Telling A Brilliant Story: Reading the Signs of the Times

By Santiago Rodriguez, S.J.

Credit: http://1.bp.blogspot.com

They knelt before Mary's babe and paid him homage. The three Wise Men who traveled from the East bore gifts for the child King: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Since I was a child, the story of the Magi seized my imagination. I used to imagine their journey from the East: the great caravan, their camels, and their lovely tents. I would visualize their faces as they knelt before Jesus - as Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar contemplated the child and finally found the peace they were seeking. Then, I would have a laugh as I imagined them flipping a coin or playing Rock-Paper-Scissors to decide who would be the first one to hold the baby.

The Sign of the Cross in The Silver Linings Playbook

By Adam Hincks, S.J.

imdb.com

Ne þearf ðær þonne ænig anforht wesan
þe him ær in breostum bereð bēacna sēlest.
[No need, then, for anyone to be afraid
Who already on his breast bears that best of signs.]
–The Dream of the Rood
Recently I watched Silver Linings Playbook, the acclaimed romance-comedy-drama from last year which netted a Best Actress Oscar for Jennifer Lawrence. The film justly has been praised for its daring and yet successful balance between comedy and drama as it navigates the serious themes of domestic violence, adultery, gambling and mental illness. The central character, Pat, is recovering from a violent outburst triggered by the discovery of his wife’s infidelity and exacerbated by his previously-undiagnosed bipolar condition. In the midst of picking the pieces of his life back up, he begins a friendship with a young widow, Tiffany, who also has fragile mental health. Together, they learn how to confront their demons and relearn that the joys of life consist in more than just silver linings on an otherwise bleak existence.

On the surface, Silver Linings Playbook presents human problems and human solutions without any explicit reference to spiritual integration or the need for God in coming to grips with human fragility. Along these lines, I found the film’s resolution morally problematic on a couple of levels. Nonetheless, there is a compelling spiritual undercurrent to the story that I thought was insightful. Two prominent Christian symbols in particular provided a neat focus for the spiritual aspect of the film.

No Man is an Island

By Artur Suski, S.J. 

Credit: http://www.surreyccblog.com

A couple of recent guest lectures in a Grade 12 Philosophy class on “the Self” have prompted me to do some reading on the topic of “Human Nature”. In the philosophy curriculum, the unit on “the Self” mostly focuses on the philosophy of Réné Descartes and that of G.W.F. Hegel. There’s no such thing as pretending to know what Hegel was writing about; I tried my best, and I had my hands full. Nevertheless, the discussion on these two philosophers is rather fascinating.

The Second Vatican Council After Fifty Years: Gaudium et Spes - The Church as a Sign of Hope in the World

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: www.catholicradiodramas.com

Gaudium et Spes is the longest of the four Apostolic Constitutions of the Second Vatican Council, as it covers a broad spectrum of topics dealing with the Church’s involvement in the world. With this constitution the Church desires to speak a word or two to all of humanity: to those things that are good in the world as well as to those that are not so good. The Church felt compelled to do so because of the sense of responsibility that she felt for all people – can a mother remain silent when her children are in peril? Or conversely, can she remain silent when the occasion calls for celebration? In both cases the truth must be spoken, for “the truth will set [us] free” (Jn 8:32).