[media presentation below] GospelThink Monday, June 27 MATTHEW 8:18-22 If you are going to be my disciple, you must do it wholeheartedly. Prayerthoughts a. Jesus gives some direction about being a follower of his. I have said that I follow Jesus. What kind of a follower of Jesus am I? As I consider my actions yesterday, what evidence can I show of being a follower? b. There are no exceptions to following Jesus. In the past, have I done things that kept me from being a true follower. What are the virtues of being a true follower of Jesus? (This is the task of the meditation.) c. One of the titles that Jesus had was “Teacher.” What is the most important teaching that Jesus has given me? d. Jesus says being a follower of his is even more important than any family obligations. In my list of important things to do, where do I place the virtue of “following Jesus”? e. My prayerthoughts…   Today, I will answer letter b. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  TRUE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS  + The Gospel today is Jesus speaking of a true follower of his,          – and he does it by overstating his case                   – Jesus had a home, to be sure                            – but the point that he was making was that a true follower of his is not going to be concerned about having a home                                     – he must be more concerned about his task of following Jesus                            – in the case of burying the dead                                     – again, Jesus’ words are a challenge—being a follower of his is even more important than family  + One of the characteristics of being a follower of God is exemplified in the first reading          – it is the rather negative idea of a follower recognizing when they are straying from the path of God                   – the prophet Amos had to remind the Israelite people again and again of what they were doing                            – the Israelites did not want to recognize that they were not following what God wanted  + Our meditation then might concern itself with the question of what kind of follower we are          – a common theme in the Scriptures                   – because one of the major spiritual tasks connected with the Scriptures is that of being a true follower of Jesus Christ          – we do not read the Scriptures as if it were a regular book                   – we read and listen to the Scriptures to learn something about ourselves  + There was a popular song a number of years ago called “Half of my Heart.”          – it is a love song in which the person in the song has been in a difficult love relationship before and now, as he says, can only give his present love situation “half of his heart”                   – and he correctly sings: “You will hate that I never gave more to you than half of my heart,” —she will hate it because this love is doomed to failure                            – very simply, one cannot love with only half of one’s heart          – giving ourselves to something only halfway, or with only half of our hearts, is a fault.  Jesus realized the problem as he chose his disciples and asked them to be complete in following him.  + A follower of Jesus Christ is a true follower, Jesus tells us today,          – there are no “but’s” when it comes to following him                   – if we say that we will follow him, we will                            – no “yes, but”                                     – if we say that we are a follower, then we will follow  + And so, the conclusion today must be the idea of following of Jesus, and how well we are doing          – I quoted yesterday one of the biographers of Francis when it came to his following of Jesus:                   “Saints tend toward exaggerated sanctity when it is the only way to see exaggerated sin.”                            – my comment was that there is exaggerated sin around, and maybe we need to show a little more exaggerated sanctity. MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: “Ad Astra” — final session ADJUSTING TO WHAT HAPPENS The Gospel MARK 15:20-21 And when they had mocked Jesus, they stripped him of the purple cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him out to crucify him. They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.

Gospelthink: Simon was probably reluctant to help the Lord. Am I interested in helping the Lord by helping other people in my immediate situation?

Knowing that the Lima Project may have been the cause of the problems on earth, and that his father was part of the Project, astronaut Roy McBride set out to find what he could about what was happening. Nothing could keep him away from his task even as SpaceCom took him out of the Project. He stayed connected with the Project by means of “stowing away” on the ship that was to go to Neptune. Roy finally found his father, Clifford McBride, who would not return to earth with his son. Instead his father repelled into deeper space while Roy planted the nuclear bomb which both destroyed the source of the problems on earth and helped to propel his ship back to earth. The experience changed Roy to be a much more caring individual.

Simon of Cyrene no doubt knew that condemned people had to carry their own cross to their execution. Therefore being forced to take the cross could have been a problem for him. But he had no choice. He had to force himself to realize that no matter how he felt, he had to adjust to the situation at hand. The Romans forced him to carry this cross for this condemned man. He adjusted to the situation. Incidentally because the evangelist Mark mentions Simon’s family, they were probably people that the early Christians knew. Later on, no doubt Simon accepted what he did as something that he was quite proud of. Whether Simon did carry the cross willingly or not is not the point. The point is that there was no choice and he simply had to adjust to the situation, and work with it as best he could. It is a common enough phenomenon. Studying the movie “Ad Astra,” one sees that Roy McBride was forced into a situation in which he had to adjust. He had wanted to connect with his father, talk him into coming back to earth, and repair the situation that was literally destroying the world. He had to adjust to the change of what he wanted. The common phenomenon in every day living is that many times, as we approach a situation, we have a clear idea of what we think should be done. The problem is that for some reason it is not done the way we thought. It is a critical point in our understanding of ourselves that we can adjust to the new situation. And adjust with “adult” behavior. We might indeed adjust to the situation with bitter feelings that continue to bother us–and many do. But the consequences of such a choice should deter us from such the selfish thought–bitterness that lasts too long, hatred of the people involved, or simply giving up on life. In the movie, Roy adjusted to the situation that he did not want by thinking with a true adult understanding. Indeed, when things are not going the way we want, we can adjust and learn to accept it well. As the saying goes, we need to make lemonade, something good, when we are given only bitter lemons.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, we tend to be selfish people, wanting what we want. Sometimes it is good, but sometimes we must adjust to a situation that is difficult and that we do not want. Help us learn to adjust to whatever happens to us in as good a way as possible. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: We want the best for ourselves and others, but we have to work with what happens to us.   DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: (session: approximately 57 minutes) 1. What scene during this session of the movie was most striking to you? Why? 2. What does the movie “Ad Astra” teach young people? 3. In the movie, there is obviously a close bond between Roy and his father. In general, in today’s world, what percentage of families have fathers who are close to their children? 4. Give some typical situations for young people as they grow in which they must “adjust” to a situation. 5. Why is it so difficult to change our way of thinking? 6. Unfortunately, there are many bitter people in the world. What are the causes of a person to be bitter?