Passion of the Christ

One of my Good Friday and Holy Saturday Traditions is to watch Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ."

Never has there been so brutal a depiction of our savior's death. Some say it was overly graphic, decrying it as nothing gore.

Look at previous depictions of Christ's passion and you can see why some people were taken aback by the brutality. Even art wasn't nearly as graphic. Christ is usually depicted with small splashes of blood from his hands, feet, side and forehead. You rarely see his scourging depicted. Even the wound in his side barely bleeds in most artistic renderings.

Despite this, We know the reality is that, Christ suffered greatly. He was tortured before the crucifixion. We know he was scourged at the pillar. Historically speaking, scourging wasn't simply a good whipping...

The whips they used were made of leather with bone and metal to help tear at the flesh to inflict the most pain. the damage it would have done to the body would be insurmountable.

Head wounds also bleed more than most other wounds, even if superficial. So the wounds from the crown of thorns would have caused excessive bleeding that would have dripped down his face and into his eyes. It would have been much more bloody than a few trickles. His hair would have been soaked. 

The lance that pierced our Savior deep enough for blood and water to pour forth from his side, would have left a gaping wound.

That is not even to mention the wounds from the nails in his hands and feet, nor the wound he suffered to His shoulder when they stretched his arms on the cross.

That said, as brutal and painful as it is to watch, this is the most realistic depiction of what our Lord went through when he willingly offered his sufferings, death and resurrection for our sins.

Mel Gibson (who wrote and directed this production) spared no expense to historic detail, from the weapons we know they would have used, to even making sure the language was that which Christ would have spoken.

There are several scenes that, no matter how often I see this movie, they still reduce me to tears. Both involve our blessed Mother Mary, so accurately portrayed by Maia Morgenstern. the first is when Mary sees Jesus on his walk to his place of the crucifixion.

She sees him fall, and has a flashback to Jesus as a toddler falling. As any loving mother, she ran to her baby, grabbed him lovingly and told him that she was there for him as she embraced him. As she remembers this, she runs to Jesus, who she still sees as her little child, and embraces him. He merely smiles and says "See mother? I make all things new". It makes me tear every time to remember, To Mary, Jesus was still her baby, and to see him in such a state must have caused her great pain.

Inspired by Michaelangelo's Pieta, another powerful scene in the movie that reduces me to tears is the look in Mary's eyes as she holds the body of Christ removed from the cross. She stares directly into the camera, piercing through your soul as if to say, "Remember my Son's sacrifice for he so loved you, he gave himself to suffer and die for your salvation."

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Besides being the most accurate depiction of Christ's Passion to date, This movie is credited to have had many supernatural and miraculous events occur during the course of filming.

1. Jim Caviezel developed a deeper love for Christ after sharing in his suffering.

a. Mr. Caviezel was hit by lightening during filming. (The assistant director was hit twice coming to his aid) Both survived

b. When he fell with the cross on his shoulder, a scene that remains in the movie, he dislocated his shoulder, just as Christ's was dislocated when he was hung in the cross.

c. During the scourging, the whip missed his prosthetic skin twice and he felt the real sting of what the whip could do.
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2. The Movie saw many who worked on the film, convert to Catholicism including 2 unlikely figures.

a. a Muslim actor who portrayed one of the guards who repeatedly beat on Jim as Jesus Converted to Christianity and has remained Catholic since the film's release in 2004.

b. The actor who portrayed Judas, Luca Lionello, was a life-long atheist. He had a private event that occurred during the course of filming, and he eventually converted to Catholicism upon the film's wrap, and has been Catholic ever since.
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3. Many miracles are said to have taken place during the production of the film to those who worked on the film as well as those who were related to someone working on the film.

a. Jim and the Assistant director survived being struck by lightening and were able to continue filming.

b. a little girl of someone who worked on the set had 50 seizures a day. After the film's wrap, Her seizures slowed down. She could go months without one, and those she had were not as violent.

c. There were rumors that a few people were cured of disease, some that had vision or hearing problems were given full sight and sound.

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This movie was many things to many people. The discovery of faith, the reaffirming of faith, a vessel through which God performed many miracles, a reminder of Christ's suffering, the sharing in the suffering for some.

This should be a movie that every Catholic family should have and watch, not just on Easter, but every time they want to remember how much God loves us.

