New Evangelizers Post: Synod on Synodality: Final Document – First Impressions

                                                         

 

I have a new article up at NewEvangelizers.com.  

Yesterday, the Synod on Synodality released their final document. I have read what they have released and will share with you my takeaways. I am sure someone more learned can do a more thorough breakdown, but this will have to suffice as a brief assessment.

Much has been made of the Synod both in the press and online. Some were worried that it was about radically overhaul and contradict Church doctrine. Others thought that it would bring about a revolutionary sea change like Vatican II.

Neither side was correct.

The Synod, by its nature, is an advisory body; it does not have the power to change doctrine. The Synod can only make recommendations for the Church.

KEY THEMES

The three key themes to come out of the Synod are:

1. Called and Gifted through Baptism
2. Communion with Christ and One Another
3. Sent Forth on Mission.

CALLED AND GIFTED THROUGH BAPTISM

The Synod said that there was “the need to grow into a more synodal Church, starting with the recognition of the dignity of all the baptized.” (For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission, 14). Keeping with the themes of Vatican II, there is a greater call for the participation of the laity in the life of the Church. To do this, the Synod felt that “there was the desire for greater co-responsibility among the laity and the clergy, including bishops.” (17) This means viewing the the clergy and laity more as co-laborers in the Vineyard of the Lord and in the ministry of the Gospel. There was a strong desire to bring in more voices and participation from women and young people.

COMMUNION WIHT CHRIST AND ONE ANOTHER

The main theme of this section was alienation. There are many who feel alienated from Christ and Church. They are on the margins of society and feel a barrier to full communion with the Body of Christ. Partially this begins with the lack of trust some have in the hierarchy of the Church because of sins and scandals. “A significant threat to communion within the Church is a lack
of trust, especially between the bishops and the laity, but also between the clergy in general and the lay faithful.” (25) When our leaders lose the moral high ground, it becomes very difficult for them to call others to a holy way of life.

The Synod listed several people who feel alienated from the Church, including people with same-sex attractions, the divorced and remarried without annulment, and those who have had access to the Latin Mass restricted. The Synod called for a greater sense of listening or “synodality” (this is a word used constantly throughout the document). “There was a consensus that more formation in synodality is needed.” (31). This means that we must listen to those who are not in full communion with us and hear their stories.

SENT FORTH ON MISSION

This section makes clear that we are a Missionary Church. This means that, like the Apostles of old, we are called to go out from our comfortable places and reach out to those on the margins. This is what Christ did. This is how the Apostles went to the ends of the Earth to proclaim the Good News. Today, geography is not the impediment. Instead, the focus is on those in our communities who are on the margins. We are called to reach out to them and draw them “into the tent” of the Church.

THE POSITIVE

There is much in this document that is laudable. The recognition of everyone’s baptismal dignity is paramount. One of the things that has happened in recent years is that we quickly vilify those who disagree with us. We must always remember that every human being is made in the image and likeness of God. All the baptized have been adopted into that family and so we are all brothers and sisters in the Lord.

The call for greater participation of the laity can bear great fruit. Any parish priest will tell you that the more that the families are active in the Church, the more alive the parish community becomes. As someone who works with young people, it is so important to bring them in as active members of the faith. My faith was renewed and reformed when I was seventeen. These experiences matter.

The call for greater listening is also a good thing. As I have gotten older, I’ve come to understand that society changes rapidly. The moral norms of the world I grew up in are not the same ones that many of my students have. Because of this, some of my old teaching methods are not nearly as effective as they used to be. In order to improve, I have to listen to where my students are in their spiritual journey. Even the act of listening can be very healing. Often when I have a student who seeks me for advice, my main focus is to let them talk. Just giving voice to your feelings can be a great relief.

And we are all called to actively bring people to Jesus. Like Peter, we must be fishers of men. The Synod’s call to reach out to the marginalized is something that all Christians must do.

