TAKING A BREAK FROM ALL YOUR WORRIES SURE WOULD HELP A LOT

The Anchoress is holding an online retreat at her web site all this week which includes reflections, prayers, and even a great essay on canning your own preserves (which for this born-and-bred, buy-my-jam-in-a-jar city boy holds a certain appealing charm). If you need a spiritual break in your day, be sure to visit the site for daily updates and inspiration. Here are a few excerpts to whet your appetite:

EXCERPTS:
The notion of “God’s will” or “God’s love” is an invitation to surrender. Surrender is not passivity. It is not simply looking at the cards you’ve drawn and announcing, “I got nothing, I’m out.” It’s looking at the cards and saying, like Hamlet, “I will this brother’s wager frankly play” even if the outcome does not look like it can be remotely satisfying from your perspective.
**************************
When we look back on our lives we can see how we planned some things rather early, but due to timing, unexpected roadblocks and the repercussions from other choices we may have made (either without thinking, or because we were caught by surprise, or we’d simply run out of options) those first early plans got pushed aside into the pile of “somedays” where we thrust our dreams and wishes; we don’t forget about the early plans, we simply let them gather dust and languish, until we start believing that they were “silly” ideas, after all - unreasonable plans, best left untouched and unvisited - and we just allow ourselves to be sad about it...I think when we reach that point - when we come to think of time and opportunity as having fully “passed,” and options being “over” - we begin to fade away, because we are no longer using time, but simply existing within it...We live in this illusion called time - and every day within it brings us opportunities, and we make choices about those chances - do we stay or go, do we read or stare, do we pursue a dream or let it lie untried, simply because the chance to pursue it didn’t come when we wanted it to, when we thought it should?
********************************
It’s a lot of work, canning jam. The fruit won’t wait. It will rot if we don’t get to it right away. It’s hot work in a hot summer. It is patiently washing and cutting, boiling and cooking, timing and adding ingredients and constant stirring. Sterile jars, sterile lids, long hours on your feet getting everything immaculately clean, timing everything just right... It would be so much easier not to do this, wouldn’t it?...Impatience fills me, time passes me by. Planning? My whole life is lived out of the daily planner. But what have I done? How exactly have I enjoyed the moments of my own existence? Can I honestly say I am satisfied with its fruit?
*************************
TonyRossiBlogger@gmail.com

A HERO'S JOURNEY HOME

When Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy was getting ready to leave his parents’ Patchogue, NY home after celebrating Easter with them, his Mom Maureen and Dad Dan asked him to send a text message when he arrived at his base in Hawaii assuring them he got there safe. Maureen and Dan didn’t hear anything for two days so they got worried, especially since Michael often went on dangerous missions in his work as a NAVY SEAL. They called him and discovered he had sent the text but it must not have gone through because of a technical glitch. Dan and Maureen Murphy breathed a sigh of relief, but also learned their son would be deploying on a new mission shortly.

Unfortunately, that mission was Michael’s last.

A few months later, on June 28, 2005, Lt. Michael Murphy was killed in Afghanistan during a fierce gunfight with the Taliban. He died a hero trying to save his men and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery.

Lt. Michael Murphy’s body was recovered on July 4th and soonafter returned to the United States. Though his parents were devastated, they relied on their faith to get them through.

During an interview on the radio program “Personally Speaking,” Dan Murphy tearfully recalled the experience of the return of his son’s body - “The Navy and everyone was there, they had a beautiful ceremony. But…for anyone who may question faith, let me just tell you what happened. Maureen and I were sitting on the tarmac waiting and they brought Michael out on a scissor lift…As it touched the ground, there was a peace and a calm that came over Maureen and I, almost like Michael walked up to us and said, ‘Everything’s okay. I’m fine.’ Maureen and I looked at each other and we both felt the same thing. The chaplain that was there with us said, ‘Is everything okay?’ We told him, ‘We have this peacefulness that came over us almost like Michael walked up to us.’ He said that’s not uncommon for families that come to meet their loved ones when they’re returned - which was just amazing!”

On July 13th, the day of Michael’s funeral, the Murphys would receive one more bit of comfort that they view through the eyes of faith. Maureen’s cell phone rang. When she looked at it, she saw it was a text message. Not just any text message but the one Michael had sent 4 months earlier.

It read simply, “Mama, home safe and sound.”

TonyRossiBlogger@gmail.com

A WINNING AND LOSING PERSPECTIVE

In light of the Olympics starting today, I thought I'd post this suprising story on human nature from The Christophers' "3 Minutes a Day" book:

If you had a choice, would you rather win a silver or a bronze Olympic medal? A study of Olympic medal winners might surprise you.
According to writer Kent Crockett, “Most people would assume the silver medal winners would be happier than the bronze medalists since they received a higher honor, but that wasn’t the case. The bronze medalists were found to be happier than the silver medalists.
“The former Olympians explained how they felt about their medals. The third-place winners were thrilled just to have won a medal. The silver medalists, on the other hand, felt like losers because they didn’t come in first.
“What happens to you is not nearly as important as how you perceive what happens to you.”
Our attitudes make such a difference to our lives. Remember that keeping a positive approach to ourselves and our world can work wonders.

TonyRossiBlogger@gmail.com

GET YOUR SNAP ON

Yesterday, Brooke White told me to “get my snap on.”

Okay, she didn’t just say it to me but also to the approximately 17,000 other people who filled the Nassau Coliseum to near-capacity status to enjoy the American Idols concert featuring this year’s top 10. But before I get to that, here's a recap of the concert.

