A Movie You Might Have Missed #65: The Interrupters

It's been 11 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

Every City Needs Its Heroes

The Interrupters tells the moving and surprising stories of three Violence Interrupters who try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they themselves once employed. Shot over the course of a year, The Interrupters captures a period in Chicago when it became a national symbol for the violence in our cities.

It's funny, when I was watching this it seemed like a long two hours. But since it finished we haven't stopped talking about it. I realized that it needed to move at a fairly slow pace so that we understood all the nuances of the lives of the people living in an atmosphere of continual violence ... and the work of the people who interrupt, slow down conflicts long enough to help more of them come out the other end alive.

Powerful and, as I realized by my joy in seeing some people doing well in the Epilogue, moving.

Baseball Players Practicing

"Baseball Players Practicing, 1875, Thomas Eakins.
Courtesy of the Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art.
Via Wikipedia

There are some modern teams who have old-fashioned uniforms. I always wondered why they didn't look more "authentic" until I saw this and realized the new ones are tighter, don't have big belts, and ... most important of all ... the players don't have handlebar mustaches!

Lent and Easter, Life Now and in Heaven

Because there are these two periods of time — the one that is now is, beset with the trials and troubles of this life, and the other yet to come, a life of everlasting serenity and joy — we are given two liturgical seasons, one before Easter and the other after. The season before Easter signifies the troubles in which we live here and now, while the time after Easter which we are celebrating at present signifies the happiness that will be ours in the future. What we commemorate before Easter is what we experience in this life; what we celebrate after Easter points to something we do not yet possess. That is why we keep the first season with fasting and prayer; but now the fast is over and we devote the present season to praise. Such is the meaning of the Alleluia we sing.

St. Augustine, a discourse on the psalms

Easter is over although we have a few more joyous special celebrations coming — Corpus Christi Sunday, The Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary. These are the moments to remember what Augustine says above, that our celebration is just a foretaste of what awaits us after this life.

Two Laughing Girls

Two Laughing Girls, Pere Borrell del Caso

 These girls are just adorable. The icing on the cake is trompe l'oeil which fools your eye into thinking that the subject is breaking out of the painting into the real world. 

In this case, the girl in front seems to be leaning out of the frame while the girl behind her is pointing with her hand out of the frame. It is a delight.

The Gulf of Trieste

The Gulf of Trieste by Pietro Fragiacomo, c. early 1900s.

Confession — opening to grace

Let those who perform works of penance learn from the words of the prophet with what dispositions they must do so, with what zeal, with what spirit, with what purpose, with what inward compunction they must do so, with what zeal, with what spirit with what purpose, with what inward compunction, with what change of heart: "Look, Yahweh, I am in distress! My inmost being is in ferment; my heart turns over inside me.

So too did the people of Nineveh mourn, and they were spared the destruction of their city (see Jonah 3); so great is the remedial efficacy of penance, that God seems to change his decree because of it. It is, therefore, withing your power also to escape his punishment. He wants only that you place your hope in him, he wants only that you appeal to his mercy. If you ... are unwilling to grant pardon to your neighbor unless hea sks for it, do you think that, without your asking for forgiveness, God will forgive you?

Let us then mourn for a time, that we may rejoice for eternity. Let us fear the Lord; let us prepare to meet him, confessing our sins; let us correct our failings and make amends for our transgressions, lest of us too it should be said: "The faithful have vanished from the land: there is no one honest left" (Mi 7:2)

Why do you fear to confess your sins to the Lord who is so good? "Confess your sins," He bids you, "so that you may be justified." The grace of justification is offered you, while you are still guilty of sin; for he is justified who voluntarily confesses that he has sinned. ... The Lord knows all things, but he waits for your confession, not in order to punish but in order to forgive.

St. Ambrose,
via The New Jerusalem Bible (Saints Devotional Edition)

Saint Ambrose here is considering the words of Micah 7:18, "What god can compare with you for pardoning guilt and for overlooking crime? He does not harbor anger for ever, since he delights in showing faithful love." 

Micah, of course, is speaking to the Lord God, praising his lover and forgiveness. When we mourn our shortfalls, these are heartening, inspiring words, especially if we've fallen away from a close relationship with God. This is the time to bare one's soul and come back into a loving relationship who is like the father from the parable of the prodigal son — just waiting with open arms for us to come home.

Events of the past find their spiritual fulfillment in your journey today

The ark of the covenant led the people of God across the Jordan. The priests and the Levites halted, and the waters, as though out of reverence to the ministers of God, stopped flowing. They piled up in a single mass, thus allowing the people of God to cross in safety. ...

You must not think that these events belong only to the past, and that you who now hear the account of them do not experience anything of the kind. It is in you that they all find their spiritual fulfillment. You have recently abandoned the darkness of idolatry, and you now desire to come and hear the divine law. This is your departure from Egypt. When you became a catechumen and began to obey the laws of the Church, you passed through the Red Sea; now at the various stops in the desert, you give time every day to hear the law of God and to see the face of Moses unveiled by the glory of God. But once you come to the baptismal font ... then, through the ministry of the priests, you will cross the Jordan and enter the promised land. There Moses will hand you over to Jesus, and He himself will be your guide on your new journey.

Origen, priest, homily on Joshua

This is such a great connection of our spiritual lives with the actual events of the past. All are connected in salvation history to lead us to Jesus.