THE CHALLENGES

While the Synod calls for these good things, there are a few areas of confusion or ambiguity. For example, it says “While clarity is still needed around exactly what a fully co-responsible
Church looks like, delegates proposed the examination of a variety of aspects of Church life, including decision-making roles, leadership, and ordination.” (19) This is an incredibly problematic statement since the question of women’s ordination has been closed since Pope St. John Paul II wrote Ordinatio Sacerdotalis. This is couched in the qualifier “clarity is still needed,” clarity has already been given. Even Pope Francis recently reaffirmed that Holy Orders is “reserved for men.”

This speaks to the general problem of confusion. As mentioned above, people were expecting doctrinal statements. “This isn’t so much about the what as about the how.” (37) They Synod is attempting to set up a framework of activity. But the clarifying content seems mostly absent. We are called to reach out to those with same-sex attractions? Yes. How do we do so while not compromising the doctrines on human sexuality? The Synod doesn’t say. Should we minister to those who cannot receive communion because they are divorced and remarried without annulment? Yes. How do we do that and maintain the integrity of the Sacrament? The Synod doesn’t say.

It doesn’t seem like you can have an effective how without a what.

The quote that caught my eye was this “Tension is conversion.” (36) This means that the discomfort we feel at brining in the marginalized is part of our conversion to God. While tension can be a source of purgation from our old prejudices, I don’t think tension can be synonymous with conversion. Tension can arise in the Church for many reasons, such as heresy. I do not think that the tension felt from this is a part of conversion. In fact, tension can lead to disunity, which is not of God. This idea that tension is essential feels too couched in Hegelian philosophy (where progress only occurs through conflict) than in Catholic Tradition (which is about God uniting us in His grace). Again, tension can be an important part of refining our faith, but it is not the same thing as conversion.

You can read the whole article here.

Rest in Peace Matthew Perry

 

photo by Policy Exchange Follow

I have never met Matthew Perry, and yet I was greatly saddened by the news that he died yesterday.  Perhaps it is illogical, but performers have a way of creating a strong emotional bond with their audience.  And it was the same with Perry.

When 9/11 happened, like most people I was filled with horror, shock, and disbelief.  As the hours dragged on, my family and I were gathered around the television set, desperate for news, overwhelmed by every report.  As evening wore on and it seemed like there would be no more attacks that day, we all felt emotionally drained.  

It was then that we decided to put in a DVD of Friends.

This may not have been the most rational response, but we wanted a brief escape from what we were feeling.  And for a few hours, the laughs were like a balm on the burning hot pain of the day.  

And a lot of that had to do with Perry.

I first remember seeing Perry as a guest star on Growing Pains, where his shocking death hit me in the gut.  It is strange how art imitates life.

He had been in other projects here and there, but it was Friends that put him on the map.  His Chandler Bing was the best part of the show.  Yes, people were very early on invested in the Ross and Rachel romance.  But it was Perry's wit and delivery that anchored the entire series.  You may make the argument that the show promoted a general sense of immorality.  I would not argue the point with you.  But I can tell you that my connection to the show was emotional rather than ethical.  If you find fault with this, I offer no defense.  I can only offer this: Matthew Perry made me laugh.

Like his other castmates, he tried to break into the movies with limited success in films like The Whole Nine Yards with Bruce Willis.  This was an odd movie that worked so well because it felt so close to being a thriller.  

One of his bombs was Three to Tango, a movie I saw three times in the theater.  While most people were turned off by the movie, I thought Perry showed really leading-man charm while making me laugh the entire time.  When you love a movie that most people hate, you feel a stronger bond to it than most.

Perry's range as an actor could be seen in his few dramatic roles.  His stints on The West Wing portended a potentially bright future as a dramatic actor.  You could see this as well in the ill-fated Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, a drama about comedy where the writing wasn't funny.  Perry could play the drama pitch perfectly.