The show started with Chikezie’s rousing three-song set of Donny Hathaway’s “I Believe To My Soul,” Usher’s “Caught Up,” and John Legend’s “So High.” Chikezie worked the stage and the crowd like a seasoned performer and demonstrated a ton of natural charisma. Completely comfortable as a live performer, he got the audience going and demonstrated his serious musical chops.

Next up was Ramiele Malubay who was entertaining and showed off some power vocals on The Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back,” Taylor Dayne’s “Love Will Lead You Back,” and Maroon 5’s “If I Never See Your Face Again.” Though she’s definitely got talent, Ramiele would seem to benefit most from a little more experience. She seemed a little uncomfortable on stage and could benefit from a boost in confidence.

When Aussie-transplant Michael Johns came out singing “We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions,” the crowd exploded and the show reached a new level. Johns’ soulful delivery on all his songs - which also included the re-imagined Dolly Parton classic “It’s All Wrong But It’s All Right” and the song that, as he reminded everyone, got him booted off Idol, “Dream On” – reminded me that this guy is radio ready and should have a successful career ahead of him.

Cowgirl sweetheart Kristy Lee Cook, who’s already got a record deal and a single which comes out on August 11, showed off her country sass during a set that included a couple of lesser known songs that she put her own stamp on – “Squeezin’ the Love Outta You” by Carolyn Dawn Johnson and “Cowgirls” by Kerry Harvick. The livelier numbers were separated by one of Kristy Lee’s favorite songs, “God Bless the USA.” While the song can seem hokey depending on who’s singing it, Kristy Lee’s performance was a sincere tribute to the United States and those who fought and are still fighting on its behalf. Kristy Lee bore what I felt was a lot of unfair criticism during her time on Idol. Her concert performance proved she deserves to be a part of this tour and to have a record deal that will hopefully help her follow in the footsteps of other successful Idol country artists like Kellie Pickler and Carrie Underwood.

Carly Smithson is America’s best Irish import since Guinness. Though she knows how to caress a ballad, she stuck with numbers to show off her powerhouse vocals – Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life,” Heart’s “Crazy On You” and Cyndi Lauper’s “I Drove All Night.” While Carly sometimes seemed a little serious during Idol, she appears to have reached a point where she now completely enjoys herself onstage thereby making her already impressive voice and performances even better.

My favorite performance on Idol all season was Brooke White’s rendition of The Beatles “Let It Be.” There was something about the feeling she put into that song that made it, at the risk of sounding melodramatic, a transcendent moment. Happily, Brooke recreated that moment at the start of her set as she rose out of the stage playing a grand piano (barefoot of course) and singing this beloved classic. After “Let It Be,” Brooke picked up her guitar and headed to center-stage while mentioning that there was an “incident” with the microphone stand the night before which resulted in her getting smacked in the face with the stand. There were no mishaps this time so Brooke told all of us to “get your snap on” before Feist’s catchy “1, 2, 3, 4.” Though I’d never gotten my snap on before, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. Brooke’s final song, Coldplay’s “Yellow,” was the capper on a fun set. Other than David Cook, I’d say Brooke has the best rapport with the audience probably because she’s got such a joyful spirit that you can’t help but smile when she’s talking and singing.

That didn’t end Brooke’s time onstage however. As someone who is sincerely socially conscious and would no doubt use her celebrity to help the less fortunate, Brooke made her pitch as spokesperson for Malaria No More’s “Save the World Summer” campaign which aims to raise awareness and money to prevent and end the spread of malaria. This led into a performance of U2’s “Pride in the Name of Love” by the six performers we’d already seen. While group numbers didn’t always work well on TV, this one – accompanied by video of the people in Africa the campaign would help – was both entertaining and effective.

Post-intermission was when screaming young girls (and probably older women too) pushed their vocal chords to the limit. Accompanied by constant squeals of delight from the audience, Jason Castro opened his set playing ukulele and singing the Israel Kamakawiwo'ole version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” He followed with Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” and The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Daydream.” I admit that I wasn’t a big fan of Jason’s while he was on Idol but he won me over with his performances here. He demonstrated a newfound confidence and even some power-vocal ability that I didn’t know he had.

The crowd next erupted for Syesha Mercado who, besides throwing a free Idol T-shirt into the crowd, sang Rihanna’s “Umbrella” followed by Alicia Keys “If I Ain’t Got You” and Beyonce’s “Listen.” Though the Idol judges often criticized Syesha for not being distinct enough or knowing her niche, she seems to have found it here. Freed from the constraints of theme weeks, she found songs she felt comfortable singing and the audience was totally impressed.

Next of course was the moment every girl in the audience was waiting for – the emergence of David Archuleta behind a piano singing and playing Robbie Williams’ “Angels.” Archuleta could have stood onstage for 15 minutes doing nothing but smile and he would have earned a constant stream of applause and screams from the crowd. The fact that he’s got actual musical talent to back up his popularity is a welcome fact. After singing One Republic’s “Apologize” and Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me,” he finished up with Josh Groban’s “When You Say You Love Me.” Groban is the artist Archuleta most reminds me of so if he follows in his footsteps, he’ll be okay.