In the Evening

In the Evening, Edward B. Gordon
The colors of the setting sun reflected in one of the many canals in Berlin.

‘The place where God would be’ - After prenatal diagnosis, parents find support in Catholic ministry

“I was alone and sitting with the medical team,” Jane told The Pillar.

“They confirmed that baby Emmi had anencephaly and said that she would not survive after birth - if she even made it that far.”

“It was as if a part of me had died right then and there,” she said. “The rest of that day, needless to say, was full of crying and weeping. It was the most painful thing my heart had ever felt. I fell asleep crying that evening.”

But in that painful experience, Jane says also encountered God’s love, in part through the support she received from Be Not Afraid, a Catholic non-profit organization supporting parents whose child has received a prenatal diagnosis.

Jane’s doctor offered her a list of resources that included Be Not Afraid (BNA). She connected with the organization, which helped her family “navigate a lot of those decisions we would have to make.”

Members of Be Not Afraid (BNA) offered Jane’s family resources, education, and even gifts unique to their situation.

“They were truly a God-send, showing us that we were not alone.”

Here's a fascinating and inspiring article from The Pillar about a unique ministry that offers grief ministry for parents whose unborn child has been diagnosed with a fatal illness. It's an indepth piece which made me wish there was such a ministry in Dallas. 

Here's a bit more and then go read the whole thing.

Medical professionals who are not Catholic or even pro-life have responded positively to the work of BNA, she said, because they see the positive effect the ministry has on parents as they navigate a very challenging and painful situation.

“We have had doctors who come out of the delivery room and cry and say that the birth plan was amazing.”

In some cases, medical professionals think carrying a baby to term will lead to a horrible event, she continued. These professionals encounter the option of a person choosing “to love their baby enough to give them time, or love their baby [enough] to accept their baby with a disability, however long that baby’s life will be.”

“We introduce them to sacrificial love.”

Tawny Owl

Tawny Owl, Remo Savisaar

The School of Athens

The School of Athens, Raphael

 Here's a little something to go along with the commentary about choosing our teachers wisely.

The importance of the teacher as model

First, Jesus stresses the importance of the role of a teacher as model. With few exceptions, students do not surpass their teacher in knowledge and virtue. Therefore, if the teacher is vicious to begin with, there is little hope for the followers. This outght to be instructive for those of us in Western culture where we often follow the principles taught by famous teachers (Spinoza, Darwin, Freud, Descartes, Machiavelli, Rousseau, Marx, etc.) who were perverse and ignoble in their personal lives. How can we expect society as a whole to be elevated by the doctrines of men who themselves were so unsuccessful as human beings?

John Bergsma, Word of the Lord Year C,
commenting on Luke 6:39-45

John Bergsma is commenting on Luke 6:39-45 when Jesus says, "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit." I think we're seeing the fruit of the teachers that Bergsma mentions. We're confused, have the wrong goals, and can't see the solid ground beneath our feet.

Psalm 33 — The Sovereignty of God

When you are gathered together with people who are righteous and upright of life, wing with them Psalm 33.

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

I love the way this psalm begins, telling everyone to to rejoice, sing, and play instruments. One translation says "shout for joy." Another says "skillfully play with joyful chant." Anyway you look at it, this makes me think of a loud, joyful procession of call and response, of everyone joining in as loudly as they can. Again, I think of the joyful celebrations of song and dance from my beloved Indian movies.

This psalm of praise is about much more than God's reflection in creation, but I was really struck by verse 6 (NIV):

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

I'll never forget the many times I have looked up at the night sky and been reduced to tears by the beauty, grandeur, and mystery of the stars overhead. That's hard to do when you live in a big city like I do, but I remember the last time I was at my sister's house in Florida. They live in a spot where you can get complete darkness despite the houses around them and a casual glance at the sky left me rooted to the spot for a long time. My heart was so full of joy at God's goodness to his. After all, He made the world beautiful because he loves us. When I think of the power, creativity, and intelligence it took for that creation, I am overawed. 

That brings me back to the rest of the psalm. If God can do that, can't we trust him to keep his word? The psalmist considers God's character and his interactions with us to show why we may trust God even if we might have to wait for his help. The key is to wait hopefully, with trust.

Van Gogh's Starry Night Over the Rhône
Van Gogh in a letter to Theo after having painted Starry Night Over the Rhône,
confessing to a "tremendous need for, shall I say the word—for religion—
so I go outside at night to paint the stars."

 

I'm going to let Basil the Great develop the idea of how nature lets us see the invisible God through visible things. I particularly love the way he won't hear of "accidental" development for nature or of "bad mishaps" in people's lives. This is not being able to see with God's foresight.