However, his addiction to drugs cast a shadow on his life.  Like Chris Farley (with whom he starred in Almost Heroes), Perry's addictions took over everything.  He claimed he has no memory of Friends seasons 3-6 because of the drugs.  He also has said that he spent $9 million dollars trying to get clean.  Back in 2018, Perry almost died and was in the hospital for five months.  Despite this, two years later, he was still trolling for drugs.  

The drugs robbed Perry of much of his life's joy, his health, and I believe ultimately his life.  As of this writing, Perry is stated to have drowned in his hot tub.  There is no mention yet of drugs.  Even still, the ravages on his body from the addiction may have contributed.

Perry acknowledged that Friends would probably be his most remembered legacy.  But he hoped he would be remembered primarily for the way he tried to help those with addiction.  He said he would always help any addict in any way he could.  He even gave up his Malibu home to become a home for men recovering from addiction.  He said:

 "When I die, it would be nice if Friends were listed far behind the things I did to try to help other people. I know it won't happen, but it would be nice."

There is something sad and beautiful about this realization.  It reminds me of the 15th Century morality play Everyman, in which a man faces death and comes to realize that the only thing that he can take with him to the grave are his good deeds.  It seems like Perry came to this same realization.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.  May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen

Matthew Perry, rest in peace.

TV Review: Picard Season 3

 

Love.

That is what sets this season of Picard apart from nearly anything else Star Trek has produced in the last 25 years.  

Don't get me wrong, there have been some good things in the last few decades.  I greatly enjoyed JJ Abrams Star Trek reboot.  But much of what has been produced lately has been sub-par.  In particular, the first two seasons of Picard were dreadful.  Star Trek seemed determined to give Jean-Luc Picard the Last Jedi treatment.  

You can imagine my total delight and surprise when Star Trek Picard Season 3 made one of the best seasons of TV I've seen in awhile.

And again, it all comes down to love.

Terry Matalas took over the reigns as showrunner.  And you can tell with every frame of film that he loves Star Trek.  He doesn't just love The Next Generation, but he loves all of Star Trek.  This is apparent from the very first shot of the season to the end credits.  And he understands that Star Trek is not simply about the operatic space adventure.  Star Trek is about the characters.  This is what has been missing from so much of recent Trek, including Picard.  In the last two seasons, Jean-Luc has behaved in ways unrecognizable to someone who is familiar with Next Generation.  But now it feels like we got him back.

I will endeavor to be as spoiler-free as possible, especially because I would encourage anyone who is a fan of The Next Generation to do yourself a favor and watch this season.

The story begins with Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) in her small starship being attacked by an alien vessel.  As things look bleak, she sends out a distress signal to Picard.  Jean-Luc begins this season packing away his memorabilia, putting away his old life.  But Beverly's message brings him back into action.  She is panicked and desperate and she tells him to trust no one, not even Starfleet.  Needing help, Admiral Picard turns to his old friend Captain William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes).  Both men feel like relics in their modern world, but they push on to help an old friend.  They are able to fake their way onto the USS Titan, under the guise of helping with the Starfleet anniversary celebration known as "Frontier Day."  Seven-of-Nine (Jerry Ryan) serves as first officer, but they are stymied by Captain Shaw (Todd Stashwick), a by-the-book officer with a chip on his shoulder who has no time for the antics and adventures of our old adventurers.  From here, Picard and Riker have to make their way to Beverly, where they discover that she travelling with a young man named Jack (Ed Speleers), who is the reason that they are being hunted.

I do not want to give anything else away, so I will leave the set up here.

Let me start first with the negatives.  

The biggest problem that the show has is that it is tied to the horrible continuity created by the previous two seasons.  While they have jettisoned most of the previous series regulars, Raffi (Michelle Hurd) remains and she is a drag on the show.  Hurd is a fine actress, but the character feels so out of place and out of step with everything else.  The series also continues the use of mature language, which also feels incredibly out of place in a Star Trek series.  I don't think Picard dropping f-bombs makes us take him more seriously.