Appropriately enough, the loudest cheers and stomps of the evening (yes, there was stomping) greeted American Idol winner David Cook who opened with the killer version of Lionel Richie’s “Hello” that first put him on many people’s radars during the course of Idol. Be it through his first post-Idol hit “Time of My Life,” Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” or the Foo Fighters’ “My Hero,” no one seemed more at home onstage in front of thousands of people than Cook. He’s got a swagger that some people interpret as cocky but I think it’s simply confidence because he loves what he’s doing and knows he’s good at it. Nothing wrong with that. In addition to throwing several guitar picks into the audience to the glee of a few fans near the front, Cook also mentioned that he usually dedicates “My Hero” to his brother Adam who’s suffering from brain cancer. This night, however, he said he was changing his dedication to a nameless girl who also faced a heroic struggle. He didn’t share any more of the story so I don’t know if the dedication was for someone he met that day or for the young cancer patient named Lindsey Rose who he’s mentioned before in interviews. Either way, it was a nice gesture. Cook closed his set with his popular version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”

Before the evening ended, the top 10 performed Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music” together to give everyone a final opportunity to say good-night to the crowd. It was a fine way to end nearly three hours of pure, unadulterated fun. If you get the chance to see the Idols tour, you should definitely do it. All ages from kids to seniors were represented in the audience so it’s a night out that really can be a family affair.

(Note: Photos above are generic, not from the actual concert)

TonyRossiBlogger@gmail.com

I WANT TO BELIEVE

Though I’m not a fan of the horror or thriller genres in general, I was drawn to “The X Files” during its TV run after reading an interview with the show’s creator Chris Carter. An agnostic, Carter acknowledged that the poster on Fox Mulder’s (David Duchovny) wall featuring a UFO and the words “I Want to Believe” metaphorically represented Carter’s own quest for faith. While Mulder sought proof for the existence of extraterrestrials, Carter wanted to believe in the existence of a transcendent reality and even a benevolent creator. He admitted he could never quite get to that point though.

Amidst the storylines featuring supernatural serial killers, alien conspiracies and monsters of the week, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) often engaged in science versus faith debates with both sides getting a fair hearing. I always admired this about the show because it at least took these matters seriously instead of dismissing them outright or simply looking on faith as craziness.

With the release of “The X Files: I Want to Believe,” Carter’s spiritual quest is brought to the fore once again. The movie picks up 6 years after the series ended. Scully is now a doctor at “Our Lady of Sorrows” hospital while Mulder is still in hiding because he escaped from government custody after a sham trial about his paranormal investigations.

One day, an FBI agent approaches Scully at the hospital and tells her they need Mulder’s insight on an investigation involving a missing agent. It appears that someone is having visions about the crime and the FBI doesn’t know whether they can trust these visions. If Mulder cooperates, all past transgressions will be forgiven. Scully contacts Mulder who, after some initial reluctance, agrees to help.

It turns out that the person having the visions is a Catholic priest named Father Joe (Billy Connolly). It’s also revealed that Father Joe is no ordinary priest; he’s a convicted pedophile priest. “Uh-oh,” I thought, “here comes two hours of pot-shots at the Catholic Church and clergy.” To my complete and utter shock, the film didn’t go in that direction.

Yes, Scully as the resident Catholic expresses some righteous anger at Father Joe for his crimes and fires some verbal shots at his character. But Father Joe is actually portrayed as a struggling, sinful human being instead of a malicious caricature. Of course, there are questions.

Are Father Joe’s visions real or is he just trying to rehabilitate his image? Is it possible that this most heinous of sins – the sexual abuse of children – can ever be forgiven by man or by God? Would God actually use a pedophile to accomplish His divine will?

Jeffrey Overstreet, a non-Catholic Christian who reviewed the film for Christianity Today’s web site, takes offense on behalf of Catholics because of the fact that the priest is a pedophile. Jeffrey writes, “Do American filmmakers really believe that all priests are sexual deviants? Is Hollywood so infected with prejudice that they've come to believe the rare exceptions are the rule?”

I appreciate Jeffrey’s legitimate critique and viewpoint. The portrayal of good and holy priests in modern media is a rarity nowadays. For me though, the character in this film wasn’t offensive because of the well-rounded way he was handled. I give Carter credit for giving more than one dimension.

In my opinion, “I Want to Believe” works better as a spiritual quest than a thriller. While the central mystery is creepy, it didn’t really grab me. Action scenes are at a minimum and there’s one pretty goofy moment in Mulder’s final confrontation with the bad guys that everyone in the theater laughed at.

Carter, who directed the film and co-wrote it with X Files veteran Frank Spotnitz, opts to capitalize mainly on the Mulder-Scully dynamic that kept me watching the TV show even when the storylines started getting weak. And it really is the interaction between the two leads that makes “I Want to Believe” as engaging and even witty as it is.

In an era when atheists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens show nothing but contempt for faith of any kind, it’s refreshing to witness Chris Carter’s honest search for truth. A recent Entertainment Weekly article describes him as “a former skeptic who’s got more faith that it’s not all meaningless.” That comes through in the movie. So if you’re a spiritual seeker or even a practicing Christian or Catholic, “The X Files: I Want to Believe” should leave you thinking about sin, forgiveness, and the challenge to discern God’s will in our world and in our lives.

TonyRossiBlogger@gmail.com

A SERVANT'S HEART

NEW YORK, July 9, 2008 – Taught by her mother to approach life with “a servant’s heart,” 23-year-old Texas native, Abby Caperton, talks about crossing borders to help others on Christopher Closeup. The half-hour interview airs in two parts on Sunday, July 20th and Sunday, July 27th, both at 7 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. EST on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159.

Born and raised in Hereford, TX, Caperton, a lifelong Catholic who currently resides in Lewisville, TX, credits her mother for engendering a sense of responsibility to “give back.”

Those early life lessons lead to her embarking on mission trips to Mexico, Guatemala, and, most recently, Malawi and Mozambique in Africa. She discusses how, despite the suffering that is a grim part of daily life in those countries, it was the faith, hope, love and generosity she experienced firsthand amid the hardships that made the more lasting impression.

Her travels inspired her to encourage others towards service, “(We all) need to be more generous with our giving, with our time, treasure and talent.”

