awonder2

March 10

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Tuesday, March 10, Lent III

MATTHEW 18:21-35

How Often Should I Forgive?

Prayerthoughts

a. “Seven” is a perfect number in the Bible, therefore signifying “infinitely many.” Is there anyone that I have not forgiven at the present time?

b. Am I willing to forgive people who “owe” me, as for example money that I have loaned them, etc.?

c. We often lack consistency in our criticism. Often we are doing the very things that we accuse others of. Think of an example in my life.

d. Do you believe that the king in Jesus’s parable acted the way he should have? Note that this is not the way our God works with us.

e. The last verse is a “scare tactic” that Jesus often uses in his discourses. God is always kind and merciful. But the evangelist wants those who read the words of Jesus to know that we deserve the punishment that the king gave if we do not forgive others completely.

f. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will read Daniel 3:25,34-43 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

FORGIVENESS

+ This Gospel contains one of the most explicit statements in Sacred Scripture:

So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother [and sister] from your heart.

- forgiveness is an absolute necessity for the spiritual life

- it is the way to follow the Lord unreservedly as Azariah promised in the first reading

- the use of perfect numbers by both Peter and Jesus in the opening of the Gospel implies infinitely many times or simply “always”

+ As one analyzes the Gospel,

- the one thing that is universal to all of us because we are human beings is the lack of consistency

- we accuse others of doing things that we ourselves are doing,

- and we have to beg forgiveness for that

- that pattern is one to study: we ask for forgiveness, but we are not ready to forgive

+ We all have a tendency to criticize others for whatever—either we do it by word or most probably more often in our thoughts

- because we all tend to compare ourselves in one way or another

- it is important to study our own involvement in those areas of criticism

- for example, criticizing someone for the way he/she raises kids

- the chances are that the same criticism could be leveled legitimately at us

- or criticizing the way another family operates

- the chances are that we should be looking at our own families

+If we want to attack these tendencies within ourselves:

1 – there must be a willingness to admit the possibility of wrong

- one of the real problems with human nature is the lack of coming to our senses as we talked of the Prodigal Son

2 – there must be a desire to study our behavior

- and that takes time

- quality time with the Scriptures, the Gospels every day

- asking ourselves the difficult questions of the Gospel: Lord what are you trying to tell me

- here today: is there someone that I am refusing to forgive

- someone that I am holding a grudge toward, etc.

+ To grow spiritually causes pain because it means that we have to go to the very heart of the problem—us!

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Movie: "Wonder Woman" -- final session

ONLY LOVE CAN SAVE THE WORLD

The Gospel

JOHN 15:11-17

Jesus said, “I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another."

Gospelthink: I chose you to learn to love. Am I showing true love to everyone I meet?

Princess Diana and Steve Trevor were both convinced that they had to stop World War I, and proceeded to help the Allied forces on the Western front of the war. They realized that they had to stop General Ludendorff and Isabel Maru from releasing the poisonous mustard gas. Steve with the help of some of his friends managed to capture the plane with most of the gas, and gave up his life as he destroyed the plane and gas. Diana killed Ludendorff and discovered that the god of war was really Sir Patrick Morgan a supposed ally. She finally conquered him, but realized that there was more to life that winning a war. She acknowledged that what she had to do in the future was to understand the evil that men can cause, and that love is the only answer for the world.

If we have truly committed ourselves to following Jesus Christ in our lives, we will listen closely when he says that some law is "his" commandment. Those are his words as he explains to his disciples and eventually to all of us that his commandment is to love one another. It is interesting to think of what is not "his" commandment. He does not say that loving his Father is "his" commandment, although it is quite obvious that Jesus considers love of his Father to be an "automatic" commandment. But the point here--at no place in Scripture does Jesus call any law "his" commandment other than this place in the Gospels. And "his" commandment is love of others.

After Diana had lived a while on earth along side of Steve Trevor in the movie "Wonder Woman," she gradually came to understand how important love was and she was committed to remind humankind exactly that. She says at the end of the movie: "I have seen the terrible things men do to each other in the name of hatred, and the lengths they'll go for love. Now, I know. Only love can save the world." Diana understood humankind, and wanted to help as much as she could to lead them to love others.

Her understanding was how important "his"--Jesus's--commandment was. We absolutely must have love of others as part of our lives if we are to live well. We know full well what Diana discovered--there is evil and love in all of us. Our job consists of empowering the "love" part of our thought and personality to conquer the evil part, to understand how important Jesus's commandment is every moment of our lives. It is not an easy task.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, Your Son called love of others to be "His" commandment. Help us be more aware of how our behavior should change in order to follow through with a true love of others. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Only love can save the world.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why?
2. Obviously a "friend" of Jesus will be someone who accepts what he says. In your opinion, do most Christians truly follow what Jesus taught? Yes or no and why?
3. Steve Trevor gave up his life to save the Allied forces. In fact, there were many people who died for the cause of their beliefs on both sides of the war. What is your opinion about war?
4. The meditation makes an argument concerning Jesus calling on one commandment to be "his" commandment,.namely loving others. Do most Christians truly love all "others"? Yes or no and why?
5. If we lived the fact that "only love can save the world," what is the first thing that would happen in the world?
6. Name two evils that are part of our world. What can be done about them? What can you do about them?
7. What does the movie "Wonder Woman" teach young people?

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