Movies to watch
During this time of being stuck at home, I recommend Catholic film critic Steven Greydanus' article on good Catholic content to watch for those of you who have streaming services. (This is in addition to formed.org).
Some of his picks are available for free on Amazon Video for those who have Amazon Prime membership.
I particularly enjoyed watching the 1999 move, "Molokai" (available on Amazon Prime). This has some mature content, so might not be suitable for young children. It is beautifully filmed on location in Hawaii.
It's a story that might connect with our times, when St. Daimen the 19th century Belgian missionary travels to he Kingdom of Hawaii, to minister to a secluded colony of lepers who have this then-highly contagious and incurable disease. Not caring first about his own life and health, he chooses to lay down his life to bring Christ to those living in the leper colony. There he makes the love of Christ very real and tangible in their lives and eventually succumbs to the disease himself.
One of my favorite scenes occurs at about 1:00:45. St Damien has not been to confession for months and is desperate to receive the sacrament of forgiveness. Out of fear of contracting the disease themselves, none of his brother priests are brave enough to hear his confession. Even when the bishop orders them to do so, they make excuses. So the bishop himself comes out on a ship to hear his confession, but his crew practically mutinies and refuses to go anywhere near St. Damien. So the saintly priest takes a dinghy, rows out near the bishop's ship, and shouts his confession across the bay to him in French (which only he and the bishop understand). It's a great scene, showing the creativity needed to hear confessions in unusual circumstances, the holiness of a priest, and the love of a bishop for his priest-son. Not to mention the importance of the sacrament!
As mentioned before, I will soon be getting creative about hearing confessions outdoors as well. Watch this blog for updates.
Some of his picks are available for free on Amazon Video for those who have Amazon Prime membership.
I particularly enjoyed watching the 1999 move, "Molokai" (available on Amazon Prime). This has some mature content, so might not be suitable for young children. It is beautifully filmed on location in Hawaii.
It's a story that might connect with our times, when St. Daimen the 19th century Belgian missionary travels to he Kingdom of Hawaii, to minister to a secluded colony of lepers who have this then-highly contagious and incurable disease. Not caring first about his own life and health, he chooses to lay down his life to bring Christ to those living in the leper colony. There he makes the love of Christ very real and tangible in their lives and eventually succumbs to the disease himself.
One of my favorite scenes occurs at about 1:00:45. St Damien has not been to confession for months and is desperate to receive the sacrament of forgiveness. Out of fear of contracting the disease themselves, none of his brother priests are brave enough to hear his confession. Even when the bishop orders them to do so, they make excuses. So the bishop himself comes out on a ship to hear his confession, but his crew practically mutinies and refuses to go anywhere near St. Damien. So the saintly priest takes a dinghy, rows out near the bishop's ship, and shouts his confession across the bay to him in French (which only he and the bishop understand). It's a great scene, showing the creativity needed to hear confessions in unusual circumstances, the holiness of a priest, and the love of a bishop for his priest-son. Not to mention the importance of the sacrament!
As mentioned before, I will soon be getting creative about hearing confessions outdoors as well. Watch this blog for updates.
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| St. Damien of Moloka'i |
