[media presentation below] GospelThink Easter Saturday, April 15 MARK 16:9-15 I tell the Apostles and I tell you: Go into the whole world and teach them the Good News of my Gospel. Prayerthoughts a. In Mark’s Gospel, Mary Magdalene was the first to see Jesus. Mark remarks that she was the one out of whom Jesus cast out demons. Where do I see demons at work in the world? In my life? b. Verses 11 and 13 (…”they did not believe) are embarrassing verses for Christians since it says that after the Resurrection experience which Jesus predicted, the people who were with him the most did not believe. This is the primary statement of our faith. How do I show my belief in the Lord? c. Jesus rebuked them for their unbelief. What is the most difficult part of my faith. Perhaps this is a time to renew my faith in Jesus. d. Jesus tells the apostles that their mission is to go to the whole world and proclaim the Gospel. How am I doing that right now to the people around me? e. My prayerthougths… Today I will read the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 4:1-21 and write an important thought from it. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  TO EVERY CREATURE  + It is important to look at the pattern of the Gospel reading from Mark:           – you have the fact of the Resurrection as reported by reputable people                      – Mary Magdalene and                      – the two disciples, the disciples that Luke the evangelist reported were on their way to Emmaus           – but the other disciples would not believe them           – so Jesus himself had to appear to them and rebuke them for not believing                     – and then, even though they were so slow to believe, he tells them to proclaim the Gospel to everyone           – the pattern is: even though they are people who should be believing and they are not–they have to be almost forced into it                      – even these people are to proclaim the Gospel to everyone                                – they are not the greatest people in believing                                          – but they are still called to take the Gospel to everyone  + And the first reading is that way also           – two of them anyway—Peter and John—did it rather well                     – they tell their early listeners that they had to speak about what they had seen and heard           – they were slow to believe, but once they believed, they became the biggest proclaimers of the Gospel  + That pattern is one that should describe us as modern believers of Jesus           – we already know that we can be slow to believe                      – we are sinners, and many times we simply do not believe the way that we should           – what we are called to do is overcome that problem                      – and move on to the Christian life                                – that is, to proclaim the Gospel to every creature the best that we can in the circumstances of our lives   – In other words, we have the background of being weak in the faith           – but even with that background, we are called to proclaim the Gospel to every creature, that is, do the best that we can to bring about a Christian response to life           – we have to work with the experiences that we have been given                      – study the signs of the times                      – choose to listen to competent people                      – and be guided by the Holy Spirit                                – leading us to proclaim the Gospel as best we can  + Further, we don’t know the future, as the Apostles did not know their future           – it may not be a happy moment for us at all                      – there may be further lapses of faith, further sinning                                – but the Lord always calls us to look at what we are supposed to do—to proclaim the Gospel to every creature, no matter what the circumstances of our lives. MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: “The Passion of the Christ” — second session JESUS’ PASSION II The Gospel MARK 15:1-20 As soon as morning came, the chief priests with the elders and the scribes, that is, the whole Sanhedrin, held a council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He said to him in reply, “You say so.” The chief priests accused him of many things. Again Pilate questioned him, “Have you no answer? See how many things they accuse you of.” Jesus gave him no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.     Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them one prisoner whom they requested. A man called Barabbas was then in prison along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion. The crowd came forward and began to ask him to do for them as he was accustomed. Pilate answered, “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” For he knew that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. Pilate again said to them in reply, “Then what do you want me to do with the man you call the king of the Jews?” They shouted again, “Crucify him.” Pilate said to them, “Why?  What evil has he done?” They only shouted the louder, “Crucify him.” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged, handed him over to be crucified.      The soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort. They clothed him in purple and weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him. They began to salute him with, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and kept striking him on the head with the reed and spitting upon him. They knelt before him in homage. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him out to crucify him.

Gospelthink: The crowds cried to crucify the Lord. Do I do the same by neglecting to think of my spiritual life?

During this session of “The Passion of the Christ,” director Mel Gibson presents a suffering Christ who from the first moment of his capture is whipped, flayed, and beaten. His bones are crushed, his screams are agonizing, his body is covered with blood. In no other movie about Jesus do we find the Roman soldiers so sadistic. The Middle East in biblical times was a Jewish community occupied against its will by the Roman Empire, and the message of Jesus was equally threatening to both sides: to the Romans, because he was a revolutionary, and to the establishment of Jewish hierarchy, because he preached a new covenant and threatened the status quo. This session continues the agony of Jesus’ mother Mary as she watches the spectacle, and introduces the doubts of Pontius Pilate and the resolve of Caiaphas the Jewish high priest. Mary’s suffering, Pilate’s continual wonder at what the Hebrew people wanted, and Caiaphas’ incessant desire to have Jesus killed will continue through to the end of the movie.

In one of the most moving scenes of the movie “The Passion of the Christ,” Pontius Pilate’s wife offers to Mary the mother of Jesus towels to collect Jesus’ blood. Then in sharp contrast to Jesus’ brutal beating, Mary reverently wipes up his blood. Just as in the sacrifices of the Hebrew Scriptures throughout the centuries before Jesus, the blood of the victim is sacred. Here, it is the sacred blood of the Messiah that is removing the sins of the world.

THOUGHT What is your understanding of the redemption of Jesus Christ?PRAYER Good and gracious God, your Son Jesus suffered and died for us, giving us the chance to have eternal life with you. Help us understand the message Jesus gave so that we can follow him more completely. Be with us, we pray.