Five Flims That Influenced My Faith

During some of the days of the Blogathon, we are asked to write on a theme. Today marks the first theme day and we were supposed to write about the five movies that influenced our writing. I have instead decided to write about five movies that have either directly influenced my spiritual development or represent an aspect of my walk.

5. Father Damien: The Leper Priest (1980) I must have been a freshmen in high school when I saw this made for TV movie starring Ken Howard who I knew best as the coach from White Shadow. I was so moved by the dedication of the "leper priest" that I immediately researched leprosy and vowed to help find a cure. While I obviously did not do that, I was touched by the film and learned the great lengths that men and women would go to serve God and their fellow man.

4. St. John Bosco: Mission to Love (2007) While the DVD was not released until about five years ago, the movie was regularly shown on EWTN in one hour parts. Shortly after coming back to the Church, I caught this movie one night when I couldn't sleep. I was moved by Don Bosco's complete trust in God. Furthermore, he was dedicated to the mission God gave him to accomplish - serving the youth. I learned that Bosco was the patron of school children and that he formed the Order of the Salesians. When I was in the Army, my mother used to send me small prayer books written by the Salesians.

3. Teresa de Jesus (1984) This movie was made as a mini-series for Spanish television. Like the Bosco movie it appears on ETWN regularly, especially close to the feast day of St. Teresa of Avila. This is a beautifully made movie and quite accurate in its portrayal of the saint's life. This movie got me more interested in the studying the life of St. Teresa. As a result, I was introduced to her great work, The Interior Castle, on prayer and her devotion to St. Joseph.

2. Peter and Paul (1981) Watching this made for TV mini-series led to me developing a strong devotion to St. Paul. As a teen I loved to read the Pauline epistles and when I became a lector at St. Cecelia Catholic Church (while I was still in high school), I always tried to be picked to read his letters. Later, as an adult, I gave some of my first (and I still think my best) RCIA presentations on the Conversion of St. Paul.

1. The Passion of the Christ (2004) This powerful portrayal of the passion of Christ gave visual context for my meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary, for the Stations of the Cross and the role our Blessed Mother Mary played in those last hours. Stacey and I watched the movie on its debut on Ash Wednesday and again on Good Friday. Since then we  make it a point to watch the movie again on Good Friday.