[media presentation below] GospelThink Wednesday, February 22 Ash Wednesday MATTHEW 6:1-6,16-18 I give you the three ancient ways to show that you are a holy person: give to others, pray for everything you need, and deny yourself some things. Prayerthoughts a. I do many things that can be called “righteous deeds.” What is my motivation behind them—that is, why do I do them—to be praised or paid or actually to help someone? b. “Giving alms” is an automatic in Christian spirituality. Do I give of my time or talent or money on behalf of a good cause with no desire to receive something in return? c. The Lord wants my “almsgiving” to be secret. As I study my “giving” to others during this week, how many people knew about it? d. The Lord wants my prayer to be sincere. Do I make a show of my prayer so that others see what I am doing and therefore “praise” me? Am I praying all the time and not just  at assigned times like in Church? e. I must be careful as I study another not to assign an evil intention to what they are doing. I cannot read another’s mind when it comes to their praying or giving or fasting. f. The Lord wants my fasting (from food, television, Internet, etc.) to be in secret. The fasting should remind me to turn to God more in my life. During this Lent, am I choosing some “fasting”? g. My prayerthoughts…   Today, I will determine a specific spiritual act that I will do during this Lent. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  THE ROBOT AND A QUESTION            Once upon a time, there was someone who was very brilliant and very wise.  At some point in time, that brilliant one created a robot that looked so much like the creator that it was difficult to tell them apart.           The brilliant one was pleased with the robot, and loved it, and even wanted to do more.  So, with a little more effort, the brilliant one managed at long last to give the robot his independence.           When the brilliant one’s friends heard of it, they cried, “To create is one thing, but to give independence is a mistake.  The beginning of trouble is freedom!”           Well, at first, the robot was pleased with his new-found freedom, and thanked the brilliant one very much, but after some time, he found that he didn’t have to thank the brilliant one in order to get what he wanted.  He found that he didn’t have to pay any attention to the brilliant one at all.  He found that he could have a lot of fun, enjoy himself, do anything he wanted, and didn’t have to go back to the brilliant one for anything.  Gradually, then, he moved away from the creator.           All the friends of the brilliant one said, “You should not allow such a thing.  The robot misused his freedom, why trust him any further.  Destroy him—you have the power.  How could you let someone insult you so much—to be created and then use the creator for its own good!”           But the brilliant one who was also very wise chose not to listen to the friends, and decided to influence the robot.  The brilliant one said: “I will send my own son, and instruct my son to have the robot change his ways, and come back to me.”           The robot not only did not listen to the son, but he actually killed the son.           “Surely,” the brilliant one’s friends said, “surely now, you will get rid of that robot after what he did to your son.”  But the brilliant wise one said, “No, I love that robot so much that I want to give him the chance to choose me.”  He refused to listen to the friends.           The conclusion of the story is this: the robot…  + And there is no conclusion because we are still writing it           – the question of this Lent and every Lent is how can we write a better ending to our story than we have so far. MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: “The Martian” — beginning session WITH WHAT YOU HAVE The Gospel MATTHEW 25:19-30 [Jesus continued his story of the talents.] “After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five. He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ Then the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.’ His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now, then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

Gospelthink: With my story I am telling you to use the talents you have. Am I using the talents that God has given to me?

In the movie “The Martian,” Astronaut Mark Watney was one of the crew of the Ares III manned mission to Mars when the crew had to abort the mission because of an overpowering dust storm. Mark was accidentally hit by debris, and because his suit malfunctioned was believed to be dead. His crew had to escape the storm, leaving Mark behind. Actually, he was alive, and he found that he had to function with only the talents that he had until he could team up with his crew again in the next mission to Mars about four years into the future. He found that with the talents that he possessed along with the material in his possession he would be able to survive, and he set about preparing to live with what he had available.

Jesus’ parable of the talents is a parable of using the gifts that we have. In Jesus’ day, a talent was a form of money, but our modern English definition of talent makes for a good meditation. It is clear from his story that the Lord wants us to use any gifts, money or otherwise, that we have been given. Some of us have a number of gifts, some of us have very few. It is not important how many we have or whether they are the result of our skill or not. The important thing is that we use them. Our God understands that we have limits to our abilities, but God wants us to honestly use the abilities that we have. Mark Watney wanted to live even though he realized that he had a significant amount of time to spend alone on the planet Mars. He said to himself early on that he would not die. He was determined to carry out the promise to himself. He knew that he had certain talents as a botanist, and he understood the science connected with being part of the astronaut program. In a remarkable way, he used the talents that he possessed as well as the science connected with his chosen vocation. Some of us actually have the intelligence of Mark Watney, even possessing many of the same talents, having trained to be what we are capable of becoming. Some of us are far removed from such intelligence, but each of us has some talent, some ability to do something good for our own lives and for the world. Jesus’ conclusion to his story is not that we have to have a super intelligence or desire to accomplish great things. He wants us to realize that each of us have something that we can do. We are called to develop whatever talents we have for ourselves as well as for the people around us.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, You have given each of us some talent, some ability as we grow here on earth. Please give us the grace to always develop our potential for ourselves and for others. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: We must always use the talents that we have been given.   DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: (session: approximately 62 minutes) 1. What scene during this session is most striking and why? 2. In the Gospel, what do you think Jesus means by “great responsibilities” in his story? 3. The person who did nothing with his one talent is condemned to the darkness outside. What do you think Jesus means? 4. Text analysis: “To everyone who has more will be given, and he will grow rich.” Why do you think Jesus uses this thought in his story? 5. What is your opinion about the space program in your country at the present time? Is it good or bad, that is, helpful to humankind? Yes or no and why? 6. What is best way to overcome despair? 7. What are the principal reasons why people do not live up to their potential? 8. Scene analysis: Was Commander Lewis’ decision to abort the mission a good one? Yes or no and why? 9. Analysis: Was it a good decision not to inform the Hermes crew about Watney being alive? Yes or no and why. 10. Analysis: Watney and NASA discover the way to communicate. Communication is of course imperative in such a situation. In general, do you believe that people communicate well with each other? Yes or no and why?