33:4 All God's Work

The Providence of God. Basil the Great. "If you see the heavens," he says, "and the order in them," they are a guide to faith, for through themselves they show the Craftsman; and, if you see the orderly arrangement about the earth, again through these things also your faith in God is increased. In fact, it is not by acquiring knowledge of God with our carnal eyes that we believe in him, but by the power of the mind we have perceived the invisible God through visible things. Therefore, "all his works are done with faithfulness." Even if you consider the stone, it also possesses a certain proof of the power of its Maker. likewise, if you consider the ant or the gnat or the bee. Frequently in the smallest objects the wisdom of the creator shines forth. He who unfolded the heavens and poured out the boundless expanses of the seas, he it is who hollowed out the very delicate sting of the bee like a tube, so that through it the poison might be poured out. Therefore "all his works are done with faithfulness." Do not say, "This happened by chance" and "that occurred accidentally." Nothing is casual, nothing indeterminate, nothing happens at random, nothing among things that exist is caused by chance. And do not say, "It is a bad mishap," or "it is an evil hour." these are the words of the untaught. "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? (Mt. 10:29) And yet not one of them will fall" (Mt. 10:29) without the divine will. How many are the hairs of your head? Not one of them will be forgotten. (Cf. Mt. 10:30) Do you see the divine eye, how none of the least trifles escapes its glance?  Homilies on the Psalms.

An index of psalm posts is here.

Sharmaji Namkeen (Mr. Sharma's Savoury Snacks)

After being laid off from the company he has worked for his entire life, 58-year-old Sharmaji (Mr. Sharma) struggles with retirement. The one unique hobby he has is his excellent cooking but his sons laugh at his idea of setting up a snack shop. Then a friend sets him up as a cook for a kitty party [what we in America might call a hen party]. A bunch of merry women rekindle in Sharma, a passion for cooking and chutzpah in general, that help him find his true calling.

This was a fun, sweet movie of the kind that Hollywood doesn't make anymore. It has familiar beats because this is a familiar theme in American movies and tv. However, the themes of family and friends are really well done. There are humorous points that I liked a lot. The whole scene in the jail is one I really enjoyed.

One point that I was really curious about was that star Rishi Kapoor died while before filming was complete. As his son, Ranbir Kapoor — also a famous Bollywood actor,  explains in a brief clip at the beginning, they decided to honor his memory by finishing the movie. Paresh Rawal filled in and I was in awe of the way they were able to use a second actor so seamlessly in the uncompleted parts of the movie. In fact, most of the time a switch went unnoticed because we were busy watching the movie. 

It isn't a big movie but it is thoroughly enjoyable and a delightful change of pace. Sometimes that's just what we need.

For an excellent, comprehensive review read this one from Access Bollywood.

In a Roman Osteria

In a Roman Osteria, 1866, Carl Bloch

 I love the expressions on everyone's faces.

An Elegantly Dressed Copyist at the Louvre

Louis Béroud - An Elegantly Dressed Copyist at the Louvr

Via Gandalf's Gallery where we learn:

Copying was an essential part of any 19th century artist’s education and the Musée du Louvre, unlike most academies and ateliers, was open to both men and women who studied its many masterpieces. Here, a woman in blue paints at an easel positioned in front of Leonardo’s monumental painting of the so-called Virgin of the Rocks. Sitting on a stool with a protective tarp beneath her, she raises her right arm, touching her paintbrush to the surface of the canvas, her left hand resting on her hip, and a ready rag spills out of the box of supplies open on a stool to her left. Almost all of the copyists in Béroud’s scenes are women who enjoyed access to the museum as amateur painters.

Christ and His Mother Studying the Scriptures

Christ and His Mother Studying the Scriptures, Henry Ossawa Tanner

Today I am in Houston attending the funeral of my godmother (my husband's Aunt C.B.). She died a while ago but the way things are these days, nothing worked out until now for our final goodbye.

This painting seemed appropriate because, with much trepidation, while I was still in RCIA she sent me Rome Sweet Home by Scott and Kimberly Hahn. I read it and was much moved. When I looked for something else Scott Hahn had written, I picked up A Father Who Keeps His Promises. 

It was formative for me in how I looked at scripture and salvation history in the Bible. Like Saint Augustine, I had thought the Bible to be a lot of simple stories that didn't always hang together. Thanks to Aunt C.B.'s early gift I was led to a deep appreciation of scripture that is part of who I am as a Catholic.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #64: Train to Busan

It's been 11 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

Soo-an: Dad, you only care about yourself. That's why mommy left.

He's forgotten her birthday, he's forgotten to show up at school for her special song, but Seok Woo is going to make sure his little daughter safely gets from Seoul to Busan to visit her mother, his ex-wife. It's just their bad luck that a zombie virus breaks out while they're on the train. The passengers must fight for their families and their lives against the zombies.

We loved this basic zombie movie with the clever twist of NOT staying on a train but clearly having to BE on a train to get to Busan, where there might be a safe haven ... we hope. It was more thoughtful than the average zombie movie. (Is there such a thing as an average zombie movie these days? Oh, right, World War Z. That was very average.)

I especially appreciated the family themes as echoed through all the characters we really come to know ... from young love through fatherhood and old age. And it isn't afraid to look at how an extended struggle might turn survivors against each other as they trade common decency and humanity for personal security.

No wonder it made $85 million. A solid story, well told.

Scott and I discussed this in episode 244 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

Starlink

Small flowers shine everywhere now on the ground and in the bushes.
Like the stars in the sky, only on earth, and during the day.
Edward B. Gordon

The holy Darcagüey

The holy Darcagüey,
portrait of a Moroccan dervish by José Tapiró y Baró, 1890

 

My heart is breaking ...

 ... for the families of Uvalde, just as it did so recently for the families of Buffalo. And as it has for all the mass shootings we have suffered.

