june 1

June 1

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Monday, June 1

MARK 12:1-12

My World

Prayerthoughts

a. As we interpret the parable to our times today, the vineyard is my world in which I live and breathe. Do I treat the world I live in with true respect, remembering that God created everything?

b. We are “loaned” this vineyard in which we live. Do I “give back” some produce, that is offering to the Lord the things that I have accomplished with the Lord?

c. We may not listen to the “prophets” who are sent to remind us that we “owe” to God acknowledgement for what God has done for us.

d. The reference to the “son” obviously is Jesus himself. Do I try to listen to Jesus by reading a portion of the Gospel every day?

e. In a sense, I have “killed” the son, that is by paying no attention to the words of Jesus at times.

f. I should think of how the Lord will judge what I am doing with my life by considering whether my words and actions show my willingness to make God a necessary part of my life.

g. Jesus must always be the “cornerstone” of my life. Is he truly?

h. The parable is addressed to all of us. I must pay attention to it closely as if Jesus is describing the possibility of the way I am acting right now.

i. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will read 2 Peter 1:2-7 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

OUR VINEYARD

+ Here in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is near the end of his life

- his speech and parables become quite “pointed”

- telling the Hebrew people exactly what they were doing in rejecting him

- his story is one of forgetting God—one that everyone of us can all too easily identify with

+ The story in twenty-first century terms becomes this:

- God created us and gave us our lives and our intelligence

- and we have brought about with God’s help the vineyard, and everything the vineyard means for us – the world, our families, our work, our livelihood, our living

- God says to us: give me some of the produce of the vineyard

- that is, give me acknowledgment, thanks, etc.

- that is, give back to me in some way—some of the produce

- but we do not listen, in fact we have “killed” the prophets

- that is, paid no attention to them, laughed at them,

- prophets like spiritual writers, those who tell us difficult things

- finally God sent the Son of God, Jesus, our savior

- he has set up guidelines for us

- and basically we have rejected them, “killed” Jesus’s influence

+ What will God do?

- give the vineyard, the world, to people who will pay attention to God

- that is, give an understanding to some people and allow those of us who do not understand to flounder in our own self-made messes

- until we finally understand and turn to God

+ What it means is that we have to work at keeping God to be a significant part of our lives—as the 2^nd letter of Peter says in a beautiful litany:

- “make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.”

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's 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?