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On Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18, Pope Francis outlined a program for Lent in his homily, using for his inspiration the readings of the day from Book of Joel, Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, and the Gospel of Matthew.
Some of the themes correlate well with films that tell stories that foster reflection, conversation and spiritual growth.
Lent is a journey that calls for prayer, fasting and confessing of sin. Emilio Estevez’s 2010 film “The Way” tells about Tom (Martin Sheen), who walks the ancient Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain with his son’s ashes.
Tom meets three other pilgrims along the way. At the end, you have to ask yourself if the others were really “real” or aspects of Tom’s fragmented inner world that he came to know so as to be made whole again.
I have used this film many times with groups for retreats and have now seen it 22 times. I always see something new.
“Return to me with all your heart” (Joel 2:12). In this year’s “Wild,” based on a true story, Reese Witherspoon plays Cheryl, a woman whose life is in tatters.
To regain the values her mother (Laura Dern) taught her, she walks the Pacific Crest Trail. Though not so specifically religious as “The Way,” Cheryl is nonetheless on a journey to become a better human being, to regain herself.
It is a journey of purification so that she can begin anew. For Cheryl, this is an inner journey of the heart.
Prayers accompanied by tears. In Lebanese director Nadine Labaki’s 2011 film “Where Do We Go Now?”, the Catholic Maronite and Muslim women of a rural Lebanese village grow weary of burying their men, and join together to stop their men from killing each other whenever a provocation occurs.
This is one of those subtle comedies that surprises and runs deep. Continue reading
- Sr Rose Pacatte in National Catholic Reporter
Sr. Rose Pacatte, a member of the Daughters of St. Paul, is the Director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Los Angeles.
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