[media presentation below] GospelThink Sunday, April 30, Fourth Sunday of Easter JOHN 10:1-10 I am your good shepherd. I have given up my life for you to have eternal life. Prayerthoughts a. In many ways I am a shepherd to others. That is, others follow me in one way or another. What virtue in my life do I desire to have others follow? b. The sheep recognize the voice of the shepherd, and follow him/her. Am I paying attention to the voice of the Lord enough, that is, in how the Lord talks to me in the    Scriptures? c. The shepherd walks ahead of the sheep, and therefore is a true guide. Who or what have I allowed to be my guide in the past? d. Those past guides are strangers and using the symbolism of the Gospel, I should “run away” from them. As I study my past, perhaps I should take some time to think of how I have given into them, and ask for forgiveness. e. Jesus is our “gate.” Am I trying to lead my life in such a way that Jesus can always be the means to make my life better? f. Jesus wants me to have “life more abundantly.” What is the meaning of the Lord’s words? g. My prayerthoughts…   Today, I will carry out letter d. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  LEADING OTHERS TO GOD            In Jesus’ time—and I have read sometimes even today in Israel—the local shepherds form a pen out of boulders to shepherd their flock. The boulders become a wall that encompasses a certain area which makes the pen. They put a break in the boulders which becomes the passageway; in that break the shepherd would lie down at night. In such a case, the shepherd was literally a gate. Jesus uses that image today, saying to the Pharisees and us that he is the gate:           Whoever enters through me will be saved.           The person who is thinking of the spiritual life with that Gospel must come up with the obvious conclusion that Jesus is the center, the focus of everything we want to do in spiritual matters. He is the means whereby we learn what to do to improve our spiritual lives.            But, there is another part to the obvious conclusion. In the first letter of Peter (1 Peter 2:20b-25), the author reminds his readers what Jesus himself reminded us of in the Gospel, namely that he is an example for us, an example that we should follow. It says, in effect that we should become a gate for others to lead a deeper spiritual life, leading others to the salvation that Jesus was speaking of.            What does that mean exactly? There are many ways for us to follow Jesus’ example, but one we may want to think of in particular is from an excellent movie of a number of years ago called The Color Purple. In it, one of the characters described the lead character, a lady by the name of Celie with the words: “When I see you, I know there is a God.” Perhaps that is a good summary of what it means to be a true example. When people see a Christian, they should think of God. It becomes very personal: when people see you, who do they see?            Do they see a person who reminds people of God? Or do they see a person who is more concerned about themselves than anyone else?           Do they see a person who is more concerned about money than they are about the people they work with?           Do they see a person who would rather watch one hour of TV than spend a few moments with God in prayer?            We proclaim that Jesus is the center of our lives, and we also know that he is the example that we must follow. Perhaps a good spiritual exercise this week would be this: choose a place by yourself for about 15 minutes, and then start thinking about the conclusion to the statement from “The Color Purple”: when others see me, what kind of person do they see? MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: “Red Tails” — final session THOSE “OTHERS” The Gospel JOHN 10:16 [Jesus said:] “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.”

Gospelthink: I wanted my disciples to be aware of other people who are doing their best to lead a good life. Am I truly tolerant of other people, especially those who are very different from me?

What is the way to overcome prejudice in our world and in our own understanding of things? To a certain extent, such is the message of the movie “Red Tails.” The movie works out the answer as we study the setting of the air wars at the close of the Second World War. The movie began with the statement of prejudice from a College Study of 1925: “Blacks are mentally inferior, by nature subservient, and cowards in the face of danger. They are therefore unfit for combat.” The movie shows the effects of prejudice: the hating of another person, the inevitable personal battles, the feeling of superiority over others, the condescending feelings, and most of all, the devaluing of a human being. In a sense, the movie also shows the only way to overcome prejudice, namely the ability to discover the truth about a situation. The truth simply is that all people are created equal. In pursuit of that truth, the United States Army awarded one of their highest awards, namely the Presidential Unit Citation to the 332nd Fighting Group from the Tuskegee training program,.

