[media presentation below] GospelThink Wednesday, January 24 MARK 4:1-20 With my parable, I tell you to listen to my words. Prayerthoughts a. If I consider the seed to be the Word of God spoken to me, how often do I truly listen to the Word of God in the Gospels? Should it not be “daily”? [In other words, am I cultivating my life to be “rich soil” for the Lord to act?] b. Considering my life, when do I not listen to the Word of God at all? c. Considering my life, when do I listen and promptly forget about the Word? d. Considering my life, when do I listen to the “world”—my own cares and situations— and thus miss any spiritual conclusions to what I should be doing? e. Is it a true statement to say that “Often I prefer to have the Word of God choked by the world in which I live”?   f. Jesus’ statement that I ought to hear if I have ears is a statement of how important this story is. Why is it so important for my spiritual life? g. My prayerthoughts…   Today, I will write a short reflection on the importance of listening to the Word of God. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy  THE WORD OF GOD  + The Gospel lends itself to an easy meditation on how we listen to the Word of God           – according to scholars, Jesus’ parable of the sower is as close as we have to the actual words of Jesus           – Jesus, using an image that people could easily identify with, says that people listening to the word of God fall into four categories: the footpath people, the rocky ground people, the thorns people, and the rich soil people  + The parable is about how we listen to the Word of God           – and it is probably best to look at the four situations of the parable as four different ways that all of us listen to the Word of God and put it into practice in our lives           – we interact with God in various ways at various times           – at certain times, our attitudes toward God may be—–                      – totally non-committal and we do not listen to what should be in our lives, what should be as the Word of God describes it—the footpath in Jesus’ parable                      – or sometimes the pressure of day-to-day living waters down our approach to God, and we lose sight of the importance of God—the rocky ground in Jesus’ parable                      – or sometimes the anxieties, especially wealth and cravings of modern society—materialism—make us forget about God and what God wants—the thorns in the parable                      – or sometimes we really do listen to God, and take what God says to heart and even change our ways—the rich soil of the parable                                – this is the desired end of the spiritual life                                          – what you and I should be striving for  + The spiritual person will be a person who wants religion and God to be part of his/her life in much the same way that David’s people wanted to build a house for God in the first reading                     – we want to listen to the Word of God as if it really were the direction we want to go. MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: “Insurgent” — final session SATISFYING OURSELVES–NOT THE SOLUTION The Gospel LUKE 4:1-4 Filled with the holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.'”

Gospelthink: I was tempted to sin just like you are, but I turn to Scripture. May I remember to turn to the Lord when I am tempted to sin.

The movie “Insurgent” is the story of Tris Prior’s eventual opening of the mysterious box that only a Divergent such as her could open. Jeanine, the evil Erudite leader thought that the box contained the future of the city as envisaged by the founders, and therefore the way to control the “Divergent problem.” Jeanine submitted Tris to various simulation activities to force her to open the box. Eventually Tris experienced the most difficult simulation of all, namely, the confrontation that she must have with herself. She knew that as a Divergent, she had to control her emotions in such a way as to help others. During the simulation, she experienced the dark side of her personality that wanted her to become angry and fight back and hurt others. Only with severe difficulty was she able to overcome the simulation, and eventually open the box. The box’s contents called for all Divergents to lead the way into the world outside the walls.

In many ways, the temptations of Jesus represent the temptations that human beings experience in their lives. In the evangelist Luke’s way of looking at things, Jesus’ first temptation was a temptation to satisfy himself. He was hungry, and could easily have satisfied himself. But he overcame the temptation, pointing out to the tempter that satisfying oneself is not part of the essence of life. In the movie “Insurgent,” Tris feels compelled to open the mysterious box that seems to contain an important message. In order to accomplish her task, she had to face the temptation to satisfy her base desires, her dark side. In simulation, she actually fights herself, finally understanding that the way to overcome her dark side was to let go of her desires to win the battle. In effect, she overcame the temptation by recognizing that there was more to life than satisfying herself. The cartoon character Pogo once made the memorable statement that “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Too often the difficulty with any of our problems is our own desire to solve the problem the way we want it solved. It is a selfish attitude, and does not take into account what God or others may want. We become so convinced of our own “take” on the situation that we do not consider another point of view. Perhaps the primary problem that we have is our own selfishness. If we manage to face ourselves and our desires in a prayerful way, we may find that we have been the problem in our problems.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, we like to satisfy our desires and obtain what we want. Your Son taught us that simply satisfying ourselves is not the way to understand life. May we learn from Your Son, and always consider what You and others may want. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: The way to true happiness is to completely understand how we deal with our own selfish feelings.   DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: (session: approximately 56 minutes) 1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why? 2. The Spirit was active in Jesus’ life. How do we see the Spirit working in today’s world? 3. The meditation interprets the temptation to be a temptation to satisfy himself. In our world today, how are we tempted the most?  4. In your opinion, what makes up the “dark side” of our lives? 5. Do you think that it is true that human beings generally will pretty much follow what they want in their thinking, not considering other opinions? Yes or no and why? 6. Why is “selfishness” such a difficult fault to overcome? 7. Analysis: Discuss Peter’s betrayal and then his rescue of Four and Tris. What was his motivation? 8. Scene analysis: Four and Tris express their love in a physical way. In your opinion, does this affect the young people who watch it? Yes or no and why? 9. Analysis: Should Evelyn have executed Jeanine? Yes or no and why? 10. What does the movie “Insurgent” teach young people?