Footloose

[Ren (Kevin Bacon) was  challenged to a chicken race with tractors.  He is new in town and hasn't earned his dues yet. So the local hot shot challenged him, and Ren does not know how to drive a tractor.]

We can think about this clip in two different ways. I enjoy the theme of Providence, and I have drawn this message from a lot of the movies I discuss. This movie is no different. It is Providence that allowed his shoe string to get stuck.  It is what ended up taking the former hot-shot and instituted Ren's acceptance into this crowd of young adults.  Providence is that wonderful thing when by happy chance something good comes that would have otherwise not happened.

Another way we can look at this clip is how it demonstrates that our culture holds up fame and fortune as worth. Imagine if Ren had not won the race, would he still have worth in that group of people?  We don't often hear about the quiet hero, but rather we are told that we have to succeed.  We have to be the one who wins the day.  Is our value as a human only summed up by chance, if something fortunate happens, devoid of our choices?  Or is it simply that if I succeed then I am wanted, and valued?  Does it not instead come from the very fact that I am made in the image and likeness of God?  It doesn't really matter if I "fail." In the eyes of the world, Christ failed by being crucified. We are called to enter into that same suffering, to recognize that the lowest among us has value, not because of a fortunate circumstance, or because I have succeeded in gaining recognition for my accomplishments.  Take the time this day to pray for somebody who is less fortunate than you, somebody who is not successful, that they might know their value as a person before God. 

When the Game Stands Tall

[Chris Ryan (Alexander Ludwig) is on the road to win the most scored touchdown record in California.  His dad, Mickey, has just come from the store. He plays at a Catholic school.]

"Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted." Mt. 23:12 This student wrote a paper understanding this verse well, since he has taken the time to consider other things besides football.  He knew that football while fun is not his defining aspect. His father has been pushing him and thinking of only that record.  It is an amazing dynamic to watch over the course of the film, the understanding of what the son has to go through, but learns being a man from coach, not his father.

So what am I drawing out from this clip?  To be a good father to your children and be focused on more than just sports?  Close. I am speaking to the point, do we listen to our children?  Do we listen to what they want, what are their hopes, their dreams?  And do we recognize that as much as we compartmentalize in this world, that our children, are full, free human beings.  They have hopes beyond football, or school for that matter.  As the coach looks at Chris he sees a person becoming a man, not so much because of his efforts on the field, but really actually because of his effort off the field.  

I also use this clip to speak to our sports worship we have in our society.  Think about it for a second, what are you willing to sacrifice to make sure your kid gets to that sports practice, that game?  Why is it that Catholic schools practice/have games on Sunday when public schools almost never do?  There seems to be a trend in Catholic schools, as well others, that sports seems to be the most important thing in people's lives.  Ask a kid who his heroes are, they will tend to be sports figures...why?  I think it is because we ourselves spend so much time absorbed in sports.  I am not saying that sports aren't good, or worth doing.  But we have to ask at what place have we put them in our priority list?

Count of Monte Cristo

[the Count of Monte Cristo (Jim Caviezel) is decided to come to the rescue and give the speech for Albert, the boy he saved in Rome.]

Albert is a boy who is looking for a strong male role model.  This is something that we most desperately need in our culture today.  He looks to the Count with gratitude for the speech and looks up to him because he seems to be prepared for every situation.  

Over the course of his speech he ends up stating the very nature of resolve, and what shows us who we are.  It is when the chips are down, when you are in a storm that it is clear to see who you are.  You are not defined only by that experience, but there is something to be said for that experience.  When you have been stripped of all those comforts, or lies you have told yourself and have to face the stark reality that all you have is yourself and your actions that is a powerful moment.  Are we able to take the time, though we may not be in that storm, and face that darkness?  Can we really come to grips with the best and worst parts about us?  

Invictus

[Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) is the captain of South Africa, he stares out the night before the game of the world cup. His wife comes and talks to him.  He is thinking about the life of Nelson Mandela, his president.]

First I apologize for having been gone so long.  I am learning to balance work and being a father.  

So what can we learn from so short a clip?  About the power of one man to change a country.  One man, Mandela, comes out of prison ready to forgive the very people who put him them.  That kind of forgiveness, that strength of soul has a way of moving men beyond themselves.  This is exactly the reason why, on the night before the greatest event for this athlete he is not thinking about the sporting event, but something that moves his soul.  Most people would be thinking about the world cup that he will be playing in the next day, but inside he cannot stop thinking about this amazing man he met, Mandela.

