[media presentation below] GospelThink Tuesday, May 31, The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary LUKE 1:39-56 My earthly mother’s praise of God. Prayerthoughts a. Mary was aware of her cousin Elizabeth’s need. There are people in my own acquaintance and in the world in which I live who are in need. Am I doing enough to help them? b. Great things happen to me often, and many times I do not thank the Lord enough for them. I should thank the Lord for the gifts that I received just yesterday for example. (This is the “task” of this meditation.) c. Mary proclaimed the greatness of God. In my words and thoughts, do I proclaim myself   in pride? d. In my life, besides rejoicing in God my savior, I have to deal with the world. But have I allowed that world to dictate too much of the way I think? e. I must accept my “lowliness” probably a little more than I do. Do I look for praise too much from the people around me? f. It is clear that the Lord has worked with mercy in my life. Do I work with mercy around the people who are close to me? g. The Lord has lifted up the lowly. Do I show enough concern for those who are down and out in the society around me?   h. My prayerthoughts… Today, I will carry out letter b. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  BEING BLESSED, LOVING OTHERS  + The beautiful prayer that we have come to know as the Magnificat is the statement by Mary that we are blessed by God             – Mary realized more than any other human being in her time just how much God had done for her                         – and because of that—what God had done for her—her outlook on life, her attitude toward living changed                                     – and she became the holy person that we honor today                                                 – the impetus that made her holy was the understanding of what God had done for her  + From a Christian point of view, primarily what should happen once we understand what God has done for us             – is the way we behave with others, which is the overall conclusion of this feast—                         – Mary understood what God had done for her, therefore she had to give to others, and in particular, Elizabeth, her cousin  + This feast leads us to a very straightforward conclusion as we view Mary’s reasoning, and Mary’s holiness             – because we have been gifted by God, we must give to others                         – and the selection from the letter to the Romans does it very well                                     – leading us to a personal meditation of how we behave toward others                         – in particular, it is significant that Mary’s charity is toward a relative                                     – I believe that we have to be especially concerned about how we treat relatives  + And so, studying the reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans, we ask ourselves:             – is our love sincere?             – do we hate what is evil, that is, the things that can hurt our spiritual lives – too much exposure to the world, to the media, etc.             – do we truly love one another with mutual affection and anticipate one another in showing honor             – do we grow slack in zeal and fervor for our love of God and others around us             – are we hopeful people             – do we endure well the afflictions of human nature when we are hurting for one reason or another             – do we persevere in prayer by continually opening our hearts to God             – do we contribute to others by praying for them as much as we should             – do we show the hospitality that we should toward one another             – do we pray and ask God’s blessings on those who are not in agreement with us and who are hurting other people, creating evil in our world             – are we solicitous with regard to the feelings of others             – do we show or think in a superior fashion at all (haughty)             – do we think in terms of pride, that is, how well we are doing in whatever endeavor, without giving any credit to God and what God is doing in our lives  + Mary teaches us that everyone of us has been blessed by God             – when we realize that, it will affect our lives, and change us for the better. Tying Today’s Liturgy with the Movie “Dark Waters” (below) The Grace to Do Something    Mary was convinced that God was working in her life, and so she did something–she visited her cousin who needed her help. Jesus was convinced that the synagogue should be a house of prayer, and so he did something–he drove the money people out of it. Earl Tennant and Bob Bilott were convinced that a chemical corporation was polluting water, and so they did something–they took on the corporate giant and won their case.    The world we live in needs direction. When looked at as a place in which selfishness is the bottom line in most encounters, the world must have some guidance to bring a proper perspective. That guidance must be looked for and sought after if we want to amount to anything, if we want the human to be holy.    The guidance for the Christian comes from God through Jesus. Mary was able to discover it in caring for another. Jesus found it in love of His Father. Earl and Bob found it in carrying out the Christian call to “do something” in the face of wrong.    We all have the same belief as Christians. Our God has given us the doctrine and example. It is up to each one of us to follow it in our daily lives. MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: “Dark Waters” — beginning session THE COURAGE TO DO SOMETHING The Gospel JOHN 2:13-17 Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” His disciples recalled the words of scripture, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

Gospelthink: I was quite upset at the way some people were treating the Temple. Do I show the respect that I should show in my Church?

The year was 1998. Wilbur “Earl” Tennant traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio to visit Robert Bilott, a corporate defense attorney to complain about a problem that a local chemical company was causing on his farm in Washington, West Virginia, a suburb of Parkersburg, West Virginia. Robert did not want to listen to Earl, but since he was an acquaintance of his dear grandmother in Parkersburg, he finally listened and decided to do something. He asked his boss whether he could take the case, promising that it would be a small project. His boss agreed. Not long after, Bilott legally forced the Dupont Chemical corporation to hand over documents concerning chemicals that were dumped at Earl’s farm. Dupont complied, sending him hundreds of boxes of documents hoping that he would never find anything. Bob was a very deliberate man, and going through the documents one by one, finally found reference to a chemical called PFOA or C8 that he could not find identify.

Jesus was a courageous person when he walked our earth. As part of the institution called “religion,” he knew what religion ought to be. When he sensed that the institution was not doing it, he allowed his human zeal to envelop him, causing quite a stir, no doubt, among the religious leaders who should have realized what was happening. In his mind, Jesus knew that he had to do something and he proceeded to do it. There are many people in our world that sense that something is wrong with what is happening. But there are only a few of us who really decide to do something about it. The movie “Dark Waters” is primarily about two of those people.  The first person who realized what was happening and who wanted to do something was Wilbur “Earl” Tennant. To do what he knew needed to be done, however, he needed the help of the second person who was likewise convinced that something should be done, Robert Bilott. But it was Earl’s conviction that began the process. As Robert pays tribute to him in his book “Exposure,” a book about the problem, Robert says of Earl: “Earl mattered. …Earl was a man who belonged as much to the land as the land belonged to him. I admired his instincts about the natural world and his unwavering faith in those instincts, even in the face of endless doubters.” Earl was convinced that the chemical company Dupont was doing the wrong thing in his land and wanted to do something about it. You and I live in a world that can get tied up a wrong, and sometimes we may be able to do something about it. It is our call to do it.  As Jesus. As Earl Tennant. As Bob Bilott.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, Your Son was totally committed to bringing about what was right. When I can do something about some wrong, give me the grace I need to address the problem. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: When something is not right, we have to do something.   DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: (session: approximately 59 minutes) 1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why? 2. In Jesus’ time there were many traders who took care of the animals to be sacrificed, and many of them took their industry into the temple area. Is there any comparison to our churches in our world? Yes or no and why? 3.  In your opinion, are there large corporations still breaking the laws of the environment? Yes or no and why? 4. In your opinion, do large corporations do enough for our environment? Yes or no and why? 5. What is your definition of “courage”? 6. The meditation accuses most people of not doing what they should be doing. Name some areas in which we could do more than we are right now. 7. “Earl mattered.” What does it mean to be someone who “matters” in our world? 8. In general, are people concerned about our environment the way they should be?