TGIMMinsurgent1

October 15

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Tuesday, October 15

LUKE 11:37-41
The religious leaders were concerned with externals.

Prayerthoughts
a. Jesus accepted invitations to all people, even those he knew would try to trick him. Am I open to everyone no matter what I think of them?

b. The Pharisee was "amazed." He was looking at Jesus with criticism. Jesus makes the distinction between externals and internals. The internal is more important than the external. I should concentrate on my "internal" judging and feeling about others. As I study other people in whatever situation that I am in, do I judge them with a positive point of view?

c. The Pharisee in particular was concerned that Jesus did not follow a ritual. Am I too tied into some ritual in my spiritual life, forgetting that the important thing is a closer relationship with the Lord.?

d. Two words describe what Jesus says that we must do: give alms. As I study my life, am I giving of myself to others?

e. Specifically, do I give alms to help the poor in the community in which I live?

f. My prayerthoughts...

Today, I will read Galations 5:1-17, and write an
important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

EXTERNAL PRACTICES, INTERNAL GROWTH

+ Both readings refer to different external Jewish practices that were thought to be necessary for a spiritual life

- Paul: circumcision, basic to the Jewish religion

- Gospel: ritual practices, as the ones performed at meals

- and in both instances, both Paul and Jesus say that they are not important any longer

+ The basis of the spiritual life for us, of course, is the following of Jesus—the main point that Paul is trying to get across to the Galatians, and as we hear often in these readings

- but the way it is expressed in today’s readings is significant

- for Paul, faith in Jesus is expressed through love of God and others

- for Jesus, what is really important, that which will make us “clean”—giving alms, with the stress on “giving”

+ And so, the application of the readings becomes very practical:

- 1 – externals must lead to internal growth

- the spiritual things that we do must change who we are

- all of our prayers—this Mass, rosaries, formal religion for us, all the external practices of our spiritual life

- must lead to a change on the inside

- we become kind people, people able to put up with problems, forgiving people

- 2 – we have to work at the virtue of giving—giving being the definition of love

- giving of ourselves in whatever situation—real generosity

- to the point that others can take advantage of us

- this may be one of the most difficult things in life to do

- 3 – giving, generosity, is expressed especially in giving alms, that is, giving material things to others

- and in Jesus eyes, that is the way people will be clean

- giving away to the poor (especially clear in Luke’s Gospel)

+ There are two phrases from the Scriptures well worth meditating on today:

- from Paul—establish in our personal lives “faith working through love”

- from Jesus—“give alms, and everything will be clean for you”.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Movie: "Insurgent" -- beginning session

THE "WEAKNESS" OF ONE WHO LOVES

The Gospel

MATTHEW 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard that [Jesus] had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

Gospelthink: I give you my two commandments which include all law. Am I truly loving the Lord and my neighbor?

In the movie "Insurgent," having escaped from the Erudite and the Dauntless factions, Tris, Four, Peter and Caleb hid with the Amity faction. As the army of Erudite chases them, after Peter had betrayed them and Caleb left them, Tris and Four eventually end up with the Factionless whose leader is Four's mother, Evelyn. Meanwhile, Jeanine, Erudite's leaders knew that she had to have a Divergent to open the mysterious box which was found in Tris' house. She ordered all Divergents to be hunted down and brought to her so that one of them would open the box. Realizing that Tris would respond when other people were threatened and killed because of her activity, Tris eventually gave herself up to Jeanine because she did not want to be responsible for the deaths of anyone else.

When evil people want to control someone who is good and loving, they will appeal to the loving person's "weakness." If Tris Prior had a weakness as she was being thrust into a leadership role among the Divergents in the movie "Insurgent," it was love of others. It had bothered her immensely when her friend committed suicide because of something she had said; it was likewise a problem for her when Jeanine and the evil people of the Erudite faction decided to kill people as long as Tris did not turn herself in to them.

When Jesus made "love of neighbor" to be on the same level as "love of God," something unheard of in the Jewish religion at the time, he was calling for a revolution of sorts. Every religious person in Jesus' time easily recognized the importance of God in their lives. They dedicated one day of the week in which the people followed very strict rules dedicating the day to God; they even would never pronounce God's name and instead used another holy name for God. Jesus said with his doctrine that every religious person had to treat a neighbor with the same amount of respect.

In the fantasy world of "Insurgent" Tris would not tolerate the deaths of other human being. The chances were that the evil people in charge would kill them anyway, but Tris would not allow the death of anyone because of her. It was the "weakness" which brought about her surrender.

You and I do not live in fantasy worlds, but we live in a world that in many ways equals the problems of the fantasy world of the movie "Insurgent." There are many in our world who do not value love as a factor when it comes to other human beings. We may not be able to do anything about it on an international or even national level, but we can do something about it on the local level, that is, our own level of existence.

On that local level, we are called to honor and love other human beings--neighbors--as we love our God. If every one of us were able to follow Jesus' direction, or indeed courageous people like a fictional Tris Prior, perhaps the world on an international and national level would be better than it is.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, through Your Son, You have called us to love other human beings, in fact with the same strength that we love You. Many times, we fail to follow Your Son because we are so weak in that love. Give us Your grace to not only love You, but all of our neighbors with the same intensity. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Perhaps the only "weakness" a human being should have is to possess a true love for all people.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 56 minutes)
1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why?
2. In your opinion, do most people of the world follow what Jesus said about love of God and neighbor? Yes or no and why?
3. If everyone in the world accepted what Jesus said, what would change in our world?
4. In your opinion, in real life now, who is a person that truly "loves everyone."
5. In what ways is our world like the fantasy world of "Insurgent"?
6. Who in our world right now is most "unloved"? Can we do anything about it?
7. Analysis: Discuss Peter's actions in the movie. For example, did he plan to "help" Tris and Four from the very beginning?
8. Scene analysis: Caleb leaves the group. In your opinion, why did he leave?
9. Analysis: In your opinion, did Four's mother Evelyn simply desire the power of being a leader as Four thought at the beginning? Yes or no and why?
10. Analysis: Should Four have executed Eric? Yes or no and why?
11. Analysis: Does the amount of killing in the movie affect young people who watch the movie? Yes or no and why?