Comments for Les Miserables as Via Crucis at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 5 out of 5 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Sat, 18 May 2013 05:19:33 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/les-miserables-as-via-crucis.html#comment-15133 Thanks so much for your insights. I believe that this film represents a major opportunity for us to start conversations with outsiders, and I've tried to draw together some helpful resources on the Digital Evangelism Issues blog. - Tony Whittaker Wed, 02 Jan 2013 14:01:27 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/les-miserables-as-via-crucis.html#comment-15066 Karen, what a great grace to have you present in your vocation in this world~you, like St. John the Baptist, a light in the darkness, bringing the Hope of a Savior. Many blessings and I pray a great courage upon you and all your efforts! May God, Almighty Love, be with you in thought, word and action. I am grateful for you and your work. Thank you. - debby Tue, 25 Dec 2012 06:07:04 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/les-miserables-as-via-crucis.html#comment-15043 What can a father say. A very special sense of pride when reading his daughter's writing and expressions. - Richard S. Walter SR Sun, 23 Dec 2012 05:01:42 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/les-miserables-as-via-crucis.html#comment-15035 Thanks for putting my Christmas weekend in the right mood. The marriage of art and religion can indeed move emotional mountains. Merry Christmas! - William Manley Sat, 22 Dec 2012 08:08:41 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/les-miserables-as-via-crucis.html#comment-15032 While it may be true that "... in our time it is often the isolated and lonely artist, facing the problems of life without the routine consolations of conventional religion, who really experiences in their depth the existential dimensions of those problems," such loners rarely have much to offer by way of sustenance to help us through the problems. Does "Les Miserables" as a story help us? Well, yes, but probably as a remnant of Hugo's Roman Catholic faith, abandoned as he became famous and he underwent ego-expansion (his motto you may recall was "Ego Hugo"). In the end he became the very type of literary figure Chesterton often mocked, following Spirit-mediums down their rabbit holes while railing against Pope Pius IX and looking for an end to God and Satan both! So let's just make this point again, since it's easy to forget: greatness in art is only loosely and indirectly linked to greatness in morals. Although this has been a commonplace since Plato, we often forget it in the "rush" of great art. Charles Taylor pointed out in his book "A Secular Age" that the "festive" -- a category of activity that 1) involves large numbers of people assembled outside of daily routine and 2) is felt by the assembly to put them in touch with the sacred or some greater power -- is at the heart of religion in our contemporary world (pp 469-70). Going to see a big Broadway show, a massively crowded concert or even a blockbuster film, can substitute for the true search for God. Being part of a moving aesthetic event may not always be good for one's salvation. Reliance on a participation in the "festive" for one's spiritual sustenance may be dangerous, especially when its content is only tangentially Roman Catholic or blatantly anti-Roman Catholic. OTOH, Taylor does point out that many Roman Catholic activities fall within the category: saints' feasts and pilgrimages, even parish Carnivals! But for me I meditate less on what Merton wrote of the freethinking, loner, artist, and more on the life he chose to live. And even more I meditate on the life of St. Anthony the Great. In the silence, not the festive, I find myself closest to Our Lord - Ib Fri, 21 Dec 2012 20:49:58 +0100