Film Reviews

Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP

Sister Rose is a Daughter of St. Paul and the founding director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies. She has been the award-winning film columnist for St. Anthony Messenger since 2003 and is the author of several books on Scripture and film, as well as media literacy education.

Sister Rose’s FAVORITE BOOK-to- FILM

ADAPTATIONS

The Song of Bernadette (1943) The Color Purple (1985) Emma. (2020) The Secret Garden (2020) From Prada to Nada (2011)

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LADY OF GUADALUPE

Most Catholics know the story about the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531 to St. Juan Diego (Guillermo Iván) in what is now Mexico City. This film begins in the present day. John (also played by Iván) is a journalist who meets Mary (Kimberley Aria Peterson) when he is researching in the library, and they soon marry. But he resists when his editor, Mr. Dominguez (Rudy Miera), assigns him a story about Mexican identity and beliefs. He suggests that John attend a class with Father Xavier Escalada (Glenn Craley), who is speaking about Our Lady of Guadalupe. John’s wife drops him off on the way to her baby shower. Then something happens that changes everything.

The film goes back 500 years to the village where Juan Diego lives with his wife and uncle before they are baptized and receive Christian names. The people struggle against the oppression of the conquistadors, but when the Franciscan missionaries arrive and teach people about Jesus and the Gospels, they are baptized.

When Juan Diego’s uncle becomes ill, he goes for medicine by way of the hill of Tepeyac. There, a beautiful lady (Paola Baldion) appears to him. She asks him to go to the bishop and request that a chapel be built there in her honor so that she may help the people in their time of need. Juan Diego, believing himself unworthy, doesn’t go to the bishop right away. He takes a different route, but the lady is there. When he finally sees the bishop, he asks for a sign. The lady is the mother of Jesus, and she gives Juan Diego a sign that is still with us today.

It is always challenging for filmmakers to present the Blessed Mother in a movie—and even more difficult for an actress to play her. But the portrayal here is convincing without being sentimental. Choosing to go back and forth with parallel story lines separated by centuries to frame the narrative is not new, but here it is given fresh expression by director Pedro Brenner and cowriter Seann Dougherty.

Lady of Guadalupe is a beautiful tribute to the mother of God, the faith of the Mexican people, and all who honor Our Lady of Guadalupe as a patroness of life.

A WEEK AWAY

The fi lm opens with teen Will Hawkins (Kevin Quinn) running from the cops—again. When he goes to family court, a social worker, Kristin (Sherri Shepherd), suggests that a week away at camp with her and her son, George (Jahbril Cook), might be just the thing. Will resists but decides it’s better than a group home.

On the bus to camp, Will is genuinely shocked to fi nd out from George that they are going to a church camp. He feels out of place, but his fears are assuaged when he meets Avery (Bailee Madison), the prettiest girl at camp. But Will soon learns she is also the camp owner’s daughter.

The premise of this teen Christian musical will appeal to young viewers and their parents. There are numerous songs and energetic dance numbers with contributions from Amy Grant (who plays a camp counselor) and Michael W. Smith, among others. Christian musician Steven Curtis Chapman plays a lifeguard and contributes to the soundtrack too.

Most of the key actors got their start on Disney Channel and will be familiar to younger audiences. A plus for parents is that the kids, even when romping in the lake, dress modestly, and the romance is very PG. At fi rst, I thought A Week Away was corny. But as the story unfolds and Will is forced to grow up and tell the truth, it becomes more complex—though it takes more than a week to change a life.

The cast is racially diverse, talented, and engaging. The fi lm is directed by Roman White and written and produced by Alan Powell. It is the fi rst faith-based family fi lm produced by Netfl ix.

A-2, Not yet rated • References to car theft.

Catholic News Service Media Review Offi ce gives these ratings.

