http://www.thinkingfaith.org/index.htm The online journal of the British Jesuits en-gb Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:30:00 +0000 Copyright: (C) Jesuit Media Initiatives article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100730_1.htm ‘What Ignatius gives us is not a scholastic or academic theology; it is not a theory, but a theology that is lived and experienced. In this sense, too, our theology becomes a daily action, shaping and making our lives.’ To celebrate the Feast of St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, on 31 July, James Hanvey SJ exposes the theological vision manifested in the Spiritual Exercises and in Ignatius’s life. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100730_1.htm Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:29:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100723_1.htm A recent call from leading scientists for a month-long sexual abstinence in Southern Africa to help prevent the spread of HIV might seem to have echoes of what the Church has said about tackling AIDS; but the Church and the scientific establishment aren’t quite on the same page, argues Peter Knox SJ. Why has the ‘ABC’ campaign employed by various governments to reduce new infections had limited success, and how can the Church help to promote a different, value-based strategy? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100723_1.htm Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:14:00 UTC book review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100723_1.htm A Practical Guide to the Spiritual Care of the Dying Person, published last month by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, is a very helpful tool for all those engaged on the frontlines of medicine. It is concise enough to be an effective and efficient tool to be used by staff on a ward, or maybe even professional and lay carers in home situations. Simultaneously, it is inviting enough to provoke subsequent study and discussion and offers a way into additional material. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100723_1.htm Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:13:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100723_4.htm It’s hard to know what to say about Inception without a) underselling it; b) giving away too much of the plot; or c) confusing you. The hugely exciting experience of this film does not come for free – your patience and concentration are required but will be rewarded, even if just with a distorted perception of what is real, or with something to think about for a week or so. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100723_4.htm Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:12:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100723_3.htm It wouldn’t be a Toy Story if it wasn’t laced with the skill and humour that have defined the brand since 1995: it’s the density of jokes, tics and one-liners that the original Toy Story made the norm that once again succeeds. We watched the film in 3D, which felt slightly pointless here: Toy Story 3 doesn’t need any adornment to make it better, and if this is the last of the franchise then it’s a fine end. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100723_3.htm Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:11:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100723_2.htm From the start let’s make one thing clear. This film is great. If you want a good family film that will have something for everyone, then this is it. The fact that it is in 3D adds to but does not enhance the experience. You just get the feeling it was the latest attempt to add one extra ingredient that its predecessors lacked. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100723_2.htm Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:10:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100723_1.htm For those people who prefer their narrative complete, and without ambiguity, then Catherine Breillat’s Bluebeard is a film to avoid. The surface level inconsistencies, as well as some of the criticism that has been thrown at this film, could be explained by Breillat’s choice of child narrators. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100723_1.htm Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:09:00 UTC book review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100716_1.htm Making a 30-day retreat may seem like a daunting prospect at the best of times; doing so whilst continuing to live your everyday life seems impossible. Where do you start? When and how do you pray? What do you pray about? Having Time to Change at hand is like having your very own retreat director guiding you each step of the way. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100716_1.htm Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:19:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100716_1.htm Even if Le Concert has a plot borrowed from The Blues Brothers, and frequently entangles the themes of political drama and broad comedy, it is a winning expression of the redemption within classical music. The strength of the film is in the music itself; the comedy is less successful: generic and bordering on stereotypical, it hampers the thrust of the film’s compassion and eulogy for creativity. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100716_1.htm Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:18:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100714_1.htm On 14 July 1979, Jesuit priest, Fr Bernard Darke was killed as he photographed what ought to have been a peaceful demonstration in Georgetown, Guyana. Malcolm Rodrigues SJ describes the political unrest leading up to and following the granting of independence to British Guyana, which provided the circumstances for Fr Darke’s death. In a time of rigged elections and ‘constitutional dictatorship’, how did the Church promote peace and denounce injustice, particularly through the Catholic Standard newspaper? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100714_1.htm Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:09:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100712_1.htm For the last four weeks, the world’s attention has been focused on South Africa as it played host to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but that month in the spotlight was preceded by years of preparation and will now have a lasting impact on the lives of the people of South Africa. Rampe Hlobo SJ suggests that South Africans have been the real winners of the World Cup – how has the tournament been a turning point for the country, and in fact the whole of Africa? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100712_1.htm Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:46:00 UTC book review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100707_2.htm Faith Maps summarises and encapsulates the complex thoughts of great Catholic thinkers who did not write in simple sentences. The ‘ten religious explorers’ offer a fascinating list of possibilities: Newman, Blondel, Rahner, von Balthasar, Lonergan, O’Connor, Sölle, Taylor, Sequeri and Benedict XVI. Not all are conventional theologians, but all have a theology. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100707_2.htm Wed, 7 Jul 2010 14:31:00 UTC book review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100707_1.htm The Africa Chief for Time Magazine, based in Cape Town, takes you to places that Google-journalists don’t reach. His ‘if you want to know, go’ approach is as sound as it is old-fashioned. The result is another view of the world and an exceedingly sobering take on globalization. Perry reports on the wars that we never hear about, partly because we don’t want to and partly because governments don’t want us to. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100707_1.htm Wed, 7 Jul 2010 14:30:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100702_1.htm Is there a unified Catholic voice in the American public square, and if so, what is it saying at the moment? As the United States celebrates Independence Day on 4^th July, Professor Vincent Rougeau of the University of Notre Dame, describes the past and present tensions experienced by Catholic Americans as a result of the support and opposition encountered in various other religious and political voices. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100702_1.htm Fri, 2 Jul 2010 15:16:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100702_1.htm Tetro spreads its arms wide: its topics are familial tension, artistic ambition and life-long guilt – but for all the big emotions there is neither enough control nor enough creativity to pull off an enjoyable film. This is a big disappointment, considering that if anyone had anything to say about the interaction between art and family tensions, it should be someone from the Coppola family. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100702_1.htm Fri, 2 Jul 2010 15:15:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100630_1.htm Rev John Boyers, chaplain to Manchester United FC and Director of inter-denominational sports chaplaincy body, SCORE, tells Thinking Faith about how he became involved in football chaplaincy. What does the role of chaplain to one of the world’s biggest football clubs involve, and how does it embody a model of Christian service? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100630_1.htm Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:54:00 UTC book review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100630_1.htm Kieran O’Mahony’s study, Do We Still Need St Paul?, is a superb collection of brief essays that re-roots any approach to and understanding of St Paul in his personal commitment to Jesus Christ. It is an accessible antidote to anyone who might be dissuaded from approaching the apostle by those who claim he is too abstractly philosophical, misogynist, or obsessed with Church organisation and structures. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100630_1.htm Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:53:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100625_1.htm Fr Bill MacCurtain considers the readings that we will hear this coming Sunday and thinks about how Elijah, James and John, sought to demonstrate their service to God using power and might. But the work with which God has entrusted us can be accomplished with simplicity and humility. Each of us, in our own circumstances, can do God’s work if we trust in God and listen to what is asked of us. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100625_1.htm Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:14:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100625_2.htm Greenberg is a study of the way that damaged people hook up, circle around each other, sometimes falling into relationships or falling out of them, but often failing to escape the dark pain that caused their unhappiness in the first place. Not that this is a relentlessly depressing film. There’s a laconic New Yorker wit that defuses the appalling horridness of people’s behaviour, and shows that some of the characters have at least a dawning awareness of their own pathology. