[media presentation below] GospelThink Sunday, October 29, 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time MATTHEW 22:34-40 I changed the basis of all law—you are to love your God, and love your neighbor. Prayerthoughts a. They “tested” him. No doubt, it was done with malice. In my conversations with others, am I honest in the way I speak? b. Jesus is giving me His two commandments of love. Is it clear that my love of God is a strong part of my life? c. As I listen to Jesus say that I must love my neighbor as myself, is there anyone that I am excluding from that love right now? What can I do about it? d. What are the three or four “guides” to my life right now, that is, what are the major reasons that I have for doing the things that I do. Where is the virtue of “love of God and others” in that list? (This is the task of the meditation.) e. My prayerthoughts… Today, I will carry out letter d. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  THE PRINCIPLE OF THE COUNTER-EXAMPLE           In the Jewish law of Jesus’ time according to scholars, there were 613 precepts, 248 positive ones or commandments, 365 negative ones or prohibitions. Among these, some were “light” and some were “heavy.” Of the heavy, some were considered more important than others. The Gospel dialogue in today’s Gospel was a typical educational activity of the rabbis and their schools: they argued the question, “Which is the greatest precept of the law?”            The first part of Jesus’ answer was nothing new. It was the beginning of the Shema, that prayer which was and still is in every Jewish prayer book and prayed every day. But his second part was totally different from anything any Jewish religious leader had ever said. Jesus actually placed the love of neighbor on the same level as love of God. It was rare enough in the Hebrew writings to have anyone speak of neighbors other than Jewish people in a good way—the first reading from Exodus (Exodus 22:20-26) was one of them—but never had a rabbi or any member of a rabbinical school placed the love of someone else other than an Israelite with such importance among the 613 precepts.            This is one of the precepts of Christianity that we know perfectly. It is so familiar that it probably is not even given a second thought, and we often do not think about how earth-shattering it is. We expect that Jesus would tell us to love God, but the phrase of the love of neighbor understood as “anyone” is the one we should think about.            There is a law of geometry that may help us understand the importance of what Jesus said in the Gospel. It is called the principle of the counter-example. It states very logically that in a general proof, if there is one counter-example, that is, one place where the proof does not work, then the whole proof is false. Applied to Christian living and to the radical statement that Jesus makes in today’s Gospel, the Christian law of the counter-example becomes: if there is one counter-example to my love of neighbor, one place where we do not love someone else as Jesus said, then we do not have a love of neighbor at all.            What we’d rather have would be what might be called the principle of “selective exceptions.” We can all think of situations in our lives right now where we would like to apply this principle of selective exceptions. There are some people whose political thought I cannot stand; some people in our families that we just do not get along with and very few do; someone that we always talk about in a negative way; someone that we have refused to talk to, usually someone who has refused to talk to us in the first place. But the Christian law of the counter-example holds—if there is one person or situation in which I do not love, then I do not love at all.            And what if the love is not returned? Jesus does not say anything about being loved in return. He only says love—active voice. If our love is not returned, so be it. Granted, there are people who refuse our love. Granted, too, there are cases of “tough love” and specific actions may be required, actions which seem to be unloving, and we have to follow through with them. But in every case, the Christian law of the counter-example holds.            If there is one exception to our law of love of neighbor, then we are simply not following the law of love of neighbor. It is a difficult law, but it is the law of Jesus. MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: “Aquaman” — final session WE MUST HAVE HELP The Gospel JOHN 3:13-15 Jesus said, “No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.”

Gospelthink: I remind you that you must honestly believe in me and what I have done. Have I accepted everything the Lord has said and done for me?

Princess Mera and Arthur, now Aquaman, have teamed up to fight against Arthur’s half-brother Orm, but they met defeat after defeat. They finally had to flee and seek out a means to defeat Orm and his army. They sought a trident that will help defeat Orm. (Orm had already defeated Arthur and had smashed his mother’s trident which Arthur possessed.) They attempted to discover something that will help defeat Orm from attacking the surface world. At one time they were rescued by Atlanna, Arthur’s mother who gave them confidence to carry on their fight. Finally they discovered a special trident with Atlanna’s help. Together they fought the enemies of the surface, and won, but Aquaman allowed Orm to live. Eventually Arthur was crowned the king and protector of the land and the seas, although it is clear that Orm will come back if he possibly can.

The Scriptures often say to us that we who are human need help. In the Hebrew Scriptures at one time as the Israelites were wandering in the desert before they were allowed into their Promised Land, they were bitten by serpents that killed some. After consulting with his God, Moses directed them to “make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard; and it shall come about that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live” (Numbers 21:8). Jesus refers to that instance saying that He would be mounted on a standard called the cross, and everyone who looks at it will be saved. The whole message of the Christian Scriptures is that we need help in order to have the life that we seek. We all desire eternal life with God, and the help that we must have in order to achieve it is the person of Jesus, the “Son of Man.” If we look on the Lord’s cross and believe in what He did for us, we will have the help we need. It was obvious that Princess Mera and Aquaman were going to need help. At one time in the movie “Aquaman,” they had to hide in a mouth of a whale, and they finally had to flee to the Sahara desert which once was an ocean. They were looking for the special trident, that is a sword-like weapon that would help them defeat Orm and his armies. To find it, they had to have the help of Atlanna and others before Arthur could finally use it to become the king. Whether we are dealing with fantasy or real life, one of the important facts is that we must have help in order to live. We cannot depend on ourselves alone. In real life, we must see that there are people that will always help us. In the spiritual life, we must be aware that looking upon the cross of Jesus and believing in him, will give us ultimately what we all desire.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, Your Son is ultimately the help that we must have in order to live well. Give us the grace to turn to You through Your Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit so that our lives can be better here on earth and later in eternal life with you. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: If we want to save our world, we will need help.   DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: (session: approximately 67 minutes) 1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why? 2. What does the movie “Aquaman” teach young people? 3. Analysis: Atlantean people show no forgiveness. What is the result of a world that would show no forgiveness? 4. Mounting a serpent on a pole makes a cross. Already in the Old Testament, the cross became of symbol of salvation. We see the cross everywhere in our lives: our jewelry, our decorations, etc. Do you think that we have the proper understanding of the Christian cross? Yes or no and why? 5. Many Christians feel as though God has not given them the help they need. How would you answer someone who requests your help to explain how God answers prayers? 6. There are some people who will say that they do not need help. Is there anyone on earth who really does not need help? Yes or no and why? 7. What are the principal helps that young people have in order to live better lives? 8. The spiritual help we need comes from believing in what Jesus has done for us through the cross. In your opinion, do most Christians believe the way they should? Yes or no and why?