This personal commitment to making a positive difference in the world is, according to Christopher Closeup’s host, Tony Rossi, “at the heart of The Christopher message – that it’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.”

For Caperton, her advocacy for greater solidarity with the poor is rooted in her deep devotion to the Eucharist, which she sees as the ultimate source of unity, “not only… with the people that you’re with at Mass, but it’s the people in the next town over, it’s the people in the next continent over, it’s the people in Africa. You’re in unity with everyone in this world whenever you sit at Mass.”

Part Two of the interview also features a discussion with Dr. Derry Connolly, president of John Paul the Great Catholic University.

Podcasts of the interview segments will be available at www.christophers.org/closeuppodcast following the airing of the programs.

Maryknoll Father James Keller founded the Christophers in 1945 with the purpose of encouraging individuals to use their God-given talents to make a positive difference in the world by bringing Gospel values into the mainstream of life.

To learn more about The Christophers visit www.christophers.org

BREATHING THE FIRE

On Memorial Day 2006, CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier and her crew were on patrol with the military in Iraq. A car bomb explosion killed cameraman Paul Douglas, soundman James Brolan, Army Captain Alex Funkhouser, and their Iraqi translator known only as Sam. Kimberly was critically injured herself. She lost more than half her blood because the explosion smashed both her femurs, scorched her muscle and skin from hips to ankles, and lodged some shrapnel near her brain. Though she technically died five times after reaching the hospital, the medical teams were able to save her. Kimberly endured a painful and grueling recovery, and now shares her story in the book “Breathing the Fire: Fighting to Report- and Survive – the War in Iraq.” Here’s an excerpt from my recent “Christopher Closeup” interview with Kimberly during which she discusses the spiritual side of her recovery.

TR: You write in the book about your own background as a Christian. You even considered being a member of the Episcopal clergy for a while. So I’m wondering – when you were recovering in the hospital, did you have any mental conversations with God about what happened or why?

Kimberly Dozier: Absolutely. It came down to, “What am I going to do with this? I’ve had this horrible tragedy happen. I’m still alive. Why’d you leave me here? Obviously I’ve got something else to do. What is it?” And yeah, you have the selfish response (that) you don’t want the responsibility of this when you have lived and the people with you have not. Trying to turn that into something positive, trying to find the right words to say to the family members of those who’ve been lost – that’s a burden I didn’t want. It’s a privilege I didn’t want. You’re thankful and you are saddled with something you never thought you’d have to deal with. Someone explained to me once that grief is a gift, that going through something like this gives you lessons that you then have to pass on. And that’s been one of the hardest parts of this because, what I write about in the book, especially the first few months when I came back to work, so many people came up to me and wanted to talk about horrible things that they’d been through…For a while there, it just got (to be) too much. I couldn’t handle it and I started skulking around back hallways at CBS because I didn’t know how to help these people. That’s part of the reason why I decided, “Okay, I’ll write this darn book. I’ll put it all out there.”

TR: At one point in your book “Breathing the Fire,” you write, “The more horrors I saw overseas, the more my own Christian faith came to the fore.” Some people see suffering and violence, and it moves them away from God. Why did it move you more toward God?

Kimberly Dozier: I guess I’ve never held God responsible for some of the horrors that I see. The things that we are able to do to each other either in the name of government, ideology or God – it is soul shaking. But I guess you take refuge in your faith. You also see the positive things out there, the people who risk their lives to save someone else or risk their lives to protect a community. That restores your faith as much as the horrors you’re seeing shake it…
TR: You said that you dealt with the guilt of surviving and the grief of losing your colleagues. But are you carrying around any anger at the people who did this? Is that something that weighs on your mind or have you moved past that also?

Kimberly Dozier: Both the guilt and the anger you’ve got to leave behind. They’re destructive emotions…In terms of being angry at the men who blew up the car bomb – as I understood from the U.S. military, they were taken down that night. They were in a cell in an apartment block overlooking the bomb scene. That’s how they watched to see us get close enough and then triggered the 500 pound car bomb. I can’t see inside their minds. I hate their methods, but I also know as a reporter on the ground there were things happening like accidental shooting incidents. Up to ten Iraqis a day were being killed, one high-ranking U.S. commander told me, due to accidental shootings at checkpoints. Was one of those men – had he lost his family to something like that? And it was a Sunni Al-Quaeda splinter group that got taken down. Now we are, as part of the awakening, we the coalition are talking to those Sunni groups, (we’ve) won them over, and they’re now our present day allies. So you can’t draw any sorts of absolutes in the Middle East. The lines are always changing.

TR: You write in the book that prayer helped you through a lot of those difficult times when you were recovering. Is it still a help to you now?

Kimberly Dozier: It’s always been a part of my life and always will (be) for our whole family. It’s one of those things, when I go overseas and meet someone who is either a Shiite imam or an Orthodox priest, it’s that bridge that helps us relate and understand. In the Middle East, it’s a community full of people of faith. They respect you and understand you better and vice versa when you are strong in your own faith.

(To listen to the full interview, visit www.christophers.org/closeuppodcast)

TonyRossiBlogger@gmail.com

JOY & DIGNITY AMID DEMENTIA

Journalist and EWTN television host Colleen Carroll Campbell has written a heartfelt remembrance of her father who died recently after a protracted battle with Alzheimer's. This column is a must read.

EXCERPT:
Dad's diagnosis came on a bleak January afternoon in 1996 during my last
semester of college. In the years that followed, I watched a brilliant man once
heralded for his articulate defense of mentally disabled children become
disabled himself. I grieved as the wordsmith father who had rejoiced at every
article I ever wrote struggled to read my name or sign his own. A paragon of
strength in earlier years, Dad gradually grew weak and dependent before my eyes.