VERY MILD SPOILER

The other biggest issue I had was that in order to set up the finale, one of the characters has to do something so monumentally stupid that I could not understand it.  Yes, the character endures a great deal of emotional stress.  But when the character acted on their feeling, all I kept asking myself was "So what the heck is your PLAN?"  The answer, of course, is that there was no plan.  It was something that had to be done so that the rest of the plot could happen.  And this is a shame, because the rest of the story is so good.

END SPOILER

And I mean that it is SO good.

There are tons of Easter eggs for Trek fans to find.  This could lead a person to accuse the show of fan service.  I'm not against fan service at all.  I think that people who produce a beloved TV show should do what they can to please the fans.  I only object when fan service is a replacement for good storytelling.  Matalas does both.  

He sets the plot up by drawing on threads from not only Next Generation, but also Deep Space Nine and Voyager, as well as the movies.  It is clear that Matalas made this movie with fans of the entire franchise in mind.  This gives the show the advantage of feeling familiar and new at the same time.

As showrunner, Matalas was able to weave in plot points in very creative ways.  He is able to drop important story elements without you even realizing that they will be important later.  It isn't until there is a reveal that you go, "Of course!"

Visually, the show looks fantastic.  You can tell that they used all the advancements in computer graphics to give us a spectacle.  But beyond that, the show is incredibly well-shot, knowing how to frame the characters, when to give us a sense of intimacy or grandeur.

But, of course, the best part of the show are the characters.  Matalas understands that for many of us, the characters we grew up with on Next Generation are not simply imaginary people on TV.  They are our friends.  If that sounds too over-the-top, then let's just say that we have emotional attachment to them in a way that is beyond reason.  We care about them and what happens to them.  We know when they behave in a way that is true and false.

Watching these classic characters bounce off of each other again is a pure joy.  Picard and Riker have a strong friendship, but it does not stop them from butting heads.  Each of them has had experiences that has broken them a bit inside.  But when they are on the same page, they appear unstoppable.  Stewart's and Frakes' chemistry has never been better.  In fact, the fact that they are older makes them appear more as equals, without ever losing that original dynamic completely.  

I can say the same thing about Stewart and McFadden.  There is a scene in an early episode where the two of them lock eyes and have a serious conversation without saying a word.  To be clear, there is no science-fiction-type telepathy going on.  Instead, you have two seasoned actors expressing their deep truths to each other non-verbally.  The impact of that one moment touched me deeply.

You may see a few more familiar faces, but I will not spoil that here.  However, one of my favorite parts of the show was Stashwick as Captain Shaw.  In the hands of lesser writers and lesser actors, this part could have been reduced to a simple antagonist, an obstacle for our heroes to overcome.  Instead, he reminded me of a much more broken version of Captain Jellico (Ronny Cox) from Chain of Command.  Shaw is a complete jerk, but he is not necessarily wrong when he confronts our heroes.  He is sarcastic and acerbic, but he is a competent professional who honestly is looking out for the people under his command.  Once he earned my respect, I enjoyed every scene he was in, even when he behaved awfully.  

While watching this season, I could not help but feel like this is what the Star Wars sequels should have been.  In Disney's efforts to establish a new generation of heroes, they brushed aside the ones we already knew and loved in a way that did not feel respectful.  That doesn't mean that the heroes can't have flaws.  In fact, Riker goes through a similar emotional journey as Han Solo in The Force Awakens (not that his son becomes evil).  But the difference is that with Han it feels like he became less of the man he was.  Whereas with Riker, for good or for ill, he becomes more of the person he is.  Another example is the difference between how Luke Skywalker and Picard are treated.  While there is clearly an attempt to introduce some new, younger characters, Picard is never tossed aside to make way for them.  He is always the hero at the center.

That doesn't mean he is a flawless hero.  In fact, one of the things I like about this reboot is that it doesn't fall into the "Jack Bauer Trap," where everything the hero says is right and everyone around is too stupid to see.  Sometimes Picard is wrong and the show lets him be wrong without humiliating him.  Instead, it shows how he picks himself up from defeat.

