Miscellaneous Blog Topic I : Mary Kate Curry

It was made known in the recent publication of a new biography of Pope John Paul II that the late pontiff was an adherent of self-flagellation. Indeed, on all his travels, he brought with him a leather belt that he would hang next to his vestments. He also chose (on occasion) to sleep on wooden floors, eschewing comfort and warmth in order to bring himself closer to Christ.

Now, to our modern sensibilities, this is all wrong! Even some Catholics are having problems reconciling these practices to the portrait of a pope seen as more unifying, tolerant, and modern-thinking than his predecessors. How medieval—to whip oneself, or to deny simple comforts. It conjures up images of those ignorant peasants in The Seventh Seal, killing themselves to try to gain heaven. How backwards! What learned man would continue such horrifying practices? Our loving Chris of the New Testament would never demand the self-harm of any of his children; but rather, wants our glorification of him to be made through our love of others, our compassion, in living our lives justly and well. Mortification is selfish; trying to cleanse only one’s own body, instead of comforting the sick around us. Beyond spiritual ramifications, it’s psychologically sick! What healthy person would willingly whip or starve himself?

But, John Paul II’s motives appear not to have stemmed from the medieval practice of mortification as a means of self-control or punishment; but rather, from his great love for others. The biographer makes careful note that the flagellation would be most inflicted on the eve of ordinations of priests and deacons. John Paul II was not purifying himself. He was emulating Christ’s own suffering; understanding full well the difficulties and trials that the newly ordained would face, he attempted to carry the Crosses of those about to receive Holy Orders. If one is a Christian, is this not the most beautiful of charities? Offering up a true sacrifice, not for the remittance of one’s own sin, but instead as a remittance for others?

Through voluntary suffering and discomfort, man makes himself closer to the Christ who made the choice to suffer and die for man’s sins. In JPII’s own words, “In bringing about the Redemption through suffering, Christ has also raised human suffering to the level of the Redemption. Thus each man, in his suffering, can also become a sharer in the redemptive suffering of Christ" (Salvifici Doloris, On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering).

A non-Christian, I find the actions of John Paul II almost overwhelming—what sheer love to do such a thing! To willingly take on something so repugnant to man’s rationality; to voluntarily carry someone else’s cross. I suppose though; that this is the way one is supposed to feel about Jesus Christ.

Northfork- Elizabeth Henderson

Throughout the movie, there were many bibilocal references that were ironic. The men that were trying to get the people of the town to move out had both a white feather in their hat and also a pair of feathers on their jackets. However, they were moving the people out of their "home", but giving them feathers to fly away to their new "home".

Many of the foundations were put on stilts to help move them to the new city that the people were moving to. However, this symbolized that the houses were temporary, just like our bodies and the man who had 2 wives. The bodies that we have and stuff that we own now will not last forever, like the town that everybody was living in, that was going to be flooded because of the new dam. One of them men, thought he could keep his car new forever and never get a scratch in it, but like everything else it will not last forever. Erwin was a prime example of this he died and returned to being an angel at a very young age.

Northfork : Mary Kate Curry

I enjoyed this film very much, both for its haunting visuals, as well as for the questions it brought to my mind about the nature of death and the role of angels. What in particular I liked the most about the movie was its use of language, and the humor that the language provided against the stark reality of the situation. (For example, while examining the wings the maybe-angel Irwin has brought them, Happy states that “…there's nothing fowl about these wings.) This puns and plays on words give a little smile against the bleakness of the Montana backdrop.

Beyond the humor afforded by the puns and plays, language also offers an interesting insight as to the potential theme of the film. The town of Northfork must be evacuated, and her inhabitants placed in exiled, because Northfork is literally on the edge of being dammed (damned). A sense of loss and abandonment permeate the film; made physical by the shots of an empty town, wind whistling through ghost-like houses. The theme of abandonment is made especially clear in the case of Irwin, a dying orphan ‘returned’ by his guardians because he is too weak to make the journey to the replacement town. He has been left behind and abandoned, unable to join the mass exodus. Shepherding Irwin to his death is the town’s priest, Father Harlan, whose whispering, gravelly voice mourns the death of the town, which is being lost to industrialization and the name of progress.

But, the presence of strange angels looking for their ‘lost family member’ bring up the point that when Northforks was founded, it had caused the extinction of those who had come before—the Native Americans who had lived and loved there; and who were extinguished in order to make way for the settlers and their progress. The angels bring this concept up, because it is in the presence of the angels that the metaphorical tranquilizer gun and feathers are introduced. Irwin had been free, he said, roaming with birds, when suddenly he was shot, and had his wings cut off. This can be seen as a parallel to the slaughter of the buffalo, the displacement of the Native Americans, and the removal of their culture (the removal of the wings…). So, the inhabitants of Northforks are not the first victims of this process; but simply make up part of a cycle.