I am always surprised that so many people in the Church do not have a relationship with Christ, they are never truly meet this man who is present before us.  If we but open our eyes to the fact that there is a Face, a Person, who moves us in a way that even before the greatest event in the world like the World Cup, and we were focused on the witness of a Man.  I often hear that people think Christ was something that happened 2000 years ago, and that He was, but He is not regulated to the past unless you put Him there.  He moves through those men and women that we were so touched by this person that they could not help but pursuing and live as this man lived.   

Air Force One

[The President of the United States (Harrison Ford) has come to Russia to celebrate the victory over a dictator who had been captured and put in prison by the US military.]

If only we had a president like this!  It would be nice for a change to have a president who gets up and states what should be said, rather than what is the politically correct thing to say.  The President speaks not from some well crafted speech, but from his heart.  Politicians should take a lesson from this movie.  You might be wondering if I am only going to spend this time going on about politics, but that is not my aim.

What the president did in that speech took courage.  You have to stand up to bullies, not give in to their demands, even if you get beat up.  You show them up by your resilience, I will still be here tomorrow and the day after that and the next day.  To remind them that you will not give up simply because they have power.  Granted, through the course of this movie there are terrorists who rise up and challenge the very courage the president stated.  It is a matter of courage, not just spoken, but lived out.  

Is there anything wrong going on in your world that you had sat idly by while it happened?  "All that is needed for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke. It is our job as Christian, but also simply as human beings to stand up for what we know to be good, right, and true.  

Sandlot

[Benny, guy in Dodgers hat, has just brought along Smalls to be part of the team, but the guys on the team don't want him.]

I loved this movie growing up.  I wish I had a childhood like this.  None the less, this movie speaks to a current issue that we have today, but also something about our faith.  It speaks of bullying, the team calling him a "geek, L-7 weenie," and all sorts of other insults.  So the Smalls can't play baseball right now, does that mean he is a loser?  So often kids make fun of other people when they have faults of their own.  We need people like Benny to stand up to the bullies of our world.  We need those who see the person on the outside looking in to bring them in, and defend them. Notice the criteria that Benny uses to argue for why Smalls should be allowed to play because Yeah-yeah is part of the game, which means other people should be allowed too.  How else do you think that Yeah-yeah learned how to play in the first place?  Somebody was nice enough to show him how to play.

This leads into the point that is important about our faith.  We are meant to share our faith, not meant to keep it in all the time.  This group of ball players would have been happy to keep playing the way they have always been playing, but if they did that, then their time would eventually die out, just like our faith.  "Faith is not a personal treasure like a bank account or something to be kept in a strong box. A faith that is not shared with others might as well be embalmed." -Pope Francis.  Pope Francis states this so well.  We are meant to have a faith that is contagious and outreaching.  We, as a Church, have been in a defensive mode for so long, but we are not meant to hold on to our life, but rather lose it for His sake.  It is risk that God requires of us.  Attempt to live outside your comfort zone.  Reach out to the so called "losers."  Love people, bring them along to things.  Take the time this weekend to invite somebody to Mass.  

Karate Kid

[Daniel has just gotten done doing a lot of work for Mr. Miyagi, after Mr. Miyagi promised to teach Daniel Karate.  He asked Daniel not to question him, but told him to do all that he asked. Daniel was fed up with doing all these chores for Mr. Miyagi.]

How often are we in this position with God?  We are so upset at what He makes us do?  It seems so pointless, just a bunch of rules to follow that seem to have nothing to do with what I really want.  I would be wrong to think that, just as much as Daniel was wrong to think that Mr. Miyagi was not teaching him Karate.  Miyagi promised Daniel that he would and he did.  This is the same way that Christ looks at us.  He asks us, "do you want to be my disciple, do you want to follow me?"  We say yes, but then we complain about following Him.  

Take this opportunity as the time that God is speaking to you and telling you the reason you have been following the rules is so that you do learn what you set out to do in the first place.  So often people wonder how "following the rules" of the Church, or doing the "right thing" will make us happy.  It is precisely in doing those things that disposes to be happy.  Just as Daniel thought these things had nothing to do with Karate (his goal), we often think that rules have nothing to do with happiness.  Daniel did these tasks, learned the movements for Karate so that when he was attacked he would know what to do, he learned Karate without even knowing it.  We learn what it is to be human by following the rules that Christ has laid done for us.  These rules dispose us to be able to actually handle the problems of life, and retain joy in the face of sorrow. 

The goal of the Christian life is to recognize how He is loving me and teaching me in the mundane tasks of life,  going to work, changing diapers, taking out the trash, loving your kids, being patient with your brother or sister, mom or dad.  Daniel could not see that Karate is contained in the chores of life, just as we cannot see Christ in those same chores, but do not give up hope.  Daniel came to realize slowly, just as we are called to.  Ask God to reveal Himself in the mundane task of today.