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<\/a><\/p>\nHave any of you folks been watching<\/strong> The Confession<\/strong><\/a>, on Hulu? I saw the first three chapters and found the confession scenes just riveting:<\/p>\n When a cold-blooded hitman bursts into a hotel room to execute someone, the intended victim does something unexpected: he asks the hitman for a moment to make his peace with God. The hitman lowers his gun as the victim takes a chain with a crucifix from around his neck, holds it tightly in his hands, kneels down with eyes closed, and begins moving his lips in silent prayer. Now peaceful and resigned to his fate, the victim opens his eyes, looks at the hitman, and says, \u201cI forgive you.\u201d The hitman hesitates, looking confused and even regretfully at a peace he\u2019s never seen before, but then pulls the trigger anyway.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the incident that propels the story in the new online web series on Hulu.com called The Confession. Shot partially in the Basilica of St. Patrick\u2019s Old Cathedral in New York City, the series stars Kiefer Sutherland as the hitman, and John Hurt as the priest to whom he contentiously goes to gain an understanding of what he witnessed.<\/p>\n Sutherland\u2019s character is definitely complex. He enters the confessional and speaks words from a bygone era of his childhood: \u201cBless me Father for I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed. I confess to Almighty God and to you, Father. It\u2019s been thirty-five years since my last confession.\u201d<\/p>\n When the priest asks if he\u2019s sorry for his sins, he says, \u201cNo,\u201d and goes on to explain he killed a man last night. The hitman isn\u2019t there for forgiveness, but rather to understand the peace he witnessed come over his victim the night before.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Tony Rossi has more<\/strong>, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Interesting to watch how TV is evolving, isn\u2019t it? Even as we\u2019re buying big screens for the walls, television programming is moving away from appointment-viewing, and our computers are becoming the broadcast medium for original shows. Speaking of which, Mary\u2019s Aggies takes a look at the agendas behind some of those shows<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Moving on, the investigation into accusations<\/strong> made against Fr. John Corapi apparently hasn\u2019t even begun yet, and the story hasn\u2019t moved an inch, but for anyone interested, the National Catholic Register speaks with a representative from the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n As I say, it doesn\u2019t move the story at all, but it provides a little clarification on the society, itself, about which there was some confusion. The Register also takes a look at the \u201cknowns and unknowns<\/strong><\/a> of the case.<\/p>\n Also, Mark Shea<\/strong>, whose sentiments I pretty much share, thinks piping down is a good thing<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n In surprising news:<\/strong> Next year religion will be studied in all Russian schools<\/strong><\/a>! Amazing. On a related note, Heather King muses on the Russian religious spirit<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n . . . I may not know what\u2019s going on now, but I totally knew [Russians] were in big, big trouble before. In fact, a few years ago I read a whole slew of amazing books by people who\u2019d been in the prison camps: The Arctic Death Camps<\/strong> by Robert Conquest, Richard W\u00fcrmbrand\u2019s Christ in the Communist Prisons<\/em>, The Accused<\/em> by Alexander Weissberg-Cybulski, Kolyma, and perhaps my favorite: The Woman Who Could Not Die<\/em> by Julia de Beausobre. Upon learning that her husband Nicolay, imprisoned in another camp, had been shot, Beausobre wrote:<\/p>\n Look down right into the depths of your heart and tell me\u2014Is it not right for you to be kind to [your torturers] Even to them? Particularly to them, perhaps? Is it not right that those men who have no kindness within them should get a surplus of it flowing towards them from without?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n Whoa. Lisa Mladinich<\/strong> on Life and Calling; Teens and Vocational Discernment<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 some very good advice on how to help the teens around grow in their ability to consider what they were born for, and to hear the \u201csmall still voice.\u201d<\/p>\n Relative to that, Get Religion<\/strong> on why fewer children mean fewer nuns<\/strong><\/a> (and priests, I\u2019m sure.)<\/p>\n Julie Davis:<\/strong> Remember how I always bug you to read In This House of Brede?<\/em> Well, Julie wants you to read Story of a Soul<\/strong><\/a>, too!<\/p>\n Pat Gohn<\/strong> goes to the Catechism and finds, believe it or not, a route away from resentment!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Thoughts on Geraldine Ferraro as she is laid to rest, today<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Something just beautiful: Beauty, beauty, beauty<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n More interesting stuff: Pat McNamara: on Dorothy Day<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Finally \u2013 It\u2019s OPENING DAY! Baseball, baseball<\/strong> \u2014 how long I have waited for baseball, and longed for it in the deep mid-winter!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n
\nSome Catholic must-reads for the day:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nDeacon Greg: Bishop to Gays; The Church is Your Home<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n