Yet Dad had joy — immense, contagious joy. Everyone he met noticed it — from
the hairdresser he serenaded with Irish songs during their appointments to the
adult day-care aides who marveled at his good humor and quick wit.

Even in his last years, after his condition forced my mother to move him to a
nursing home, Dad provoked smiles with courtly bows and tips of an imaginary
hat to the elderly nuns who stared at him from their wheelchairs. "Great to see
you," he'd say, as he sauntered the halls. "You're the best."

Led into a room full of dementia patients, he would find his way to the corner
where the most distressed one among them was muttering incoherently. Plopping
down next to her, he would whisper, "We're all in God's hands" and stroke her
arm until she grew quiet and calm. "I like to take care of people," he would
tell me, when he could remember what he had just done.

Alzheimer's eventually robbed my father of everything a disease can take from a
man. But it could not steal his joy. Cultivated through a lifetime of putting
people before possessions, principle before prestige and love of God and family
before his own desires, Dad's joy seemed to spring from some inexhaustible
source, from a place the plaques and tangles of Alzheimer's could not reach.
(Full article here.)
*****************
TonyRossiBlogger@gmail.com

HOPE FOR EVERY PERSON

In addition to a career that’s brought her great success in the Christian and pop music fields, Amy Grant is known as a person who uses her celebrity to help others. From St. Jude Children’s Hospital to Habitat for Humanity to private benefit concerts for people in need, Amy is always giving back for the blessings she’s received.

As she recalled on a recent episode of the radio program “Personally Speaking with Monsignor Jim Lisante,” the influence of her parents shaped her own attitude toward reaching out. Amy said, “Three different times when I was growing up and shortly after I’d left the house, my parents invited young women to come live with them who were struggling. It might have been for a few months or many months. And my parents certainly did not have a flawless life...But they had raised girls and they said ‘this is a safe place.’ Years ago – I probably was in my 30’s – a woman came to my concert, and she was probably in her 40’s, and she said, ‘You probably don’t even remember me. When you were a little girl, I lived with you. I was pregnant and had nowhere to go.’ And she showed me a picture of her son who was maybe seven years younger than me. And I just thought, ‘Way to go, Mom and Dad!’ This woman was supported at a time when she was really lonely and needed support.”

Amy draws great support from her Christian faith which she’s never been shy about professing. How and why has it stayed such a focal point of her life through the challenges she’s faced?

Amy said, “I know beyond a shadow of any doubt that the reason my heart is so full, the reason my life feels directed, the reason I have confidence about tomorrow whether I live or die, the reason I can look at my children and believe they have an amazing future...is because I know what it feels like to be still long enough to know God...The 17th chapter of Acts (says) that every man has an appointed amount of time and was born in an appointed place. It basically says it is God’s purpose to arrange a person’s life with the possibility that they might reach toward Him because He is always near to everyone...I read that today and thought that’s amazing! Even in putting everything in motion, He said I’m always going to be right there and I’m going to construct this person’s life in such a way that there is a possibility that they will reach toward me. That’s hope for every person following everything.”

TonyRossiBlogger@gmail.com

WRESTLING WITH THE TRUTH THAT SAVES YOU

On a recent episode of “Christopher Closeup,” I had the opportunity to interview Barbara Nicolosi. Barbara is a talented screenwriter, founder of the Act One Screenwriting program, and partner in Origin Entertainment. The interview covered a lot of ground including Barbara’s insights on improving the work of Christians in Hollywood and why films & TV programs shouldn’t shy away from portraying sin in their stories. But the high point came when Barbara and I discussed one of our favorite TV shows, “Battlestar Galactica.” (Okay, it’s actually an obsession for Barbara. And she’ll admit that too.)

For those not familiar with the show’s premise, it deals with the near-obliteration of a human society by the machine-race they created called Cylons. Humanity’s survivors are on a mission to find the mythical planet Earth where they can start life anew while fleeing from the Cylons who are out to kill them and claim Earth for themselves.

Barbara discussed this premise from an artistic and religious viewpoint. Here’s an excerpt:

TR: I’ve been reading your blog “Church of the Masses” for years…I pretty much have a sense of what you like and don’t like…Then in January 2008, I go to your blog and read you geeking out about “Battlestar Galactica.” What happened to tilt the earth off its axis so that you’re now praising a sci-fi show?

Barbara Nicolosi: All my friends think I’ve lost my mind (Laughs). But…when you see powerful, well-done, really-well-executed work that’s hitting at all the different levels of meaning that are possible in the screen artform, you have got to say that this is an achievement. And you have got to say this show does that. The funny thing about the show is that…it’s very sexy in some episodes. But I don’t find it gratuitously so because I think that it’s about a post-religious, licentiate human society that’s grown fat with its own excess. And so I think that in that sense it would be a lie not to show that. It’s an adult show, this is on at 10:00 at night, it’s not for kids…

In the very first episode they ask the question, ‘You human beings talk about…struggling to survive. You never ask the question if you deserve to survive.’ The rest of the series then unfolds over this question of ‘do we deserve to survive because of what we’ve become?’ I think that’s a valid question…(And) the cool thing about the show is it never tells you what to think; it just keeps posing questions that have been raised in this post-9/11 America.

For example, an episode that was just aired recently of Season 4 was about the President and the Admiral – the two leaders in the society – (deciding) they have to break the law a little bit and not be open about what they’re doing because there’s a greater threat out there. Then (the government) starts having a fight…when it comes out – ‘How can we do this? This betrays who we are.’ Well, isn’t that what we’re talking about as a society now? And…I don’t think we’re really talking about it as a society. I think there’s a lot of screaming going on. But Battlestar’s actually trying to dialogue it out.

