[media presentation below] GospelThink Saturday, October 14 LUKE 11:27-28 I tell you to listen carefully to all of my words. Prayerthoughts a. This incident speaks directly of the importance of mothers in our world. Whether I am a woman or man, am I considerate of women who have brought children into our world? Perhaps a prayer for all mothers is important right now. b. Whether I am a woman or man, I should take the time to pray for the mothers who are experiencing a difficult time with their spouse or children. If I see mothers with young children today, I should be especially kind to them. c. The lady in the crowd was praising Jesus. A song of praise of God from the Psalms might be in order here. (This is the task of the meditation.) d. Jesus words remind me of listening to the word of God. How well do I concentrate on the words of Scripture or the Mass when I attend. e. My prayerthoughts… Today, I will carry out letter c. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  LISTENING AND DOING  + The close of the book of the prophet Joel is a statement of what faith in Yahweh will do for the people of Israel           – if you have faith, you can count on every blessing for all generations, he says  + The Gospel addresses the idea of what faith consists of           – according to Jesus: primarily two things:           Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.                      – hearing and observing, that is, listening and doing                                -all of the directives of Scripture—the virtues of the Kingdom—are brought about by listening to what they are, and carrying them out as best we can  + Listening itself is both easy and difficult           – it is easy in the sense that we all can listen to the word of God                      – we have it as part of everything that we do—here at Mass, in the divine office, in all of our prayers           – the difficult part is “pouring over it”, that is, studying it with respect to our own individual lives                      – we all have our own personalities, our own likes and dislikes, and Scripture as we read it and think about it, applies directly to us in one way or another                                – and we don’t like to think of it in light of that                                          – because it means that we may have to change some of our thinking—which is one of the most difficult things in the world to do  + And the idea of faith requires us to observe the word of God that we listen to           – that is often difficult                      – not only because it means further behavior change, but we often do not have the example that we should have in our own communities                                – although we see many examples of holiness, we also see examples of non-holiness                                          – disobedience, not getting along with others, talking about others in a negative way, violations of poverty, things that simply ought not to be in a spiritual house  + Our job as spiritual people is that of carrying out the faith in as perfect a way as possible           – that means that we have to do well in both of the areas of listening and doing. MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: “Jurassic World” — beginning session MORE TEETH The Gospel MATTHEW 22:24-26 Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?”

Gospelthink: I want you to follow what I tell you and not follow the ways of the world. How well am I following the Lord’s directions?

The inventors of the Jurassic World theme park were in it for the business, of course. As the Park continued to attract visitors, the company responsible for its continued existence, Masrani Global Corporation who owned the genetic company InGens, knew that the Park was losing attraction. As Claire the Operations Manager of the Park tells the potential advertisers, the Park needed “more teeth.” In light of that, the geneticists who created the dinosaurs chose to create Indominus Rex, a dinosaur even larger and more ferocious than T Rex.

When those who worked in the theme part Jurassic World noticed that they were losing business, they set their hearts on doing something about it. They knew the makeup of human nature; they knew that the public wanted more of everything, more attractions, more dinosaurs, more excitement, more relevance, more frightening things, bigger dinosaurs, or as Claire, the operations manager said, “more teeth.” Jesus knew that human desires resolved around the idea of having more. Human beings often believe that having more will make them more important, make them better in the world, not only richer, but more powerful. Therefore he told us quite plainly what we should be searching for in life–not more of anything, actually “less.” Whoever loses his life, he tells us, will find it. That is, the less proud we are, the less we think about our selves and our wants, the better off we will be. It is not the way of the world. The world has convinced our human natures that more is better. Our economy depends on it. The world wants us to want “more teeth.” The world has told us that if we do not have more than someone else, the latest of everything, the best of everything, indeed more of everything, our lives will be less important than they are now. We will be left behind, not popular, not “with it” or the like. Jesus is not saying that we cannot have any material goods as we strive to grow in the spiritual life. He is saying that material goods have a tendency to dominate any growth at all, and therefore we must be very careful about our desires to have “more.” In life, he tells us, “more” is not only not better; “more” may actually be the worst of all.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, it is almost a “given” that we will always want more of everything in our material world. Give us the grace to listen to Your Son and eventually realize what it is that really helps us be better people. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: We often hurt ourselves and others because our human natures tend to want more of everything.   DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: (session: approximately 60 minutes) 1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why? 2.As we study the Gospel, denying oneself means disowning ourselves as the center of existence. Why is this so difficult for the human being? 3. In your opinion, do most Christians truly follow Jesus Christ? Yes or no and why? 4. What are some examples of human beings wanting more of everything? 5. In your opinion, what would happen to our world if we would follow what Jesus said with regard to “losing our life”? 6. What is your definition of the spiritual life? 7. Scene analysis: In general is it good to send the kids “away” as the parents are working toward a divorce? Yes or no and why? 8. Analysis: why did Claire evacuate only a part of the park when Indominus Rex escaped, and not the whole park? 9. Analysis: in your opinion could dangerous animals like the Velocirapters and Indominus Rex be used in military operations? Yes or no and why? 10. Are the action scenes in the movie too explicit for younger audiences? Yes or no and why?