Agonizing Beauty

Reflections on Scorese's Silence, part I
Warning:  Spoilers follow.

This will be the first of two posts on Martin Scorcese's Silence, a movie long-in-the-making version of Shusaku Endo's 1966 novel.  The second post will appear once I see the movie.  So what follows is a discussion of the novel and what some critics have made of the movie.  Here is a good overview of the movie and its content.

First, as expected from a talented director like Scorcese, the movie's visuals are stunning. After extensive success in Japan, Christianity found itself ruthlessly outlawed and persecuted in the seventeenth century. The movie follows two young Jesuit missionary priests who, hearing that their mentor has apostostasized, travel to Japan to confirm the rumors. 

Part of the shoguns' torture juxtaposed excruciating pain with the simplest, and pain-free, gesture. All arrested Christians were given the opportunity to apostasize by stepping barefoot on an image of Jesus (hence the fumie, literally "the stepping-on image").

source:  2011 blog post

Come on--what could be easier than that?

diet and exercise--spiritual version, Part I

Dreary, rainy drive into work Wednesday of last week and one week later not much has changed except now it has snowed, mind going in several directions. Reciting the Creed to start the Rosary, though, brought everything back to reality.

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty
Maker of Heaven and Earth, of all things visible and invisible

Well!  That's one way of getting a grip on the situation!  No matter the trials--great or small--facing us, the Creed allows us to see through it all to the source of life, God Himself.  The Rosary constitutes perhaps one of the Catholic tradition's steadiest, most tried-and-tested, "diet and exercise" paths to spiritual fitness.  It takes some getting used-to, just like any new workout, but once accustomed and you're "in the groove," reciting the Rosary uncovers and illuminates so many levels and directions of spiritual growth to be enjoyed. In this particular case, reciting the Creed beforehand has illuminated once again the Trinitarian shape of reality itself.  God creates all things visible and invisible and creates them through the Son and gives them all life through the Holy Spirit.  It is in this vein that some Rosary-influence Lenten reflections will be offered.

Consider Steve Skojec's recent post on fasting.  First, some honesty which I admired--Skojec admits he's not good at fasting.  That's good, because I'm not, either.

I’m horrible at fasting. Always have been. Every time I hear someone say that our present crisis requires “more prayer…” I do a fist pump and say “YEAH!” – but then, they inevitably finish with, “…and fasting” – and I become instantly sullen. “Jeeze. Why is that person such an extremist about everything?”

Then more:

Suffice to say, food and I are great friends, and I carry around the extra pounds to prove it. My lovely bride and I experienced the first spark in our relationship when she asked if I’d like to join her for lunch at a sushi place in downtown Phoenix. (We were co-workers at the time.) In a manner of speaking, you could say we dined our way into a shared life together, our joy over great food and life fully lived forming the initial basis of our blossoming romance. If there was a film that captured our ethos, it would have perhaps been Big Night, or better yet, Babette’s Feast. And we didn’t just go out. My wife — as anyone who knows her will tell you — is a phenomenal cook. Friends and family never turn down an opportunity to come to our house when Jamie is offering to feed them.

I’m supposed to be writing about fasting, and all I can talk about is eating.

That alone is a cash-money line:  supposed to be fasting, focusing on eating.  This is a spiritual diabetes outlook one hundred percent.  Supposed to focused on spiritual food, but usually my mind is running somewhere toward this:

From a wonderful church supper in Montgomery, Alabama, March 2010.  Yes, those are real collard greens, and, yes, I ate about five squares of cornbread with this and, yes, I had fried chicken and a grilled sausage to go with it.  No, I didn't skimp on the sweet tea, either.


Skojec doesn't stop there. Seeking deeper roots to guide his fasting, he turns to the 1917 Code of Canon Law which he, a traditionalist Catholic, cites from the Society of St. Pius X.  OK, for the few readers who tend more left than right, please Skojec some slack.  He then cites at length St. John Chrysostom; the best lines are these:

Sharpen thy sickle, which thou hast blunted through gluttony–sharpen it by fasting. Lay hold of the pathway which leads towards heaven; rugged and narrow as it is, lay hold of it, and journey on. And how mayest thou be able to do these things? By subduing thy body, and bringing it into subjection. For when the way grows narrow, the corpulence that comes of gluttony is a great hindrance. Keep down the waves of inordinate desires. Repel the tempest of evil thoughts. Preserve the bark; display much skill, and thou hast become a pilot. But we shall have the fast for a groundwork and instructor in all these things.
Again, that's Chrysostom--and Skojec rightly attends to that devastating line "For when the way grows narrow, the corpulence that comes of gluttony is a great hindrance."  Of course, Chrysostom means more than merely physical corpulence, although he certainly means that, too.  Spiritually we've become fat, but we've been called--like great soldiers, sailors, farmers, and travellers--to go out and do.  To succeed in these endeavors, we must train and the basis for that training, the beginning of diet and exercise, is fasting.  Skojec notes that Chrysostom also advised fasting from more than just food;  visual and audial fasting should accompany the stricter diet.  Otherwise, what good will less food, sugar, red meat, or coffee do us if we continue to slake our lust-tastes visually?  That's a great point and Skojec does a great service to us all--and especially somebody like me--for citing the saint thusly.

Read it all here--and may God continue to bless us all this Lent.

surrender cobra

from an ESPN report on a familiar scene in sports television:  a player or team makes an amazing play to win the game at last possible second and the opponents' fans stand, dumbfounded, with their hands on their heads.  It often looks like this:

Image courtesy Reddit.

A fitting image, especially when Catholic colleges make decisions and announcements like The College of Saint Rose did Friday, December 11, 2015:  twenty-three faculty positions cut and several programs and majors cut from across the curriculum.  Some of these were professional and graduate programs (e.g., Bachelor's program in Art Education and the graduate program in Communications), while others covered liberal arts subjects like Economics, American Studies, and....Philosophy and Religious Studies.  These last three are/were the majors my department offered.

The Sisters of St. Joseph, the women's order that founded Saint Rose in 1920, issued the following statement about the cuts:

Nearly 100 years ago, Sister Blanche Rooney, CSJ, and other brave Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet saw a need and acted.

Inspired by the legacy of the original Sisters of Saint Joseph, who as women in 1650 took the radical step of going into the world to minister to the poor, the sick and the desperate of Le Puy, France, Sister Blanche envisioned a college that would teach and empower young women to be citizen leaders grounded in faith and dedicated to excellence and service.

In founding The College of Saint Rose, the local Province of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet recognized that, just as they were responding to a need, fulfilling its mission would forever require the college to be alert and amenable to a changing reality in the larger society, and especially among its current and prospective students.

This is a TU+ story. Click for more information.

In other words, to meet and serve people where they are.

This founding principle is why we support President Carolyn Stefanco, the Board of Trustees and all those on campus working diligently to lead our beloved Saint Rose in updating academic programs and priorities to meet the changing needs of students who count on the college to prepare them to succeed in a world they will inherit.

and then a bit later:

Change is upsetting for many in all walks of life, including our own. It creates anxiety and uncertainty, and can leave some feeling overlooked, forgotten, left behind. That is why it is so important in times of change to extend grace, love and affirmation to all in our community. Change also is an opportunity for renewal, and renewal is empowering. Responsible leaders are obligated to recognize the need for change and act carefully but resolutely.

Read the statement and you'll soon note what is absent:  any reference or indication of the College's founding as a religious endeavor.  It's utilitarian endeavor now;  what serves the greatest good for the greatest number of people.  A principle that many, including the Sisters themselves, would argue is not part of the Catholic social justice tradition.  And that is correct.