I am praying for everyone in their grief and loss. I also pray for our politicians to get it together, stop their infighting, and implement wise measures from both sides. 

I was reminded this morning that David did not despair, despite all of the setbacks in his eventful life (some self-inflicted to be sure). We too must not despair, but must hope in the Lord and do our utmost, whether it be prayer or whatever actions we can take.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

The Gift Counselor by Sheila M. Cronin

Do all gifts have strings attached?

Yes, believes Jonquil Bloom and she intends to prove it. She's a psychologist who uses her skills in a department store to help shoppers of all ages become good gift givers. Yet, her ten-year-old son wants a dog she won’t let him have.

Enter the handsome bachelor who is ready to settle down.

This is a tale with two purposes. 

On one hand, this is a romance story. Simply written and straight forward with the beats we expect, there are few surprises as to who will wind up with who, despite various misunderstandings along the way. It has a Catholic worldview although the Catholicism doesn't intrude overmuch. A local priest gives a homily or a bit of advice but he rarely shows up. The overall effect is sweet.

On the other hand, it is an unexpected meditation upon gift giving. That is what interested me most. Gift giving and receiving is woven on many strands of the story which gave us a lot of chances to think about it in our own lives. I especially enjoyed seeing Jonquil gently nudge people into considering what they wanted their gifts to achieve. In looking at those interactions, we have a clear view from which to consider Jonquil's own flaws in that area. She has to remove the log from her own eye before trying to help with the splinter in her neighbor's (to loosely quote Jesus).

The author has a good touch with developing characters. The heroine, Jonquil, and her son, Billy, are relatively nuanced although the others are generally all good or bad with few gray areas. Usually that's the kiss of death for me, but in this case folks like Rita, Al, Mr. Merrill, and even Miss Hamilton were allowed just enough growth to make me like them.

Although this isn't the sort of book I usually like, I couldn't put it down.

Note: This was a review copy.

Hoopoe

Hoopoe, Remo Savisaar

Doesn't this look like the craziest woodpecker in the world? I love the coloring and pattern!

A Couple of Fun Things to Keep an Eye On — Dracula Daily and Alice's Adventures

ALICE'S ADVENTURES
(both In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass)

As frequent visitors know, I love Corey Olsen's Mythgard Academy classes on fantasy and science fiction. They dive very deeply into Tolkein's Middle Earth works (including a lot that most people haven't heard of) but I  stick to the works that most people have heard of like Dune, Dracula, and Watership Down just to name a few. 

 

I was delighted to see the newest series covering a surprising selection, both of Lewis Carroll's Alice books. However, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis both acknowledged debts to and love of these books, so it makes sense that Mythgard Academy would dive in sooner or later.

Listen here.

 

DRACULA DAILY 

Get the classic novel Dracula delivered to your email inbox, as it happens.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is an epistolary novel - it’s made up of letters, diaries, telegrams, newspaper clippings - and every part of it has a date. The whole story happens between May 3 and November 10. So: Dracula Daily will post a newsletter each day that something happens to the characters, in the same timeline that it happens to them.

I've read Dracula so many times that I practically have it memorized. But I know it can be intimidating what with being an older book, a classic, about vampires, and suchlike. 

This is the easy way to try it — via email, in small digestible chunks - as it happens to the characters. Sign up here.

 

The Christian is to the world what the soul is to the body.

 Oh my gosh, this is super long but so easy to read and so good! It was in the Office of Readings for Wednesday, May 18 and instantly got marked for my quote journal.

From the Letter to Diognetus

The Christian in the world

Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. Their teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. Unlike some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign.

And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labour under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country. Like others, they marry and have children, but they do not expose them. They share their meals, but not their wives. They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven. Obedient to the laws, they yet live on a level that transcends the law.

Christians love all men, but all men persecute them. Condemned because they are not understood, they are put to death, but raised to life again. They live in poverty, but enrich many; they are totally destitute, but possess an abundance of everything. They suffer dishonour, but that is their glory. They are defamed, but vindicated. A blessing is their answer to abuse, deference their response to insult. For the good they do they receive the punishment of malefactors, but even then they rejoice, as though receiving the gift of life. They are attacked by the Jews as aliens, they are persecuted by the Greeks, yet no one can explain the reason for this hatred.

To speak in general terms, we may say that the Christian is to the world what the soul is to the body. As the soul is present in every part of the body, while remaining distinct from it, so Christians are found in all the cities of the world, but cannot be identified with the world. As the visible body contains the invisible soul, so Christians are seen living in the world, but their religious life remains unseen. The body hates the soul and wars against it, not because of any injury the soul has done it, but because of the restriction the soul places on its pleasures. Similarly, the world hates the Christians, not because they have done it any wrong, but because they are opposed to its enjoyments.

Christians love those who hate them just as the soul loves the body and all its members despite the body’s hatred. It is by the soul, enclosed within the body, that the body is held together, and similarly, it is by the Christians, detained in the world as in a prison, that the world is held together. The soul, though immortal, has a mortal dwelling place; and Christians also live for a time amidst perishable things, while awaiting the freedom from change and decay that will be theirs in heaven. As the soul benefits from the deprivation of food and drink, so Christians flourish under persecution. Such is the Christian’s lofty and divinely appointed function, from which he is not permitted to excuse himself.

