EMILY MONDAY 497 He strained my faith —Did he find it supple?Shook my strong trust —Did it then — yield? Hurled my belief —But — did he shatter — it?Racked — with suspense —Not a nerve failed! Wrung me — with Anguish —But I never doubted him —‘Tho’ for what wrongHe did never say — Stabbed — while I suedHis sweet forgiveness —Jesus — it’s your little “John”!Don’t you know — me? Read more

THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE A lapsed-Catholic friend of mine (a writer who sees himself as kind of a broadcast standards guy for St. Blogs), commented to me the other day that he thought John Paul II missed an opportunity “to drag the Catholic Church into the 21st Century.” Barb: [repressing a groan and thinking, “We already have the Catholic Church married to the current age. It’s called mainline Protestantism,” but saying] “The 21st is just one more century. The Church doesn’t... Read more

CATCH THE FEVER Well, I think I showed remarkable restraint. With a new feature film opening this weekend about a love story set in Red Sox Nation, I waited until well into the second night to see it. You might think I’d be embarassed to admit how much fun I had watching Fever Pitch, but that tells me more about you than me. It tells me you also don’t know who No. 8 is, or why the real Wailing Wall... Read more

SEE BARB IN NEW ORLEANS[Please feel free to cut and paste this to your friends in the New Orleans area. Thanks for helping us get the word out.] Pauline Book & Media Center, presents “How to Watch a Movie: What You Are Missing on the Screen” a presentation by Barbara R. Nicolosi(Executive Director, Act One, Inc.) including: – The 7 Levels of Meaning in Cinema – What Do We Mean When We Say Cinema is “a Visual Medium”? – Good... Read more

CNN PEOPLE IN THE NEWS [NOTE FROM BARB: Here are parts of the transcript of a show that was on CNN two weeks ago. I’m quoted in it, as are several of my friends. I’m editing it, so you should go to CNN’s transcript archive for the whole thing if you are interested.] Religion in Entertainment Aired March 26, 2005 – 17:00 ET ANNOUCNER: Next on PEOPLE IN THE NEWS, Hollywood and religion. First, Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the... Read more

JPII TO ARTISTS [I’ve gotten several requests in the last few days to write something about the Pope . I’m hoping to get something done, but, until I do, here’s speech notes for a talk I gave about a year ago on his 1999 Letter to Artists. I really like this talk, but like most of my presentations, it was too dense and the audience was practically comatose by the end. So, to spare you all the same fate, I’m... Read more

FRIENDS IN ROME… [BARB Notes – A friend of mine happens to be in Rome in these days. She is sending us some lovely reports of the action on the ground. Here’s one of her messages…] Hello from Rome, in this, indeed, historical moment! Yesterday was a 12 hour wait in a line winding down the Via della Consolazione, across the Tevere, down Via Vittorio Emmanuale, and on and on….all was calm, with a spirit of reciprocal concern and solidarity.... Read more

ACT ONE NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 04/04/05 – Hollywood, CA: ACT ONE INC., a nonprofit organization founded to train people of faith for careers in mainstream film and television, announced today that it has hired screenwriter and author Chris Riley as the new Director of its prestigious screenwriting program. An Act One faculty member since the program’s inception, Riley has spent over 20 years in the movie industry as a screenwriter and formatting guru. “Chris has been at the center... Read more

“ETERNAL REST, GRANT UNTO HIM, O LORD…” Feels really weird tonight. A little scary – which doesn’t make sense to me, because I wasn’t one of those who thought John Paul II was “The Great.” I thought he was very, very loving and holy, and very devoted to Jesus and Mary, but it’s hard to imagine the Church being in a worse state than it is in these days. The pundits are calling him “the People’s Pope.” I think he... Read more

SEE BARB AT USC Retrenchment or Resurrection? Hollywood and American Culture After The Passion of the Christ Tuesday, April 57:00 pm, USC Annenberg School, Room 240 The USC Annenberg Knight Chair in Media and Religion and The Sigi Ziering Institute of the University of Judaism present a panel discussion featuring Michael Berenbaum, director, Sigi Ziering Institute, University of Judaism; Frank Desiderio, president, Paulist Productions; Craig Detweiler, Biola University & co-producer, City of the Angels Film Festival; Barbara Nicolosi, Executive Director... Read more