Apparitions of Mary Part 1

We are nearing the 100 year anniversary of the Marian apparitions of Fatima. We'll discuss Fatima in a later post, but since we already spoke about Mary in our previous post (about Catholics and whether or not we worship Mary or merely honor her), I thought this would be a good Segway into talking about Marian apparitions.

Apparitions of our Mother Mary are basically exactly that. God chooses someone of innocence and piety (usually a young child) to send Mary to appear before with a message. Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe. All famous apparitions.

The church has very strict ways of approving or disapproving Marian apparitions.(and contrary to popular belief, there are more that have not been approved than have been approved. The church doesn't automatically buy every story of a miraculous vision.)

There are positive tests and negative tests that are performed multiple times to test the alleged apparitions. 

In short: Positive tests include:

1. Moral certainty (the certainty required to act morally in a situation of doubt) or at least great probability as to the existence of a private revelation at the end of a serious investigation into the case
2. Evaluation of the personal qualities of the person in question (mental balance, honesty, moral life, sincerity, obedience to Church authority, willingness to practice faith in the normal way, etc.)
3. Evaluation of the content of the revelations themselves (that they do not disagree with faith and morals of the Church, freedom from theological errors)
4. The revelation results in healthy devotion and spiritual fruits in people's lives (greater prayer, greater conversion of heart, works of charity that result, etc.)

 Negative tests include:

1. Glaring errors in regard to the facts
2. Doctrinal errors attributed to God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, or to the Holy Spirit in how they appear
3. Any pursuit of financial gain in relation to the alleged event
4. Gravely immoral acts committed by the person or those associated with the person at the time of the event
5. Psychological disorders or tendencies on the part of the person or persons associated

These are only a few of the test criteria in the initial phases of determining if further research on the apparitions are necessary. 

Because the devil is a great deceiver, great care is taken with consideration for anything. Miracles attributed to would be saints before they're able to be canonized, apparitions, personal revelations, etc.


It is not as if the church completely agrees with anything related to the appearance of Mary or any other religious figure, without question to be sure these apparitions are of God.


For Example: If Mary requests to be worshiped, if she requests that you focus on things outside of God... it is most likely a false apparition - whether mental illness or demonic intervention. 


Again, there are apparitions that have met the criteria of the Church to be accepted. 


Apparitions approved by the church:


1. Guadalupe, Mexico (1531)
2. Lesajk, Poland (1578)
3. Siluva, Lithuania (1608)
4. Laus, France (1664)
5. Rue Du Bac, Paris, France (1830)
6. Rome, Italy (1842)
7. Lourdes, France (1858)
8. Filippsdorf, Czech Republic (1866)
9. Pontmain, France (1871)
10. Gietrzwald, Poland (1877)
11. Knock, Ireland (1879)
12. Fatima, Portugal (1917)
13. Beauraing, Belgium (1932)
14. Banneux, Belgium (1933)
15. Kibeho, Rwanda (1981)

There is an apparition site in Green Bay, WI at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help that is the first Church approved apparition in the United States: however, it is to be noted that it is approved by the Bishops of the United States. The Vatican has made no decision on the case... so it's "unofficially approved" at this time.


In these apparitions, there were many things that held true.

1. Mary did not ask to be personally worshiped. Some people confuse Mary asking for a chapel to be built in her honor as requesting to be worshiped. A chapel is where the word of God is read... so a chapel is for God, not Mary. She simply asks that it be built at the site where she appeared, and be named in her honor as a memory of her messages. It's not that different from the basement in my church. The basement is used as a dining hall for church functions, and when a beloved priest who had been there for 15 years was transferred to another parish, the church officials named the hall after him "IN HIS HONOR". Not to mention, If God is our Father, and Christ our brother (as he has called us his brothers and sisters) then Mary is our mother and should be respected.

2. She prayed to God along with those she appeared to. In instances of demonic visions posing as saints or our Blessed Mother to trick us, the words praising God can not leave it's lips, so if Mary can not praise God, it is not Mary.

3. The apparitions brought the visionaries and those who came to believe into a closer relationship with God, helping people live more moral lives, and live according to the laws of the Church. 

4. Some of the messages are warnings - a call to prayer and penance. True Marian apparitions are always a call to prayer, not to Mary, but to God. 