Garden Path

Garden Path, Edward B. Gordon

Holy moly — the archbishop of San Francisco bars Nancy Pelosi from Holy Communion over abortion advocacy

“I must make a public declaration that [Pelosi] is not to be admitted to Holy Communion unless and until she publicly repudiate her support for abortion ‘rights’ and confess and receive absolution for her cooperation in this evil in the sacrament of Penance. I have accordingly sent her a Notification to this effect, which I have now made public,” Cordileone wrote in a letter released Friday.

This is from The Pillar where you may read more and where there is a link to Cordileone's letter to Pelosi.

In reference to those wondering about denying Communion, The Pillar adds this context:

In 2004, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger explained to U.S. bishops that:

Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a person's formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his Pastor should meet with him, instructing him about the Church's teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist.

“When ‘these precautionary measures have not had their effect or in which they were not possible,’ and the person in question, with obstinate persistence, still presents himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, ‘the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it.’”

This decision, properly speaking, is not a sanction or a penalty. Nor is the minister of Holy Communion passing judgment on the person's subjective guilt, but rather is reacting to the person's public unworthiness to receive Holy Communion due to an objective situation of sin.

Essentially, though it probably doesn't  feel that way at this moment, this is Nancy Pelosi's opportunity to deeply examine her faith and whether she truly believes that very faith which she so often professes publicly. It is also a way to stop her creating confusion and scandal about Catholic teachings.

Yellow-Glazed Brush Holder

Yellow-glazed brush-holder, "Chen Guo Zhi" mark;
Jingdezhen Daoguang reign, (1821-50)

I love it when common place items have decorative, artistic touches. I wish that more of our world had such touches.

A Thoughtful, Well Written Piece on the Word on Fire Controversy

 Darwin Catholic is always worth reading and never more than in this piece where he looks at what happened with WOF and how it would have been handled in the secular workplaces he's worked for. I'd only heard a little about this and it seemed to be an employee's personal life problem rather than a workplace problem. Which is something that Darwin points out. However, he looks at this from a lot of angles and it is well considered. Here's a bit and then you can go read the whole thing.

The second thing that struck me is that everyone involved seems to have an implicit belief that Catholic organizations should insist on hiring and maintaining only employees who hit some specific standard of personal moral behavior.

It's interesting that this is the substance of an attack on WOF which is generally coming from the left. After all, we're used to a certain sort of Catholic organization controversy where an institution fires an employee for failing to live up to Catholic sexual teachings and more progressive Catholics object that this is unmerciful.

Perhaps what confuses the situation in this case is that the discussion of Gloor's dismissal is being framed as if it were an accusation of either workplace sexual misconduct or clerical sexual abuse. However, the alleged misconduct apparently did not occur in the workplace or with a co-worker, and Gloor is most certainly not a cleric.

The Convent School and The Tower of Las Damas

This was originally published in June 2013. However I love the paintings so much and treasure the memory of the show so much that I am sharing it again, 9 years later. Thursday nights at the museum are still free and it remains relatively unknown.

Martín Rico y Ortega (Spanish, 1833-1908), The School Patio, 1871

We saw this charming painting last night at one of Dallas's best kept secrets, the Meadows Museum at SMU. They are hosting "Impressions of Europe: 19th-Century Vistas by Martin Rico.

I'd never heard of this artist but Thursday nights are free and Tom and I made a date of it. It was really enjoyable, just the right size for an evening's art appreciation to take you out of the everyday world.

Of course, this blog post can't possibly convey the charm of the actual painting, where one is free to examine it closely, seeing the textures and expressions the artist included.

Here is another painting, just to try to lure any Dallasites to the exhibit before it closes on July 7.

Martín Rico y Ortega (Spanish, 1833-1908),
The Tower of Las Damas at the Alhambra, Granada, 1871.

It is not man who goes to God, but God who comes to man.

Almost all religions center around the problem of expiation; they arise out of man's knowledge of his guilt before God and signify the attempt to remove this feeling of guilt through conciliatory actions offered up to God. The expiatory activity by which men hope to conciliate the divinity and to put him in a gracious mood stands at the heart of the history of religion.

In the New Testament the situation is almost completely reversed, It is not man who goes to God with a compensatory gift, but God who comes to man, in order to give to him. He restores disturbed right on the initiative of his own power to love, by making unjust man just again, the dead living again, through his own creative mercy. His righteousness is grace; it is active righteousness, which sets crooked man right, that is, bends him straight, makes him correct. Here we stand before the twist that Christianity put into the history of religion. the New Testament does not say that men conciliate God, as we really ought to expect, since, after all, it is they who have failed, not God. It says, on the contrary, that "in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself." This is truly something new, something unheard of—the starting point of Christian existence and the center of New Testament theology of the cross. God does not wait until the guilty come to be reconciled, he goes to meet them and reconciles them. Here we can see the true direction of the Incarnation, of the cross.

Accordingly, in the New Testament the cross appears primarily as a movement from above to below. It stands there, not as the work of expiation that mankind offers to the wrathful God, but as the expression of the foolish love of God's that gives itself away to the point of humiliation in order thus to save man; it is his approach to us, not the other way about. With this twist in the idea of expiation, and thus in the whole axis of religion, worship, too, man's whole existence, acquires in Christianity a new direction.

