October 11

The Gospel In Modern Media

A Daily Reflection by Fr. Mike Scully
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THE WAY TO MEAN SOMETHING

The Gospel: MARK 1:14-15

After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

The Media: “Moneyball” (final session)

Baseball people usually think in terms of winning, and in particular winning “the last game of the season,” that is, winning the “World Series.” Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics in 2002, was interested in that, of course, but he was interested in more. Influenced by his own life as a baseball player and by his particular situation of family–a divorce and a 12-year old daughter whom he dearly loved–he knew there was something else. As he told his protege Peter Brand in the movie “Moneyball,” he wanted his life and contribution to “mean something.” He wanted to make what he was doing something better than it was before he entered into it. He accomplished it in baseball.

Paul the Apostle defined the “kingdom of God” to be a place of “righteousness, peace and joy” (Romans 14:17) and therefore a place much better than the world in which we dwell. The gospel is the “good news” which proclaims such a kingdom according to Jesus. In short, Jesus wanted the world to be better than it was. Preaching the gospel of the kingdom was his way of doing it.

Billy Beane in the movie “Moneyball” was not interested so much in the outside world as he was in the baseball world, but his desire was the same. He wanted to make baseball better. Billy explained to Peter Brand: “I’m not in it for the record. That’s when people get hurt. But if we win on our budget, with this team, we’ll have changed the game. And that’s what I want. I want it to mean something.” For Billy “meaning something” was the same thing as accomplishing something better. With Peter Brand’s help, he was able to do it.

Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets once said that “My hope is to leave the world a bit better than when I got here.” Such was the attitude of Jesus as he began the process of redemption. It was likewise the attitude of Billy Beane as he worked in the sport of baseball. If we accept the Christian way of life, it is exactly what you and I are called to do as we live our daily lives.

Our personal worlds can be so much better than they are now. We can work for the kingdom of God to come into our lives, and thus “mean something” for our world. If we work at making our lives “mean something,” we can accomplish amazing things. And make the whole world better than when we got here.

Prayer

Good and gracious God, your Son redeemed our world, and thus made the world a better place. Give us the grace to accept his redemption completely into our lives so that we can make our world a little better than it is. Be with us, we pray.

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme

Our desire in life should be to change things for the better.

Discussion Questions

1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why?
2. Outline the presentation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition on the kingdom of God. See numbers 2816-2821.
3. Why do Christians call the Gospels “good news”?
4. Most Christian say that they “believe in the Gospel.” In your opinion, do most people completely believe in the Gospel? Yes or no and why?
4. What is your understanding of “repent”?
5. If there is one thing that could be done by someone to make the world better, what would it be?
6. With your knowledge of baseball, what is something that could make the game better?
7. Scene analysis: Beane talks to David Justice about being a leader on the team. What is necessary to be a good leader of a group of men or women?
8. Scene analysis: Beane talks to Brand about the strength of his belief: “Do you believe in this or not?” What is necessary before one can say that he/she really believes in something?
9. Analysis: the Athletics win twenty in a row, the American League record. Why is winning so important in a sport?
10. Scene analysis: The media says that the reason for the success is the “manager.” Beane does nothing to say otherwise. Is there ever a time when it is necessary to tell the truth, and accept personal praise? Yes or no and why?
11. Scene analysis: Beane usually does not attend a game, probably out of superstition, something very prominent in baseball. Why do people, especially baseball players, fall into superstitious practices? In your opinion, does doing the same thing all the time really help a player?
12. Scene analysis: Despite all the success, the Athletics lose in the first round of the post-season, and actually have not won the World Series yet. Analyze this fact together with the fact that they won twenty in a row. Did Beane’s and Brand’s method fail? Yes or no and why?
13. Scene analysis: Beane passes up the opportunity to be the Red Sox general manager. In your opinion, why did he make the decision?
14. Scene analysis: Brand shows Beane the video about the person hitting a home run and not even realizing it. What did he want to accomplish by showing it to Beane?
15. What does the movie “Moneyball” teach young people?

Father Michael Scully has spent most of his 40-plus years of ministry working with youth as a religion teacher, high school administrator, youth pastor, and parish pastor. In talks and retreats for high school and college youth, his presentation, “Rock Music and Leadership,” has been presented to over 30,000 young people. He also has given many parish retreats and recollection days. Father Mike Scully is currently serving as one of the vocation directors for the Capuchin Franciscan Province of Mid-America. His radio show “Message at the Top” is aired on KJLS-FM, Mix 103 (103.3) [www.mix103fm.com] in Hays, KS, and can be listened to online on Sunday mornings from 10 am to 12 noon, central standard time.