Lent Themed Family Movie Night

This past week we've seen Expelled and The Maldonado Miracle via Netflix .


Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed with Ben Stein was great! Although I didn't know about restraints in the scientific community regarding Intelligent Design, I was not surprised. This kind of restriction on scientific inquiry has gone on for eons. *Galileo come to mind. He was told to shush about his theories. Of course, in this instance, in modern times, the shoe is on the other foot. It's the scientific community who is on the defensive.

*During the years immediately following, taking advantage of the celebrated leaning tower, he laid the foundation experimentally of the theory of falling bodies and demonstrated the falsity of the peripatetic maxim, hitherto accepted without question, that their rate of descent is proportional to their weight. This at once raised a storm on the part of the Aristoteleans, who would not accept even facts in contradiction of their master's dicta. More here: Catholic Encyclopedia

Change comes slowly; it is human nature to doubt and fear.

The Maldonado Miracle was good, but the priest in the movie seemed a bit like a Hollywood version. Either that or he had totally lost it, and become clueless about his vocation. I kept thinking of Easy Rider every time I saw Peter Fonda as the priest. The ending is a surprise, and I love the way the miracle works in the lives of the town's people, and the priest(although he still seems clueless). If you are looking to be uplifted, this is a worth while story of faith. It's also got Rueben Blades, one of my favorite actors. This is a fairly clean movie with no violence, bad language, or sex scenes. The only mature scene is one of the characters drinking herself into a stupor. It has comedic overtones.

Here's the synopsis from Netflix:

"The Mexican town of San Ramos has a dwindling population -- and dwindling hope. The situation's so bad that even the local priest, Father Russell (Peter Fonda), is looking to escape. But just when things are bleakest, the church's Jesus statue begins to drip blood, and the town experiences a rebirth of sorts as crowds of believers flock to see the "Maldonado Miracle." Salma Hayek makes her directorial debut with this made-for-cable family film. "




Tomorrow night, Pillars of Faith: Martyrs to Christianity

Synopsis:

"This installment of the Pillars of Faith series chronicles the earliest days of Christianity, a tumultuous time that spanned several hundred years in which fervent believers of Jesus Christ's teachings were persecuted -- and often died for their faith. Segments focus on the tragic stories of Joan of Arc and Thomas Moore; John Foxe's Book of Martyrs; the persecution of Catholic missionaries in the New World; and Christ's own role as a martyr."