[media presentation below] GospelThink Monday, September 4 LUKE 4:16-30 The people of Nazareth were swayed by their own selfishness.  Prayerthoughts a. The people of Nazareth were proud of Jesus as their native son. Jesus did not allow this pride to dictate to his actions. Is there too much “pride of self” in my thoughts and words? b. Jesus senses that there is jealousy involved as people speak about him. In my thoughts are there people of whom I am jealous? What can I do about it? c. Do I tend to follow the people who are around me in the spiritual life? Without judging them, how can I try harder to grow in my own spiritual life? d. Jesus refers to Elijah and Elisha who cured the widow and Naaman. They were also prophets who were working with their own people just as Jesus was. The people who did not agree with Jesus were merely making up reasons to dislike him. Our task is to help those around us if they need it. Is there anyone in my acquaintance I should pay more attention to?   e. The people of Nazareth rejected Jesus. I obviously do not reject him, but which of his teachings should I listen to more? f. Jesus did not “punish” the people in Nazareth. He simply walked away. Do I tend to hold grudges against people who do not agree with me? g. My prayerthoughts… Today, I will read 1 Kings, chapter 17:1-16 and 2 Kings chapter 5:1-14 and write an important thought from the readings. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  TOLERANCE OF OTHERS + Paul the Apostle expected the end of the world to be during his lifetime most probably             – and here in the reading speaks about always being with the Lord             – obviously, the Lord is yet to come, but the stress for us is that the Lord is always with us now and after our deaths  + We begin a weekday consideration of Luke’s Gospel today             – here, Jesus spoke with the conviction of God his Father being with him in the synagogue of Nazareth at the beginning of his public life             – and what does Jesus speak of with that power of God?                         – and what caused the worshippers in Nazareth to go from honor to hatred, to the point of wanting to kill him?                                     – it was what might be called “religious tolerance”+ Jewish people were strong into the theme of election:             – throughout the Old Testament, God had told them that they were the chosen race                         – here, Jesus opens up the possibility of salvation for all                                     – not only did Jesus seem to prefer the attitude of people in another town, namely, Capernaum                                                 – but there were people outside that God helped in the past—the widow of Zeraphath in the days of Elijah and Naaman the Syrian in days of Elisha—who were foreigners, not Jews, and Jesus was saying that the power of God worked with them as well  + An obvious application for a person who is pursuing the spiritual life is the whole thought of religious tolerance             – God is working with others who are not of our belief, indeed not even Christian as well  + But I believe a more important application is one closer to home             – tolerance of other Catholics who may not agree with how we think             – tolerance of other people who have different opinions from us             – tolerance of family members who are over 20 and have chosen different roads than the ones we wanted them to choose                         – there are some real lessons to be learned about tolerance in our lives, I believe  + Tolerance is a very good topic for us to meditate on             – indeed with Paul, we believe that we are always with the Lord                         – but so are other people, and we must celebrate the fact together. MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” — beginning session ACTING ONLY WITH THE TRUTH The Gospel LUKE 22:1-6 Now the feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was drawing near, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking a way to put him to death, for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered into Judas, the one surnamed Iscariot, who was counted among the Twelve, and he went to the chief priests and temple guards to discuss a plan for handing him over to them. They were pleased and agreed to pay him money. He accepted their offer and sought a favorable opportunity to hand him over to them in the absence of a crowd.

Gospelthink: My apostle turned against me. Are there times in my life when I turn against the Lord by my thoughts or actions or words?

The first session of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” is the story of Bruce Wayne/Batman’s mistrust of Superman about how Superman was dealing with the problems of Metropolis. At the same time Clark Kent/Superman was questioning the way Batman had been working in Gotham City and he wanted his place of employment, the Daily Planet, to do an investigation of Batman. Bruce Wayne/Batman realized that to subdue Superman, he had to first discover a way to obtain kryptonite which made Superman weak. At the same time, with the evil intent of desiring the power of being in control, Lux Luthor was also attempting to find the kryptonite. Obsessed with his conviction that Superman was not good for earth, Bruce Wayne/Batman discovered a way to obtain the kryptonite from Luthor, and came close to destroying Superman forever.

When we are absolutely convinced that something is true, we usually will commit ourselves to pursue it. It is interesting to study Judas in such a light. Somewhere in his relationship with Jesus, Judas had come to the conclusion that Jesus was not good for the Jewish people. Whether it was something that Jesus said or the influence of the scribes and Pharisees, Judas finally convinced himself that he was the only apostle who understood the truth of Jesus, and he therefore set out to hand him over to the chief priests. In the movie “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” Bruce Wayne/Batman became convinced that Superman was not good for the earth, and likewise Clark Kent/Superman was convinced that Batman was not good for the earth. Giving into their selfish desires, neither superheroes were able to think through their actions, and in the process caused much more damage than the evil could have caused by itself. It is an important lesson to learn. No matter who we are, whether president or servant, if we do not think through an action, and rather continue to place all of our trust in our own point of view, we will cause damage. We must be committed to the truth, and therefore must determine it completely before we act. People cause much harm when they act with conviction without thinking through what they are doing. Judas should have reasoned out what he was doing. Batman and Superman should have understood why their thinking was in error. Every one of us have the obligation to think through a solution before acting on it.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, we study the people connected with Your Son’s life, and we discover only too easily that many of them were governed by selfish behavior rather than the truth. May we always seek the truth in everything we do. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: We cause harm when we act without thinking it through.        DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: (session: approximately 70 minutes) 1. What scene during this session is most striking and why? 2. In the Gospel passage, the Pharisees were “afraid of the people.” Why were they afraid? 3. Note that part of the reason why Judas betrayed Jesus was money. Why can money be a cause of evil? 4. How would you described the character of Judas Iscariot? 5. What are some things that we must do in order to think through some serious decision? 6. Dialogue analysis: Batman is extremely pessimistic about “bad buys” who are more plentiful than “good guys.” Do you believe that there are more people who are inclined to evil in our day? Yes or no and why? 7. Analysis: The killings in the movie. In your opinion, do the several killings in the movie have an effect on young people who see it? Yes or no and why? 8. Analysis: The mothers of Batman and Superman play an important role in the movie. In general, do you think that we respect our parents enough in our world? Yes or no and why?