MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: “Dog” — beginning session FREE WILL AND SERVING SELF The Gospel MATTHEW 2:13-18 When the magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.” Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi. Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet: “A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.”

Gospelthink: Herod’s actions at the birth of Jesus were guided by selfishness. In my life right now, am I too interested in “serving self”?

Jackson Briggs, a US Army Ranger suffering from PTSD was denied his wish to renter the Rangers because of his brain injury. Hoping for reinstatement, he was told by by his commanding officer to escort a military dog, Lulu, to the funeral of the dog’s owner and afterwards take him to a place where the dog would be euthanized. On the road the true personality of Briggs became apparent as he interacted with Lulu. He tried to satisfy his selfish desires, but he had to continually take care of Lulu as the dog kept escaping from her cage or tore up Briggs’s car, pr ran away. On their way to Arizona for the funeral, Briggs is rejected by his estranged wife who has his daughter, but meets up with a former Ranger who rehabilitated Lulu’s dog brother and who taught Briggs to have a deeper connection with Lulu.

The little family that we have come to call “holy” discovered early on that the intentions of people in power may be evil. In the story dealing with the magi from the East, the evangelist Matthew tells us that Herod became furious once he found out that the wise men had tricked him. So, under the guise of wanting to pay homage to the new king, his real intention was guided by pure selfishness. The consequence of that selfishness is what we have come to call the “slaughter of the Holy Innocents.” It is probably true that our selfishness will not cause such a great evil as killing innocent people, but it is also true that selfishness can rule people’s lives. Christians must study the intentions behind their actions. And it must become personal: Why do I do and say and think the things that I do, say and think? Many times the answer lies in the realm of what I want, and not in the realm of love of God and neighbor as Jesus wanted. It is not difficult to identify selfishness in movies. In the movie “Dog,” for example, Jackson Briggs wanted to be a Ranger in the United States Army. If he would have studied the “why” he wanted that position, he would understand that it had to do with “personal prestige.” The thought of caring for others was not part of his intentions. It took a dog who had served in that Army to teach him that. A significant fact of the free will that God gave every human being is that if given free reign, that free will ends in carrying out what that person wants, and only that. Herod is the perfect example of what free will can lead to; Jackson Briggs likewise could only see what he wanted. The king that Herod wanted to kill would have taught him about his selfishness. That king teaches us about our selfishness as well. In the movie “Dog,” God worked through a dog to teach a man who he really was.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, thank you for your gift of free will. It is a tremendous gift, but I know firsthand that it can be misused. We human beings want what we want. Give us the grace to truly understand that our free will must be guided by you. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: Young people always struggle with selfishness.        DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: (session: approximately 46 minutes) 1. What scene during this session is most striking and why? 2. Perhaps you might do a presentation on PTSD. 3. Do you think that it is true that ALL power leads to selfishness? Yes or no and why? 4. In what ways does selfishness ruin people’s lives? 5. In general, when do people begin to curb their selfishness? Why? 6. What would it be like if God had not created free will for us? 7. What is your personal definition of selfishness?

MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: “Dog” — final session MATURITY MEANS CARING The Gospel MATTHEW 14:28-33 Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”

Gospelthink: Peter displays some selfishness here. How much selfishness do I have in my life?

Jackson Briggs and the dog Lulu travel on to the funeral of Briggs’s friend who had the services of Lulu during that friend’s time in Afghanistan. After the car breaks down, Briggs decides to walk the short distance to the funeral. On the walk, Lulu became so tired that she simply refused to go any further. Briggs ended up carrying the dog to the funeral, and the dog immediately goes to his friend’s memorial effects to “protect” them. It became clear that Briggs was growing attached to the dog, so that rather than euthanize her, he tried to get her to run away, but she wouldn’t. That night Briggs suffered from seizure, and Lulu comforted him. In the morning, as he was ordered, Briggs dropped Lulu off at White Sands, scheduled to be Lulu’s final resting place, but as he left, he saw the dog panicking, and he took the dog back to become his dog from then on.

Many spiritual writers suggest that there may be only one basic problem that human beings have, and that every other problem comes from that one. It is labeled plain old every-day selfishness. It is defined to be “wanting what WE want.” The Gospel narrative of Jesus’s walking on the sea is both a fact and an allegory. The storm is a symbol of our world. There are many problems, messes, things that go wrong, and even though we may think of ourselves as experienced in those problems, there will be turmoil. The Apostles thought they were good with a boat. In the midst of those problems, Peter becomes selfish. He sees that Jesus has calmed the sea, and so he asks of Jesus: “Command ME…”  Me, Me, Me. In many ways, Jackson Briggs was very selfish as he was struggling with how to mature in his life. But the point of the final part of the movie was that he managed to overcome much of it. He turned to the dog Lulu and says, “Thank you for saving my life.” He saw how much the dog cared for his friend, and he saw how much the dog began to care for him. He learned the lesson of caring. We all have problems, whether they are of our own doing or not. The circumstances of our day-to-day lives, whether it is in school, at work, or during times of relaxation always involve difficulties that will affect us in one way or another. There are pressures that tend to be overpowering. Our lives are often not easy to live. The lesson of Jesus in the Gospels and Briggs in the movie “Dog” is one to learn therefore.  Even in the midst of our own problems, we must be aware of other human beings or in this case, a dog, who can use our help, offering them the care that we can give. We do not want to miss the lesson of Briggs at the end of the movie. Perhaps the way to solve the problems that we have is to learn the lesson of caring.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, the world with all of its problems must have the example of your Son and some good people. Give us the grace to work with the problems that we have by learning the virtue of caring for others. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: A remedy for selfishness is learning to truly care for another.        DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: (session: approximately 46 minutes) 1. What scene during this session is most striking and why? 2. In your opinion, what do most people desire in the world in which they live? 3. What are the three most significant problems in our world? In general, what can I do about them? 4. In your situation right now, what are some ways that we can “care” for others? 5. Why does “caring for another” overcome “selfishness” in a person’s life? 6. In our world right now, what are some good examples of “true caring for another”?   7. What does the movie “Dog” teach a young person?