Pay It Forward

The film, Pay It Forward, has the same premise that underlies the source of the joy and happiness celebrated in today’s liturgy.  The film tells the story of a seventh-grade teacher, Eugene Simonet and his eleven-year-old student, Trevor.  On the first day of class, the teacher puts this challenge on the blackboard: “Think of something new that will change the world, and then act on what you have thought.”  The idea captivates the boy, who lives with his single parent, an alcoholic mother.  The boy attempts to put this idea into practice by helping people, who will, in turn, “pay it forward” by helping others.  The boy draws a circle in his homework book and puts his name in the middle.  From that circle, he extends three lines, at the end of which are three more circles.  In the first circle he writes his mother’s name.  He will try to get her to give up her alcoholism.  In the second circle he writes the name of a classmate who is being bullied by the larger boys in school.  He will make it his duty to defend this fellow.  In the third circle, he writes the name of his teacher, whom he will try to persuade to fall in love with his mother.  These are huge challenges for the boy.  The film then shows the steep obstacles he faces in his attempt to improve his world.  In the end, Pay It Forward inspires us to imagine the possibilities of making the world a better place, transforming one person at a time by a series of “random acts of kindness” and love.  The movie teaches us that when someone does a good deed for us, we should “pay it forward” by making “an act of faith in the goodness of people.”  The net result is lasting peace and joy, the central theme of Advent third Sunday’s readings.