Thematically, the season shows the value of age and experience.  Despite the desire for everything that is new and flashy, sometimes the old-fashioned, time tested methods are the ones that work.  This always works in tension with need to grow and evolve and to not be too set in your ways.  The show strikes the perfect balance.

The finale had me on the edge of my seat.  Matalas clearly not only loves Star Trek, but he also loves Return of the Jedi.  The influences from that movie cannot be avoided, and that is a good thing.  

This really does feel like the Return of the Jedi for The Next Generation.  It is a powerful, emotional, final farewell to our friends with whom we have trekked around the stars.

Pray for Peace - October 27th

 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

“May those who love you rest secure.

7 May there be peace within your walls
    and security in your palaces.”
8 [Out of love for my relatives and friends,
    I will say, “May peace be within you.”
9 Out of love for the house of the Lord, our God,

    I will pray for your well-being.

PSALM 122:6-9

Hello all,

If you are like me, you have been watching the events unfold in the Holy Land and are shocked and horrified by the violence, especially by the attacks on innocent civilians.  

There is so much to say and so much that can and should be done.  But I wanted to invite all of you to pray for peace.  On October 27th, Pope Francis has asked Catholics to pray and fast for peace.

Prayer is not a dispensible part of bringing peace to the world.  Christians are often shamed for offering "thoughts and prayers," instead of direct action.  But it is not an either/or issue.  It is both/and.  We are called to direct acts of charity AND we are required to pray.

As the situation escalates, the call for prayer and fasting becomes even more urgent.  Jesus describes times when evil can only be driven out through prayer and fasting (Matt 17:21).

In the mystery of God, somehow He allows our prayers and sacrifices to have an effect on the world.  God is all-powerful, but CS Lewis said He gives us "the dignity of causality."  This means that He wants us to be engaged in the struggle between good and evil.  And one of the ways we can all participate is through prayer.

I would like to end with the Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi.

I went to a Franciscan high school, so I became very familiar with this prayer.  One of the things I love about this prayer is that it tells an important truth: peace begins with me.  I have to let God's peace come into my life and then I must be the one to live it.  Only then can I seek peace outside of myself.  

So let us pray to be instruments of God's peace.

God Bless,

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

New Evangelizers Post: Not Big Enough To Be Small

                                                        

 

I have a new article up at NewEvangelizers.com.  

I probably spend too much time on social media. In this regard, I know that I am not alone.

Through my hours of scrolling, I have come across this atheist meme a few times:

“CHRISTIANITY: Belief that one God created a universe 13.79 billion years old, 93 billion light years in diameter (1 light year = approx. 6 trillion miles), consisting of 200 billion galaxies, each containing and average of 200 billion stars, only to have a personal relationship with you.”

Personally, I love the Christian response to this, which is simply to say: “Yes!”

But I wanted to focus on the mindset from which this meme was made. There seems to be a real lack of understanding by the atheist about the bigness of God.

The thought behind the meme is this: if God is real, He created a very large and very old universe. And you, puny human, are so infinitesimally small in relationship to the largeness of that universe, that you could not be significant to God.

However, this betrays the atheistic understanding of a very small-minded God. For a mind that can pay attention to smallness is one that is better than one that cannot. The Mona Lisa is one of the world’s most famous paintings for a reason. Leonardo DaVinci was able to put into it such small and precise details which cause the illusion of motion and the enigmatic smile. If Leonardo was unable to focus on such small details, the painting would not be the masterpiece that it is. I love The Lord of the Rings movies for many reasons. But one of the great things about the film makers was that they focused on getting all the little details, down to the embroidery design on dresses, to make the movie come alive. Their minds were larger because they could be focus on the smallness.

