Film Flash: Godzilla x Kong - The New Empire

 

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

A live-action cartoon of brawling giant monsters  to satisfy the 7-year-old in us all

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Easter 2024!

    

[repost from 2023]
"Who [indeed] is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"

I saw something recently that said that only 39% of Americans thought that religion was very important.  That is down by around 30 percent from years past.  Media, both mainstream and social, are pushing hard for the idea that Christianity is dying.  More and more people are embracing the belief that God is dead.

But, to quote the great GK Chesterton, "I have said that Asia and the ancient world had an air of being too old to die. Christendom has had the very opposite fate. Christendom has had a series of revolutions and in each one of them Christianity has died. Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it had a [G]od who knew the way out of the grave.  "

Today is a day that we remember that death is not the final defeat.  Even though the world may claim victory, that victory is always temporary.  Final victory is with those who stand with Christ.  He is our Final Victory.

It is true that more and more people are extinguishing the light of Christ inside of them.  And some never have that light kindled in the first place.  

I was at the Easter Vigil Mass last night.  It always strikes me how it opens:  the church in complete darkness, but then one candle enters to pierce the dark.  And that one candle of Christ lights all the other candles until the whole place is filled with light.  

In our world, darkness keeps trying to overwhelm us.  But we must remember "The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:6)

In fact, it is when things get darker that our light matters most.  When the church lights are turned on, we extinguish our candles because they do not add much.  But when it is dark, our candles mean so much more.  It is the same with our light.  In times of great prosperity and faith, our small acts of faith may not seem all that important.  But as more and more of the world turns away from the Light of the World, our candles need to burn bright.

Today we stand with Christ.  Today we light the flame in our hearts to expel the darkness.

Today we remember that we have victory not because of ourselves, but because Jesus won it for us.

He is Risen.

Alleluia!

Divine Mercy Novena 2024

    

(most of the text below is a repost from 2022)

A reminder that the Divine Mercy Novena begins today (Good Friday) and continues through until Mercy Sunday.  You can find the novena here:

https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/novena-13366

This has been a powerful and profound devotion in my life and many graces have come to me through a devotion to Jesus' Divine Mercy.  

Very recently, I experienced such an overwhelmingly powerful act of mercy.  I am acutely aware that under Divine Justice, there is much for which I have to answer.  Each day I seem to be racking up a debt of sin.  But even more concretely, the way I treat the people I claim to love is often selfish and shameful.  When confronted with this reality, I often shrink with shame.  I struggle with this.  I think that God loves me but because of my sins, He doesn't like me very much.  It is an image that is horribly unfair to Our Lord.

Sin is a real barrier between God and us, but God's love is greater than that.  Not too long ago, I had to admit my faults to someone, expecting them to return to me bitter (but just) judgment.  Instead, this person simply smiled at me and told me that all was well.  There was no trace of bitterness or judgment.  There was only pure kindness and love and a joy that I could unburden myself on them.  

This act of mercy lifted a great burden from my heart.  And it acted as a symbol for how God's mercy is similar.

It is a beautiful lay your faults bare to someone and have them look beyond them is a beautiful thing.  Too often I think we define ourselves by our sins.

Pope John Paul II once said that we are more than the sum total of our sins.

God sees us as we are, beyond our sins.  He wants us to come to Him and lay our sins on His mercy.  

I look forward to joining all of you in spiritual communion through this novena.

In these days with all of the worries and struggles that we have, we have a greater need to throw ourselves at the Mercy of God!

Film Flash: Ghostbusters - Frozen Empire

 

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

Feels like a big-budget episode of the cartoon series.  As good as Afterlife.

Palm Sunday 2024

  

I re-read my Palm Sunday post from 2020.  At the time, all the churches were still in lockdown, so we had to stream the Palm Sunday mass.

I think back to the first time I could go back to Mass after the restrictions were lifted.  It was a bit odd, but making that touchstone to that spiritual reality was something special.  So much of our Catholic ritual involves filling up the senses.  I love how the Catholic tradition understands that we are not purely intellectual beings like angels.  We need things to encounter in the body in order to make them truly human experiences.  It's one of the reasons I love being able to hold the palms in my hand during the beginning of today's mass (of course as a child, the palms were immediately turned into lightsabers, but I have hopefully matured since).

Back in 2020, I wrote that physical proximity does not always mean spiritual proximity.  I still stand by this, since there were many people who surrounded Christ and still condemned Him to death.  But the physical proximity is important.  My poor mother-in-law has been bed-ridden for a little while now and show she has not been able to come to church.  It breaks my heart to see the spiritual toll that this takes on a person.  It motivates me to be continually grateful for the gift of being able to attend Mass.

So today, may we lift up the name of our Triumphant King!

Hosanna!

Hosanna!

Hosanna in the Highest!

Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!

Hosanna in the Highest!

Film Flash: Road House (2024)

 

Due respect to the original, the remake is better and more enjoyable.  Jake Gyllenhaal rocks!

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

Trailer Time: Star Wars: The Acolyte

I know a lot of people are sour on anything related to Disney Star Wars.  But I am not one of those haters.  I respect their opinions and their dislike of the current state of the franchise, but I have still enjoyed most of what has been presented.  I loved Obi-Wan Kenobi and I very much enjoyed Ahsoka.  However, I did skip Andor because the character held zero interest for me.

I don't know much about The Acolyte.  It seems to take place much further back in the timeline than previous movies and shows.  I am still a bit on the fence on this one, but there is one thing that is really selling me on it so far:

Carrie-Ann Moss as a Jedi.

I don't know why but when I saw her in the Jedi robes it felt very cool.  I have no idea if she is a main character or if this is just a cameo.  If it is the latter, I will be very upset.

I want to see more before I pass judgment on this.

Thoughts?