[media presentation below] GospelThink Saturday, June 11, St. Barnabas MATTHEW 5:33-37 I speak about oaths and swearing by something else. Prayerthoughts a. The Lord refers to a false oath. When I promise something, how truthful am I? Do I keep my word? b. The Lord goes through a number of situations of how people swear in life: heaven, earth, Jerusalem, your head. They are all related to God in one way or another. Do I tend to think of God in my life as often as I should? c. Let your ‘Yes” and “No” mean exactly what it says. Am I trying to communicate with others with true openness? d. How should I be trying to communicate with others better? e. My prayerthoughts… Today, I will the Acts of the Apostles, chapters 11 and 13, and write an important thought from it. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  BEING A TRUE FOLLOWER OF JESUS  + The liturgy for today celebrates the feast day of Barnabas who was one of the early converts to Christianity      – the first reading is one of the major happenings of the early Church            – Barnabas is sent to look for Paul who was to become the center of the early Church’s belief in Jesus                – both Barnabas and Paul were great examples of following the Lord + There are many ways of looking at following the Lord           – today’s liturgy suggests a couple                      – from the Acts of the Apostles reading                            – we will follow the Lord by being the Christian people that we should be                                   – the reading from Acts tells us that our name of “Christian” was given to us in Antioch                                    – we know how a Christian should act in today’s world                                           – that type of knowledge is important as we try to follow the Lord + Secondly, from the Gospel, the true follower of Jesus is going to be someone who is honest and straightforward in his/her dealings with others           – in the Gospel here from Matthew 5-7, Jesus is extolling what could be called the Law of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount according to Matthew                                – and here he talks about oaths–                                          – at the time of Jesus, the Hebrew people were into taking oaths and swearing by something else that something was correct                                                    – Jesus says that that is not necessary:           Do not swear at all…. Let your “Yes” mean “Yes,” and your “No” mean “No.”           – that is, the follower of Jesus is one who will see that his/her speech will always be honest and sincere                      – a Christian’s speech or talk must be kind and caring toward all  + We say that we are true followers of Jesus           – can we so dispose ourselves that we can’t do anything but follow the Lord? MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: “McFarland USA” — beginning session MORE THAN SELF-SERVING The Gospel MATTHEW 13:51-52 Jesus said, “Do you understand all these things?” They answered “Yes.” And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”

Gospelthink: I want you to use every means available to become a better person. Do I allow my faith to direct my life?

Based on a true account, “McFarland USA” is the story of Jim White who was the founder and the first coach of the cross country program of McFarland High School in McFarland, California. Before he came, he had a problem keeping a teaching and coaching job, ending up in McFarland, and only wanting to stay there until he could find a better job. Quite naturally he was concerned about himself and his family, and looked at his job only as a stepping stone. He started to become successful only when he began to look at the students as people who had problems just the same as he had problems. He began to see what the students needed by being with them not only as a teacher and coach, but as a person interested enough in them to discover their real needs. He set up a very successful cross country program with the students in mind.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus was a perfect teacher. He wanted his students, that is, his followers, to learn well what he was trying to teach. He asked them as he taught them the important question of whether they understood what he was teaching. When he felt that they did, he gave the characteristic of a good teacher. He had to take out of his storeroom both the new and the old elements of the subject, that is, those things that were “tried and true” in presenting his doctrine, as well as the new doctrine that he wished to establish with his follower’s help. When Jim White began his work at McFarland High School, he was nothing more than a teacher who did not worry so much about whether his students understood what he was trying to teach. He was much more interested in himself and having enough money to support his family. The turning point for him was when he began to try to understand his students and wondered whether they were understanding what he wanted to teach. It began with the sport called “cross country” that was beginning to take shape in the State of California. And it ended only when the students began to see what they were capable of doing. Jim White became a successful coach because he began to understand what his student athletes had to work with in life. He was able to integrate his understanding with the real life of the athlete, and even take those students further than they even thought possible. A good teacher begins with understanding the student. We may not all be destined to be teachers or coaches, but whatever our calling in life, Coach Jim White’s discovery is an important one for all of us. If we want to work with the people around us with success, we must come to know and understand them in a way that is more than self-serving.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, your Son taught us how to teach, and in doing so, how we can work better around other people. May we have the grace to understand those around us in a better light. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: Teachers become better when they learn to truly know the young people with whom they are working.     DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: (session: approximately 60 minutes) 1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why? 2. When Jesus is speaking of the old and the new concerning the Kingdom of heaven, he was speaking of the law and the prophets (the old) and his own teaching of the Kingdom (the new). What is your understanding of the Kingdom of God? (See Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, numbers 2816-2821.) 3. Give your own characteristics of a good teacher. 4. In general, do you feel that most of the teachers in your school or college right now are really interested in their students? Yes or no and why? 5. Is there any way that a student can motivate a teacher to be better than she/he is? If yes, then how? 6. Scene analysis: In general, how should a coach treat players with an “bad attitude” as in the opening scene? 7. Scene analysis: Jim is dismissed as assistant football coach. Was the decision a good one on the principal’s part? Yes or no and why? 8. Scene analysis: White misses his daughter’s birthday dinner and forgets the birthday cake. As a coach, what is the best balance of time that she/he should spend between coaching and family? 9. Analysis: talk of suicide. Why do young people contemplate suicide? What are the best ways to help prevent suicide?