Cardinal Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity

I remember saying that Introduction to Christianity was a terrible name for this book by the cardinal who became Pope Benedict. It was no introduction at all as I think of it which would be gentle and easy to understand. However, it was good. Very good. As this sample shows. I need to reread it.

Keepin' It Cool

Keepin' It Cool
"Anana swims in her 60F chilled water to beat the 95F heat."
taken by Valerie, ucumari photography
Some rights reserved

A Movie You Might Have Missed #63: The Captain's Paradise

It's been 11 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

Capt. Henry St. James [referring to his two wives]: That, Rico, is my solution to man's happiness on Earth. Two happy women, each in their way perfect, and in between the company of men, the clash of intellects to stimulate the mind.

Mediterranean ferryboat captain Henry St James (Alec Guiness) has things well organized – a loving and very English wife Maud (Celia Johnson) in Gibraltar, and the loving if rather more hot-blooded Mistress, Nita (Yvonne de Carlo), in Tangiers. A perfect life. As long as neither woman decides to follow him to the other port.

A surprisingly feminist movie ... though in our times we often feel we invented feminism which in itself is not a very worthy attitude. In a way, this is a wonderful bookend to How to Murder Your Wife. Both treat women as something which must be controlled in order to preserve man's peaceful life. Of course, what both films show us is that women are not things, but people. And people can't be easily controlled. With hilarious results.

Thoroughly enjoyable and my favorite so far of the Alec Guiness comedies we've been watching.

A Name Both Revealed and Refused

In revealing his mysterious name, YHWH ("I AM HE Who Is, "I AM WHO AM" or "I AM WHO I AM"), God says who he is and by what name he is to be called. This divine name is mysterous just as God is mystery. It is at once a name revealed and something like the refusal of a name and hence it better expresses God as what he is — infineitely above everything that we can understand or say: he is the "hidden God," his name is ineffable, and he is the God who makes himself close to men.

CCC 206, Catechism of the Catholic Church

This is both illuminating and mind blowing to consider. I've been reading a section of the Catechism every day during my afternoon prayer and it's chock full of good lectio divina material.

Blossoming Tree

A blossoming tree on the beach of the Mediterranean Sea Straits
between the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara.
Edward B. Gordon

A Divine "Punishment"

A divine 'punishment’ is also a divine 'gift’, if accepted, since its object is ultimate blessing, and the supreme inventiveness of the Creator will make 'punishments’ (that is changes of design) produce a good not otherwise to be attained...

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien

I'll never forget reading the interview where Stephen Colbert talked about this:

He was tracing an arc on the table with his fingers and speaking with such deliberation and care. “I was left alone a lot after Dad and the boys died.... And it was just me and Mom for a long time,” he said. “And by her example am I not bitter. By her example. She was not. Broken, yes. Bitter, no.” Maybe, he said, she had to be that for him. He has said this before—that even in those days of unremitting grief, she drew on her faith that the only way to not be swallowed by sorrow, to in fact recognize that our sorrow is inseparable from our joy, is to always understand our suffering, ourselves, in the light of eternity. What is this in the light of eternity? Imagine being a parent so filled with your own pain, and yet still being able to pass that on to your son.

“It was a very healthy reciprocal acceptance of suffering,” he said. “Which does not mean being defeated by suffering. Acceptance is not defeat. Acceptance is just awareness.” He smiled in anticipation of the callback: “ ‘You gotta learn to love the bomb,’ ” he said. “Boy, did I have a bomb when I was 10. That was quite an explosion. And I learned to love it. So that's why. Maybe, I don't know. That might be why you don't see me as someone angry and working out my demons onstage. It's that I love the thing that I most wish had not happened.”

I love the thing that I most wish had not happened.

I asked him if he could help me understand that better, and he described a letter from Tolkien in response to a priest who had questioned whether Tolkien's mythos was sufficiently doctrinaire, since it treated death not as a punishment for the sin of the fall but as a gift. “Tolkien says, in a letter back: ‘What punishments of God are not gifts?’ ” Colbert knocked his knuckles on the table. “ ‘What punishments of God are not gifts?’ ” he said again. His eyes were filled with tears. “So it would be ungrateful not to take everything with gratitude. It doesn't mean you want it. I can hold both of those ideas in my head.”

Joel Lovell, GQ

It's worth thinking about as you trace back through your own life.

Making Christians Not Mathematicians

Nowhere in the Gospel do we see that the Lord said: "I am sending you a Paraclete who will teach you about the course of the sun and the moon." For He wanted to make Christians not mathematicians.

St. Augustine

Because even waaay back in the day, people were trying to pick apart the Bible because the science didn't look right to them. Some things never change.

Helen Hyde

Helen Hyde

Helen Hyde was the artist who gave us the painting from last week, Moonlight on the Viga Canal. I love the sense of style in this photo as well as her winning expression. Click through the link to read more about her fascinating life and the way she concentrated on Japanese influenced art.

I do not approve of guys using false pretenses on dolls ...

Personally, I never cricize Miss Beulah Beauregard for breaking her engagement to Little Alfie, because from what she tells me she becomes engaged to him under false pretenses and I do not approve of guys using false pretenses on dolls, except, of course, when nothing else will do.

Damon Runyon, It Comes Up Mud

How's that for an opening sentence?