The atheist thinks of God as too small because the universe is too big for the atheist to grasp. And this largeness can be overwhelming. In fact, CS Lewis once wrote:

“It is a profound mistake to imagine that Christianity ever intended to dissipate the bewilderment and even the terror, the sense of our own nothingness, which come upon us when we think about the nature of things. It comes to intensify them. Without such sensations, there is no religion. Many a man, brought up in the glib profession of some shallow form of Christianity, who comes through reading Astronomy to realize for the first time how majestically indifferent most reality is to man, and who perhaps abandons his religion on that account, may at that moment be having his first genuinely religious experience.” (CS Lewis, Miracles)

Lewis’ point is that the immensity of the universe can fill us with a sense of insignificance before its immensity. But that sense is exactly the feeling we should always get from the immensity of God. The meme tries to shock Christians with a truth they have been experiencing for 2000 years.

But even beyond this, it is not simply a matter of thinking small but making yourself small.

One of the sad things that happens to us when we become “important” is that we begin to think that certain things are beneath us. How many famous celebrities and political figures flout the laws that we ordinary people must follow. Even in our own lives, we can see this. Notice how anyone behaves when they get even a modicum of power increase. How quickly do they begin bossing others around to the work that is beneath them.

In these cases, the mind becomes so inflated that it loses touch with reality. Once we think we are above the tasks that are required of us, we no longer think as God thinks.

God truly is above all. And yet He is the servant of all. He humbled Himself to be born in a stable in Bethlehem. He told His disciples, “For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45).

You can read the whole article here.

Lack of Updates - October 2023

 Dear Reader,

My apologies for the lack of updates.  If you are a regular reader, you know that sometimes several things converge in my life where it becomes difficult to put out content from time to time.  

Recently, I had a number of projects to grade while preparing to lead a retreat and also filling out progress reports while beginning revision to a screenplay while taking class for the Diaconate.  This, unfortunately, has meant that I have not had time to post regularly this last week.

I should be back to our regularly scheduled program in about another week.  I thank you for your patience, dear reader, and I am grateful that you continue to read this blog.

God Bless,

Catholic Skywalker

Film Review: Dumb Money

 

Sexuality/Nudity Mature

Violence Acceptable

Vulgarity Objectionable

Anti-Catholic Philosophy Mature

You know it is a rare thing for me that a movie's soundtrack immediately repulses me.

And yet there I was, sitting in my local theater as the film began and I was assaulted by Cardi B's "WAP."  This is a song that I had heard of, but had done a good job of avoiding.  However, as I was held captive to the production, I was hit with the overwhelming vulgarity of the song.  Normally, if I encounter things like nudity in a movie, I can look away until it is over.  With the music, I had no respite.  As the explicit song continued, I felt a deep pit of disgust well up in my gut.  It did not help that for some reason the people behind us thought that it would be a good idea to bring young children to this screening.

I write all this to paint you a picture of the state I was in as the movie began.  If this colors the rest of my experience negatively, the blame is laid solely at the feet of the filmmakers.  The way you open a movie sets the tone for the entire enterprise.  I know that they wanted to be cool and edgy, but they come off simply as immature and disgusting.  

That is a shame, because the plot of Dumb Money is actually very interesting.  A few years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of Wall Street firms were short selling the company Game Stop.  While I am no financial expert, I understand short selling as betting on the company to lose money and/or go under.  I know it is more complex than that, but that is the gist.  One of these companies is Melvin Capital run by Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogan), a wealthy broker living the sweet life with his family.  However, over on the Reddit page r/WallStreetBets, a vlogger named Keith Gill (Paul Dano), talks up Game Stop.  He likes the store and he likes the stock and he invests.  Gill is a low level financial analyst, living modestly with his wife Caroline (Shailene Woodley) and their baby.  He also has to deal with the antics of his loser brother Kevin (Pete Davidson) as Keith tries to keep the family afloat while gaining more influence on Reddit.  As he does, average lower-middleclass people start buying up Game Stop stock through the Robinhood app and the stock price goes up, causing the short-sellers like Plotkin to lose billions.  This draws in gigantic financial powers until the situation comes to a head.

