TGIMMjack2

November 10
[media presentation below] GospelThink Sunday, November 10, Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time MARK 12: 38-44 Humility and Money Prayerthoughts a. Jesus tells the Pharisees and me not to be proud as I feel as though I should be honored in some way. Do I try to develop humility as I deal with my life? b. Jesus is very strong in his condemnation of the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. Am I hypocritical in my approach to the spiritual life? That is, does my life—thoughts, words, deeds—show my devotion to God, as I profess in my prayer? c. A thought that crosses my mind a lot is money or wealth. Do I tend to judge in jealousy those whom I think are rich or have more than I do? d. The thought with Jesus’s story is that we should give of what we have to good causes. Do I consider this a true necessity in my life? e. Do I see myself giving of my “surplus wealth.” That should be a given in my life. But do I give a certain percentage of the rest of my income as well. (Realizing that we really do need money for living.) f. My prayerthoughts… Today I will read the letter to the Hebrews, chapter 9 and write an important thought from it.
Some Thoughts on the Liturgy TRUE GIVING + The liturgy gives us the opportunity to talk about giving today - the first reading: the widow gives to Elijah - the second reading: the Lord gives redemption to us - Gospel: the widow gives everything she has + First of all, Jesus presumes that there will be giving to the Church, whether a person is rich or poor - it is the concept of stewardship— - one of the concepts that we should talk about is the whole concept of giving back to God in some way - called stewardship which is realizing what God has done for us, and our desire to give back to God - the concept is basic: once we realize that we have life from God, then we will want to give back to God in some way with our time, our talent or our money - the problem is that many of us really do not completely realize that God has given us life + Secondly, the giving means that we will have to be without something as a result of the giving - in the first reading from the first book of Kings, the widow gave away that which was to keep her alive - in the Gospel, the widow gave all that she had, the supreme sacrifice - the giving away carries with it an element of sacrifice of something on our parts whether we are giving to each other or giving to the Church - this is not an easy thing to do because we simply don’t like to think of being without if we don’t have to - but in Jesus’ mind, this idea of sacrifice is imperative + Thirdly, and this is THE problem with giving, I believe - the follower of Jesus cannot give in order to get something back - in the first part of the Gospel, one of the problems that Jesus had with the religious leaders was that they were into show—they gave in order to receive the greetings in the marketplace, the places of honor, etc.—they were giving to get something in return - the widow in the first book of Kings reading had no idea that she would be repaid - the widow in the Gospel is thinking of nothing by way of return - the Christian cannot go into giving with the idea that we will get something in return - this is extremely difficult for the American mind because we are not trained that way - we are trained in justice, and we think that justice should be the rule of thumb when it comes to giving: justice demands that giving and getting back are equal - this has an enormous effect on our giving of money, time and talent - people attach strings to their giving - we go to Church with the idea that they can “bargain” with God: - I am going to Church so that God will give to me - we give to others with the idea that we will be repaid - as a Christian, we must learn to give to others without expecting anything in return, that is, with no strings attached at all, not even a “thank you” + The Church or any institution should have no problem with obtaining the funds necessary to run a Church and seeking volunteers to help in whatever situation because of the concept of stewardship - the fact is that we do have problems - one of the conclusions to that is that perhaps we still don’t really understand giving the way we should - our prayer during this liturgy is that we begin to understand the giving that we should be doing simply because God has created us.

MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" -- final session PATRIOT OR TERRORIST

The Gospel

MATTHEW 26:50b-53

Then stepping forward they laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. And behold, one of those who accompanied Jesus put his hand to his sword, drew it, and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels?"

Gospelthink: I dislike violence in every form. Do I find myself being very angry at others with no desire for reconciliation?

