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October 2
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[media presentation below]
GospelThink
Wednesday, October 2, The Guardian Angels
MATTHEW 18:1-5,10
Follow the example
of a child, that is, trust in me as the children’s angels do.
Prayerthoughts
a. Who does our world consider the "greatest"?
b. Do I treat the children in my life with the true respect they deserve?
What can I do better?
c. The kingdom of God belongs to people who
are like children, that is, people who are totally dependent on God. Do I
act as though I am totally dependent on God?
d. Children are totally powerless in the world. Is the possession of power
and “being more important than others” something that I desire too much?
What can I do about it?
e. Verse 10 is added in this context because of the feast of Guardian
Angels. Catholic doctrine is that we all have guardian angels, that is
always having God's protection. Do I always act as though God were with me?
f. My prayerthoughts...
Today, I will write a prayer of thanksgiving
for the protection
that the Lord has given me.
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Some
Thoughts on the Liturgy
ANGELS AS PROTECTORS
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We have had two feasts within a couple days of each other that calls to
mind our Catholic understanding of angels
- today’s feast of the guardian angels
- the feast of September 29, three archangels, the highest angels:
- Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael
- Catholic theology and popular belief not connected with Catholic thought
- both acknowledge the existence of angels, something we can only prove by
use of the Scriptures
- and in the Scriptures, the angels are always presented as messengers and
workers for God
- in St. Matthew’s Gospel today, they are presented as protectors of
children
- they are called “their” angels as if to say each child has one, and by
extension, each of us has an angel as our protector
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Two thoughts perhaps should dominate our thinking today:
- first is the reference to children
- and Jesus’s thought about being “like children” and to be “humble” as
children
- and it becomes a moment of true introspection on our parts
- are there too many thoughts of pride on our parts?
- and does it come out in our speech and actions?
- and is “humility” a virtue that I should work on a little more in my life
right now?
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And secondly, what does it mean in our modern twenty-first century—to be
protected by God?
- speaking theologically, it means that God will always be present to us,
that is, will give us the grace to live well, no matter what the situation
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And, as we are protected by God and God’s angels, what should be our
attitude?
- “Angels” is a topic that people can argue about because we have never
seen them
- but they make
sense theologically
- and the important thing on this feast perhaps
- is to understand that we can help our own protection by doing truly
Christian actions.
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MEDIA
PRESENTATION
Movie: "The
Water Man" -- beginning session
HOPE
LEADS TO FAITH
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The Gospel
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MATTHEW 9:27-31a
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As Jesus passed on from there, two blind men
followed him, crying out, “Son of David, have pity on us!” When he
entered the house, the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them, “Do
you believe that I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they said to him. Then he
touched their eyes and said, “Let it be done for you according to your
faith”; and their eyes were opened.
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Having only moved to Pine Mills,
Oregon, 11 year old Gunner Boone had no friends. He spent his time working on
a novel with pictures that he drew, riding his electric scooter, and visiting
a bookstore to borrow detective stories as he was researching his novel. His
father was in the military who found it difficult to communicate with
his son, and his mother had leukemia. Gunner wished more than anything to
cure his mother, and spent some of his time
researching the causes of cancer. While exploring his neighborhood, he met a
girl by the name of Jo who was neglected by her parents, who told him about
the Water Man who had the secret to immortality. Looking up the local
undertaker, he discovered that the undertaker believed that the Water Man was
real. Using the information that he acquired, Gunner and Jo set out to find
the Water Man.
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It is interesting to get into the minds
of the blind men in Matthew's Gospel. They looked upon Jesus as the chance
for them to recover their sight, believing that Jesus could do it. Jesus even
made them say it. He phrased his healing in that light: "Let
it be done according to your faith." It was their belief that gave them
hope. As with most of the miracles he performed, it was the faith of the
people involved that was the determining factor.
The central thought for Gunner Boone in the movie "The Water Man"
is the faith that gave him hope. Put into general terms, he was hoping for
happiness, namely the cure of his mother's cancer, and he put his faith in
the possibility of obtaining a cure from someone that he believed could
supply it. He discovered eventually that he was wrong, but his simple act of
faith enabled him to accept his mother's fate. The movie does not present
Gunner's disappointment at not experiencing the means to bring about his
mother's cure, but we can easily sense that it was faith that caused him to
do what he felt was necessary, and that it helped his living.
It is an example of how faith in God works for a believer. The person looks
at the situation at hand, wanting happiness of some sort for the life that
he/she possesses. Discovering that the happiness desired will come from faith
in God, and for a Christian, faith in Jesus Christ, the person adopts such a
faith. It is hope for the happiness that causes the person to believe--as the
blind men in the Gospel.
Those of us who have chosen to follow a belief system that accepts a God who is in charge of our lives know in our hearts that such a
God will give us happiness both here on earth and in an eternal life to come.
We call it eternal happiness. It begins with hope. We hope for such happiness and we find it in our faith.
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PRAYER
Good and gracious God, we believe that
you exist. We believe it because we are all hoping for happiness in some way.
Give us the grace to not only accept that faith, but to live it out in our
lives. Be with us, we pray.
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GUIDE FOR
CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT
Theme: Hoping for happiness, we choose a faith that gives
it to us.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 41 minutes)
1. What scene during this session of the movie was most striking to you?
Why?
2. In what ways are we "blind" to the presence of God in our lives?
3. What is the Christian response to a disease that is incurable?
4. What is your definition of "Christian hope"?
5. What is your definition of "Christian faith"?
6. In your opinion, do all Christians live their faith in Jesus Christ?
7. What is your definition of "eternal happiness"?
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