This one's for Rose whose birthday is today. She  hasn't read anything by Damon Runyon that I know of, but her love for the movie Guys and Dolls exposed me to his world ... which led to me reading his stories.

May

May, Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry

The May jaunt, a pageant celebrating the "joli mois de Mai" in which one had to wear green garments known as livree de mai. The riders are young noblemen and women, with princes and princesses being visible. In the background is a chateau thought to be the Palais de la Cite in Paris.

University of Chicago

The Pastry Cook

The Pastry Cook by Joseph Bail

Nature and the contradictions of contemporary secularism

One of the contradictions of contemporary secularism is its worship of nature, on the one hand, and its call for radical liberation from nature, on the other. We are told to eat organically, limit our carbon footprint, protect wild spaces, take public transportation ... We are also told we can choose if we are a male or a female (or something else entirely), that there are no natural differences between the sexes, that we can have intercourse without thinking about reproduction, that babies in wombs are not human life (unless they become "chosen"), that it is "ableist" to distinguish—physically, not morally— between abled and disabled human bodies ...

Christopher Kaczor & Matthew R. Petrusek
Jordan Peterson, God, and Christianity

This is so obvious that I feel really silly for not ever noticing how shockingly bad are the contradictions  of believing both points of view simultaneously. I know many people do so and we are often bombarded by popular opinion supporting any and all of these ideas without ever noticing the logical inconsistencies.

I myself probably would if not for the grace of becoming Catholic and having my feet planted in age-old truths with thousands of years of logic behind them.

Bear Boy

Bear Boy, Remo Savisaar

Mei (May)

Mei, Theo van Hoytema

Jordan Peterson, God and Christianity: The Search for a Meaningful Life

A very kind blog reader sent me this as an Easter gift. Honestly the best thing about it was the really nice note that was included.

I dipped into Jordan Peterson's video series a while back to see what all the fuss was about and found his reasoning very compelling. I was interested that a Jungian psychotherapist seemed to draw all the right conclusions from a close reading of the book of Genesis. Naturally, I've seen many references to Peterson and liked the idea that he has particularly caught the attention of young men who look to his insights for guidance in their lives. In our age of "diversity" this group has been almost deliberately overlooked.

Most of all I wondered how Peterson's conclusions stacked up against a Christian reading of the same scripture and traditions. I wasn't so interested in that question that I was going to watch all of his presentations though. That is why I was delighted when this book came out which does just that. It lived up to its promise in spades.

The authors go through Peterson's 12 rules of life from the book of the same name, look at his reasoning and conclusions, and then compare them to Christian thought. It is amazing how much Peterson gets right, showing that if one has a logical, well trained mind then scripture is not an archaic, impenetrable text as some critics allege. 

More than anything, I admire Peterson's dedication to following lines of thinking through to their logical conclusion, even when it leads to some hard truths. When his thinking goes astray, it is because he is not taking God into the equation, as the authors show time and again.

This makes for fascinating reading. Not only do we see the truths of Christianity from an outside view, but we see where Christianity provides the fullness of truth when God is included (as, indeed, he must be). The authors also take a look at Peterson's later book Beyond Order. Finally, there is a transcript of a 2019 conversation between Peterson and Bishop Robert Barron which makes a perfect ending.

Highly recommended.

Introduction to the Spiritual Life by Brant Pitre

This is a simply excellent book. I thought that Brant Pitre was going to cover the various forms of prayer from easiest (vocal) to most difficult (contemplation and meditation). And there would be some great quotes from Church Fathers along the way. At the most basic, I was correct. However, there is a lot more to it that turns this from an informative book into an inspirational one.

As he loves to do, Pitre is tracing the roots of practices and understanding from Judaism to Jesus to the Christian spiritual classics. This, of course, gives the reader depth and context which in itself is eye opening. However, as each section ends in the classics, we are given solid advice about how to apply ourselves to each particular step of the spiritual life.

That is what this book is all about, after all, the spiritual life. It ranges from forms of prayer to major temptations, from spiritual exercises to the seven capital sins, from how to meditate on scripture to how to hang on when nothing seems to be working (that's called the dark night of the soul).

All along the way,  remedies are offered for all the pitfalls in our way. For example the three major temptations of pleasure, possessions, and pride bring with them discussions of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer. The seven capital sins are each accompanied by a look at the corresponding virtues we can acquire to help in our spiritual struggles.

I found myself unable to put this book down as I recognized my own struggles in the pages and picked up the little tips that already have enriched my prayer life. This is an accessible yet rich book that will reward Christians with many layers for reading and rereading. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Moonlight on the Viga Canal

Moonlight on the Viga Canal – a color woodcut made by Helen Hyde in 1912

Amezaiku Goldfish

Amezaiku goldfish by Shinri Tezuka

 

Yesterday, we saw a painting featuring a Japanese candy seller working on a piece of Amezaiku candy. Wikipedia says:

Amezaiku (飴細工) is Japanese candy craft artistry. An artist takes multi-colored mizuame and, using their hands and other tools such as tweezers and scissors, creates a sculpture. Amezaiku artists also paint their sculpted candy with edible dyes to give the finished work more character. Animals and insects are common amezaiku shapes created to appeal to children. Intricate animal characters are created with expert speed. Some amezaiku artists are also street performers who perform magic tricks and tell stories along with their candy craft entertainment.