In Fatima's apparition, the Blessed mother is constantly telling the children "God commands this", "God requests that", "God's signs", "God's miracles". It wasn't about Mary - it was about what God wanted. She stated that if people did not stop offending God, the world would fall into more turmoil. 

Protestants often cite the children saying that Mary told them they would find salvation through her immaculate heart, stating salvation is through God alone, so these apparitions must be demonic. 

Mary's message of Salvation is greatly misinterpreted. She is not saying that she personally offers salvation - it is known among Catholics, that she intercedes on our behalf. She pleads our case to God, she prays for us. She will help us in obtaining the Salvation of God by interceding and praying. Not that she will give it. She is our mother, and as our mother, she will help us gain salvation through Christ her son.

Going back to Mary's messages in the apparitions... In the Lourdes apparitions, Mary told St. Bernadette to "pray to God for sinners". Not pray to her, not devote sinners to her and she will redeem them... but to pray to God." While Bernadette did not make everything the lady told her known (as it was for her ears only), the one constant was that Mary wanted people to pray to GOD for the sinners of the world.

In the apparition of Rome, Italy back in the 1800s, Marie Alphonse Ratisbonne's brother converted from Judaism to Christianity, and became a Catholic priest. Ratisbonne decided to refuse to speak to his brother again and began a deep seeded hatred for Christians, Catholics in specific. as he aged, his hatred for Catholics grew. 

at 28 he was engaged to his own niece and planned to marry the following August. in a series of what he would have then called "misfortunes" he found his way to an old friend who introduces him to his brother. this brother gives Ratisbonne a challenge. To wear a miraculous medal and asked him to perform a specific prayer written by St Benedict, every morning.

Ratisbonne agrees, but continues to insult the faith with more fervor. 

Not long after he begins to (somewhat mockingly) do as he was asked, he meets with an apparition of Mary. Mary did not speak to him, she gave him no message, she simply was... and he knew without a word. 

When his friend's brother reencounters Ratisbonne and sees the state he is in, he asks him what is wrong. Ratisbonne says it is nothing he can explain except on his knees to a priest. 

Ratisbonne eventually converts to Catholicism and himself becomes a very devout priest. 

This was the Blessed Mother's mission. To convert someone whose heart was full of hate for those who followed Christ... to love Christ with all his heart.

In the Banneux, Belgium apparition, Mary promised to intercede on behalf of the poor, the sick and the suffering. She did not say she would heal them personally, she would forgive sins, or anything that would make her seem on level with God... she simply said she would intercede on their behalf TO God.

Siluva, Lithuania's apparition, a Calvinist pastor believed apparitions seen by children were demonic in nature and "Roman Superstition" until he stumbled upon a weeping woman of the children's description. When he asked her what was wrong, she wept that where she sat, her son use to be worshiped by his people. Now the sacred soil was given to the animals and the plowman. See, before the apparitions began, the new governor of the town was a Calvinist, and he confiscated the land from a Catholic church. after 80 years, the Catholic church left the area leaving only the Calvinist faith. 

The land eventually came back to the Catholic church, and a church was built that included a "free of charge" school for the children. It is believed Mary was able to help procure the church back by the grace of God. 

The common theme in all the apparitions, 

Mary wants us to pray to GOD.
Mary wants people to return to God and stop sinning.
Mary converted someone who hated Christ, into someone who only lived for Christ.
Those who were faithful were strengthened in their faith.
Those who were straying were led back.

She came as a messenger for God. That is how we know the apparitions are true.

- God Bless -

I Say Amen

FURTHER READING

Evaluating Apparitions

Apparitions and Appearances

About the Blessed Mother Mary

The Blessed Virgin Mary is a poignant figure in Catholicism more than in the Protestant churches.

Again, there is a misconception that we worship Mary. (It's a common thing for protestants to make the accusation that we worship everything except God alone. (I don't know if it's their way to besmirch the Catholic faith, or if they truly believe this due to a lack of understanding. I hope it is the latter.)

We do not worship Mary. Blessed Mary does not desire worship, she knows that all worship belongs to God. Her sole desire is that God's children come to know and love her Son as much as she loves him.

We consider Mary as the Queen of angels and saints. She is the Saint above all saints. She is special to us because she is our greatest intercessor. 

