TGIMMinsurgent1

October 15

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Wednesday, October 15

LUKE 11:42-46

The Hypocrisy of the Pharisees

Prayerthoughts

a. Jesus tells the Pharisees and therefore all of us that we both must give to the Church (pay tithes) and be concerned about judgment of others and love of God. As I study just yesterday, did I make a false judgment of anyone? Do make it a practice to give something to the Church or some charity?

b. In general, there is a situation in which I have some superiority to someone else. Do I allow this to affect my attitude toward them? We are all created equal.

c. Jesus calls the Pharisees that they are “unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.” That is, they are ritually impure and at the same time tell others to be pure. As I study my actions, do I tend toward hypocrisy (pretend that I am “with God” but actually do not show it with my actions?)

d. Likewise with the law of the Church. Do I call others to follow the Law, but not follow it myself?

e. In general, studying my actions and thoughts yesterday, am I hypocritical in my thinking?

f. My prayerthoughts…

Today I will read Romans 2:1-11 and write an important thought from it.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

KNOWING THE PROBLEM

+ We don’t like to identify with the religious leaders of the Hebrew people—the Pharisees, Sadducees, lawyers of Jesus’ time

- because they are pretty much the “bad guys” in Jesus’ public ministry

- they are the ones whom Jesus talks about and condemns

- here in Luke’s recollection of how Jesus dealt with them,

- Jesus says that their intentions were bad—they knew, they really knew what they were doing—they were serving themselves while acting like they were religious people

+ We don’t like to identify with them, but we should

- not because we are so bad,

- in fact, everyone here is really trying to grow in their spiritual lives or else we wouldn’t be here

- but we should pay close attention to what the religious leaders did because we may be close to thinking the same way that they were

- anyone who sets out to live the spiritual life a little deeper is going to have the same temptations as the religious leaders of Jesus’ time

- that is us—we who come to daily Mass, we who pray the rosary, we who give ourselves to formal prayer, especially we who make profession as religious

+ We will have the same temptations in that we will have a tendency to look at others who are not doing what we are doing and judge them

- exactly what Paul is speaking of to the Romans

- we have a tendency to judge others even as we are trying to be good

- Paul says it well: “You, the judge, do the very same things”

+ Our situation is that we really are trying to do a little bit better than a number of other Christians

- there is nothing wrong with that knowledge

- but we always have to know what we are all about

- our intentions have to be such that we want to be good Christians

- we can never judge the spiritual situation of another

+ The Lord is tough on the scribes and Pharisees

- we heard that in yesterday’s Gospel, and we will hear it again in tomorrow’s

- we can feel good in that we know their problem and are interested in doing something about it

- but we may have to consider the fact that they also knew their problem but did nothing about it.

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?