I would have loved for this movie to have been more focused.  When dealing with incredibly complex financial shenanigans, you need a very clear and easy way for the audience to understand.  Dumb Money doesn't really want to do that.  Writers Lauren Schuker Blum, Rebecca Blum, and Ben Mezrich think that it is sufficient to set up the issue as "Super rich are bad, not super rich are good" and leave it at that.  We are meant to identify with the downtrodden people who rally behind Gill.  Some of these people include:

-Marcus Barcia (Anthony Ramso): a poor Game Stop clerk who gets upset when his manager points out his failure to perform his duties.

-Jenny (America Ferrera): a single-mom nurse who constantly cusses in front of her children and takes first-class plane trips when she has no money.

-Riri (Myha'la Herrold) and Harmony (Talia Ryder): a same-sex college couple whose meet-cute involves (I'm sorry to be graphic), involves extended hand-to-genital contact in front of everyone at a party.

Even Kevin is supposed to come off as a scrappy rebel.  But he comes off as the most unlikeable person in the entire story.  This is partly because Davidson is incredibly off-putting.  But Kevin spends much of the movie as an Uber-Eats driver who eats and drinks the meals he is delivering.  This feels like a disgusting violation that is more visceral than most of the supposed villains of this film.

Speaking of which, the movie doesn't quite know how to handle the people we are supposed to hate.  There is a difference between giving a villain complexity and giving the villain more empathy and likeability than the heroes.

Olivia Thrilby plays Plotkin's wife.  She is in very few scenes, but throughout the movie as Melvin Capital begins to lose money, I could not help but think of her and her children.  The movie never gives us a reason to root for her downfall.  Director Craig Gillespie might claim that this is an intentional act of drama, but it is at odds with the class warfare drumbeat of the entire piece.  The only one who comes off as truly horrible is Vlad Tenev (Sebastian Stan), one of the founders of Robinhood.  His shady, smarmy attitude makes us revile him and the way he plays fast and loose with other people's money.  Stan knows how to play the part well.  But with the Plotkin's we are meant to hate them simply because of their wealth.  We are meant to laugh at how out of touch they are.  But they are more relatable than the working-class heroes.  The entire story is framed as an uprising of the downtrodden to take down the corrupt wealthy.  But it never materializes that way.

The movie also doesn't know how to pace itself.  There are several scenes that add very little to the forward narrative and only work if you enjoy spending time with the characters (which you really don't).  

The most likeable person is Gill and that is mostly due to Dano's incredibly affable performance.  He comes across as a well-intentioned person who more motivated by love of Game Stop than he is envy of the rich.  His scenes are the best part of the movie.  All the rest of our "heroes" spend the movie whining and complaining about how unfair life is.  

You have to be really smart to make this movie intelligible to us regular folks.  

But Dumb Money isn't smart.  It's just dumb.

Film Flash: Dumb Money

 

15 words or less film review (full review to follow soon)

A mediocre movie that assaults you with vulgar characters and a vulgar soundtrack

New Evangelizers Post: Accompany Without Affirming

                                                       

 

I have a new article up at NewEvangelizers.com.  

I recently finished a month-long workshop hosted by my diocese. The topic was going over The Genesis of Gender by Dr. Abigail Favale. There were many wonderful insights regarding the philosophical roots of the modern gender movement. The sessions were incredibly insightful, educational, and fruitful. In the future, I may write about some of the history that has led the world to embracing a gender ideology that is contrary to the Gospel truth.

But today I would like to focus on where the book leads. Education and apologetics can be incredibly useful. However, these are tools that are ultimately at the service of a larger mission: the salvation of the soul.

How do we minister to those struggling with their gender identity?

This is a larger question that could be applied to anyone who feels alienated from the faith for whatever reason. Some may feel as though the Church has abandoned them because of their addiction or because of their divorce or because of a same-sex attraction. Regardless of if the abandonment is real, the emotional reality can primary for the person. If they feel rejected from Christianity, we must meet them where they are. I believe it was Archbishop Nelson Perez who said that “Of course we should meet people where they’re at. Where else would you meet them?”

