"I SAW [Mel Gibson's] THE PASSION" [the attacks are pretty much demonic]

So I was at a private screening at Icon Productions yesterday, and got to see a rough cut of The Passion. There were about twelve people in the room, including Mel Gibson, his producing partner Steve and four or five other Icon staffers. After the screening, we talked to Mel and friends for about an hour. (As cool as that was, the quality of the film was such that the celebrity stuff was completely gone from the moment. I can't explain it really, except that it would be like standing in the Sistine Chapel next to, well, someone like Mel Gibson. Great art is a great leveler....) The rough cut we saw obviously didn't have the final score or special effects, and there were many more sub-titles than they will have in the finished film.

The Passion is a stunning work of art. It is a devout, act of worship from Mel and his collaborators - in the way that Handel's Messiah and Notre Dame were artistic acts of worship in previous times.

Let's get the controversy out of the way right at the top. The film is faithful to the Gospel, particularly St. John. It is no more anti-Semitic than is the Gospel. There are at least two members of the Sanhedrin who come forward to protest on Jesus' behalf during the sham trial. The Romans are just as guilty of cruelty and hatred against Jesus in the film. And best of all is a final look right into the camera of Mary, holding her dead Son. She is looking at all of us with a kind of , "Look what you've done"/This is for you" expression. A cinematic Pieta worthy of Michelangelo.

Having seen the film now, I can only marvel that the attacks are pretty much demonic. Hopefully, the devil will end up spitefully biting his own tail on this one-- as he does in The Passion by inciting on the executioners of Christ, and thus being complicit in his own ultimate defeat. The Passion is high art. It is the greatest movie about Jesus ever made. In the discussion following the film, Mel and co. were asking us how mainstream theater audiences would react to the film. I told them, "Who cares? What you have here is so much more than just a product to sell. It will live forever, regardless of whether it is a commercial success for you or not."

For those of us who love Jesus, The Passion is devastating to watch. It is so good, I almost couldn't stand it. There is one moment on the way of the cross sequence, in which the whole tragedy unfolding devolves into a vicious riot of hatred between Romans and Jews with the Savior on the ground in the middle of it getting it from both sides. It was so frenzied and terrible, I wanted to run from the room. But then, the film again finds Mary, Jesus's Mother on the sidelines, and her presence gets us through it. Kind of like how Mary's presence helped Jesus get through it, it seemed to me.

The film is lovingly Marian. Mary is perfectly portrayed here. She is contrasted repeatedly with the really super creepy Satan character, who is also a woman (something for the feminist theologians here? heh heh...).

The film is strongly Eucharistic. There is a beautiful juxtaposition of images that cuts from the stripping on Calvary to the unwrapping of the bread to be used at the last Supper. Fabulous stuff.

Every Christian needs to see this film at least once. Just to remember, in our current comfort zones while evil is closing in, the price that was paid for us. On my way home from the screening, I found myself praying in the car, "Jesus, I'm so sorry, I forgot..." How many films have led you to compunction lately? The Passion is a miracle.

h.mama: Certainly I agree 100% with what you said. Eternal Life consists of knowing the Father and the Son.

In saying "You Protestants" I was not trying to generalize to all Protestants, but kind of give a knock in the head to those here who love to preach a Bible they don't know.

I find that mothers generally have a much more realistic view of how Mary would have acted towards Jesus than do men up on their high horse.

One last thing, just keep in mind that when we Catholics pray to saints and angels, its only to ask their prayers on our behalf. We view the Communion of Saints, or the Body of Christ, if you will, as a living thing encompassing both the Church down here below as well as the saints up above. Asking prayers of the saints is as natural to us as asking prayers from your family or your neighbors or the person next to you in the pew.

Even the most flourishy prayers to Mary, like the Hail Holy Queen, end up with this tight focus - "Show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus ... Pray for us O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ." We love Mary because she points us directly to her Divine Son.

Wow!! Thank you VERY much for this report. I just love FReepers (most of them anyway). Can't wait to see the film. It won't be rated "R" will it?

For the record, my little boy (I think he was about 6 years old at the time) and I protested outside a movie theater in Seattle before the first showing of "The Last Temptation of Christ". A pathetic few of us were there praying, singing and protesting. There was a picture of us in the paper. (I was a FReeper back then, too, I guess, before FReeping was discovered.)

As the crowd entered the theater, I noted with sadness that some people were actually taking their own children to see that film.

This film here will make up for a lot of damage done by the Last Temptation.

Thanks again for posting this. I REALLY appreciate it.

There is something I've long wondered about...if praying to Mary and the Saints gets to Christ anyway, why not go directly to the Source, Jesus Christ? The Bible says the only way to the Father is through the Son...the Son being Jesus Christ. In my reasoning that would mean for prayer as well.

h.mama: Heck, why not just say the Our Father directly to the Father? Did Jesus ever tell us to pray in any other way?

There are any number of things one may do. One does not have to do all of them. I certainly don't pray to all the saints, just as I don't ask for prayers from all humans.

Praying to the saints is a form of intercessory prayer. No you don't "have" to do it, just as you don't "have" to ask prayers from other people here on earth. You may do so though. I don't pretend to understand the need for intercessory prayer at all - though it is clearly shown in the Bible - after all, God knows what we need, and certainly our asking Him once for something is enough for Him to get the message without many people asking it.

So why pray to the saints and angels? Here's what I think. Judge it for what you will.
1) They are confirmed friends of Jesus and the Father, since they are in heaven, and they are conscious of what we do (Luke 15.7, 10). Is Christ more likely to listen to me, an unworthy sinner, or His brothers and sisters in grace in heaven? After all, our prayers are brought before God by the blessed according to Revelation 5.8 and 8.3-4 (compare also to Psalm 141.2). Also, humility dictates that an approach be made by steps. You don't just call up the Presidet of the US with a petition. You first work your way up through the channels of his helpers and assistants. Sometimes, it seems right to take the same approach with Christ and the Father, to have someone more powerful and worthy take your insignificant request up to God.
2) For Mary, even more importantly, she is Jesus' Mother. Out of fillial piety (4th Commandment), I think He is bound to hear her requests and give them much more of an audiance than the requests of his friends the saints. Moreover, if Jesus is indeed our Brother, by Baptism and Faith, than Mary is also our mother as well as his. Why not ask for good things from your mother?
3) Many of the Angels and Saints have great power against the Devil given them by God - the Archangel Michael, for example; so we turn to them to help us defeat the temptations of our Enemy. The Church has assigned Saints to particular roles based on their actions in life. So for example St. Luke the Evangelist is the patron of physicians, since he was also a physician. I chalk up this ability to assign saints to certain tasks to the power of the keys "Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven." (Matthew 16.19, 18.18)
4) Our Guardian Angel has been given to us by God to guide us each day (Matthew 18.10), and is not only in constant contact with God, but accompanies us each moment; it only makes sense to ask their help in things great and small, difficult and light. many times, they can open doors for us that would otherwise be shut, since they can contact the Guardian Angels of other people and have those angels put good thoughts into the minds of those we are interacting with.

I hope my explanation is helpful to you in understanding our beliefs.

Are you trying to tell me that MOST (Operative word) Catholics actually even follow along in the dried and true order of worship? I have yet to see a bible in the pews of a Catholic Church. The scriptures may be written in the bulletin, but rearely followed. You are truly an exception to the rule when it comes to Catholics

What are you talking about? And how offensive can you be?

The scriptures are not merely "written in the bulletin", they are read during the Mass and written in the missil.

As to your statement that the scriptures are rarerly followed and that the poster is an exception, that is breathtakingly rude and ignorant.

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