Risen

Last Saturday we saw the new epic bible story “Risen”, which takes place during holy week and ends with Jesus’s Ascension. The movie starts out with Roman soldiers in a brutal battle with the Judeans. The movie depicts life in the holy land similar to the Bible series A.D, with the extreme violence of the Romans and the persecution of Jesus's followers by the Pharisees. Jesus and his disciple were constantly on the move and had no safe haven. The movie focused on a Roman solider, Clavius, who experienced a conversion when he was put to the task to find the missing Jesus. I thought the whole theme of the movie, and the conversion story was just perfect for today. Clavius worshiped the Roman gods, but he was intelligent, or perhaps it was the Holy Spirit working in him, and he began to think outside the box and believe in the possibility of the resurrected Christ. The evidence was unfolding for Clavius and then he meets the resurrected Jesus.
I won’t tell the whole story, but I did enjoy the movie and the ending and how they depicted the ascension of Jesus. Jesus, his disciples, and Clavius were on a mountain together when they noticed that Jesus was walking away from them. Jesus turns around and waves to them and then continues to walk away. Light begins to circle around Him and it gets brighter and covers the horizon. You can still see Jesus at the center of the light for awhile, and then a blast of light fills the sky and the He is gone. 

http://www.risen-movie.com/ 

The next morning was Palm Sunday, and the mass readings came to life in a new way for me. As a teacher, I know that emotional learning is resilient and lasting. This new and dramatic story of Jesus’s life, meshed with the teachings of the church, reinforces God’s mercy and for all people.

The Media

I have recently discovered a new Catholic television station that broadcasts out of Boston, MA, CatholicTV. Now I am toggling between my all-time favorite EWTN and CatholicTV. This week I watched a couple of awesome Lenten specials, the last seven words and the Stations of the Cross. I am so thankful for Catholic media and happy that they are branching out to TV, radio, apps, Twitter, Facebook, and email. Basically Catholic media are now competing for our attention in the same places as the world. Who doesn’t want to sit back and relax at the end of the day or anytime, and tune in to something inspiring. One of my biggest regrets in life is that EWTN was broadcasting for about 10 years before I discovered them.

About three years ago I read a book “I See Far” ,which had a profound and lasting effect on my view of the media. The book is heavy with prophecy and claims messages from the Blessed Mother. I do encourage you to read this book that you can download for free: “I See Far” at http://www.medjugorje.com/download/books/141-I+See+Far.html . It is well worth getting over the prophetic claims that may a challenge to believe and focus on the evidence that the author presents. The bottom line is the author has a vast amount of information about how the media/TV affects the way we live, think, feel and act.

Did you know that in 1986 Pope John Paul ll called for a fast from TV. From his balcony, he announced. “In families the television seems to substitute rather than facilitated dialogue among people.” After reading “I See Far” in the fall of 2013, I discussed with my husband Paul, the possibility of us fasting from TV. Miraculously, he agreed with me. He hadn’t read the book and he’s not a Catholic. That had to be divine intervention. So for the entire winter we didn’t watch TV. I think Paul put the news/weather on a few times because he is a snowmobile rider, and the sport is dependent on the weather.
It was so quiet at night. We read a lot, I took up knitting and we went to bed a lot earlier. By early spring I was really missing ETWN and we discussed just watching EWTN and he could watch his car shows. Being away from TV brought us back to a normal moral position and now if we think about the shows that we once thought were OK, we now know they are not OK. They are full of immorality. Mainstream TV desensitizes you to all that is good and moral and from God. You have to get away from it for a significant period of time to see it for what it really is. Occasionally, Paul will be watching a car show and a commercial will come on advertising a series program. I am continually shocked at the depravity that seems to be building at an exponential rate, in the short number of years since we stopped watching mainstream TV. My only exposure is through commercials and the ads that get thrown at me from my internet and email provider and other places on the internet where web hosts stoop to earning money by selling ad space on the web. It’s very difficult to avoid 100%.

Please turn away from the evil that is on TV, that is trying to convince you that what is from satan is the new normal. Either turn it off completely or strictly censor what you and your family expose themselves to.

 PUT ON THE ARMOR OF GOD and Fast from secular TV.

Ephesians 6:10-18

The Armor of God

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

God Bless

Paula