From Superheroes to God

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: http://betweenthepanels.com

You may have noticed our contemporary society’s fascination with the themes of fantasy and superheroes. Take movies as an example: these blockbusters would include Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Iron Man, the Batman series, Superman, and the list goes on. Have you ever wondered why we are so enthralled by these books and movies? It has recently crossed my mind, and hence this blog entry.

Holy Week and Movies

By John D. O’Brien, S.J.

lisathatcher.wordpress.com

The Christian world enters into its most intense experience of meditation this week. This is the week of lengthy readings and long liturgies. It is our most solemn time of year, the week in which we come face to face with the mystery of mysteries, the climax of the whole redemptive act: the Paschal Mystery of Christ.

For many of us today, living in the age of cyber-stimulus and multitasking, the act of “entering” into the mystery may have become more difficult. How do we calm our minds and join Christ in the garden of Gethsemane or along the via crucis? How do we accompany Christ in his passion and then rejoice in his resurrection? Often we settle for the platitudinous imagery of yesteryear’s holy cards, or are limited in our mind’s eye to scenes we’ve seen from Christian movies. It is the latter that I want to consider right now, for I sometimes have the suspicion that Zeffirelli has had more to do with my image of Christ than the living Gospels themselves – with no offense to Zeffirelli.