A-1 General patronage

A-2 Adults and adolescents

A-3 Adults

L Limited adult audience

O

Morally offensive

ROE V. WADE

This fi lm is based on the true story of how Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, came to be. Dr. Bernard Nathanson (Nick Loeb) opens the story of how he came to favor abortion and eventually become the nation’s leading abortion provider. He teams up with writer and political activist Lawrence Lader (Jamie Kennedy), who becomes a champion of abortion rights.

After thousands of abortions and becoming very wealthy from his clinics, Dr. Nathanson realizes what he has done when sonograms become available. But the real moment is when he reassembles the parts of a baby he has aborted, as doctors are required to do. He is baptized a Catholic and writes the book The Silent Scream. Documentary footage of a very graphic abortion is included at the end of Roe v. Wade.

Stacey Dash plays Dr. Mildred Jefferson, the fi rst Black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School. She is portrayed as the pro-life counterpart to the abortion doctors, but I thought the fi lm might have been more engaging from her perspective. Roe v. Wade has a low-budget quality to it, and the acting is not very polished. A limited series may have been a better medium to tell this story fully. The fi lm’s assertions are fact-checked on its website, but the statistics at the end of the fi lm are dated.

Susan Hines-Brigger

Susan has worked at St. Anthony Messenger for 26 years and is an executive editor. She and her husband, Mark, are the proud parents of four kids—Maddie, Alex, Riley, and Kacey. Aside from her family, her loves are Disney, traveling, and sports.

Susan welcomes your comments and suggestions!

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A Life Adrift

This month, millions of people in the United States will mark May 9 by celebrating Mother’s Day. According to reports, last year people spent a record $25 billion— yes, billion—on Mother’s Day. I, however, won’t be one of them. I haven’t been since 2013, when my mom died.

And then next month, people will celebrate their dads on Father’s Day. Again, I won’t be one of them. That is because last year, in the midst of the pandemic, my dad passed away. As I sat and held his hand on the day he died, I felt the sense of my place in life slowly slipping away along with him.

In the days that followed, I found myself struggling with my new reality. I must admit that the word orphan drifted into my mind more than once.

You see, after my mom died, even though I felt lost, I was still able to find comfort in the fact that I could reach out and touch one of the two people who were always my anchors in life. But then last July, when my dad died, he took that last connection with him. The two people who knew me better than anyone else in this world were gone, and I found myself in a whole new world.

Suddenly, I was no longer a part of the sandwich generation. I was done seeking ways to balance caring for parents and children at the same time. I could no longer connect with friends over the challenges and questions that arise when dealing with aging parents.

I would listen to people complain about the demands of their parents and find myself angry, wishing I still had the luxury of being able to have things to complain about. I was realizing that half a sandwich just doesn’t seem very fulfilling.

THE OTHER SIDE

But there was still the other side—my kids. People would always remind me of that. “You still have your kids,” they would say when I mentioned no longer having my parents—as if that would make it all better.

And while that was true, even that side of the sandwich was beginning to crumble. The kids are getting older and starting to spread their wings and head out on their own. In fact, just two weeks after packing up my dad’s room at the nursing home, I found myself doing the same thing in my son’s room to prepare for his move to college in Arizona. And then seven months later, we did it again when my oldest daughter, Maddie, moved to Florida.

Suddenly, two more tethers in my life had come undone, and I felt myself floating a little farther into the open sea of the unknown. Repeatedly I would tell myself: “This is how it’s supposed to be. We raise our children, get them ready to go out on their own, and then we let them go.” It has now become my mantra.

THE JOURNEY GOES ON

Life is ever-changing. Before we know it, we are saying goodbye to people we never wanted to. The kids who used to make us cards with crayon-drawn hearts and presents with lots of glitter set off on their own adventures. And days like Mother’s Day carry with them an extra tinge of sadness.

We will feel adrift, lost in a sea of the unknown, struggling to see the light on the horizon. But we will have faith and float along, reminding ourselves that this is how it’s supposed to go.

