Today, Chicago Tribune's The Seeker blog features Fr. Barron's review of Terrence Malick's new movie, “The Tree of Life.” Read the review below. In addition, check out this quick re-cap of the "around-the-web" citations of Father Barron, CATHOLICISM, and the WOF ministry at large.
What could possibly tie together the following scenes: a flock of birds cavorting in breathtakingly harmonious patterns, the meeting of flowing lava and crashing waves, a larger dinosaur dominating a smaller one, a young boy throwing a baseball through a window just because he is forbidden to do so, a depressed middle-aged man sitting in a coldly modernistic office building, and a meteor crashing into the primordial earth?
If I am at all correct in my reading of Terrence Malick’s meditative film, “The Tree of Life,” in which those and many other seemingly disparate scenes occur, what ties them together is that they are all ingredient in the plan and purpose of God. I realize how pretentious that can sound, but this is a filmmaker (and a film) with very grand ambitions indeed.
The movie opens with a quotation from the book of Job: “where were you when I founded the earth…while the morning stars sang in chorus and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38: 4,7)?
These are some of the first lines of the magnificent speech that God delivers to Job, the righteous man who had been beset with every imaginable suffering and who had challenged God to explain himself.
Malick’s film opens with a couple (played by Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain), who have been informed that their 19 year old son has died and who are experiencing a Job-like confusion and indignation: how could God have done this to them and to their son?...
Read the rest of this post on The Seeker blog.
Around the web, many other bloggers recently featured Word on Fire content.
- Joe from the blog, “The Catechist’s Journey,” just returned from the NCCL in Atlanta, where he viewed the CATHOLICISM screening. He recounted his experience at the Conference and his impressions of CATHOLICISM on his blog. Here is what he had to say:
“Tonight, at the NCCL conference, I attended a preview of Fr. Bob Barron’s exciting new Catholicism Project. Fr. Bob was a teacher of mine in my Doctor of Ministry program and is one of the most brilliant minds in Catholic thought today. His Catholicism Project is a multi-textured introduction and explanation of the depths of the Catholic faith. What sets Fr. Bob apart from other Catholic “personas” is his ability to speak intelligently about the Catholic faith while also speaking like a regular guy. No false pomposity or overly pious airs about him as is found in too many priests who appear on various Catholic TV programs. Some segments of this program are set to air on Public Television this Fall. I think it will make us proud! Here’s what his project is all about…I encourage you to look into it.”
Thank you, Joe!
- Also, Deacon Richard Hudzik posted a synopsis of Father Steve’s recent homily from the 4th Sunday of Easter on his blog, Winter Lightning. Read it here.
- In case you missed it, Carl Olson over at Ignatius Insight Scoop talked a bit about CATHOLICISM on his blog. Read his post here.
- Deacon John promoted the “A Great Time to Be a Priest” video on his own blog. Thank you, Deacon John, for your support and kind words!
- CatInfor.com regularly features Father Barron’s content. Be sure to check their website frequently for great Catholic information and content.
Many thanks to all of the supporters and promoters of Word on Fire, and may God bless all of your individual efforts in the New Evangelization!