The Jewish people understandably had a difficult time with the early Christians. Jewish Christians had accepted that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, and the Jewish faithful had not. From the day of the Christian belief of the Resurrection, therefore, there was animosity, sometimes bitter. It was an animosity that continued through the early centuries and was especially strong at the time of the writing of the Gospel of St. John. In common parlance, both parties were “prejudiced” against the other. Scripture scholars look at Jesus’ words of wanting to be shepherd of the sheep that did not belong to his fold to be a reflection of the early Church’s desire to be unified, especially with the Jewish people. The solution for prejudice is to determine the truth before any judgments are made. Once the truth is known, then there can be acceptance of the other. It becomes more complicated when faith is involved as it was for the early Christians, but in principle, the truth should remove any prejudice. The atmosphere of the United States concerning African-American people leading up to the civil rights movement and even afterwards was one in which the truth mattered little. The truth that the color of a person’s skin had nothing to do with the intelligence of that person was slow in coming. It took people like the 332nd Fighter Group in the Tuskegee training program to help America come to a solid understanding of the problem of prejudice. Prejudice is still a problem in the United States of America. Only now, the problem is much more subtle. People usually do not make judgments that some group of people has less intelligence than another. But there are many false decisions made on the fact that people are Jewish or Black or Mexican or Asian or the like. One of the most important elements of love of others that is fundamental for a Christian is that given the truth of human equality, the Christian must show to everyone the love that Jesus taught.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, we are often overcome by our feelings about another based on who they are or what they look like. Give us the grace to always seek the truth, and to love everyone the way you desire. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: The way to overcome prejudice in our world is for everyone to discover the truth about our humanity.      THE GOSPEL 1. Analyze the comparison of Jesus to a shepherd. 2. In today’s world, who do you think the phrase “sheep that do not belong to this fold” refers to? 3. What is your understanding of “ecumenism”? See Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, numbers 813-822. THE MEDITATION 1. Project: arrange for a presentation of the Jewish faith from someone from a local Jewish congregation. 2. Analysis: Do you think that there can ever be any agreement between other religions and the Catholic Church? Yes or no and why? 3. Analysis: Generally speaking, do people of different religions show “prejudice” against each other? Yes or no and why? 4. The meditation says that the truth becomes more complicated when faith is involved. What do you think is the meaning? 5. Besides the truth being known, what other facts must be present in order to conquer prejudice? 6. Analysis: Is there prejudice against African-Americans still present in our world? Yes or no and why? 7. The meditation says that the problem of prejudice is still present in our world today. In what way do you see prejudice especially in high schools and colleges? 8. The meditation says that there are “false decisions” that come from prejudice. What are some of the false decisions that you see concerning people of other backgrounds? What can be done about it? THE MOVIE, PART 2 (approximately 68 minutes) ***[the presenter may want to divide the session into two parts] 1. What scene during this session is most striking and why? 2. Scene analysis: the airmen pray before their mission. What should be the content of a prayer like this? 3. Dialogue analysis: “Every decision is not going to be the right one.” What conclusion can be drawn from this? 4. Scene analysis: “Ray Gun’s” role in the escape. What were the different virtues of heroism that he showed? In general, how should Christians treat prisoners of war? 5. Scene analysis: the romance of Lightning and Sofia. In your opinion, can there be true love between people who do not know each other’s language or each other’s customs? Yes or no and why? 6. Analysis: What is the principal “problem” for such a romance? 7. Scene analysis: Even though the 332nd have proved themselves, they are not originally charged with escorting the bombers to Berlin. What do you think guided the decision of those in charge? Why? 8. Scene analysis: The Germans have jet fighters. From your point of view, what is most important in an air battle? Why? 9. Scene analysis: Lightning downs the German ace pilot but gives up his life in the process. There are no doubt many stories of this type of heroism during the wars that we have fought. What are the most important characteristics of “being a hero.” 10. Scene analysis: Easy conquers his alcoholism as he considers what Lightning had done for him. Obviously, he could have gone the other direction and given more into his addiction. Given the situation, do you think that most people would have acted the way Easy did? Yes or no and why? 11. Scene analysis: The 332nd is awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. Do you think that the problem of prejudice against the Blacks was any less after the award? Yes or no and why?    12. What does the movie “Red Tails” teach young people?