www.frmikescully.com

	SAVING THE WORLD

The Gospel

JOHN 16:12-14

Jesus said, "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you."

The Media

"The Incredibles"

final session

Bob Parr, that is Mr. Incredible, hated the insurance business that he was "placed into" by a society that would rather sue someone than help them. Consequently, when the possibility of saving the world came to him in the form of fighting robots on a Pacific Island, he gladly took the "bait." Eventually he was trapped by an evil mastermind who admired Mr. Incredible as a young man, but became bitter when Mr. Incredible refused to let him become his boy wonder. The mastermind, Syndrome, now wanted to be the superpower. The only way he could be stopped was by the whole family of Incredibles. It was the family working together who eventually saved the world.

The movie "The Incredibles" is a spoof of superhero comic books. Underneath, however, it is a statement about the fact that evil will conquer the world unless there are heroes that want to save it. But in saving the world, only the heroes who work together can bring it about. It is significant that a hero working alone can do little to save the world; only a group of heroes, in this case, a family, can save the world completely. The lesson for the people of the world who want to conquer the evil is that they need each other's help to do it.

Obviously, Jesus was not a comic-book superhero, nor was he a person who would wipe out completely the evil of the world. Indeed, working alone, he was able to save the world by giving us the chance to have eternal life because he was the Son of God. But his lesson while here on earth, among other things, was that if we wanted to spread the truth, we need help to do it. He promised the "Spirit of truth," what theologians call the Holy Spirit, who will guide us to all truth.

In a sense, as Christians we are called to save the world because we are followers of Jesus who have said through Baptism that our goal is to be the guide for the world to be better. In order to do it well, we must have committed Christians who agree with us, fellow men and women who also accept the Lord's words as directives. But we also need God's direct help. We believe that the Holy Spirit gives us that. We believe that if we ask for that Spirit, and really want to accomplish salvation for this world, God will give it to us. Then we can be the heroes that we are called to be.

THOUGHT

In what way can you help the world around you right now?

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, you promised to send your Holy Spirit who would help us carry out the directives of your Son Jesus. We cannot save completely this complicated world that we live in, but we can help it be better than it is. Give us your Holy Spirit to accomplish what we can. Be with us, we pray.

Questions, comments? Let me know. Email Fr. Mike