‘Patriot’s Day’ inspires and surprises

Last updated on: January 12, 2017 at 4:01 pm By Sister Rose

Patriots Day Most people will remember April 15, 2013, when brothers Tamerlan (Themo Melikidze) and Dzhokhar (Alex Wolff) Tsarnaev set off two homemade bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. It was Patriots’ Day in Massachusetts, the day of the Boston Marathon, held annually to commemorate the first two battles of the Revolutionary War: Concord and Lexington. Click here to continue reading at St. Anthony Messenger, February, 2017 (scroll down). P.S. I am adding this today, January 12: I was... Read more

Elizabeth “Liz” Thoman, Media Literacy Pioneer, Memorial Planned

Last updated on: January 12, 2017 at 4:07 pm By Sister Rose

Sister Elizabeth “Liz” Thoman, CHM died on December 22, 2019. She was a media literacy education pioneer, advocate, and educator. Here is a link to her obituary: Sr. Elizabeth Thoman, Media Literacy Leader Dies Here is a link to my essay about her, written in gratitude for her life, work, and influence on my life: Sister Elizabeth Thoman Altered the Course of My Life To RSVP for the Memorial Service, click here (or copy and paste): [email protected] If you come,... Read more

Scorsese’s ‘Silence’ is his most Catholic film

Last updated on: December 22, 2016 at 7:46 pm By Sister Rose

(Andrew Garfield, left, plays Fr. Rodrigues, and Shinya Tsukamoto plays Mokichi in the film “Silence” by Paramount) Shûsaku Endô (1923-1996) was a Japanese Catholic novelist whose extensive writings probed the conflicts and paradoxes of faith. He was born in Tokyo, lived in Manchuria, then returned to Japan and was baptized at about the age of 11. After university, he married, had a son and lived in France. The novelist Graham Greene, with whom Endo has often been compared, said he... Read more

“The Shack” official trailer released!

Last updated on: December 1, 2016 at 3:52 pm By Sister Rose

The official trailer for “The Shack” was released today. The film, based on the NYTimes best seller, will be released in March, 2017. Just know that this film goes where no other film has gone before, speaking theologically. I normally don’t post trailers before release but since I have seen this film twice I am posting it so you can get a taste of the film. Read more

How taco trucks caused a mystical moment

Last updated on: November 7, 2016 at 11:31 am By Sister Rose

One day in 1958 on a street corner in Louisville, KY, the Catholic monk Thomas Merton had a mystical experience that he recounts in his book “Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander”: “In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even... Read more

‘Hacksaw Ridge,’ for all its heroism and love, remains a paradox

Last updated on: November 3, 2016 at 12:25 pm By Sister Rose

I had a dream about Mel Gibson recently. His face was very close to mine and his beard was gone. He looked very serious. I congratulated him on his new film “Hacksaw Ridge,” his first in 10 years. But he held up a print out of one of my reviews from his 2004 blockbuster “The Passion of the Christ.” “But you didn’t review this one very well,” he said. I started to explain my issue with the excessive violence, when... Read more

‘Years of Living Dangerously’ Season 2 premiere Oct 30 NatGeo

Last updated on: October 29, 2016 at 5:48 pm By Sister Rose

On Sunday night, October 30, “Years of Living Dangerously” begins its second season and it’s message is loaded with doom, frustration and tinged with hope if only Big Corporations + government will get out of the way. David Letterman (and his beard) are in India, a country with almost 400 million people, the population of the USA, who live without electricity. All efforts to upgrade the decrepit grid or are coal based despite India having the most progressive solar energy... Read more

Before the Flood – Di Caprio & NatGeo unite on climate change

Last updated on: October 29, 2016 at 5:28 pm By Sister Rose

You may recall when Oscar-winning actor Leonardo di Caprio, an ardent environmentalist, met with Pope Francis in January. The Pope gave Leonardo bound copies of his two encyclicals and Leonardo presented him with a book of the art of the 15th century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch. It includes the triptych of “The Garden of Delights” with the Garden of Eden on one side, the end of the world, or Last Judgment on the other, and bodies in between. In the... Read more

Must-See Wrongful Conviction Films and TV Shows from Innocence Project

Last updated on: October 29, 2016 at 2:34 pm By Sister Rose

Over at the Innocence Project they have posted an amazing list of films and television shows (and links to trailers) about wrongful convictions. Let’s hear it: Hurray for Hollywood – for the stories they tell that can make a difference in the world. This is just the first few; I’ve added the link to take you to the IP page. BY INNOCENCE STAFF Do you want to know more about wrongful conviction, but you’re not sure where to look?... Read more

For stories that ‘transcend daily life’: CIMA presents 23rd annual entertainment awards

Last updated on: October 23, 2016 at 3:52 pm By Sister Rose

These days, when many perceive heaven and Hollywood to be polar opposite, mutually exclusive destinations, it’s easy to forget that film and faith have the capacity to intersect in vital, remarkable ways. Catholics in Media Associates (CIMA) was founded in 1992 to serve as a reminder that Hollywood has many professionals who strive “to tell stories that transcend daily life in compelling ways and to communicate the true, the good and the beautiful.” Their work in the entertainment industry... Read more