“DOES THE DEVIL REALLY WEAR PRADA?” (Mk 5:1-20): 04 February 2008 (Monday)
Today’s Readings
Once in a while a movie comes along that scares the hell out of you and–at least for a while–changes your sleeping habits. I saw one such movie back in 1973 when I was only twelve years old. The movie was “The Exorcist,” a horror classic that usually lands on the top 5 of almost any “Scariest Movies of All Time” list you can find. You may have seen the Director’s Cut when it was released in 2004.
“WHICH PILL WILL I CHOOSE?” (Mt 5:1-12): 03 February 2008 (Sunday)
Believe it or not, one of the most spiritual movies I’ve seen is “The Matrix,” which came out in 1999. Written and directed by brothers Larry and Andy Wachowski, this futuristic science fiction film is filled not only with great special effects and some fascinating action sequences, but also with a lot of religious and philosophical symbolisms. Its two sequels have managed to surpass the special effects and the box office earnings of the original, but when it comes to depth of meaning, in my opinion, they don’t even come close to the first.
“HAVE MY EYES SEEN YOUR SALVATION?” (Lk 2:22-32): 02 February 2008 (Presentation of the Lord)
Today’s Readings
I first heard Jason Mraz’s “You and I Both” about three years ago. Nothing beats a catchy tune–which this is–but it’s also a little too wordy. The best part, however, is that somehow it works!
It’s a love song, but it may well have been Simeon’s song when he gets to cradle the Christ Child in his arms after waiting for years for some kind of sign of the salvation of Israel.
“CAN YOU SLEEP THROUGH THE STATIC?” (Mk 4:26-34): 01 February 2008 (Friday)
Hawaii-based Jack Johnson will soon release an album with a great title: “Sleep through the Static.” The song of the same title speaks–with a somewhat ironic tone–against war, and I think the title captures what I feel about today’s readings.
Today’s Readings
Today’s gospel has got to have one of the scariest passages in the entire Bible! The Lord tells us: “For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light.”
What?! I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping that the Lord is just being poetic here and has no intention of being taken literally. Just imagine what he means. Everyone’s going to know everything about you: your most private–and uncharitable–thoughts, your deepest, darkest secrets, things about yourselves that even you would prefer to forget and not think about. Imagine all these resurrected at the end of time and haunting you in full view of everyone! The afterlife–wherever you end up with–is going to be pretty intolerable because of that!