Catholic Fire

In Torchbearer , Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson makes a convincing argument on the absurdity of life without God. He begins the hour long documentary by narrating the story of creation, defining God as the “Creator of all things” and human beings as “image-bearers of God.” After the fall of our first parents, death entered into human history, which resulted in loneliness, depression, betrayal, hatred, and war. It was no longer God who determined man’s worth in this world, but “the man with the biggest stick.” From there, Robertson takes us on a journey throughout history of various world events in which man tried to live without God and the appalling, morally decadent results. He begins with the world-famous Scopes Trial -- the State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes – an American legal case in 1925 in which a substitute high school teacher, John Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which had made it illegal to teach human evolution in any state-funded sc...

  1.  Hooray! I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my book, Learning to Love with the Saints: A Spiritual Memoir just won the Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval.   2.  Another sweet surprise this week was this movie .  I went to it not knowing whether I would like it or not, as the original with Charlton Heston has a special place in my heart. Unexpectedly, I was moved by it and recommend it. It is a powerful film on redemption and forgiveness. Sure there is violence, but it is there for a reason. I would advise that only mature teens and adults see this due to the violence. 3. CALLING ALL CATHOLIC COLLEGE STUDENTS. Are you a passionately Catholic college student who loves you faith? Do you seek to evangelize through apologetics and personal witness? Do you attend Christendom College, The University of Dallas, Ave Maria University, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Mount St. Mary’s University or a like minded Catholic institu...

This weekend I had the opportunity to view a very unusual film entitled The Innocents . It is a French film with English subtitles about cloistered nuns in a Polish Benedictine monastery at the end of World War II (December, 1945). The film begins with the nuns in their chapel, chanting, with the sound of a woman wailing in the background. One of the novices fears for the health of her fellow novice and breaks her vow of enclosure in an attempt to find a physician to help her.  She leaves the chapel and ventures outdoors, where she persuades a street urchin to assist her in her search and is led to the Red Cross. There, she connects with Mathilde, a young French Red Cross physician based in Warsaw. When she arrives at the monastery, she finds a young woman (a novice) in labor.  However, the nuns lie about her identity to prevent her from discovering the full truth. Eventually, Mathilde learns that the entire order has been deeply traumatized and that several of the nuns ar...

The retro-modern love story "Old-Fashioned" comes out on DVD today, June 16. You can purchase it HERE . Here's my review:  An introverted, chivalrous small business owner and a sweet, extroverted Midwestern woman meet and attempt the almost impossible: an "old-fashioned" courtship in contemporary America. Amber, an attractive and intelligent young woman, is a drifter, a fun-loving, "free spirit" who moves from one town to another when the going gets tough and drives until she runs out of gas. This time, she has run out of gas in a town in Ohio, where she rents an apartment upstairs from Clay's antique shop. Amber is fascinated and curious about Clay’s old-fashioned ideas concerning women and his strong morals. She becomes so attracted to him that she conveniently invents accidents and repairs for him to fix, so she can see him on a regular basis. After a series of flirtatious episodes, at both her apartment and in the grocery store, h...

Fr. Barron tells us that Kenneth Branagh’s “Cinderella” is the most surprising Hollywood movie of the year, not because it subverts the traditional fairy story, but because it presents it as a deeply Christian tale.

1 .  This week, Father Jacques Philippe was the speaker at our three-day parish mission. He spoke on the topic of Spiritual Poverty.  Each day, I went to Mass and Communion and then returned in the evening for his 1 -- 1 and 1/2 hour talk and Eucharistic Adoration followed. It was so spiritually enriching and inspiring! I have read three of his books now and am starting on the fourth -- his newest book -- Thirsting for Prayer . (I am on the right in the photo above.) 2. This week we also celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes , which was the 12th anniversary of my Marian Consecration, or more accurately my Consecration to Jesus through Mary via the St. Louis de Montfort method. This is a special Marian feast day for me. 3. Another speaker, I was privilleged to hear recently was Dr. Ralph Martin . He was wonderful, as usual. His topic was the New Evangelization. I am eager to read his book on the New Evangelization, The Urgency of the New Evangeli...

An introverted, chivalrous small business owner and a sweet, extroverted Midwestern woman meet and attempt the almost impossible: an "old-fashioned" courtship in contemporary America. Amber, an attractive and intelligent young woman, is a drifter, a fun-loving, "free spirit" who moves from one town to another when the going gets tough and drives until she runs out of gas. This time, she has run out of gas in a town in Ohio, where she rents an apartment upstairs from Clay's antique shop. Amber is fascinated and curious about Clay’s old-fashioned ideas concerning women and his strong morals. She becomes so attracted to him that she conveniently invents accidents and repairs for him to fix, so she can see him on a regular basis. After a series of flirtatious episodes, at both her apartment and in the grocery store, he realizes that, he, too, would like to get to know her better. The two, still in their twenties, have been tainted by the world and by their pas...

The new biopic “A Theory of Everything” does indeed engage in a fair amount of Hawking-hagiography, but it is also, curiously, a God-haunted movie.

Fr. Barron gives his take on the new film "The Fault In Our Stars." Who would believe that the Sacred Heart of Jesus is part of the film?

Brandon Vogt from Motive Entertainment on Vimeo .

Original Post: Fr. Barron comments on Man of Steel.

Related Post: "The Stoning of Sorroya M." Gets Two Thumbs Up from Abp. Chaput

Via CNA: As the movie industry prepares to roll out its summer blockbusters, a sobering film from Steve McEveety explores the gripping story of an Iranian woman who is victimized by her husband. After seeing the movie, Archbishop Charles Chaput gave it his seal of approval and said it should remind people "how vigilant over our own hearts each of us needs to remain if we want to be human." "The Stoning of Soraya M." is the work of Steve McEveety, perhaps best known among Catholics for the movies "The Passion of the Christ" and "Braveheart." He also co-founded Mpower Pictures, which in 2007 released the extraordinary portrait of a young man’s conversion, "Bella." This year, McEveety and his Mpower colleagues bring "The Stoning of Soraya M." (www.thestoning.com) to limited screens across the country on June 26. After screening the film, Archbishop Chaput told Catholics, in his weekly column for the Denver Catholic Register, ...

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I haven't see this film yet, but here on some reviews from other Catholic bloggers: Julie D. at Catholic Media Review. Margaret at Minnesota Mom Have you seen it yet? What did you think of it? H/T: Creative Minority Report

Slumdog Millionaire is reviewed by Father Jeffrey, who reflects on the powerful nature of this classic love story set against the background of human squalor and degradation. No Spoilers.

WALL-E is a charming, animated film from Disney Pixar that takes place 700 years into the future. A large city consisting of huge skyscrapers constructed from trash rises into the sky. It is there that we meet WALL-E, (a Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class), the last of the solar-powered robots, who with his binocular-like eyes, locates trash and compacts it with his square-shaped rusty body. Although he lives in a world filled with trash, he makes good use of it and his "heart" is filled with joy and romantic dreams. WALL-E is alone on the earth (with the exception of his pet cockroach) and keeps busy during the day compacting trash, while at night, he goes home to enjoy the collection of treasures he has salvaged from the trash -- a ring box, a plastic spork, and a lighter. His favorite knick knack is an old VHS copy of Gene Kelly’s "Hello, Dolly!" He gets sentimental watching the film -- especially the romantic scene -- and generates his ideas about love fro...

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