TGIMMhereafter1

September 20

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Sunday, September 20, Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

MATTHEW 20:1-16

Generosity

Prayerthoughts

a. I am involved with some work right now. Am I working as best I can, that is, following what I should be doing according to the guidelines that have been given me?

b. What is just and fair is a guide for the landowner. In my dealings with people, am I always at least just and fair?

c. The landowner was obviously generous in giving more than just wages to those who worked less. In what I do, am I generous in giving more than I can?

d. The English translation of “they thought” is important. The judgment of others begins in our thinking. In my thinking, am I too harsh on others? Perhaps I should make a practice of praying for those that I think ill of for whatever reason.

e. They grumbled, that is, they complained about something that they thought was right. Do I complain too much?

f. Sometimes I have the right to complain. Have I always checked the facts before I complain? When I have the right to complain, do I complain to the proper authorities?

g. When the landowner was generous, it upset others. As I work with everyone in my group, do I try to be aware of how everyone feels and adjust as best I can?

h. My prayerthoughts…

Today I will read Philippians 1:20c-24,27a and write an important thought from it.

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Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

GENEROSITY AND FAIRNESS

+ One of the best authors on the psychology of love was a man by the name of Erich Fromm and his book “The Art of Loving”

- he was very controversial in his approach

- he maintained that most of contemporary western Hemisphere people—including you and me—do not really know the meaning of love of another

- one of the points he makes to support his thesis is that we have defined love of others in terms of “being fair”

- he says that people may think that they love another

- but really all they are doing is thinking they only have to be fair with one another

+ Fairness is a virtue—it is part of justice—but it is not love

- being fair means not to feel responsible for one another

- loving involves feeling responsible and showing care to another

- according to Fromm, we have taken the idea of love and watered it down so that it is a much easier to do

+ Jesus’s story today tells us very definitely that love of others is more than being fair with them

- as Christians, we are called to be generous with one another out of love for them

- it really wasn’t fair for the master to behave the way he did

- the criticism leveled at Jesus by the workers would be correct if justice were the point of the story

- but it is not: the Lord wanted to show that love goes beyond what is fair

+ What happens if Erich Fromm is correct, and we have done away with generosity, substituting instead of it, the thinking of simply being fair?

- if our dealings with others is based on being fair and just and on that alone

- then we will think that at no time should others have more than we do, and we will give them no more than what we think they deserve

+ This whole mentality gives rise to selfishness, and when selfishness takes over, love ceases

- the storyline of many movies is just that

- for example, the popular movie “Avatar” is based on the need that America has to solve an energy crisis

- our American military finds a mineral that can do it, but it is in the hands of another race of people

- the expedition to get it is based on fairness, asking that the discovered race of people will share some of the mineral

- but when the military sees that it will not work, selfishness takes over, and they set out to take what they want

+ One of Jesus’s insights in the Gospel is that when we are interested only in being just and fair, we will want more than others

- the ones who worked in the vineyard all day wanted more because “they thought”—the words Jesus used—that they should have more

- we become selfish when justice is our only consideration

- we will not be generous with those who really need our help in the world, and there are many who need it

- it may very well be true that what we should be most concerned about in America is not from the outside, it is the gradual decay from within

- and part of it is a lack of generosity that is the result of more and more selfishness

+ One of the significant facts about human living, I believe is that high moral and ethical standards are never going to come through any federal or state institution

- because they are all founded on being fair—and rightly so

- justice is and must be maintained

- what we as a church and family must do is to lead people to go beyond being fair, and define life and love in terms of the generosity Jesus was talking about today

- it may be the only way that love will be the force that it should be in the world.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Movie: "Hereafter" -- beginning session

KNOWING A PAINFUL PAST

The Gospel

LUKE 8:43-48

A woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years, who had spent her whole livelihood on doctors and was unable to be cured by anyone, came up behind [Jesus] and touched the tassel on his cloak. Immediately her bleeding stopped. Jesus then asked, “Who touched me?” While all were denying it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are pushing and pressing in upon you.” But Jesus said, “Someone has touched me; for I know that power has gone out from me.” When the woman realized that she had not escaped notice, she came forward trembling. Falling down before him, she explained in the presence of all the people why she had touched him and how she had been healed immediately. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Gospelthink: I heal anyone who really desires it. As I pray to the Lord, am I confident that the Lord hears me and will answer as he wills?