Having strengthened himself and his resolve to help his country in whatever way he could, Jack Ryan set out to do his job. As a secret CIA operative, he discovered that there were some difficulties with the way one of the investors in his company was manipulating funds. The investor Viktor Cherevin was actually preparing to bring about the downfall of America's superiority in the financial areas of life. In the process, he was working toward disabling America's financial district and killing thousands of people. Jack Ryan with the active involvement of his soon-to-be wife Cathy, his mentor Thomas Harper and CIA team had to try to stop him.

No matter what the circumstances of war and intrigue leading up to war, there will almost always be killing. Unfortunately, war being the way it is, both the good and bad sides of the conflict will be involved in the effects of war. Killing others is one of them. So the question arises for the follower of Jesus Christ, if we must be involved in a serious struggle involving the possibility of life and death, perhaps the only guide is that we should hurt as few people as possible. Putting the thought into a philosophical format, the principal difference between a patriot and a terrorist is the patriot's desire to pursue love of country without unnecessary killing.

Studying the evil people in the modern movies, it seems that their desire is to hurt as many people as possible. So it is with Viktor Cherevin in the movie "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit." Even though he says at the end of the movie that he did it all for Russia, one wonders whether he really had to try to kill as many people as he had intended to do. It is difficult for a Christian to justify any killing; it is impossible to justify killing for the sake of killing.

We live in extremely difficult times. One wonders how Christianity can fit into the horrors of a world that involves hatred of other countries and the desire to hurt others before they hurt us. Perhaps we have to simply pray on behalf of the leaders of our world, hoping that they will work at bringing peace, and spend our time concentrating on our own little worlds. Placing the words and thoughts of Jesus Christ as a personal guide, we can study our own involvement with others and realize that in every way, we are called to care and love them, all the time--period. We must fight the prejudice that the world teaches us, listening more to the thought of Jesus than the thought of the world.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, in this wonderful world you created we have chosen to ignore your Son's insights at times. Give us the grace to allow His teachings to touch our individual lives a little more than they do now. Be with us, we pray.

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GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Perhaps the principal difference between a patriot and a terrorist is the patriot's desire to pursue love of country without unnecessary killing.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why?
2. Project: the instructor may want to pursue the whole question of a just war and what it consists of. See Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, 2307-2317.
3. In your opinion, was Jesus a pacifist, someone who avoided armed conflict at all costs? Yes or no and why?
4. Even if Jesus were not a pacifist, how do you think he would acted concerning the World Wars that have occurred?
5. It is very difficult to determine how we should act in the face of armed conflict. Besides the one suggested by the meditation--hurt few people--what are some other specifically "Christian" rules?
6. Some terrorists appeal to their religion in order to justify their actions. Do you agree with most scholars that no modern religion would ever justify outright murder? Yes or no and why?
7. In your opinion, is there ever a situation in which someone could "execute" another with no possibility of a trial?
8. What are some other solutions for peace for the nations of our world besides praying for the leaders?
9. In our own personal worlds, what is the most important way to bring about peace?
10. In your opinion, do the Christians of our world try to follow the directives of Jesus Christ? Yes or no and why?
11. The CIA obviously does not want secrets to be shared between couples about to be married because the marriage may not occur. But it places a strain on the young couple. What if any is a possible solution?
12. Both Viktor and Aleksandr are "church goers" in the movie, and yet are plotting to kill thousands of people. In your opinion, why did they not see any contradiction in what they were doing?
13. Should Harper have involved Cathy Muller in the dangerous plan? Why or why not?
14. Scene analysis: It seemed that the Church was involved in passing information about the future evil mission of Cherevin. Do you believe that Churches are involved in some of the evil of the world? Yes or no and why?
15. Scene analysis: Cherevin kills his assistant because his assistant spoke up to him about his problems. His problems were "vodka, vanity and women." Discuss the principal problem of powerful people.
16. Dialogue analysis: After Jack tells Cathy that he chose the life of the CIA, Cathy tells Jack that she picked him. In your opinion, should Cathy have married Jack Ryan? Yes or no and why?
17. What does the movie "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" teach young people?