When the Bible was chanted by the heralds of God

Who thinks, as he thumbs the closely printed pages, of the time when these words and sentences were not fixed in cold print but chanted or intoned to audiences by the voices of the heralds of God? ...

To understand properly how the bible arose, we must forget the habits we have acquired as modern men and members of a paper civilization. Reading and writing have become such automatic operations that it is difficult for us to realize that some societies have been able to manage almost entirely without them. Our memory has become bloodless and barren, and our faculties of improvisation have more to do with mere words and rhetoric than with poetry and prophecy. In ancient Israel, right up to the time of Christ, it was very different. The ability to speak with fluency, art, and a gift for aphorism was the mark of those who today would be "writers." The trained memory was a superb tool. "A good disciple," said the Jewish scribes, "is like a well-made cistern; he does not let a single drop of his master's teaching escape."

Henri Daniel-Rops, What is the Bible?

The Ameya (Candy Seller)

 

The Ameya, Robert Frederick Blum

Wikipedia tells us: Done in oil on canvas, the illustration depicts a Japanese candy maker (practicing the art of Amezaiku) at work.

Tomorrow I'll have a picture of a truly amazing piece of Amezaiku.

All our trials can become Jesus' trials if we but allow it ...

All our trials can become Jesus' trials if we but allow it, since he has anticipated, condensed and overcome them all in his own temptations. He has "foresuffered" all. We overcome our temptations only by seeing them primarily as his own and ourselves as the ones who wait by his side during the battle. ... in each new trial he undergoes, he reveals to us a new aspect of the holiness, fidelity, and goodness of God in man.

Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word by Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis

That's one of the things I love most about Jesus — there's nothing I'm facing that he didn't face first.

Still Life with Mushrooms

 

Still Life with Mushrooms by Firmin Baes

Worth a Thousand Words: Vase and Flowers

Vase and Flowers, Emil Carlsen

What return can I make to God for all his generosity to me?

What return can I make to God for all his generosity to me?

Psalm 116:12

==============

If I owe all for having been created, what can I add for being remade in this way? It was less easy to remake me than to make me. It is written not only about me but of every created being: "He spoke and they were made" (Ps. 148:5). But he who made me by a single word, in remaking me had to speak many words, work miracles, suffer hardships, and not only hardships but even unjust treatment. What return can I make to God for all his generosity to me?"

In his first work he gave me myself; in his second he gave me himself. Given and regiven, I owe myself twice over. What can I give God in return for himself?

St. Bernard of Clairveaux

via The New Jerusalem Bible, Saints Devotional Edition,
editor Bert Ghezzi

This is something I never thought of. All the work that God goes to to simply get my attention, much less remake me to be the better version of myself that I hadn't even imagined.

Philips, 1951

Philips, 1951

Arthur C. Clarke and Reader's Digest

I believe this [A Fall of Moondust] was probably Reader's Digest's first essay into science fiction, but I have never been able to bring myself to sample the result -- not because I fear that the Pleasantville editors may have butchered my deathless prose, but because I'm scared they may have improved it.

Arthur C. Clarke, introduction to A Fall of Moondust

RRR (Rise Roar Revolt)

It is a fictional story about two Indian revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju (Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Rama Rao), and their fight against the British Raj.

Rajamouli came across stories about the lives of Rama Raju and Bheem and connected the coincidences between them, imagining what would have happened had they met, and been friends. Set in 1920, the plot explores the undocumented period in their lives when both the revolutionaries chose to go into oblivion before they began the fight for their country.

Wikipedia

This is the director's dream about two revolutionaries who never met but might have been besties if they had. As we'd expect from the director of Eega and Baahubali, it has great choreography for singing and action, exciting dances, and a lot of heart. It delivers an over-the-top bromance the likes of which would be hard to top. It also embodies personal sacrifice and love of country, naturally, since these are celebrated revolutionaries who fought for India's independence. 

The over-the-top aspect also applies to the depictions of the British Raj which, to be fair, we've seen matches in some other South Indian films. The Raj are usually like the Nazis in our own movies — big, bad, and making you long for their demise. 

We could tell that Ram and Bheem were destined to be best friends from the moment they used sign language to set up a complicated plan to save a little boy. They were already reading each other's minds. From there it's an action packed movie that didn't quit entertaining for three hours.

I liked the way the director's imagination put these two together in a completely imagined story that still kept the essence of who they are and why they are admired. In that way it made me think of Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter which took an absurd premise and delivered a fun movie which was still respectful treatment of the American legend.

We saw this at a local AMC where it was showing in the original Telugu or dubbed Hindi, both with English subtitles. Of course we picked Telugu so we could hear the actors' own delivery. There was a small Indian audience with us and that made it more fun. Later we went for Indian food (of course) where our waitress said she'd seen it and proudly proclaimed, "That movie is in my language! Telugu!" It was a wonderful theme evening.  

Rating — Introduction to Tollywood (come on in, the water's fine!) This one is more like a WWII Nazi movie in some ways than a purely Indian movie. If you like those, then give this one a try. Technically this is "Tollywood" not "Bollywood" since it is from South Indian cinema using the Telugu language.

Driving Home the Cows

Driving Home the Cows by Edward Mitchell Bannister, 1881.

I love these pastoral pictures.