If you look at the blog "Praying to Saints" a few posts back... Just like we ask Saints in heaven to pray for us... we turn to our Holy Mother in times of need for her intercessions. For her to turn her merciful and loving eyes towards her Son, and to pray on our behalf.

Mary is very special for many reasons.

1. We were all born with the original sin caused by Adam and Eve's eviction from Eden. That is why we are baptized, to cleanse us of that original sin and reaffirm that we belong to God and follow his commandments. 

Mary was hand picked by God to bare our savior Jesus Christ. Many people mistake the term "immaculate conception" with Mary conceiving Christ through the Holy Spirit as a virgin, however... the immaculate conception is actually about Mary's birth. God washed the blessed virgin clean of original sin before placing her within her mother's womb. So the immaculate conception was St. Anne giving birth to a child with no sin who would later become mother to Christ.

2. When the Angel Gabriel came to her during the enunciation - he called her "Full of Grace". And told her she had found favor with God. To say one is full of Grace is quite a big sentiment. Even Mary was taken a-back by the greeting.

3. She of course willingly and without concern for her life, accepted God's will unwaveringly. Her life was at risk being pregnant before she was wed, and she knew she would live to see the death of her beloved child, yet she willingly accepted it all for love of and faith in God.

4. God is our Father, Christ calls us his brothers and sisters. Since God chose Mary to be the mother of God the Son... If Christ is our Savior and brother, and God is our Father - does that not Make Mary our mother?

5. Mary was assumed into heaven. It is not said if she was assumed into heaven before death, or after she had passed... however she was assumed into heaven body and soul. She was not allowed to wither and decay in a hole in the ground here on earth. Her body and soul are alive in Heaven seated by her son. God assuming someone, body and soul into heaven, makes them special indeed. (Granted, Mary's assumption is a Catholic notion)

We are called in the commandments to honor our parents. To say Mary is not important and worthy of being honored as any mother should be, would be an insult to our savior, for this is the mother whom he loved. And if Christ is our brother, then she is our spiritual mother and denying her honor would be breaking the commandment.

She bore our savior, she who was born without original sin by God's intervention, she who was assumed into heaven body and soul. Christ would call us to show her the same respect we show our own parents, since she is our spiritual mother.

As is said on the site Catholic Online: 

"The Church has never claimed or taught that Mary is on an equal level with God. But, nonetheless, because we are her spiritual children, she looks tenderly on us and after us with a love so profound that we are moved to plead, "Oh Blessed Mother, pray for us, now and at the hour of our death. Amen." 


So we ask her to lovingly watch over us, and pray on our behalf to her most beloved son, Our savior Jesus. She is not a goddess to be worshiped, she is the blessed mother of all God's children, who loves us and wants us to be closer to her son, our savior, and to God the Father. 


if you look at the Hail Mary, "Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you" (That is what Arch Angel Gabriel said to her) "Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus" (Again, she was blessed. Hand picked by God, who intervened to free her from original sin.) "Holy Mary, Mother of God, PRAY for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death." 


Nowhere in that prayer do we worship Mary, or say "your will be done" as we say to God in the Lord's prayer. We merely ask her to pray for us.


O Clement, O loving, O Sweet Virgin Mary - PRAY for us oh Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.


A Catholic's relationship with Mary is not a relationship of worship, it is not the same relationship we have for God... it is a very sweet, and loving relationship as the relationship you'd have with your parents, only more intimate because she is the mother of Christ, and carries our intercessions to him.


Mary's only wish is that we maintain our relationship with God, through her son, our Lord Jesus Christ... for Jesus himself said that no one goes to the Father, but through him. (John 14:6)


All Glory and Honor belongs to God alone. No Saint, not even the Mother of God, seeks worship. They only want to help us join in the throngs of praise and love for our God.

::QUESTION FROM A GUEST::

"Can you please explain about the assumption? I was raised in a Baptist family. Honestly I'm not really any religion now. I just believe in God. I like the idea of Mary, but my pastor taught us Mary is dead like all the saints awaiting to go into heaven."

The Assumption is a complicated question... but this site wonderfully explains it: CATHOILC ANSWERS

-God Bless-

I Say Amen

FURTHER READING:

Catholic Online

Catholic Bridge