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100625_2.htm Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:13:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100625_1.htm Essentially, the film portrays the conflict of two worldviews: the medieval and the modern. The story, despite the abundance of gore, is not told excitingly. There are great, twisting themes here but not much of a story. Given the horror one expects from Smith, there is not enough energy in the direction to drive us through the woods and marshes of this tale. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100625_1.htm Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:12:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100622_1.htm David Cameron last week issued an apology on behalf of the Government following the report of the Saville Inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday. Irish Jesuit, Brian Lennon, who has worked on peace issues in Northern Ireland for nearly 30 years, looks at the responses to this apology and at the light it sheds on recent British history. What lessons can and must be learned from the ‘unjustified and unjustifiable’ events of nearly 40 years ago? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100622_1.htm Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:53:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100617_1.htm Fr Andrew Cole explains the proceedings that follow an accusation of abuse against a member of the clergy. What steps does the Church take to meet the objectives stated in the Code of Canon Law: the restoration of justice, the reform of the offender and the repair of scandal? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100617_1.htm Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:48:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100611_2.htm The long-awaited beginning of the 2010 FIFA World Cup today has been met with enthusiasm and joy by many South Africans. Raymond Perrier describes the celebrations that have already taken place to welcome the tournament and asks: where do we find God in this celebration of 2010? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100611_2.htm Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:34:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100611_1.htm The celebrations in South Africa as the 2010 World Cup gets underway will be broadcast around the globe, but how much will we hear and read about the troubles that beset the country, some of which will be heightened by its hosting of the tournament? Graham Pugin SJ hopes that the Church can bear visible witness to the problems of trafficking, poverty and unemployment that the football may disguise. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100611_1.htm Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:33:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100611_1.htm The Brothers Bloom are a pair of con-artists struggling to maintain their integrity, and when Bloom the younger falls in love with one of their marks, the tragedy unfolds. Beneath the comedy, the film attempts to discuss the impact of both fraternal love and the search for an authentic life. Throughout the film, the script tries to flip the real and the fake, the sincere and the dishonest. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100611_1.htm Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:32:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100611_2.htm As a Sex and the City fan, I recognised the last film wasn’t a masterpiece but I adored it nonetheless. The HBO series provided us with the escapism of the stunning and unaffordable clothes and lifestyle but we didn’t care because we were always grounded with those ‘real people’ moments. In SATC2, the writer has opted for fantasy over reality. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100611_2.htm Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:31:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100607_2.htm Joe Egerton argues that the treatment of David Laws calls for unequivocal condemnation by Christians and urges the Prime Minister and Cabinet to put plans in place to frustrate the next attempt by the media to hijack the government. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100607_2.htm Mon, 7 Jun 2010 15:14:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100607_1.htm The Edinburgh 2010 International Mission Conference took place last week, bringing together 300 delegates of different Christian denominations from sixty countries. Yesterday, at the close of the conference, the international Catholic delegation was welcomed at the Sacred Heart Church, Edinburgh, for the Mass of Corpus Christi. Fr James Crampsey SJ preached on what mission means today, in the context of the feeding of the five thousand and its place in Luke’s Gospel. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100607_1.htm Mon, 7 Jun 2010 15:13:00 UTC book review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100604_1.htm Danielle Trussoni is hoping to cash in on Dan Brown’s success with Angelology, a puzzle-solving thriller with Church conspiracies. The book also picks up a more recent publishing craze, that of the supernatural love story. But apparently vampires are passé, and if you are at all familiar with the latest publishing clichés then you will know that angels are the new vampires. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100604_1.htm Fri, 4 Jun 2010 17:07:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100601_1.htm The Holy See has announced that the Apostolic Visitation to the Archdiocese of Armagh will be overseen by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, who ten years ago commissioned a review of cases of abuse in the Church in England and Wales. Following Lord Nolan’s report, the Church has taken measures to prioritise the safety of children and vulnerable adults. Michael Smith SJ, the Safeguarding Co-ordinator for the British Jesuits, explains the policies currently in effect and looks to the further transformation in the Church in the future. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100601_1.htm Tue, 1 Jun 2010 14:14:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100528_1.htm ‘The name we give to God, The Trinity, marks the depth and height of the Christian knowledge and experience of who God is.’ In anticipation of the celebration of Trinity Sunday, 30 May, James Hanvey SJ considers how we might begin to think and speak about the loving relationship between Father, Son and Spirit into which we ourselves are welcomed. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100528_1.htm Fri, 28 May 2010 14:44:00 UTC book review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100528_1.htm Lord Bingham had a unique career as an English judge – Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice and Senior Law Lord. The very great value of this book is that it provides an accessible and readable introduction to a subject anyone concerned with the common good needs to think about, a topic now firmly on the political agenda, namely what is required for good law and good government. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100528_1.htm Fri, 28 May 2010 14:43:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100528_2.htm Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, is a foundling’s journey to true belonging in Disney blockbuster packaging. It is based on a popular computer game of the same name, and the young audience will be attracted to the film in the hope that it will be as entertaining as the game. It is harsh to conclude that it was all a sandy waste of time, but nothing much happens that isn’t totally predictable. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100528_2.htm Fri, 28 May 2010 14:42:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100528_1.htm Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans finds director Werner Herzog reworking and reinventing the well established and long stale ‘bad cop’ genre of film-making. Herzog creates a context within which he can achieve the contradictions and confusions needed when exploring the gulf created when morality and the law diverge, a gulf in which all in the film become immersed. From the opening scene, the film sets out to confuse, to blur lines long drawn in the audience’s minds: http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100528_1.htm Fri, 28 May 2010 14:41:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100525_1.htm As the Queen opens the new Parliament, Joe Egerton urges us to reflect on what Edith Stein, twentieth century philosopher, martyr and canonised saint, had to say about the morality of government, and recognise that the Members of the House of Commons are elected to be above all the guardians of virtue in public life. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100525_1.htm Tue, 25 May 2010 11:56:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100524_1.htm While scientists make headlines about recent advances in synthetic biology, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland will today consider a report on this novel area of research. Dr Murdo Macdonald considers the ethical and theological questions raised by the development of ‘artificial life’: are scientists really ‘playing God’? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100524_1.htm Mon, 24 May 2010 14:10:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100521_1.htm The 400^th anniversary of the death of Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci is being celebrated this year, particularly in China, where Ricci’s unique approach to the Chinese culture had a tremendous impact. But what effect did the Chinese people have on the life and work of Ricci and his companions? Professor Nicolas Standaert considers how the thought and customs of those who received the mission, the Chinese people, shaped the work and ideas of the Jesuits. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100521_1.htm Fri, 21 May 2010 16:12:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100521_3.htm It would be wrong to suggest that Four Lions merely satirises terrorists, although that is the main focus. But really it is all humanity that is targeted. The film treats its characters with the same all-encompassing callousness that the terrorists treat their targets: humanity emerges as a parade of imbeciles and madmen. It’s this complete lack of balance that energises the film, that gives it a manic, set-piece-crammed pace and hilarity. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100521_3.htm Fri, 21 May 2010 16:11:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100521_2.htm Russell Crowe’s controversially Yorkshire characterisation is one of a number of attempts to ‘do things differently’ that make this version of Robin Hood tolerably entertaining. The attempt to give the film a claim to historical accuracy seems particularly bankrupt given the gradual decent into fantasy that occurs as the two hours unravel. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100521_2.htm Fri, 21 May 2010 16:10:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100521_1.htm As historical biography, Vincere tells the story of Italy’s fascist leader Benito Mussolini and his early lover and wife Ida Dalser. Through Dalser’s infatuation, a potent metaphor for Italy’s romance with the dictator is presented. From the first scene,his relationship with the Church represents Il Duce’s ascent to power. This is immersive cinema, a robust and dramatic study of where the personal becomes the political. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100521_1.htm Fri, 21 May 2010 16:09:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100519_1.htm Last month marked the anniversary of the death of Robert Persons, the English Jesuit who presided over the mission to his homeland and retained a deep concern for English Catholicism even after he was forced to flee the country. Despite his reputation as a controversial figure, he was sent to the English College in Rome, where his resolution of several ongoing disputes revealed a lesser known side to his character, suggests Thomas McCoog SJ. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100519_1.htm Wed, 19 May 2010 15:42:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100518_1.htm In a new document, the Catholic bishops of England and Wales explore the practice of and call to interreligious dialogue. Michael Barnes SJ examines the themes in Meeting God in Friend and Stranger, which reminds us that whenever we embrace the ‘atmosphere of curiosity’ that stimulates interreligious exchanges, we are participating in the very dialogue that God initiated with humankind. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100518_1.htm Tue, 18 May 2010 16:51:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100513_2.htm Following his series on the Sunday gospel readings during Lent, which were taken this year from Luke’s Gospel, Jack Mahoney finally considers St Luke’s description of the Ascension of our Lord, which is celebrated either today or this coming Sunday, and of the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100513_2.htm Thu, 13 May 2010 14:36:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100513_1.htm Last month, the lower house of the Belgian parliament voted to ban the wearing of the full Islamic veil in public, and with the French government set to follow suit, questions are being raised about the need and justification for such legislation. Jean-Marie Faux SJ of the Jesuit social justice centre, Centre AVEC in Brussels, argues that the ban goes against the cultural pluralism that Belgium is seeking and will compound the discrimination already faced by Belgian Muslims. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100513_1.htm Thu, 13 May 2010 14:35:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100513_1.htm It is always the struggle of the superhero that makes their respective comic or film worth its salt. Iron Man 2 re-introduces to us playboy millionaire Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr), aka Iron Man who has recently, and casually may I add, ‘privatised world peace’. However, not everything is hunky dory and, as is often the case with comic book heroes, we are shown signs of a tension lurking beneath Stark’s shiny iron veneer. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100513_1.htm Thu, 13 May 2010 14:34:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100511_1.htm 400 years ago today, Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci died in Beijing. One of the pioneers of the Jesuit mission to China, he remains a greatly respected figure for the Church and for the Chinese people. As Thinking Faith marks his anniversary this month, Yves Camus SJ introduces us to the man who has been called ‘the most outstanding cultural mediator between China and the West of all time’. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100511_1.htm Tue, 11 May 2010 17:22:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100510_1.htm South African President Jacob Zuma’s first year in office has been characterised as much by scandal surrounding his private life as by the political and economic decisions he has taken. Anthony Egan SJ, of the Jesuit Institute in South Africa, analyses Zuma’s relationships with his grassroots support base and his main rival, and suggests that the President could instigate real change by focusing national attention on the moral dangers in South African society. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100510_1.htm Mon, 10 May 2010 15:22:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100507_1.htm Yesterday’s General Election returned a result not seen in the United Kingdom for some years: that of a ‘hung Parliament’. So what happens now? Anthony Carroll SJ suggests that this outcome reflects some big changes in our society over recent decades and at the same time points to a need for a reframing of our economic and political mindsets. Only by working together will the new leadership earn the confidence of, and be able to work for the electorate. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100507_1.htm Fri, 7 May 2010 14:27:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100507_3.htm The core of the film is about the choices that young people have to make. The view of the 1970s offered in Cemetery Junction floats cleverly between nostalgia and critique. On the whole, this is a sensitive and insightful film with elements of inconsistency that don’t interrupt some great acting and thought-provoking moments. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100507_3.htm Fri, 7 May 2010 14:26:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100507_2.htm If you’ve heard anything about this film it’s that it involves lots of twists. The Disappearance of Alice Creed doesn’t pack its twists in a big, shouty soundtrack. Instead it goes in the opposite direction and decides to risk unintentional comedy. But the film is essentially a very good thriller, despite the moments of extravagance. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100507_2.htm Fri, 7 May 2010 14:25:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100507_1.htm Apart from the controversy that surrounds any artistic attempt to grapple with the Middle East – Lebanon has already attracted both protests and awards – Samuel Maoz’s debut feature is claustrophobic, intense and brutal. Set entirely inside an Israeli tank as it fights its way through a devastated city, it avoids making broad political statements in favour of a detailed examination of the impact of war on four conscripts. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100507_1.htm Fri, 7 May 2010 14:24:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100505_1.htm Former Labour MP John Battle is the final Party representative to offer Thinking Faith readers an opportunity to see how his Party’s policies reflect the principles of Catholic Social Teaching. As UK voters prepare to cast their ballots in the General Election, he argues that Labour’s commitment to alleviating child and family poverty and to redistributing income in favour of the poorest, best represents the preferential option for the poor. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100505_1.htm Wed, 5 May 2010 10:57:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100504_1.htm Continuing Thinking Faith’s series of Party political articles ahead of this week’s UK General Election, President of Hornsey and Wood Green Conservatives, David Grant argues that to choose the Common Good is to vote for the Conservatives. In looking at the concept of the Common Good, he claims that the Conservative promotion of a ‘Big Society’ best embodies the solution to the social problems facing our communities and our country today. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100504_1.htm Tue, 4 May 2010 12:14:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100503_1.htm In the final days before the 2010 UK General Election, Thinking Faith invites representatives of the Liberal Democrat, Conservative and Labour Parties to demonstrate how their Party recognises the values of Catholic Social Teaching, in particular the concept of the Common Good. Beginning our series, Brent Central candidate Sarah Teather aligns the Catholic concern for the dignity of the human person with the Liberal Democrat arguments for fairness and equality of opportunity. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100503_1.htm Mon, 3 May 2010 11:20:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100428_1.htm In a new book, Irish Jesuit Gerry O’Hanlon looks at the difficulties currently facing the Church in Ireland. He suggests that the Church must find a new language through which it can engage honestly and positively in the public square. In an exclusive extract, he stresses the need to form the community of believers envisaged by the Second Vatican Council, so that all believers may find the courage and the means to respond to the challenges of faith. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100428_1.htm Wed, 28 Apr 2010 18:39:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100423_3.htm So this Catholic and a Buddhist walk into a cinema to watch the one about the Muslim who finds out he’s a Jew… stop me if you’ve heard this one before. But don’t groan before you’ve heard the punchline – the set-up may sound like the opening to an awful stand-up set, but The Infidel is an exercise in how to make a shamelessly populist movie that doesn’t shirk on script and gags. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100423_3.htm Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:11:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100423_2.htm No Greater Love offers a frank insight into the daily lives of the Carmelite Nuns at the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity, Notting Hill. The nuns lead a cloistered life dedicated to prayer and contemplation, rarely leaving the monastery except to visit a doctor or dentist. I would have liked to have written down all the interviews the nuns gave to turn into forewords of wisdom on the human condition, which says something for the film’s universal appeal. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100423_2.htm Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:10:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100423_1.htm The film has so much that is good – humour, a great cast, brooding atmosphere and contemporary relevance. But seen as a whole the pace was lacklustre with annoying inconsistencies of character and a too-convenient ending. The women are the most satisfying characters – Kim Cattrall and Olivia Williams join the ranks of great women in Polanski’s films. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100423_1.htm Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:09:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100422_1.htm On 25 April we celebrate the feast of Saint Mark, whose gospel, as its first verse states, tells us ‘the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God’. Although shorter than those of Matthew, Luke and John, Mark’s gospel narrates a rich story, centred fully on Christ but drawing on the characters of his disciples. Scripture scholar Peter Edmonds SJ looks closely at Mark’s gospel and suggests what encouragement it might have given to early Christians. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100422_1.htm Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:07:00 UTC book review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100422_1.htm One of the points this book serves to make is that there is much in Catholic thought which resonates profoundly with Darwin’s own intuitions and in some areas Catholics could be said to be more in tune with the great naturalist than some of his more vociferous champions. If that surprises you then there is no better reason to buy a copy of the book. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100422_1.htm Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:06:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100416_2.htm In 1995, Tilda Swinton spent a week in a box in the Serpentine Gallery. In I Am Love, she is presented to us in another box, this time the very stylish silk-lined, marble and ormolu one of an Italian bourgeois marriage. One reading of this film might cast it as a pretty straight-forward romantic fantasy, but I Am Love offers an opportunity for reflection on the relationship between power and desire. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100416_2.htm Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:47:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100416_1.htm At its best, cinema can short-cut the complexity of emotions and provide a symbolic framework for mundane experience, explaining and glorifying the struggles and triumphs of daily life. Remember Me does the opposite, turning love into empty sex – however beautifully it is written – and asking the two leads to convince the audience of emotions that are not rooted in any characterisation. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100416_1.htm Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:46:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100415_1.htm Recent headlines about clerical sexual abuse in the Catholic Church have focused largely on the way in which the Church has handled claims of abuse and on the postulated link between abuse and mandatory celibacy for Catholic priests. Psychologist Brendan Callaghan SJ looks closely at these aspects of a tragic situation, asking how the Church has arrived at a place of such suffering, betrayal and anger. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100415_1.htm Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:28:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100414_1.htm 400 years ago tomorrow, on 15 April 1610, Robert Parsons SJ died in Rome. Joe Egerton suggests that faced with today’s theological, political and social challenges we should reappraise the superior of St Edmund Campion, advocate of a free Parliament and founder of Stonyhurst. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100414_1.htm Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:39:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100409_1.htm If Kick-Ass was all just ultra-violence and swearing it would be easy to close your eyes and wish away the next hour and a half. That it isn’t, is partly down to Nicholas Cage’s moustachioed Big Daddy and partly down to a script that teases us with a wit that it never quite embraces. The film almost engages in what it is to intensify the meaning of your life but its self-awareness extends only as far as some knowing references and its maturity can’t rise above that of its characters. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100409_1.htm Fri, 9 Apr 2010 14:19:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100407_1.htm As our Easter celebrations continue, James Hanvey SJ invites us to enter into the mystery and strangeness of the Resurrection to recognise God’s love coming to meet us in the person of the Risen Christ. ‘The Resurrection is not something which requires our faith to abandon reason; it is reason's healing and restoration.’ http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100407_1.htm Wed, 7 Apr 2010 17:01:00 UTC book review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100407_1.htm Graham Ward’s Politics of Discipleship is not a guide to the forthcoming elections; it is a tough challenge to pay much more attentive concern to the deep currents of what is going on – to reflect, act and pray. What Ward does in this intensely reflective and analytical book is insist that we press the pause button and pay serious attention to what is actually going on in the context of the economic, social and cultural changes happening around us. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100407_1.htm Wed, 7 Apr 2010 17:00:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100401_1.htm As our Lenten journey nears its end, Fr Jack Mahoney concludes the series in which he has helped us to ‘Keep Lent with Saint Luke’. The fragmented stories of the appearances of the risen Christ that we read in Luke’s Resurrection narrative and other New Testament accounts, point us beyond the excitement of the disciples to the joyful heart of our faith. In our celebrations this Easter, the Lord says to us: ‘I have risen and I am still with you’. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100401_1.htm Thu, 1 Apr 2010 16:19:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100401_2.htm As we hear the accounts of Jesus’s Passion in the Holy Week liturgies, we may find ourselves contemplating the other characters involved in the events described to us. Bill MacCurtain SJ imagines the personal journeys of two such figures: Simon Peter, who was desperate to stay with Jesus; and Judas, who betrayed him. How did Peter learn of God’s saving love through his confusing and frustrating relationship with Jesus? And might Judas have felt that he was the one betrayed? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100401_2.htm Thu, 1 Apr 2010 16:18:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100401_2.htm The Blind Side gives us occasion to contemplate human goodness. Critics have criticised this film by expressing that it is a film more suited to television than to cinema and should never have premiered on the silver-screen but it is refreshing to see the more positive aspects of human relationships, to go to the cinema and leave with a flicker of hope. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100401_2.htm Thu, 1 Apr 2010 16:17:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100401_1.htm Despite adopting the typical sports drama and a coming-of-age tale structures, screenwriter Shauna Cross adapts her novel Derby Girl in a sincere and entertaining way that provides original content to a recognisable formula. Combined with Barrymore’s infectious upbeat stamp, Whip It manages to triumph through the familiar clichés and provide us with a heartwarming and hilarious dramedy. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100401_1.htm Thu, 1 Apr 2010 16:16:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100329_1.htm Damian Howard SJ shares the insights into Pakistani life that he gained during his recent time with the Jesuit mission in Lahore. How do the members of a struggling Church find a place for themselves in a Muslim society, which is beset with its own complexities? And what form can inter-religious dialogue take in Pakistan where the stakes of its success are so high? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100329_1.htm Mon, 29 Mar 2010 12:45:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100326_2.htm If you haven’t quite managed fasting and abstinence this Lent, this is your ‘must see’ film. Not since Schindler’s List have I left a film so much in need of a long walk; and not since Shawshank have I felt so redeemed. Which, funnily enough, for those of us who weren’t there at the time, is as close as we’ll ever get to the first Easter. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100326_2.htm Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:00:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100326_1.htm The Scouting Book for Boys has some well-observed extreme close-ups, and an eye for the absurd detail of English provincial life that draws heavily on Mike Leigh and Martin Parr. The film is full of ideas, but too many, and a many that don’t cohere. It’s a shame, really, because there’s so much in Tom Harper’s first feature that’s interesting. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100326_1.htm Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:00:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100325_1.htm Yesterday, 24 March, was the thirtieth anniversary of the assassination of Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador.  Bishop Maurice Taylor, who knows the country well, preached this homily at a memorial Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, to mark the occasion.  Who was Oscar Romero?  How did he make such an impact on the Church in El Salvador?  And why was he killed? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100325_1.htm Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:36:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100324_1.htm As we hear Saint Luke’s account of the Passion this Palm Sunday, we are invited to walk with Jesus in the final stages of his journey to the cross. Jack Mahoney SJ has been helping us to think and pray about the Sunday gospels throughout Lent, and now looks at the picture that Luke paints for us of Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion. By focusing on the Lucan trends with which we have become familiar over recent weeks, how can this narrative help us to understand that Jesus ‘loved me and gave himself for me’? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100324_1.htm Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:47:00 UTC book review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100324_1.htm Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch’s A History of Christianity represents a style of doing religious history that precisely does justice to complexity, explores historical contexts from within, respects motivation and is cautious in judging other centuries too quickly from the perspective of our own. Most significant throughout the book is the detached examination of the relationship between power politics and faith, which is at once helpful and illuminating and yet deeply disconcerting. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100324_1.htm Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:46:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100319_1.htm This Sunday 21^st March marks World Poetry Day, but how many of us dismiss contemporary verse as being incomprehensible or too high-brow? We should think twice before we turn our backs on it, argues Nathan Koblintz, especially if our reason for doing so is that such poetry cannot speak about God. How can a Christian find value in even seemingly atheistic poetry? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100319_1.htm Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:07:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100317_1.htm The gospel readings for the Sundays in Lent have so far been taken from Saint Luke, but on the fifth Sunday we will hear from the Gospel of John – although the particular passage bears many Lucan characteristics, suggests Jack Mahoney SJ.  When the scribes and Pharisees presented Jesus with the woman caught committing adultery, how did his reaction epitomise the forgiveness of God that Luke has focused on in the Lenten gospels? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100317_1.htm Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:10:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100312_1.htm The familiar parable of the Prodigal Son traditionally prompts us to reflect on the love and forgiveness of the father who welcomes back his younger son.  But what if we focus on the effect of the father’s generosity on the relationship between the two brothers?  Desmond Ryan argues that if we look at this story in a new way we see the harmful consequences of prioritising relationships based on authority over those based on a sibling model. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100312_1.htm Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:04:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100312_2.htm Overall, this film is painting by numbers, which can explain the coolness of some of the critical reception. I’m not sure it is fair to expect anything more adventurous, however: this is a balanced and interesting rendition of a much-loved classic, which would leave the majority of filmgoers delighted and satisfied. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100312_2.htm Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:03:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100312_1.htm Shutter Island almost defies description. But perhaps the best description of this deeply disorienting, edge of the seat tale is ‘masterly’, both in its direction and performances. Scorsese the master puppeteer orchestrates all the complex strands into a satisfying and convincing whole. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100312_1.htm Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:02:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100310_1.htm Jack Mahoney SJ continues to explore the ways in which Jesus teaches about God’s forgiveness in Saint Luke’s Gospel, from which our Sunday gospel readings for this Lent are taken.  In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus illustrates to his listeners the joy of forgiveness, both on the part of the penitent sinner and of God.  But do we not feel a sneaking sympathy for the faithful and jealous elder brother? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100310_1.htm Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:19:00 UTC book review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100310_1.htm This useful little book is a bit like the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius, in that it is a book not to be read, but a book to be ‘done’, to be prayed through each day during Lent. If you have not been using this book for your personal Lenten journey, remember it is not too late to start now. God always begins where we are and transforms us to where he needs us to be to minister to the broken world that surrounds us. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100310_1.htm Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:18:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100305_2.htm Based on the Thomas Cobb novel of the same name, Crazy Heart looks at the breakdown of an ‘old successful’ in much the same way Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler did. ‘Bad’ Blake, played by Jeff Bridges, is a country musician with a taste for alcohol and women. It is Bridges who really steals the show swinging back and forth between witty cynicism and pathetic tragedy. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100305_2.htm Fri, 5 Mar 2010 13:26:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100305_1.htm This is De Niro’s film, and he doesn’t make it hard for us to have empathy with him as dad, granddad, widower and man suddenly feeling he has lost touch. The ironies are bold, perhaps too bold some would say, but these ironies are used well and make a seemingly light-hearted film very meaningful and all too realistic. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100305_1.htm Fri, 5 Mar 2010 13:25:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100304_1.htm What are we to make of Jesus’s seemingly stern warning that: ‘unless you repent, you will all perish as they did’? Jack Mahoney SJ examines the meaning of this caution that we will hear in Sunday’s gospel, which only Saint Luke records. Far from issuing a threat to his hearers, Jesus was speaking of the wealth of God’s love and patience, and encouraging us to respond in whatever way we can. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100304_1.htm Thu, 4 Mar 2010 12:00:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100301_1.htm As the argument over Gordon Brown’s style of management continues, Joe Egerton draws on the Spiritual Exercises to suggest that, regardless of how we intend to vote, we cannot approve of the way the issue is being handled, and should pay heed to what the New Testament tells us to do when we don’t like the way other people behave. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100301_1.htm Mon, 1 Mar 2010 15:06:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100225_2.htm Combined with silent-era physical comedy and the joyful aesthetic that succeeded in Amelie, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s latest film is an excellent escape from dreariness. Micmacs isn’t anti-technology, but it is an escape from a world where something not working is a bane and a reason to chuck it out. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100225_2.htm Thu, 25 Feb 2010 10:32:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100225_1.htm The Last Station is an account of the last few weeks of the life of Leo Tolstoy. Tolstoy’s story may be a real tragedy because he wrecked his family and the vocation which he was given by God. He misunderstood what love was. Unfortunately, this movie teaches us little because it believes it has all the answers without knowing all the facts. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100225_1.htm Thu, 25 Feb 2010 10:31:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100224_1.htm This Sunday’s gospel reading is the account of the Transfiguration of Our Lord. Luke tells us that the disciples who witnessed Jesus’s encounter with Moses and Elijah were terrified by what they saw and heard, but Jack Mahoney suggests that this experience was one that nourished and encouraged them.  What can we learn from this event, as Peter, James and John did, about the Christ towards whom we journey throughout Lent? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100224_1.htm Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:58:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100219_3.htm With a shocking murder at its heart, and a vision of the afterlife that comes from a young, naïve narrator, The Lovely Bones combines sentimentality with realism to uneven effect. Avoiding a focussed examination of grief for extended periods in a surreal, special effect-drenched purgatory, director Peter Jackson emphasises his own film making panache at the expense of emotional purgatory. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100219_3.htm Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:54:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100219_2.htm If a three-word summary of A Single Man were ever needed, then it would hardly be possible to do better than to borrow the title, and with it much of the sentiment of C.S. Lewis’ A Grief Observed. The same film in the hands of any other director could well have been merely a vehicle to showcase the sublime performance of its star. But under the meticulous control of first-time director, Tom Ford, the exquisite visuals of A Single Man are a protagonist in their own right. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100219_2.htm Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:53:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100219_1.htm What advertising Anonyma has received in the UK has focused on the fact of sexual violence: as is now widely known, the advancing Red Army subjected hundreds of German women to rape. But the violence is not the principal subject of this piece so much as the extraordinary relationships that are suggested to have developed around it. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100219_1.htm Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:52:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100218_1.htm As we begin our Lenten journey and think about the challenges that we will face during this season, Jack Mahoney encourages us to contemplate the very human challenges that Jesus himself faced during the forty days after his baptism.  The temptations with which the devil taunted Jesus, as recounted by St Luke, represented the questions he would have to consider as he prepared for his ministry – how did Jesus respond to them, both in the desert and throughout his ministry? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100218_1.htm Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:27:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100217_1.htm On 22 February, the Commons will debate the proposals of the Committee for the Reform of the House of Commons. Joe Egerton draws a comparison between the contemporary Parliamentary reformer, Dr Tony Wright MP, chair of the Committee, and the Jesuit political theologian, Robert Parsons, who died in Rome four hundred years ago. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100217_1.htm Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:54:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100211_1.htm Over the coming weeks, Fr Jack Mahoney will be guiding us on our journey through Lent as he looks in depth at the gospel reading for each Sunday during the season. As we prepare for Ash Wednesday, Fr Mahoney examines the significance of traditional Lenten observances and introduces us to the person and theology of St Luke, whose gospel will be the basis of much of our reflection this Lent. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100211_1.htm Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:08:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100211_1.htm From the director of the brilliant Chicago (Rob Marshall) and with a truly spectacular female cast, Nine looked set to be a sumptuous treat for both the eyes and ears. But every year there is one movie that on paper should be set for awards glory but fails to deliver in reality. Nine, it seems, will be 2010’s Academy flop. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100211_1.htm Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:07:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100210_1.htm Memories of the seminal events that took place in South Africa twenty years ago this week, which ended with Nelson Mandela’s release from prison on 11 February 1990, will live long in the minds of those who experienced the atmosphere in the country at the time.  Anthony Egan SJ describes the reaction to this crucial chapter in the struggle against apartheid. How did people of faith see these events as a sign of the coming of God’s kingdom? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100210_1.htm Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:00:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100205_2.htm Invictus appeals to us today because it portrays a quality of magnanimous leadership, which the last decade has somewhat lacked. The stories one hears from those who have actually met Mandela match the portrait painted in the movie, and thus it provides, in a popular genre, an authentic glimpse into the personality of the first president of a democratic South Africa. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100205_2.htm Fri, 5 Feb 2010 12:26:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100205_1.htm Parallels will inevitably be drawn with the recent John Hillcoat film, The Road, also about a post-apocalyptic struggle for the survival of good. However, any comparison is unfair on Hillcoat: where love, sensitivity, pain and fear collide in a world of insurmountable hostility in The Road, fists and knives collide with flesh and meaningless platitudes collide with simplistic conflicts in The Book of Eli. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100205_1.htm Fri, 5 Feb 2010 12:25:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100202_1.htm Sixty-five years ago today, a German Jesuit priest was executed as a traitor in Berlin for his continued and outspoken resistance to the Nazi regime. Michael Holman SJ introduces us to Alfred Delp, a man of remarkable faith and courage, whose radical commitment to following Christ even in life-threatening circumstances challenges us to hear and respond to the call of Christ in our own time. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100202_1.htm Tue, 2 Feb 2010 12:49:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100129_3.htm Pitched somewhere between the misery melodrama of a true life confession and a gritty slice of 1980s urban American life, Precious is unashamed in its emotional manipulation. The film follows the titular heroine through incest, rape, teenage pregnancy and the inevitable AIDS diagnosis. What makes the film engaging is the analysis of victimhood. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100129_3.htm Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:15:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100129_4.htm If to know all is to forgive all, then film is a powerful medium that can expand our horizon, and even help us to better love our neighbours, in particular those neighbours whose life experiences are alien to our own. Jacques Audiard has proved to be a master of this medium. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100129_4.htm Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:14:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100129_2.htm There will be those who feel that the low budget single-set (almost all of the action takes place in a single room) of 44 Inch Chest makes it too claustrophobic and some have described it as the attempt to film a play: ‘Guy Ritchie directing Harold Pinter’. But I found it to be a taut and uncompromising depiction of what it is to be – and to cease to be – a man of the world. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100129_2.htm Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:13:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100129_1.htm Just in case you hear from anyone else that Brothers is a decent effort that captures the struggles of those who fight for their country, it’s worth me pointing out that any film that makes money out of sponsored, painfully obvious product placements whilst it puffs out its chest and declares that it is more sensitive to their pain than you are – well, that film deserves some criticism. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100129_1.htm Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:12:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100129_2.htm The countdown to the London Olympics has now begun in earnest, but the excitement that the Games bring is only one side of the story. With the global spotlight making its way to the capital, 2012 is now a target date to end street homelessness, but how realistic a goal is this? Alison Gelder looks at past, present and future attempts to address rough sleeping, and asks us to think beyond practical action so that the 2012 target can be achieved. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100129_2.htm Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:22:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100129_1.htm When Danny Daly decided that he wanted to become more active in his faith, London Jesuit Volunteers provided him with the opportunity to get involved with homelessness projects in and around London.  As we mark Homelessness Sunday on 31January, Danny describes the life-changing journey that his work with the homeless has led him on. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100129_1.htm Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:21:00 UTC book review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100129_1.htm This book is as good as you’ll get if you want an introduction to the wonderful world of mass media. The author, a Jesuit experienced in media work, wtites with passion and offers common sense, as well as encouragement and practical hints. What I found most fascinating was the author’s ‘whimsical vision’ – his words – of what he calls a ‘Christian Al-Jazeera’. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100129_1.htm Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:20:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100122_1.htm Celebrations to mark the 400^th anniversary of Mary Ward’s foundation of the first unenclosed religious order of women on the Jesuit model continue this weekend with a Mass at Westminster Cathedral. Gemma Simmonds CJ looks at the life and writings of this woman of ‘heroic virtue’ who wanted to secure a better role for women in the Church and in society, and at how this struggle continues today.  Why is Mary’s vision for women, yet to be fully realised, still a vital goal to strive for? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100122_1.htm Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:52:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100122_2.htm There is no doubt that Up In The Air is a very classy film. From the opening panoramic shots of America to the fantastic supporting cast, this film is put together excellently. As an audience member you will be pleased that the film avoids the obligatory happy Hollywood ending, but the one that we are given left me feeling very unsatisfied and almost made the rest of the film irrelevant. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100122_2.htm Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:51:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100122_1.htm Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll looks at the life of Ian Dury, the Essex singer, wordsmith and all round entertainer who rose to fame in the late seventies with his new-wave band The Blockheads. I read recently that Andy Serkis, who plays Dury, and the film’s director Mat Whitecross, showed the early drafts of the script to Dury’s ex-wife and son, who had no qualms about wanting to show Dury’s more repulsive side. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100122_1.htm Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:50:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100119_1.htm An extraordinary exhibition of Spanish religious art from the seventeenth century is now in its final week at The National Gallery. James Hanvey SJ discusses key pieces from The Sacred Made Real collection and urges visitors to take this unique opportunity to let the paintings and sculptures speak to their faith, and transform their understanding of the world around them. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100119_1.htm Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:59:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100114_1.htm Why does our faith demand of us a pastoral concern for migrant communities? Bishop Pat Lynch introduces the principles of Catholic Social Teaching in which the Church’s mission to migrants is grounded. As we mark the World Day of Migrants and Refugees on 17 January, we are encouraged to welcome and accompany migrants as our brothers and sisters. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100114_1.htm Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:20:00 UTC book review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100108_1.htm Christian Troll is a German Jesuit Islamicist with decades of eminent scholarship behind him. Thanks to this excellent translation of a book of his by David Marshall, we English-speakers have access to some of his wisdom and experience. Gregory Baum was a peritus at the Second Vatican Council who has now launched into a discussion of the contemporary Swiss Muslim thinker, Tariq Ramadan. Baum shows us both why Troll is such an important resource for our Church and why we should heed his advice and engage vigorously and positively with what has become the West’s second faith. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20100108_1.htm Fri, 8 Jan 2010 15:11:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100108_1.htm The team of people gathered around Guy Ritchie have produced a very different vision of the Conan Doyle stories, one which might surprise some, but which strikes this reviewer as a satisfactory response to the originals and a significantly better interpretation of a fin-de-siècle vision of literary London than other recent films dealing with similar subject matter. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20100108_1.htm Fri, 8 Jan 2010 15:10:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091230_1.htm What became of all that wine at Cana? Where did the Holy Family get to in Egypt? Who was the mysterious young man who ran away from Gethsemane?  Fr Jack Mahoney offers a light-hearted look at attempts to increase our knowledge of Jesus and the Gospel. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091230_1.htm Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:00:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091223_2.htm Can we ever really know what happened in Bethlehem at the first Christmas?  Nicholas King SJ suggests that while they may not provide a historical account of the birth of Christ, the gospel narratives still ultimately convey the meaning of the event that we celebrate on 25^th December. What are Matthew and Luke telling us about God in the Nativity stories with which we are so familiar? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091223_2.htm Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:51:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091223_1.htm Concluding our study of Caritas in Veritate, Austen Ivereigh looks at Pope Benedict’s discussion of the role of gift and gratuitousness in our society. Why are contractual relationships, on which economics and bureaucracy are based, not enough to fulfil our human needs?  And what can a strong civil society, based on covenant, achieve for its citizens by emphasising relationships based on trust rather than exchange? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091223_1.htm Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:50:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091223_2.htm Avatar takes place in the future, in a time where humans have mastered space travel and have arrived at Pandora, a location on a far off moon in search of precious and valuable minerals. The environment itself is not suitable for human life. The air is toxic and the moon is home to dangerous creatures who live in Pandora, namely the film’s main interest, a tribe of sentient semi-human creatures called Avatars. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091223_2.htm Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:49:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091223_1.htm Nowhere Boy includes a whistle-stop tour of John Lennon’s influences - learning the banjo at his mother’s house, the rebellion at school, the first encounters with the blues, the local following for his first band, the fateful meeting with McCartney. Thankfully, all of these are mere signifiers, expected but dealt with abruptly, leaving the film time to explore some of the issues that created Lennon’s personality. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091223_1.htm Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:48:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091218_1.htm As we make the final preparations for Christmas, there are many Christians in troubled areas of the world who will be unable to welcome Christ into their lives with the same freedom that we enjoy.  Hilary Browne describes what Christmas is like now in the place of Christ’s birth, where last year news of violence marred the celebrations in already difficult circumstances. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091218_1.htm Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:44:00 UTC book review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20091218_1.htm In the course of 32 chapters and 326 pages, together with notes, a bibliography and many pages of illustrations of early Christian art, Charles Freeman covers in his A New History of Early Christianity the history of the Christian faith from its earliest days to the beginning of the 7^th century and the pontificate of Gregory the Great (590-604). http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20091218_1.htm Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:43:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091218_1.htm Where the Wild Things Are is no child’s film, despite its furry monsters and its roots in Maurice Sendak’s ten-sentence-long children’s book. Director Spike Jonze has thickened the story into a parable about human weakness. Wild things they may all be – but by the end you want to hug the whole metaphorical lot of them. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091218_1.htm Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:42:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091217_1.htm This coming weekend marks the end of the Jewish celebration of Hannukah.  Thomas Casey SJ, Director of the Cardinal Bea Centre for Judaic Studies in Rome, looks at current issues in Christian-Jewish relations and asks how dialogue between Christians and Jews can be developed and deepened. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091217_1.htm Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:31:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091215_1.htm Michael Czerny SJ recounts the impression that Caritas in Veritate made on an HIV-positive mother in Nairobi, who has faced in her life many challenges to the ‘integral human development’ that the encyclical seeks to promote.  How can Pope Benedict’s letter help Rosanna, not only through her reading and understanding of it, but through ours too? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091215_1.htm Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:55:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091209_1.htm As we continue to examine Pope Benedict’s recent encyclical on Thinking Faith and Pray-as-you-go this Advent, Frank Turner SJ looks at what Caritas in Veritate can offer to the secular public sphere.  To what extent does the Pope address the global situation by commenting on policy rather than principles, and can the messages within magisterial literature be communicated to those who are used to debate rather than authoritative teaching? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091209_1.htm Wed, 9 Dec 2009 15:01:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091208_1.htm The Irish Chaplaincy in Britain addresses the needs of the many vulnerable and isolated Irish emigrants in the UK, with particular emphasis on Irish older people, Irish Travellers and Irish prisoners through a range of frontline services. Outreach workers from the charity describe how the more vulnerable members of Irish society often experience Christmas and how they understand the importance of what they do, particularly at this time of year. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091208_1.htm Tue, 8 Dec 2009 14:49:00 UTC book review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20091204_1.htm Sebastian Faulks rose to prominence in the early nineties with his novel Birdsong (1993), an exploration of the First World War in which he interrogated history through the detailed and rich lives of his characters. A Week in December attempts a similar project for more recent times. Faulks himself has stated that his orginal intention was to write a serious novel about contemporary Britain but that he was surprised to find himself compelled to adopt a satirical stance. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20091204_1.htm Fri, 4 Dec 2009 11:34:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091204_2.htm As a coming of age drama, the sharp script sets this above most Hollywood genre movies. Charming and witty, Me and Orson Welles presents a stark moral choice in sugar-coated humour, advocating an independence of mind and a sincere moral certainty, hard worn from the temptations of glamour. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091204_2.htm Fri, 4 Dec 2009 11:33:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091204_1.htm It seemed to me that the commentators who dismissed this film as being ‘sentimental’ were struggling to face the earthy facts of death and how ordinary people can be helped to come to terms with it by their traditional funeral rites. I imagine that the average Catholic viewer will relate immediately to the focus on ritual in the film. To my mind, Departures deserves all the awards it has taken. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091204_1.htm Fri, 4 Dec 2009 11:32:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091202_1.htm As Pray-as-you-go’s Advent programme offers daily reflections based on the themes of Caritas in Veritate, Thinking Faith will explore the issues and challenges raised in Pope Benedict’s latest encyclical. Frank Turner SJ begins our series by introducing the principles that run through the letter and emerge from the consideration of ‘love’ and ‘truth’ in the Pope’s theology. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091202_1.htm Wed, 2 Dec 2009 12:46:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091201_1.htm On World AIDS Day, Ekeno Augostine SJ of the African Jesuit AIDS Network tells the story of Mama Huruma, a HIV positive woman from Tanzania.  How has HIV/AIDS affected the lives of Mama Huruma and her children, and how can we respond to the demands that her situation places upon us as members of one human family? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091201_1.htm Tue, 1 Dec 2009 15:49:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091130_1.htm As we enter the season of Advent, we begin to contemplate how we respond in our daily lives to God’s gift of himself to the world. How, why and what do we give? Sarah Broscombe offers a meditation from the Guyanese context on how the Incarnation challenges us to live in our world with a more thoughtful generosity. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091130_1.htm Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:39:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091127_5.htm The basic concept is not difficult: vampires are a much-misunderstood minority in Mid-Western American society. So, for that matter, are werewolves. And the two beleaguered minorities really do not get along. So pity the lot of Bella, a teenage mid-west American girl (who may have read a little too much of Romeo & Juliet) who falls in love with both a vampire and a werewolf and is forced to choose. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091127_5.htm Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:32:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091127_4.htm We first encounter Celine as a novice in a convent filled with a quiet but passionate intensity for God. We follow her in her journey which is also a search for God - or is it the experience of an all consuming love - that haunts her life. Director Dumont does not caricature life in the convent. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091127_4.htm Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:31:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091127_3.htm Religion is not tackled at all in this modern story about death. There are confused notions of the afterlife that are distinctly Post-Christian. One might think that a more Christian understanding would have helped the bereaved family, but the boys are left without any such help, and though sad, it is certainly realistic. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091127_3.htm Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:30:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091127_2.htm The film explores the harsh, sometimes violent but passionate love Rino (Filippo Timi) has for his young son Cristiano (Alvaro Caleca). The fragile, neglected structure that Rino and Cristiano call home sits in this unyielding world as a metaphor for their precarious existence – as precarious socially as it is physically. This is Eden after the Fall. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091127_2.htm Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:29:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091127_1.htm In his debut feature, director Haim Tabakman has chosen to explore homosexuality in the orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem. Eyes Wide Open is a story about forbidden love. It has no answers, it only asks questions http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091127_1.htm Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:28:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091126_1.htm In a Darwinian evolutionary framework, according to which human beings came into existence via the same process of descent with modification as every other living being, how can we still claim to have a unique place in the natural order?  Frances Murphy argues that we can still adhere to Darwinism and preserve our belief in our special ontological status. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091126_1.htm Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:29:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091124_1.htm 150 years ago today, Charles Darwin’s seminal work, On the Origin of Species was published. Thinking Faith offers a unique example of the initial reaction to Darwin’s ideas with an extract from one of the most prolific early commentators on evolutionary theory, Catholic layman St George Jackson Mivart. Originally published in Jesuit journal The Month in 1869, this critique scrutinises the principle of natural selection, but sees its potential to impact on future thinking, including theological discourse. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091124_1.htm Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:44:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091124_2.htm Thinking Faith’s exclusive publication of George Mivart’s discussion of the theory of evolution, from an 1869 issue of the Jesuit journal, The Month, provides a fascinating insight into how Charles Darwin’s ideas were received and developed in his time.  Louis Caruana SJ critically examines the text in light of modern philosophy of science – was Mivart paving the way for later thinkers in his interpretation of Darwin’s work? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091124_2.htm Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:43:00 UTC book review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20091124_1.htm This autobiography reveals to new and old generations alike that the woman who will give CAFOD’s Pope Paul VI lecture on 27 November 2009 is a pioneer of depth, breadth, and outstanding ability, as well as enthusiasm, kindness and conviction. While many of us admired her before this book, others will find in it a fascinating story of a woman who made her way in the predominantly male world of twentieth-century democratic politics. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20091124_1.htm Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:42:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091120_1.htm The recent publication of the Apostolic Constitution inviting groups of Anglicans into communion with the Catholic Church has prompted a mixture of reactions from within and outside both communities. Canon lawyer, Fr Andrew Cole examines in detail the terms of Anglicanorum coetibus and looks forward to the mutual enrichment that its implementation will bring about. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091120_1.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:49:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091120_2.htm Take one price-fixing Fortune 500 company, add a whistleblower, stir in a dollop of embezzlement, a pinch of bipolar disorder and you’ve got a recipe for a serious corporate thriller. But, in The Informant, director Steven Soderbergh viewed these elements as raw material for an absurdist twist on movies like The Insider. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091120_2.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:48:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091120_1.htm Glorious 39 is an accomplished thriller set in the days before the Second World War. The upper class Keyes family lives one of those soft-textured lives of picnics and children’s games amongst the ruins of the abbey that loom outside their house. When the war does come, it is transmitted to us with an image of horrific originality – Poliakoff proving that factual research can still throw up artefacts as touching as anything an unfettered imagination can. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091120_1.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:47:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091118_1.htm The BBC Director-General, Mark Thompson, has discussed the concept of public space and the way in which the BBC continues to cultivate its role within that space, in a lecture hosted by the Las Casas Institute at Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford. Read the text exclusively on Thinking Faith. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091118_1.htm Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:42:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091116_1.htm Twenty years ago today in El Salvador, six Jesuits, together with two women who were sharing their university residence, were murdered by the Salvadoran military. Dean Brackley SJ tells the story of the Jesuit martyrs, who will today be bestowed with El Salvador’s highest honour. What can we learn from these teachers who stood up against an unjust regime and remained firm in their commitment to serving the truth? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091116_1.htm Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:42:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091113_1.htm ‘The capitalist system provides the opportunity to exploit others through greed and arrogance; it also provides individual and corporate opportunities to serve humanity.’ On the feast of St Homobonus, the patron saint of business people, Keith McMillan SJ introduces us to a method of helping those in the business world to bring the values of their faith to their professional life.  How can one be both a good Christian and a successful business leader? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091113_1.htm Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:45:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091113_1.htm The White Ribbon is a work of genius. Director Michael Haneke uses an early twentieth century German village as an allegory for the way in which the evil that social and religious control hope to dismiss can undermine a community. The eloquent cinematography and the languid pace prevent The White Ribbon from becoming a generic horror film. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091113_1.htm Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:44:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091113_5.htm Keats was not the first or last twenty-five year old to be accused of being more in love with Love than with the object of his attraction. The limitations of film illuminate the point: filmic love shows us the happy playful times and the difficult sad times, but not the actual ground of loving partnership in which both these flowers grow. Love on film is almost always about the emotions created by a relationship than the relationship itself. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091113_5.htm Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:43:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091113_4.htm Certainly, this new film version of A Christmas Carol may well inspire youngsters to read the original novel and might even remind them of what Christmas is all about. The Christian message of Christmas is smattered throughout the story. But it adds little more than 3D animation and a pot full of special effects to the rows of previous productions of Charles Dickens’s classic novel. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091113_4.htm Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:42:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091113_3.htm This is a fascinating, home-grown take on the revenge movie, and Michael Caine, whose career has encompassed both character performances and macho adventures, brings a moving realism to his portrayal of Harry Brown. There is, however, a dark undertone to the excitement, especially when set against a film like The White Ribbon, which manages to explain evil without condoning it. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091113_3.htm Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:41:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091112_1.htm Charles Randall, a former member of the chaplaincy team at Feltham Young Offenders’ Institution tells Thinking Faith about the real and important difference that the ministry of a prison chaplain can make to the inmates. As we pray particularly this week for prisoners and their families, let us remember that prison really can be a place of redemption. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091112_1.htm Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:45:00 UTC book review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20091112_1.htm Paddy Kearney has produced a new and outstanding study of one of the English speaking world’s greatest twentieth century bishops: Denis Hurley of Durban. This biography draws on interviews with Hurley, his papers, and his friends and colleagues who are quoted extensively. Guardian Of The Light is a deep study of a local Church facing a crisis of monumental proportions. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/BOOK_20091112_1.htm Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:44:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091106_1.htm As we prepare to mark the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, German Jesuit Bernd Hagenkord recalls his memories of November 1989 and describes the momentous events that led to the reunification of Germany. To what extent did the Churches create a platform for the people of East Germany to find their voice, and how has the fall of the wall changed the way that Germans see themselves and their country? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091106_1.htm Fri, 6 Nov 2009 14:09:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091106_3.htm An Education is a simple morality tale, set in the early 1960s. A teenage girl is seduced by an older man, only to find that his promises of marriage and security are hollow. While this is a delightful piece of light entertainment, it lacks any tragic grandeur and never grapples with either the possibilities of irreversible decisions or the moral ugliness of an older, manipulative lover. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091106_3.htm Fri, 6 Nov 2009 14:08:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091106_2.htm Take a male character from a Munch painting, one of the lesser known ones, like ‘Golgotha‘ or ‘Evening on Karl Johan Street’, and imagine that man now walking around modern Stockholm. Follow him with a steady-cam, and you get The Ape. It’s one of the most interesting pieces this reviewer has seen in the last five years, and certainly one of the most memorable. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091106_2.htm Fri, 6 Nov 2009 14:07:00 UTC film review http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091106_1.htm For their latest film, Hollywood’s only real auteurs, the Coen brothers go biblical with a modern take on the Book of Job. The Coens’ Job is Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a physics professor from the 1960s Midwestern America that the Coens themselves called home. A Serious Man is side-splitting entertainment but because it fails to recognise the existence of good, anything it has to say about evil is superficial. http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/FILM_20091106_1.htm Fri, 6 Nov 2009 14:06:00 UTC article http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091102_1.htm On this day each year, we observe All Souls’ Day and pray for all the faithful departed.  Jesuit theologian, Josep Giménez discusses concepts of heaven, hell and purgatory, which are often brought to mind on this occasion but can be so difficult to talk about meaningfully.  What form can our discourse about these eschatological topics take? http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091102_1.htm Mon, 2 Nov 2009 13:40:00 UTC