In the movie "Hereafter," George Lonegan was a genuine professional psychic who looked on his gift of being able to communicate with the dead as a "curse." It was a curse because it ruined the chance to have a normal life for him. During the practice of his art, he discovered many people who wanted to know about their past, but the knowledge often did nothing more than make them miserable. It had an impact on George's own life since he was unable to deal with the emotions of painful reunions with the dead and of knowing disturbing family secrets. Indeed, our past and bringing it up again can be painful. But for the Christian, God's grace is always present, constantly bringing about the possibility of dealing with a painful past.

In the Gospel story, the woman who touched Jesus's garment had a painful past. It was physically painful to be sure, but it was most probably mentally painful as well. She had consulted the doctors of her day, and they could do nothing for her. She had practically given up on her life, no doubt, probably close to despair, but she had heard about Jesus and his healing power. Meeting him one day, she touched him in the hope that he could help her. Jesus rewarded her faith in him.

In the movie "Hereafter," George Lonegan knew that there was an "afterlife" because his "gift" allowed him to be in contact with it. But he had given up his profession of going into the "afterlife" because of the pain that he saw in people's lives--both the pain of the people he was trying to help and his own personal pain. The fact was that he came to know too much about his clients and friends. Some things, George explained, were better left unknown. In the movie, Melanie, one of his romantic interests who pushed him to reveal her past, left their relationship, and would never be part of George's life again. She left because as George had warned her, "Any chance that we had something will just move on." Too often George's "gift" became a "curse" because it destroyed the possibility of his own happiness.

Pain in whatever form is something that we try to avoid. Perhaps even more than the physical pain, the mental pain of loss or loneliness or depression causes people to desperately search for some answer. Such an answer may come to a person who runs away from the problem, but most often not facing the problem only brings about different problems. We must learn to face the situation that is causing the pain, and address it directly.

George Lonegan did not have the advantage of faith, even though he knew that there was an "afterlife." Christians can find a solution to problems through their faith. As the woman in the Gospel chose to touch the Lord, Christians can reach out to him, listen to his words, follow his actions, and eventually find a solution. Facing their problems directly, believers will sincerely ask the Lord to help with the pain. Faith in Jesus will eventually bring the answer, finally giving personal peace.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, there is pain in our lives, and we often look for answers apart from you. Give us the grace to listen to your Son and choose to accept you totally into our lives, so that we will be able to find the peace we desire. Be with us, we pray.

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GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: What happened in our past is often disturbing, but with God's help we can overcome any pain and truly live well.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(session: approximately 60 minutes)
1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why?
2. Project: outline and discuss a section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition on faith, numbers 142-175.
3. What can you do if you want to help someone who is depressed because of his/her incurable illness?
4. In your opinion, what is the most difficult mental pain in people's lives?
5. Do you believe that there is such a thing as a genuine "psychic," that is, a person who can contact people who have died? Yes or no and why?
6. If a person were to discover something very disturbing about their past, what should they do?
7. If George Lonegan was a believer in Jesus, how could he use his "gift"?
8. The meditation speaks of "personal peace." What is your definition of "personal peace."
9. Scene analysis: Marcus and Jason desperately try to help their mother who is addicted to drugs. What can young people do to help a parent who has a drug/alcohol problem?
10. Scene analysis: Marcus is sent to a foster home. What is your opinion about foster homes?
11. Dialogue analysis: George is able to determine some of the past with his gift, and says that "some things are better left unknown." Do you believe that this is true? Yes or no and why?
12. Dialogue analysis: Marie asks: "What happens when we die?" What is the answer most people would give?
13. Scene analysis: Dr. Meredith hopes that Marie will be able to persuade the scientific community about the reality of life after death. Do you think that most scientists believe in life after death? Yes or no and why?
14. Scene analysis: Marcus loses his (Jason's) cap temporarily and misses the train which explodes (2005 London bombing). Later on, Marcus discovers that Jason (from the afterlife) was responsible. Christian doctrine suggests that there is no such thing as luck. What is your feeling about luck?
15. Scene analysis: Melanie leaves the relationship with George presumably because George knows too much about her past. In romantic relationships, can people know too much about another? Yes or no and why?