TR: It almost doesn’t come down on either side as being right. You see both sides.

Barbara Nicolosi: You’re right. In fact I talked to the writers at length, we were picketing together during the strike. And they said that is one of the most paramount points that we discuss as a staff. We’re going to lay out in a fair way both sides of these questions and let the audience have to wrestle with whether they think the choices the characters are making are ultimately moral or immoral. I love that! I’m so sick of having a particular worldview jammed down my throat…and seeing the other side so badly represented. I mean, look at ‘West Wing.’ They never could represent a Republican or a conservative – until the very end of the series – without making them a buffoon or an ignoramus…So it’s just refreshing (on Battlestar) to have two characters that you really love and admire be on opposite sides of something, both making a compelling case for where they’re coming from, and then you have to decide who is right or wrong.

TR: Ron Moore, the executive producer of the show, said about it, “There’s a search for truth that we explore continually.” Looking at things from a religious perspective, is the search for truth in a story enough to make it deserving of being embraced by a Christian audience?

Barbara Nicolosi: I think so. I think that one of the things we’ve been getting wrong in Catholic media is that we try and do all the work for the viewer in terms of stories. A story is a car, for example, that you provide out of respect for your viewer. They’re going to go on a journey in that car. It’s a very respectful thing to set them up on this journey, but they have to do the work otherwise it’s not going to mean anything in their life. So if you make it too easy for them and give them the answers, they’ll forget...We say to our students in Act One all the time, “It isn’t telling people the truth that saves them; it’s getting them to wrestle with the truth that saves them.” It’s the reason that when you end a Flannery O’Connor story, you’re furious at her because you say, “Well what did that mean?!” You always think there were three missing pages where she was supposed to tell you what everything meant. And what you have to do is keep going over it and over it and over it until you figure it out. That’s the process of saving you. But Flannery really respects her audience. Now granted a lot of the audience misses the deeper level. But you know what, the ones who get it – it saves their soul.

TR: Galactica is also one of the only shows that deals with religion and faith in an overt manner. At the beginning I was unsure what to make of it because the seeming bad guys were worshippers of the ‘one true God’ whereas the seeming good guys had multiple gods. How do you think the story represents religion? Is it doing it in a good way?

Barbara Nicolosi: I think it was a stroke of genius to make the humans the pagans/polytheists and make the machines the monotheists. In one sense it could just be that the machines are supposed to represent the fanaticism of the Islamic fascists who took down the towers...But it’s not that because Christianity is also a monotheistic religion. So I think that by twisting it on its head, by making the Cylons monotheists, it made it even safer for the show to talk about issues of faith and how they impact daily life...Having said that, this struggle of the people in the show (asks), ‘Are we missing something when we make decisions that aren’t guided by transcendent faith?’ That’s what the human characters on the show are struggling with.

You have some of them, like the most screwed up one, Starbuck, but she really believes that the gods know her name and that she owes them fealty. Then you have the admiral and his son who are just such agnostics, and now they’re struggling to believe because they don’t know what to do, they have nothing else to lean on. And that’s the question of the show – when you have nothing else to lean on, does it then make sense to reach for the divine or are you just grasping at some kind of straw to save your psychological life? The show hasn’t resolved that yet, but I think it’s setting up to do that very clearly.

(To listen to the full interview, visit www.christophers.org/closeuppodcast)

TonyRossiBlogger@gmail.com

FROM CNN TO THE VATICAN

As a member of the Vatican press corps, Delia Gallagher has traveled extensively with Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. After a two year stint in New York as CNN's Faith and Values Correspondent, Delia recently returned to Rome to serve as Senior Editor of 'Inside the Vatican' magazine. I recently had the opportunity to talk with Delia on 'Christopher Closeup' about her work, her journalism career, and her insights on Pope Benedict's vision for the future of the Catholic Church. Here are some excerpts:

Tony Rossi: Even though you’ve worked for the secular press like CNN, you seem to be most at home working in the Catholic arena. What’s the appeal of covering Catholicism in general and the Vatican in particular?

Delia Gallagher: The difficulty of working in the secular press for religion is the medium itself. Television doesn’t lend itself to any kind of in-depth discussion of (religion) so there is a frustration for somebody like me who knows a lot about it and who would like to get into some of the more interesting aspects or the deeper issues behind it or the history. But you just can’t do that on television...I’m happy to do television when there are big stories but it’s always at a very superficial level. To get any satisfaction out of the work, you have to work for readers and listeners who are interested in some of the bigger-picture things.

TR: How did your Mom and Dad pass on the faith to you in such a way that it’s not only an important part of your life but that you’re also devoting a lot of your career to it?

Delia Gallagher: My parents are from Ireland. I have 4 brothers...We grew up in an Irish-Catholic household...Every night at the dinner table, it was religion and politics. That was the basic theme in our family. Faith was very important, going to church...There was never any real intention on my part to go into reporting on religion...I didn’t even know that kind of job existed. But I was interested in it and I did study it. I studied philosophy and theology…at the University of San Francisco which is a Jesuit university. At that university, there was a program called St. Ignatius Institute which was founded by a Jesuit named Father Joseph Fessio who was a student of Cardinal Ratzinger. So frankly I’ve been studying the Pope for about 20 years now. But it was just an interest. And if there’s one thing I can say to young kids today, it's ‘when you go to university, study what you’re interested in.’ Unfortunately people say when you study philosophy and theology ‘what are you going to do with that?’ We’re so geared toward the career. But at the university level, you should be thinking about what’s going to enrich you, not what’s going to make you money. So that’s what I did and, of course, the money follows afterward. And I think a lot of it’s providential frankly. You just go along a little bit blind most of the time but things tend to come full circle as you follow what you feel like doing.

