– By Maria Andress – There’s no denying this Holy Week will be the strangest most of us have ever known. We’ll be live streaming Triduum liturgies, making our own home altars, and trying to figure out all the ways of staying tuned into the most sacred week in the Catholic calendar from inside our own houses. Of course, no …
Meditation & Media: Finding Reflection in Troubled Times
By Matthew Sawczyn For all of us, these have been trying times. Our world is on standstill. Many are sick, or dying. Many are suffering financially. Many work tirelessly to ease the suffering of others. And most of us, thankfully, simpy wait; relatively unscathed, we nevertheless do our small part by staying at home: watching the news, counting the hours, …
My Thirty Days in the Shire
– By Maria Andress – “I am in fact A Hobbit in all but size. I like gardens, trees, and unmechanized farmlands; I smoke a pipe, and like good plain food (unrefrigerated), but detest French cooking; I like, and even dare to wear in these dull days, ornamental waistcoats. I am fond of mushrooms (out of a field); have a …
Faith in the Time of COVID-19: What To Do When Your Church Is Closed
By James Powers I’ve been in kind of a bad mood lately. I expect you’ve been in kind of a bad mood as well, and for a lot of the same reasons. We’re all in this weird limbo where everything has turned upside-down, and yet the concrete result of all this upheaval is really anticlimactic. It has most of us …
Growing ‘Til We Die: Lessons in Virtue from ‘Star Trek: Picard’
By Sam Hendrian Editor’s Note: Some spoilers below for Season 1 of Picard DAHJ: “Have you ever been a stranger to yourself?” PICARD: “Many times.” This dialogue exchange from the first episode of Star Trek: Picard, a new sci-fi series on CBS All-Access that serves as a follow-up to the hit ‘80s/’90s TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation, profoundly …
How the Modern ‘Emma’ Lacks Jane Austen
– By Maria Andress – This new “Emma” film is, in a word, strange. Strange and more overtly sexual in a coquettish and suggestive manner than any other Jane Austen film released to date. From a character standpoint, this is a retelling where the viewer really hates Emma and her proud meddling at the beginning. It is not until the …
‘The Chosen’: A Fresh Take on the Life of Christ
By Matthew Sawczyn If you’ve ever been blessed to visit the Holy Land, or have spoken with someone who has, a common description is that the Gospels suddenly felt real. Seeing the dirt, the water, the sky under which Jesus walked… there is an indescribable tangibility to the Faith that hits the pilgrim. Jesus really existed (I mean, really existed); …
Invisible Men: How H. G. Wells’ Famous Novel Has Been Adapted with the Times
– By Joe Campbell – (The following article contains spoilers). As a Universal monster, the Invisible Man has always fascinated me. Unlike Dracula, the Wolf Man, or The Mummy, there isn’t anything seemingly monstrous about him from the outset. He’s just a regular man who disappears. Yet he continues to hold a steady place alongside Universal’s other monsters. One would …
Looking for the Good Place
– By Joe Campbell – (The following contains spoilers for all four seasons of The Good Place, including the series finale). Last week saw the end of the beloved fantasy comedy show The Good Place. The hour-long series finale was a bittersweet culmination of four seasons and multiple interconnected character arcs. There were tearful goodbyes and mature growth. It has …
Language Love – Around the World in Oscars Gold
By Matthew Sawczyn This month, the Academy Awards marked a moment in history for Hollywood and cinema: for the first time in its ninety-two year history, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded its coveted “Best Picture” award to an entirely non-English language film, Korean writer-director Bong Joon-ho’s tragicomedy Parasite. In honor of Parasite, here are five other …