[media presentation below] GospelThink Friday, August 4 MATTHEW 13:54-58 The people of Nazareth thought they knew Jesus but they were too familiar with him.   Prayerthoughts a. The people were wondering about Jesus’s wisdom. Where do I look for the most wisdom in today’s world? b. The people of Nazareth knew Jesus too well, and therefore they could not see him as anyone important. In my thoughts, do I consider others less important than I am? c. The people of Nazareth rejected Jesus. I obviously do not reject Jesus, but there may be some teachings that I am not listening to. d. Jesus did not “punish” the people in Nazareth. Do I tend to hold grudges against people who do not agree with me?   e. Jesus only helped a couple of people because in general, their faith was lacking. Perhaps this is a good time to make an act of faith. (This is the task of the meditation.) f. My prayerthoughts…   Today, I will write a prayer asking for stronger faith. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  LISTENING TO GOD  + Faith is once again the topic of the Scriptures today:          – people imbued with faith in God will express their worship of God on various feast days the book of Leviticus says                   – the days are special to God,                            – and therefore they should be special to us          – spending time with God and listening to God is something of importance for the person of faith                   – in the Hebrew Scriptures, the days were actually set aside when the people would do this                            – in the Christian understanding of things, every day is an important time for God  + One of the problems with spending time with God, and the fact that we should spend time with God and listen to what God tells us          – is that we lose sight of how much of a privilege it is for us to be close to God                   – it can become something that is too familiar for us                            – in Matthew’s story of Jesus, the people listening to him recognized a person who was familiar to them                                     – they knew him too well                   – so rather than listen to him talk about the kingdom and personal improvements                                     – they pay attention to the fact that they know him well                   – and therefore they miss an opportunity to grow  + There is one very big lesson for the spiritual life here          – because we are so familiar with God and Jesus since we deal with the spiritual life every day                   – we may have a tendency to miss some important directives that God wants us to hear, that is,                            – we may not listen to what the Scriptures have to say about how we should behave          – and if we are too familiar with what is said, we may miss that it actually applies to us  + Every day is a day of importance as we listen to God, no longer just special feast days          – and as we listen, we have to really listen as if we have never heard it before                   – we don’t want to miss something that the Scriptures say to us that we should be listening to. MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: “The Rise of Skywalker” — beginning session CONVERSION IS NECESSARY FOR A GOOD LIFE The Gospel LUKE 22:54-62 After arresting [Jesus] they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest; Peter was following at a distance. They lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter sat down with them. When a maid saw him seated in the light, she looked intently at him and said, “This man too was with him.” But he denied it saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” A short while later someone else saw him and said, “You too are one of them”; but Peter answered, “My friend, I am not.” About an hour later, still another insisted, “Assuredly, this man too was with him, for he also is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “My friend, I do not know what you are talking about.” Just as he was saying this, the cock crowed, and the Lord turned and looked at Peter; and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.” He went out and began to weep bitterly.

Gospelthink: Peter knowing that he had done something wrong, made the choice to admit the wrong and do something about it. As I study my life, are there some areas in which I need conversion?

If there is anything that the epic “Star Wars” has taught, it is that there will always be conversion examples to help our world. The conversion of Anakin Skywalker better known as Darth Vader, was one such help to humankind, and here giving rise to the final act of the epic, “The Rise of Skywalker”, we encounter the conversion of Kylo Ren. Ren found Palpatine on the planet Exegol and Palpatine told Ren to find and kill Rey who was continuing her Jedi training under Princess Leia. Eventually Ren and Rey fought, and distracted by the Force and the voice of Leia, his mother, Rey kills Ren. Using the Force again, Rey healed Ren, and after being visited by his father Han Solo, Ren throws away his light saber and becomes once again Ben Solo, the son of Han and Leia. Later when Rey was facing Palpatine and both Palpatine and Rey had died by lightning, Ben used the Force to revive Rey at the cost of his own life. The Force had led Kylo Ren to give up evil and allow the Resistance to win the battle for life.

We make decisions all the time. Some of those decisions amount to no change in the way we live; however, some affect us much later in life. At times, decisions are good, and we have no desire to change what they have brought about, but at other times, we realize that the decisions we made were not so good, and we must change the consequences. Consider two different sets of decisions: one from the Christian Scriptures when Peter chose to deny Jesus; another from a story told by the movie “The Rise of Skywalker” in the person of Kylo Ren. In both instances, the people involved discover that they have made wrong decisions, and then must do something about them.    Peter realized that his human nature was so weak that he had done the very thing that he said he would not do. He knew that he would have to make major adjustments in his life. He had broken a promise, and now he had to adjust his future life. He was completely disappointed in himself, but he did not despair, although he was close to it. Kylo Ren was the son of Princess Leia and Han Solo, two of the “good guys” of the epic known as “Star Wars.” He was Force-sensitive and had chosen the dark side of the Force. He wanted the power of ruling the whole galaxy and was blinded by that power. But he finally understood what he had chosen. Both Peter and Kylo Ren made the step to turn their lives around. Peter, after weeping bitterly about what he had done, corrected the mistake and became a true leader in the Christian world. Kylo Ren after an important moment of realization from recalling what his father would have said to him, saw what he could do for Rey, a person who was trying to do good. He gave away his life by giving that life to Rey so that she could be led by the Force to bring about peace to the galaxy. The important lesson to learn in both situations is a lesson for life itself: sometimes we make mistakes: we are flawed human beings. Then, once we understand what we have done, we must admit those mistakes, and face them. Facing them means admitting them to ourselves and then acting in such a way that we “make up” for those mistakes as much as we can.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, we are not always correct in what we do or say. As Peter in the Gospels, help us understand the mistakes that we have made, and give us the grace to do something about them. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: The conversion of Kylo Ren is proof that there will always be conversion stories to help our world.    DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: (session: approximately 66 minutes) 1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why? 2. What are the most important decisions a young person makes in her/his life? 3. What can be done by the person to insure that those decisions are good ones? 4. How can we help people who are close to despair? 5.  In your opinion, are the people who lead countries interested only in power? Yes or no and how can you tell? 6.  In real life, what are some “conversions” that you know of? 7. What is the best way to bring about a conversion in your own life?