TR: I know you’re father was a playwright. What kind of plays did he write – and did his writing career have any influence on the fact that you yourself are a writer?

Delia Gallagher: Probably. He is still a playwright by the way. He likes Catholic martyrs. In most of his plays, the protagonist dies in the end. But (Dad) does have a theater company in California; it’s the Quo Vadis Theater Company so I’ll give him a little plug. I think it’s also maybe something in the Irish blood, an artistic leaning towards writing.

TR: You’ve written that the Pope’s larger vision of the Catholic Church is often overlooked. What is that vision and why do we not get it sometimes?

Delia Gallagher: The vision is, as he himself as said...some people have called it pessimistic. In other words, maybe the Catholic Church of the future is going to be a smaller church. I think when people think of evangelization and making fishers of men and certainly (words) from the Pope, the idea should be ‘We should go out and get as many people as possible.’ I think the Pope understands his role right now to be a re-enforcing...of the basics of the Catholic faith precisely so that in the future – if the world is going to become increasingly secularized and so on – this smaller but more faithful group of people can carry the light...

(Though) he doesn’t directly make parallels, he chose the name Benedict...Think of St. Benedict creating these small monasteries to see (his era) through the dark ages and then another flourishing of monasticism and of Christianity in general after the dark ages. You have to remember with this Pope – this is what we don’t understand – he’s got this very broad vision of history...He’s saying we may have to accept that it’s a smaller church right now, but who knows in 100 years and who knows in 500 years.

It’s connected to an idea he’s also talked about which is pruning. It’s the same thing for every individual person. In agriculture, you have to prune back the flowers and prune back the vines in order for them to flourish. So I think this concept is important to him both on this very large historical scale and also on the personal scale.

(For the free podcast of the full interview with Delia Gallagher, go to www.christophers.org/closeuppodcast.)

TonyRossiBlogger@gmail.com

TIM RUSSERT'S GREATEST LEGACY

It’s astounding to me that Luke Russert got through the heartbreak of the last few days with as much courage, composure and eloquence as he did. I couldn’t help misting up at some of the tributes to his much-loved, force-of-nature father Tim. The fact that this 22-year-old didn’t crack in public is a sign of inner strength, and maybe, divine grace at work in his life.

At a time when his father’s family, friends and fans should have been comforting him, he stood strong as a comfort to all - as a sign that life will go on and, to quote Tom Hanks in Cast Away after having faced loss and disappointment of his own, “Tomorrow the sun will rise.”

Maybe I’m reading into it, but at the end of the televised memorial service for Tim Russert this evening, Luke looked worn out, like he’d given almost all he had and was spent. This young man now deserves some private time to grieve with his Mom and family. It’s a gift the media and the public owe him.

TonyRossiBlogger@gmail.com

GONE TOO SOON

Mike Hayes at Busted Halo shares a thoughtful remembrance of Tim Russert on the sad and shocking occasion of his passing.

EXCERPT:
The lecture hall was packed as the crowd awaited a speaker known by millions for his enormous insight into American politics. Every Sunday, Tim Russert spoke to the titans of American politics as moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press” where his grilling of public figures on the issues of the day had become legendary. But tonight people came from far and wide to hear him speak about a topic far more dear to him: his Father. The publication of his riveting memoir, Big Russ and Me, offered a window into the values and experiences that were at the core of this well-regarded Washington newsman’s life. The book’s success had a surprisingly large impact on the American public.

His dad, Tim Sr., a hardnosed working class guy, who worked two jobs, neither of them particularly elegant—he delivered newspapers and picked up garbage for a living—and yet Russert talked about him as the epitome of class. Big Russ taught him the values of living with faith, discipline and simple honesty. He made an honest living and family always came first. What more could a son ask for? (Full story here.)

TonyRossiBlogger@gmail.com

"SHE WOULDN'T EVEN BE HERE IF WE'D FOLLOWED THIS DOCTOR'S ADVICE!"

On October 15, 2000 - the morning after she became the 1st teacher and 1st Filipino-American to win the title of Miss America - Angela Baraquio Grey’s initial thoughts weren’t about fame or glamour. Instead, Angela told her handlers, “I need to carve out one hour to go to Mass.”

While working as a physical education teacher at a Catholic school in Honolulu, Hawaii, Angela had been involved with beauty pageants but was reluctant to be portrayed in any way that would set a bad example for her students. A priest told her that more Catholics need to be in the forefront of our culture and convinced her that she could pursue pageants without betraying her principles.

Angela’s new approach led her to think of all her pursuits in terms of God wanting to use her as an instrument. She won the title of Miss Hawaii which led to the Miss America competition.

As the eighth of ten children from a devout Catholic family, Angela was used to attending Mass every Sunday. But in the 2 weeks prior to the Miss America pageant, officials pressured her into not going because they had rehearsals all day Sunday from 6:00am to 10:00pm. Though she was upset, Angela complied with the rules.

The morning after her win though, Angela had a request – she wanted to attend Mass. With a slate full of media scheduled, her handlers at first looked “appalled.” On the radio show “Personally Speaking,” Angela recalled, “Then my manager said to me, ‘You’re Miss America. You can do whatever you want.’”