God always meets us where we are. But He loves us enough not to leave us there.

This means when we meet people in their sin, we must accompany them without affirming their sin.

When someone feels abandoned by the faith, we must let them know that they are not alone. We must accompany them on their journey. This is what Christ did. He did not wait for the sinners to seek Him out. He went out to tax collectors and the prostitutes. He entered the homes of those who were considered unclean. He spoke to the Samaritan Woman at the well, even though she was living in a public state of sexual immorality. And He began not by lecturing her. He engaged with her as a person.

Do we reach out to those who are alienated from Church? Do we get to know them as a person? Or do we box them in and label them because of their struggles.

ACCOMPANYING

Favale tells the story of a young person who had a gender identity issue. This person ended up with a Catholic roommate. There may have been an expectation that the Catholic roommate would immediately ostracize this person. Instead, the Catholic roommate engaged in conversation and they got to know each other. This involved asking questions of the other and getting to know their thoughts and views.

This can be an incredibly important part of ministry: listening. As a teacher, my instinct is to answer every objection and give direction to every error. But sometimes the most healing thing for a person is simply to be heard.

As a teenager, I thought that most of what I had to say was worthless. I remember once at a party, a couple of people knew I read comic books and asked me about what I was reading. This quickly evolved into a nearly hour-long run down of the comic book X-Factor, particularly how the character Angel transformed into the antihero Archangel. While I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I do remember constantly asking the two other guys, “Are you sure you want to hear this?” and “Am I boring you?” I could not believe that anyone wanted to hear about something that was important to me.

Regardless, I always remembered that because I felt like my thoughts and my perspective had value. And I was always grateful to both of them for that opportunity, no matter if it seemed small to them.

Often someone struggling with something like a gender identity issue may simply be waiting to be verbally confronted by a Christian. And while sometimes you have to be St. Ambrose and publicly hold the line against scandalous evil, sometimes wisdom is required to patiently listen. In Favale’s example, the Catholic roommate developed a friendship with the person and was even able to successful invite them to Adoration.

NOT AFFIRMATION

A danger must be acknowledged. Too often, accompanying a person can look like affirmation of sin. For example, we acknowledge that people with same-sex attractions are to be treated with equal human rights and dignity, but this does not mean that sexual contact between two people of the same sex is morally acceptable. It is a good thing to reach out to people who are divorced and remarried without an annulment. But it would be wrong to override Christ’s teaching to say that an illicit marriage is now licit.

When we listen to someone’s story, we must be careful not to explicitly or tacitly affirm them in something that is incorrect. Out of a misplaced sense of politeness or kindness, we don’t want to hurt the other person’s feelings. And while this sentiment might be laudable in general, we do no one any favors by leading them into untruth.

I have had conversations with someone I know who wants to get remarried to someone is divorced but has not received an annulment. In my conversations, I make sure to let the other person speak and be heard. I offer to them all the understanding I can. And yet, I never waiver in standing with the Church and Her teachings in this area. I try always to be very careful not to affirm any plans made for an illicit marriage. At the same time, I assure the person of my unconditional care.

Recently, I was speaking to a parent who was having a struggle with an adult child who has embraced an alternate lifestyle. This parent has reached out to the child and has kept a listening heart, so that the child feels free to say anything. Sometimes the things the child says deeply wound the parent. The parent told me that they struggle with the line between accompanying and affirming. This is especially difficult when the parent has to say, “I cannot go along with you on this.” Every time this happens, there is a worry that the child will pull completely away.

But I said to this parent, “Do not compromise on this. If you were to affirm them in all these life choices, you would be as lost at sea as they are. But when God touches your child’s heart with a desire to return, your child will be able to see you on solid land with your arm stretched out to bring them to shore.”

We hold the line because we must be the ones anchored to Truth Himself, who will set us all free.

You can read the whole article here.