They say the second weekend is the real test for whether a movie is good or not. Well, The Passion of the Christ has passed that test...
From Box Office Mojo > Box Office By Movie: "Total as of Mar. 7, 2004: $212,034,000 (Estimate)"
It's been the #1 movie, everyday since its release.
Monday, March 8, 2004
Sunday, March 7, 2004
Cross Meditations
Jesus said if anyone wanted to follow him, they should take up their cross and get behind him...currently you have two movements going on:
The presentation of the horrid suffering of the Cross
and...
The denial that there is any cross in life.
I continue to post a daily look at how the cross of Christ is a beacon to the way we approach our lives, click on the gate to the right to view today's entry.
The presentation of the horrid suffering of the Cross
and...
The denial that there is any cross in life.
I continue to post a daily look at how the cross of Christ is a beacon to the way we approach our lives, click on the gate to the right to view today's entry.
If Britany Can--Why Can't He?
There are reports out there that the current rush of same sex marriages is part of a campaign to legitimize same sex relationships in the minds of the "average" person. One comment that I've seen quoted over and over, two examples come to mind--one being below, the other in "My Turn" in the current issues of Newsweek, is the comment that relates to the cheapened way marriage was treated by Brittany Spears (this makes me suspicious if even that isn't a part of this overall scheme).
Now, Episcopal Bishop Eugene Robinson who is the "pope" of this whole movement and is at the forefront of moving this agenda into the public eye wants to be married--and you know what? The same Episcopal bishops who elected him a bishop ought to do the ceremony and then declare themselves followers of bishop Robinson and publicly declare that they are followers of the Son of Robin rather than the Son of God...
From Breakingnews.ie:
Robinson, whose election as the US church?s first openly gay bishop last year had divided Anglicans throughout the world, said yesterday ? , two days before he was due to become the Episcopal Church?s leader in New Hampshire ? that the gay marriage issue was one of civil rights.
?It is very irritating to me that Britney Spears, when she traipsed off to be married in Las Vegas, instantly had what my partner and I of 15 years do not have,? he said.
Robinson takes over tomorrow from retiring Bishop Douglas Theuner at a time when the debate over gay rights, including marriage, is making headlines nationwide.
Now, Episcopal Bishop Eugene Robinson who is the "pope" of this whole movement and is at the forefront of moving this agenda into the public eye wants to be married--and you know what? The same Episcopal bishops who elected him a bishop ought to do the ceremony and then declare themselves followers of bishop Robinson and publicly declare that they are followers of the Son of Robin rather than the Son of God...
From Breakingnews.ie:
Robinson, whose election as the US church?s first openly gay bishop last year had divided Anglicans throughout the world, said yesterday ? , two days before he was due to become the Episcopal Church?s leader in New Hampshire ? that the gay marriage issue was one of civil rights.
?It is very irritating to me that Britney Spears, when she traipsed off to be married in Las Vegas, instantly had what my partner and I of 15 years do not have,? he said.
Robinson takes over tomorrow from retiring Bishop Douglas Theuner at a time when the debate over gay rights, including marriage, is making headlines nationwide.
Saturday, March 6, 2004
Mel Gibson's Triumph
From Mel Gibson's Triumph:
"On coming away from a first, full viewing of Mel Gibson's 'The Passion of the Christ,' among the questions that came to mind was: What in heaven's name was all the howling about?
For the all-powerful impression this emotionally draining film leaves one with is that this is what the Son of God went through for our sins and our salvation. Those who called 'The Passion' anti-Semitic without seeing it, who tried to censor it and keep it out of theaters, and who trashed it as pornographic as soon as it appeared on Ash Wednesday have made perfect fools of themselves.
For Catholics, this first week of Lent was a decidedly mixed one. The magnitude of the scandal of pedophile and pervert-priests, now fully documented, testifies that Pope Paul VI was right when he warned, post Vatican II, that the smoke of Hell had entered the vestibule of the Church.
But Gibson's 'Passion' gives us a Lenten masterpiece, a beautiful moving work of art. To cradle Catholics who can recite the lines of each episode before they are uttered, it is faithful to the Gospels, to the Stations of the Cross, to the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.
But what you come out of this film with depends on what you took in. If you are looking for evidence of Jewish villainy, you can find it in Caiphas, the sinister high priest of the Sanhedrin who was the driving force in the mob's demand for the crucifixion and death of Jesus. And in the pathetic figure of Judas the betrayer. But almost all the heroines and heroes are also Jews.
For this is, after all, a Jewish and Roman story, though Caiphas appears as a cartoon villain alongside Pilate, the more interesting figure. For Pilate is gripped by a moral dilemma, and takes the weakling's way out, ordering Christ crucified --though he believes Christ to be innocent"
"On coming away from a first, full viewing of Mel Gibson's 'The Passion of the Christ,' among the questions that came to mind was: What in heaven's name was all the howling about?
For the all-powerful impression this emotionally draining film leaves one with is that this is what the Son of God went through for our sins and our salvation. Those who called 'The Passion' anti-Semitic without seeing it, who tried to censor it and keep it out of theaters, and who trashed it as pornographic as soon as it appeared on Ash Wednesday have made perfect fools of themselves.
For Catholics, this first week of Lent was a decidedly mixed one. The magnitude of the scandal of pedophile and pervert-priests, now fully documented, testifies that Pope Paul VI was right when he warned, post Vatican II, that the smoke of Hell had entered the vestibule of the Church.
But Gibson's 'Passion' gives us a Lenten masterpiece, a beautiful moving work of art. To cradle Catholics who can recite the lines of each episode before they are uttered, it is faithful to the Gospels, to the Stations of the Cross, to the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.
