TGIMMmoneyball2

October 10

[media presentation below]TGIMMOctober10.html

GospelThink

Thursday, October 10

LUKE 11:5-13
I continue to teach you about prayer.

Prayerthoughts
a. The Lord introduces this prayer of petition presentation with the thought of persistence. Am I persistent in my prayer, praying with the knowledge that the Lord is listening?

b. Every prayer that I say to the Lord will be answered. Do I pray with that thought in mind? A prayer of thanksgiving to God would be in order here.

c. Again God answers every prayer. Jesus reiterates it twice here. It is very important then that I know this because there are times in my life when I doubted it. What were some of those times, and how have they been resolved?

d. God knows more than I do. In my prayer of petition, I may be asking for things that would have been harmful to me. What are some examples of the past when I prayed for something, but God saw that it should not be given to me?

e. Sometimes our prayer of petition actually asked for something evil and we did not know it, but the Lord did. What is my reaction to a prayer that does not seem to be heard by God?

f. The Lord knows what is best for me--he promises the Holy Spirit--and so my prayer of petition for whatever I desire must close with “,,,but You know better than I.”

g. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will write a prayer of petition for someone or something for what I desire most at the present time.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

THE PRAYER OF PETITION/THANKSGIVING

+ As one listens to Paul berate the Galatians

- he really is wondering about them: “have you gone out of your minds” and “how could you be so stupid?”—

- how disturbed he was about the fact that the Galatians did not follow through with what they learned

- and what they learned was how important the Spirit was and not the law

+ Jesus says that the Spirit will be given to those who seek God and ask for God’s help

- it is a classic statement on petitionary prayer, and some important elements:

+ 1 – Jesus starts off with a statement about persistence

- how important it is to keep petitioning, keep asking things of God

- it makes the person who asks realize that he/she must have God’s help

- and it makes them realize that God is in charge

+ 2 – That God will answer

- there will be some answer that God gives to the prayer of petition

- we can count on that

+ 3 – That God will answer with the Holy Spirit, that is, with good things

- the most important part of the prayer of petition

- the whole discussion of knowing that sometimes we will not be asking for the good

- the snake/fish and scorpion/egg statement

- God will not give us evil, even if we think it is good

+ 4 – A conclusion to all of this:

- we can look at the prayer of petition as only a prayer of thanksgiving:

- as believers, we ask for God’s grace – ask, seek, knock

- when we do, God is going to give us good no matter what

- we see how things work out as we try to bring about what we ask of God

- knowing that God will help us as we “do our part”

- and so we see what happens as God’s answer

- we thank God for what God has sent to us, whatever it is

+ The prayer of petition is more than asking and receiving

- it is the understanding that God will always give good to those who ask

- and being thankful for it.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Movie: "Moneyball" -- final session

THE WAY TO MEAN SOMETHING

The Gospel

MARK 1:14-15

After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Gospelthink: My task of preaching was to repent and believe in me. Am I living my life in that way now?

Baseball people usually think in terms of winning, and in particular winning "the last game of the season," that is, winning the "World Series." Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics in 2002, was interested in that, of course, but he was interested in more. Influenced by his own life as a baseball player and by his particular situation of family--a divorce and a 12-year old daughter whom he dearly loved--he knew there was something else. As he told his protege Peter Brand in the movie "Moneyball," he wanted his life and contribution to "mean something." He wanted to make what he was doing something better than it was before he entered into it. He accomplished it in baseball.

Paul the Apostle defined the "kingdom of God" to be a place of "righteousness, peace and joy" (Romans 14:17) and therefore a place much better than the world in which we dwell. The gospel is the "good news" which proclaims such a kingdom according to Jesus. In short, Jesus wanted the world to be better than it was. Preaching the gospel of the kingdom was his way of doing it.

Billy Beane in the movie "Moneyball" was not interested so much in the outside world as he was in the baseball world, but his desire was the same. He wanted to make baseball better. Billy explained to Peter Brand: "I'm not in it for the record. That's when people get hurt. But if we win on our budget, with this team, we'll have changed the game. And that's what I want. I want it to mean something." For Billy "meaning something" was the same thing as accomplishing something better. With Peter Brand's help, he was able to do it.

Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets once said that "My hope is to leave the world a bit better than when I got here." Such was the attitude of Jesus as he began the process of redemption. It was likewise the attitude of Billy Beane as he worked in the sport of baseball. If we accept the Christian way of life, it is exactly what you and I are called to do as we live our daily lives.

Our personal worlds can be so much better than they are now. We can work for the kingdom of God to come into our lives, and thus "mean something" for our world. If we work at making our lives "mean something," we can accomplish amazing things. And make the whole world better than when we got here.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, your Son redeemed our world, and thus made the world a better place. Give us the grace to accept his redemption completely into our lives so that we can make our world a little better than it is. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Our desire in life should be to change things for the better.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 63 minutes)
1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why?
2. Outline the presentation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition on the kingdom of God. See numbers 2816-2821.
3. Why do Christians call the Gospels "good news"?
4. Most Christian say that they "believe in the Gospel." In your opinion, do most people completely believe in the Gospel? Yes or no and why?
4. What is your understanding of "repent"?
5. If there is one thing that could be done by someone to make the world better, what would it be?
6. With your knowledge of baseball, what is something that could make the game better?
7. Scene analysis: Beane talks to David Justice about being a leader on the team. What is necessary to be a good leader of a group of men or women?
8. Scene analysis: Beane talks to Brand about the strength of his belief: "Do you believe in this or not?" What is necessary before one can say that he/she really believes in something?
9. Analysis: the Athletics win twenty in a row, the American League record. Why is winning so important in a sport?
10. Scene analysis: The media says that the reason for the success is the "manager." Beane does nothing to say otherwise. Is there ever a time when it is necessary to tell the truth, and accept personal praise? Yes or no and why?
11. Scene analysis: Beane usually does not attend a game, probably out of superstition, something very prominent in baseball. Why do people, especially baseball players, fall into superstitious practices? In your opinion, does doing the same thing all the time really help a player?
12. Scene analysis: Despite all the success, the Athletics lose in the first round of the post-season, and actually have not won the World Series yet. Analyze this fact together with the fact that they won twenty in a row. Did Beane's and Brand's method fail? Yes or no and why?
13. Scene analysis: Beane passes up the opportunity to be the Red Sox general manager. In your opinion, why did he make the decision?
14. Scene analysis: Brand shows Beane the video about the person hitting a home run and not even realizing it. What did he want to accomplish by showing it to Beane?
15. What does the movie "Moneyball" teach young people?