TGIMMcaptain2

November 25

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Monday, November 25

LUKE 21:1-4
Giving of yourself for a serious reason means giving of everything you have.

Prayerthoughts
a. A thought that crosses our minds 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?

b. 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?

c. 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 need money for living.)

d. An alternate thought with this passage is that Jesus was very upset that this poor widow had become poor because the scribes and Pharisees used their laws to demand money from the poor ("devouring the houses of widows" (Luke 20:47)). Do I spend too much time thinking about having more money?

e. My prayerthoughts...

Today, I will the book of Revelation, chapter 14

and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

BEING ONE OF THE 144,000

+ The book of Revelation in the first reading is in a section simply called a set of visions

- here a vision concerning the 144,000—12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel

- all symbolic numbers and not literal, of course—a group of people who might be categorized as deeper spiritual people

- signifying a set of chosen who may be limited in number

- with some specific characteristics: the Lamb’s name is part of who they are and they follow the Lamb wherever he goes as they learn from him

+ Both of those characteristics are worth thinking about for the person who wants to be part of the 144,000, that is part of the people dedicated to the Lamb

1 – the Lamb’s name is part of who they are—his name is written on their foreheads

- who do we belong to?

- and what are the indications that we belong to that Person

- we want to say that we belong to Jesus the Lamb

- but there must be indications of that in our lives

- one of the primary indications is given in the Gospel—our generosity in giving to God

- what is the percentage of our time that we give to God during the day?

- what is the percentage of our money that we give to the church or charity?

- we obviously spend more time and money on other pursuits in our lives—family, job, etc.

- we have to, but do those things “own” us?

2 – the 144,000 of which we want to be a member, that is, the people dedicated to the Lamb, follow the Lamb wherever and we continue to learn from him

- the Lamb takes us across the pathways of love and forgiveness, difficult virtues

- requiring us to change some of our behaviors

- is there a willingness to learn on our part

- or do we find that there is a grudge that we refuse to let go of

- or people that we refuse to give love to

- too often there are so-called spiritual people who are responsible for tearing apart families because there is no desire to look at what they are doing

- part of the learning process involved effort also

- do we have a passion to be spiritual people?

+ We want to be members of the 144,000, members of the Lamb’s people

- if we are, we belong to the Lamb and we will follow that Lamb wherever He leads.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Movie: "Captain Phillips" -- final session

ACCEPTING THE PAIN

The Gospel

JOHN 18:10-11

Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its scabbard. Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?”

Gospelthink: I accepted the pain that was to come to me as difficult as it was. As I have pain for whatever reason, am I asking the Lord for help to accept it?

In this portion of the movie that can only be described as "intense," Captain Phillips, in the movie named after him, is held captive by the Somalians inside the little lifeboat from the mother ship MV Maersk Alabama. His captors are constantly fighting among themselves with the constant threat of death for Captain Phillips. The Somalian "captain" Abduwali Muse is undecided about what to do since everything that was planned has not worked out. He decided to trust the Americans and allowed his fellow Somalian Najee to be in charge of the lifeboat. Najee is even more hostile to Phillips that Muse was, actually holding a gun to his head for a long period of time ready to kill him at any moment. Captain Phillips is eventually rescued, but severely disoriented by what has happened to him.

There is a theological debate about Jesus' "consciousness," that is whether he knew that he was God or not. It is important to note that whether Jesus knew or not, he chose to suffer the pain of the passion he was about to endure. He told Peter that he should suffer the pain that was directly in front of him.

Generally speaking, we will not choose to suffer pain unless we have a spiritual reason for doing it, and even then, we should always choose very carefully under someone's direction. But we all will suffer pain in our lives in some form simply because we are human beings. Captain Phillips in the movie named after him did not choose the pain that he was to suffer, but he had to endure it as best he could.

A spiritual author, Sr. Frances Teresa, OSC, put this thought into words: "The most demanding struggles, and the ones which most mature us, psychologically and spiritually, are those that come upon us unsought, always undesired and for which we feel we have had no preparation at all. The struggles that we freely undertake, such as fasting, are much easier, simply because we remain in control. We can always decide to stop. What, though, are we to make of those formative experiences of pain and distress which we do not choose and do not like, perhaps can hardly bear, and which we cannot bring to an end when we are tired of them?"

It is a great insight for anyone who suffers. That which makes us truly spiritual people is not what we choose; it is what we do not choose—the tragedies, the accidents, the misunderstandings, the complications, the extra stress, the moments when we can do nothing but exist, the necessity to take medication, growing older, the pain we did not expect.

The spiritual person must continually question him or herself about how well he or she is suffering. Perhaps most of all, they must question what the illness does to the values which they believe in when they are not sick.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, your Son chose to suffer the pain that would come his way, calling it something that You desired. Help us learn from him, and choose to suffer well the pain that we must endure. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Perhaps the most difficult thing for people is to put up with the pain they have.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 62 minutes)
1. What scene during this session of the movie was most striking to you? Why?
2. Many commentators say that it is significant that Peter had a sword with him in the Gospel reading. What do you think it means?
3. In another Gospel, Jesus heals the man. That is, Jesus takes care of an enemy of his. What do you conclude from the action?
4. The "cup" refers to what will happen to Jesus. What do you think is the principal reason why Jesus chose to allow physical and mental suffering in his life?
5. Concerning Jesus' knowledge of whether he was God or not, what is your opinion?
6. Project: the presenter may want to do a presentation on Jesus' consciousness. The topic is covered in every theological book on Jesus, e.g., Catholicism, by Richard McBrien.
7. In your opinion, what are some good reasons to bring about "pain," such as fasting and the like, to the body?
8. Why does pain which is "unsought" have more value for the human being than other pain?
9. From your knowledge of people who suffer not because of choice, but because it was caused by something else, do you think that most people suffer "well," that is, accepting it from God? Yes or no and why?
10. Scene analysis: As the captors of Captain Phillips argue among themselves, it becomes evident that they are "unstable" in their relationships. What is the reason in your opinion?
11. The captors want more money. Why is "money" such a driving force in our world? How would more money help the Somali pirates?
12. Scene analysis: Captain Phillips helps with the foot problem of one of the pirates. What does this show about the character of Phillips?
13. Dialogue analysis: Phillips tells Muse that the Navy will not let him win. Why?
14. Dialogue analysis: Muse says that he cannot give up. Why?
15. Scene analysis: Phillips tries to escape by jumping and swimming toward the American boat. Do you think that this was a good decision? Yes or no and why?
16. Scene/dialogue analysis: The American gives Muse his word that his tribesmen will be part of the negotiation when they did not intend to do it at all. Do you think that there is anything wrong with the way the Americans handled this negotiation? Yes or no and why?
17. Analysis: Do you think that this type of "negotiation" happens often in the military? Yes or no and why?
18. Scene analysis: Phillips is obviously in shock as he is rescued. How would such a shock affect a person's future? Note that in real life Phillips went "back to sea" a couple years after the incident.
19. What does the movie "Captain Phillips" teach young people?.