But what you come out of this film with depends on what you took in. If you are looking for evidence of Jewish villainy, you can find it in Caiphas, the sinister high priest of the Sanhedrin who was the driving force in the mob's demand for the crucifixion and death of Jesus. And in the pathetic figure of Judas the betrayer. But almost all the heroines and heroes are also Jews.
For this is, after all, a Jewish and Roman story, though Caiphas appears as a cartoon villain alongside Pilate, the more interesting figure. For Pilate is gripped by a moral dilemma, and takes the weakling's way out, ordering Christ crucified --though he believes Christ to be innocent"
Friday, March 5, 2004
Martha Stewart Convicted of All Counts
Guess she should have taken the stand.
From Martha Stewart Convicted of All Counts (washingtonpost.com)
Martha Stewart was convicted Friday of obstructing justice and lying to the government about a superbly timed stock sale, a devastating verdict that probably means prison for the woman who epitomizes meticulous homemaking and gracious living.
From Martha Stewart Convicted of All Counts (washingtonpost.com)
Martha Stewart was convicted Friday of obstructing justice and lying to the government about a superbly timed stock sale, a devastating verdict that probably means prison for the woman who epitomizes meticulous homemaking and gracious living.
Let Us Exalt the Lord!
From The Orthodox Page:
"LET US EXALT THE LORD
WHO WAS EXALTED ON THE CROSS, RAISING UP THE WORLD
AS WE ARE RAISED ABOVE THE PASSIONS THAT CREEP ON THE EARTH
THROUGH OUR FASTING.
WITH FULL AWARENESS LET US DRINK THE CUP OF CONTRITION;
LET US CALL TO MIND THE DAY AND HOUR
WHEN WE SHALL STAND BEFORE THE ETERNAL JUDGE!"
"LET US EXALT THE LORD
WHO WAS EXALTED ON THE CROSS, RAISING UP THE WORLD
AS WE ARE RAISED ABOVE THE PASSIONS THAT CREEP ON THE EARTH
THROUGH OUR FASTING.
WITH FULL AWARENESS LET US DRINK THE CUP OF CONTRITION;
LET US CALL TO MIND THE DAY AND HOUR
WHEN WE SHALL STAND BEFORE THE ETERNAL JUDGE!"
Thursday, March 4, 2004
Weeping Statue of Mary at Church Due to Close
Now overwhelmed with crowds... in the Boston Archdiocese.
From The Boston Globe:
Two weeks ago, a delivery man told a rectory worker that the life-sized statue outside the red-brick church near Tufts University was weeping. By yesterday at noon, the devout and the curious were arriving at the statue every few minutes.
"I think she's crying because this church may close," said Stephanie Pucillo of Medford, who visited the statue yesterday during her lunch break after her mother told her about it. "Is it real? I don't know. But the timing is ironic, with everything that's going on."
Last month, Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley informed all the 357 parishes that due to dwindling Mass attendance, a shortage of priests, and financial constraints, some churches would be forced to close by the end of the year. He instructed priests and parish officials to meet and identify which parishes ought to be slated for closing.
The five Catholic parishes in Medford have decided that if one of them must close, it should be St. James Parish, and if two churches must close, then Sacred Heart Church has been recommended, according to Sacred Heart's church bulletin.
The Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, the archdiocesan spokesman, was on vacation and unavailable for comment.
But Sacred Heart's pastor, the Rev. Robert Doherty, said: "The statute is not weeping. It's just an outdoor statute."
He said that streams of water have been rolling down the statue's face from one or both eyes. Doherty said that given all the troubles that the Catholic churches has faced lately, from the sex-abuse scandal to the proposed church closings, it makes sense that devout Catholics believe the statue is weeping. "I think the Blessed Mother is crying, but I don't think the statue is," he said.
Doherty said the statue has been in front of the church for years, and until recently, it was entirely white. About two years ago, a parishioner added blue hues to the icon's robe, and flesh colored paint to its face.
From The Boston Globe:
Two weeks ago, a delivery man told a rectory worker that the life-sized statue outside the red-brick church near Tufts University was weeping. By yesterday at noon, the devout and the curious were arriving at the statue every few minutes.
"I think she's crying because this church may close," said Stephanie Pucillo of Medford, who visited the statue yesterday during her lunch break after her mother told her about it. "Is it real? I don't know. But the timing is ironic, with everything that's going on."
Last month, Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley informed all the 357 parishes that due to dwindling Mass attendance, a shortage of priests, and financial constraints, some churches would be forced to close by the end of the year. He instructed priests and parish officials to meet and identify which parishes ought to be slated for closing.
The five Catholic parishes in Medford have decided that if one of them must close, it should be St. James Parish, and if two churches must close, then Sacred Heart Church has been recommended, according to Sacred Heart's church bulletin.
The Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, the archdiocesan spokesman, was on vacation and unavailable for comment.
But Sacred Heart's pastor, the Rev. Robert Doherty, said: "The statute is not weeping. It's just an outdoor statute."
He said that streams of water have been rolling down the statue's face from one or both eyes. Doherty said that given all the troubles that the Catholic churches has faced lately, from the sex-abuse scandal to the proposed church closings, it makes sense that devout Catholics believe the statue is weeping. "I think the Blessed Mother is crying, but I don't think the statue is," he said.
Doherty said the statue has been in front of the church for years, and until recently, it was entirely white. About two years ago, a parishioner added blue hues to the icon's robe, and flesh colored paint to its face.
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