tragedy. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Mature people will behave well when they do not know what to do in a situation.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 53 minutes)
1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why?
2. Here in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus takes the initiative of leading the apostles and they "follow." What are the characteristics of people who "follow" the Lord?
3. What are some tragedies that have recently happened? What do you think it would be like to be caught in the middle of one of them?
4. What are the most significant times of stress in people's lives?
5. What is the most difficult part of family tragedies? Why?