With the revelation of the importance of her Catholic faith, Angela got a surprise. Out of twelve members of her entourage, six revealed they were Catholic too. Two people who would be her traveling companions were ecstatic that they would be able to go to Mass with her every week. They did however point out that the time away from official pageant duties would cost her some money. Angela’s response – “I need to go to Mass every week for the next year – every Sunday, no matter what city I’m in, traveling 20,000 miles a month...That’s the way it’s going to be.”

Angela’s devotion to her faith was cemented by a time of doubt in her life. Prior to turning 18, an age she considered the marker of adulthood, Angela asked herself if she wanted to keep believing in something her parents told her to believe or if she should take responsibility for her faith. Instead of just saying Christianity wasn’t true, she found a number of theological books and read up on the Catholic faith. The more that she delved into it, the more she thought, “What a beautiful faith! And I totally took it for granted (because) I was a cradle Catholic.” She looked at the faith of people who’d been converted to Catholicism in their later years and found inspiration in them because they “actually do their homework. I went and I did the research, and that strengthened my faith and my connection with the Lord.”

That connection with the Lord has been a major source of support in recent years. In November 2006, Angela’s brother Albert, who suffered with bipolar disorder, committed suicide. The Baraquios never saw it coming because Albert acted happy whenever they saw him. Struggling to find a sense of healing, Angela’s brother John presented his siblings with an idea. Since they’d all grown up singing together as a choir in churches, why not record an album that would serve as a tribute to Albert - and as a source of hope to others who had lost loved ones to suicide? The Baraquios agreed and have recently released this moving album called “Lost and Found.” (More info here.)

Large families like Angela’s are a rarity in today’s culture because people often see having a lot of kids only in terms of financial inconvenience. But Angela’s parents held a very different view.

Angela recalled the story of her Mom who had just given birth to twins (her fifth and sixth children). Right after the birth, the doctor said to Angela’s mother, “I’m going to...tie your tubes okay. I just need your permission, sign here.”

In shock, Angela’s mother responded, “Are you kidding me? I just gave birth to these beautiful twins!”

The doctor said, “This is a lot of kids. It’s going to be very expensive. You have no idea how hard it is.”

Angela’s Mom and Dad looked at each other and decided that they would follow God’s plan for their lives, not the doctor’s. They used a different physician when children #7 through #10 (including Angela who was #8) were born. Years later, Angela’s brother Jerome ran into the offending doctor who told him, “Congratulations, we’re so proud of your...sister!” When Jerome relayed this message to his parents, his mother exclaimed, “She wouldn’t even be here if we’d followed this doctor’s advice!”

The blessing of that large family has paid off in unexpected ways. As Angela says, “My Mom has always taught us that whatever God wants, do His will. Everyone talks about another mouth to feed, but the blessings have been endless. I wouldn’t be here with my children and have the blessings of them, their love, my husband, and the life that we lead today if my parents didn’t trust in God the way they did. My family has come together in such a difficult time after my brother’s death…In our darkest hours, we were there for each other to pull each other together and strengthen our love for each other as a family.”

TonyRossiBlogger@gmail.com

JUDAS: EXTEME MAKEOVER EDITION

For anyone who had doubts about the positive makeover Judas received a couple of years ago when the book and documentary about the Gospel of Judas were released, here's an article that strongly suggests the revelations were more spin than substance (h/t to Kevin Knight at New Advent):

EXCERPT:
One of the seven million people who watched the National Geographic documentary was April D. DeConick. Admittedly, DeConick, a professor of biblical studies at Rice University, was not your average viewer. As a Coptologist, she had long been aware of the existence of the Gospel of Judas and was friends with several of those who had worked on the so-called dream team. It's fair to say she watched the documentary with special interest.

As soon as the show ended, she went to her computer and downloaded the English translation from the National Geographic Web site. Almost immediately she began to have concerns. From her reading, even in translation, it seemed obvious that Judas was not turning in Jesus as a friendly gesture, but rather sacrificing him to a demon god named Saklas. This alone would suggest, strongly, that Judas was not acting with Jesus' best interests in mind — which would undercut the thesis of the National Geographic team. She turned to her husband, Wade, and said: "Oh no. Something is really wrong."

She started the next day on her own translation of the Coptic transcription, also posted on the National Geographic Web site. That's when she came across what she considered a major, almost unbelievable error. It had to do with the translation of the word "daimon," which Jesus uses to address Judas. The National Geographic team translates this as "spirit," an unusual choice and inconsistent with translations of other early Christian texts, where it is usually rendered as "demon." In this passage, however, Jesus' calling Judas a demon would completely alter the meaning. "O 13th spirit, why do you try so hard?" becomes "O 13th demon, why do you try so hard?" A gentle inquiry turns into a vicious rebuke.

Then there's the number 13. The Gospel of Judas is thought to have been written by a sect of Gnostics known as Sethians, for whom the number 13 would indicate a realm ruled by the demon Ialdabaoth. Calling someone a demon from the 13th realm would not be a compliment. In another passage, the National Geographic translation says that Judas "would ascend to the holy generation." But DeConick says it's clear from the transcription that a negative has been left out and that Judas will not ascend to the holy generation (this error has been corrected in the second edition). DeConick also objected to a phrase that says Judas has been "set apart for the holy generation." She argues it should be translated "set apart from the holy generation" — again, the opposite meaning. In the later critical edition, the National Geographic translators offer both as legitimate possibilities.

These discoveries filled her with dread. "I was like, this is bad, and these are my friends," she says. It's worth noting that it didn't take DeConick months of painstaking research to reach her conclusions. Within minutes, she thought something was wrong. Within a day, she was convinced that significant mistakes had been made. Why, if it was so obvious to her, had these other scholars missed it? Why had they seen a good Judas where, according to DeConick, none exists?
*****************
TonyRossiBlogger@gmail.com