http://www.thinkingfaith.org/index.htm The online journal of the British Jesuits en-gb Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:05:00 +0000 Copyright: (C) Jesuit Media Initiatives 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