What is the cost of progress? What do we lose when we move? Nick Nolte’s character despairs at digging up the grave of his wife; but how could one simply walk away from death? Death is a blatant presence, from the dying town, to the dying child, to the dug up graveyard, with its one lonely occupant waiting to be reclaimed. Is death unforgiving, a punishing repeat of the same damning cycle? Or is death really just going home, as Irwin seems to believe it to be?

Biblical References and other observations in Northfork - Lindsay Conrad

I wanted to poitn out a couple really great biblical allusions (i think) in this film. There are also some other interesting things or points in theology.

- Noah's Ark: They had the obvious with the house, but they also showed the craziness that Noah probably got when he was building the ark for the great flood. Though, this time everyone knew the plain would actually flood and they still thought this guy crazy to want to kepe his house and fmaily afloat.

- two by two: The "guardian angels" were sent out two by two, just as the disciples were charged to spread the news of Jesus. Only this time, they were spreading bad news and ending a stay in this town. Granted, back in the day, the news of Jesus wasn't exactly music to anyone's ears.

- Open wall to the chapel: This could go back to the time when the church was being persecuted and temples and churches were being destroyed. The church took on the theology that worship could happen anywhere, and we were also called to go out into the world to spread the good news. So, the open wall of the chapel could give that allusion to the Christian tradition.

- God's role: In the group of angel people, God was a player, but he never spoke. He wrote music and wrote in different languages and left it up for interpretation by the guy wiht the glasses. Some people have the idea that God started the world and then stepped away, so that could be one interpretation of that character, and another one is that God speaks to us through interesting means, which is why he was writing all those things and maybe pieces of the Bible or hints to read between the lines.

- "Just a child": Flower was broken when she found out that the child was the unknown angel. She couldn't accept him and take him from the earth because he was only a child. I feel as though the pharisees felt the same way about Jesus as he began his mission. He was crucified in his 30s, so he was just a boy for much of his ministry. How could be accept a baby coming in the humblest of forms to be a messenger and a savior of the world?

The "how to" of Angels - Lindsay Conad

In this film, a lot can be said about the concept of angels. Who is an angels, who do you become one, how do they fall, etc. I thought it was very interesting how the concept of angels was almost out of reach to the people who were angels themselves. When they were first looking at the painting, they called the angel in the painting a birdman, but maybe they were distinguishing between the true angels and the fallen angels. I also found it interesting that the evacuaters working for the government were trying to be angels by taking the wings from children before they are able to be angels themselves. I think their task of stripping the angels of their wings was what made the man who needed to move his wife suffer so greatly, because he noticed the wrongs that were being done, and maybe the wrongs that had been done.

I did, however, LOVE the concept of the angel being a small sick boy. Similar to Bruce Almighty where God showed up in the poor, humble, and lowly, a true angel of God came in the form of a small sick boy. He showed innocence, joy, laughter, and struggle. The priest was the only one to truly notice the angelic qualities about the boy, and not even the other messengers were able to see the gift in front of them. I think within the boy being an angel is wrapped another story. JEsus said "Let the children come to me," which indicates that there is a desire in the thoughts and feelings of children that have a holy or angelic quality about it. This boy was a messenger and truly knew his place. He was just seeking his route to reunite with his family.

What Dreams May Come- Elizabeth Henderson

When I watch this movie over Christmas break. This movie made you think about death and heaven and hell. Throughout the movie there is a man that is trying to find his wife and be with her because that is all he wanted in both death and life. He was only truly happy when he was with her. While he was in heaven after he died saw heaven as he paintings and the background was how he saw life. The guy that showed him around heaven ended up was his son and he meet his daughter as well. The point of this movie was to show that heaven is what you want it to be. He went down to hell to find his wife once she killed herself, he made hell look like the worse place you would want to be because that is how he assumed it would be. Once he finds her he decides that he wants to only be with her and tell his guide that he would rather spend eternity in hell with her than in heaven without her. And because he was willing to sacrifice his happiness for her they both were able to go back to heaven together. His sacrifice was a transcendent emotion for just wanting to be with her.

Final Destination

Over Spring Break I was watching Tv and I watched the movie Final Destination. While watching this movie I noticed that all the members of the movie where trying to cheat death. The Main character, have visions that somebody was going to die from something bad. He only had flashes of the incident and did not know who was going to die. Throughout the movie the main character is playing God. He is able to choose the fate of the other characters in the movie. He tries to let his friends know when they are going to die. However, he is not God and at the end of the movie you realize this. The remaining characters are all sitting in a coffee shop and a truck hits the side of the building where they are sitting and kills them. Even though there has been many different varations of this movie I think like 4 of them, they all have the same theme to them. One of the characters, who is the hero of the movie, acts like God and tries to defy fate.