After reading Susan’s column on the opposite page, I thought of how people would tell her that, even though she lost her parents, “You still have your kids.” It made me think of people always asking me, “Why are you not married and have no kids?” Because of that, I, too, have trouble with Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

I am blessed to still have my mom with me. We are very close and talk every day, sometimes twice. She taught me grace, forgiveness, and patience all while keeping daily tasks lighthearted and joyous—things I planned to pass on to my children. But, apparently, having children was not part of God’s plan for me. It is a painful reality that I struggle with regularly and especially during the month of May. Everywhere I look, I am reminded that I was not able to experience the joys of motherhood, I was unable to give my parents grandchildren, my brothers are not uncles, and I don’t have my next generation.

ANOTHER BLOW

With Father’s Day on the heels of Mother’s Day, I feel as if I am being kicked while down. I was Daddy’s little girl. He would always say, “I had four sons and one precious.” We spent hours together. He taught me woodworking, construction, gardening, car maintenance, fi shing, and water skiing, just to name a few. In 2006, my dad and I fought cancer together. His cancer took his life. My cancer changed mine.

Prior to 2006, I was still hopeful that falling in love and children were going to be part of my path. Another series of unfortunate medical events sealed the deal of not having kids. More than heartbroken, I was devastated. Up until then, I held on to dreams of a basketball-shaped belly, a baby shower with silly games, fi rst steps, the terror of the teenage years, and the names for my kids that I had been secretly holding on to but would never need.

GOD HAS A PLAN

I talk to God about all these feelings and repeatedly ask: Was it my fault or was it always part of your plan? What should I do now? Should I volunteer? Foster? Adopt? I know there are many options and more importantly a great need. I have love to give, and there are many kids who are in desperate need of a loving home. Is that what I am supposed to do? It gets confusing, overwhelming, and scary. And then, true to form, God answers me.

When I was younger, I made a string of bad choices with men. One of them had an 8-year-old son who lived with us. I did my best to be a friend and my best version of a motherly fi gure. Recently, he sent me a message through social media and, after more than 25 years, we spoke. He told me that he had fi nally cut ties with his dad, leaving behind all the abuse that he had endured. He was going to break the cycle for his own family, he told me. If it wasn’t for me and how I treated him, he said, as well as what he saw as I interacted with my own family, he would have never known healthy love. The simple gestures I did made an impact. I never knew God used social media!

Do I have all the answers for my next steps? No, but I do have one answer and that is that I am good enough. Not being a biological mother is no fault of mine. It is simply part of my story, and within that story are tidbits of knowledge and wisdom that come from God. It is my job to take what I have learned through my trials and tribulations and the goodness of my loving mom and caring dad and share it with others, whether that is through volunteering, adoption, or anything in between. I can be motherly to anyone I come in contact with. Is it the same as giving birth? No. But the love is real and just as powerful.

Mary Catherine Kozusko

—Mary Catherine Kozusko

PETE&REPEAT

These scenes may seem alike to you, But there are changes in the two. So look and see if you can name Eight ways in which they’re not the same. (Answers below) (Answers below)

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Shannon K. Evans

A frequent contributor to St. Anthony Messenger, Shannon K. Evans is also the author of the forthcoming book Rewilding Motherhood. As a mother of five, she wrestles daily with the dual callings of contemplation and parenting. You can find her reflections on both Instagram

@shannonevans

and her website, ShannonKEvans.com.

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Prayer and Motherhood

When I first became a mom, I was advised by older women to wake up before my kids in order to have time for a cup of coffee and prayer. Unfortunately, my son didn’t get the memo. He slept fitfully; therefore, I did too. It was all I could do to stumble out of bed a few minutes after hearing his voice in the morning—let alone a half hour sooner.

By the time he slept through the night and I saw a glimmer of hope for something of a schedule, I got pregnant, and my sleep patterns plummeted from the hormones and physical discomfort. Once the baby was born, I woke to breastfeed him several times in the night. When he weaned, I got pregnant again, and the cycle continued. Perhaps “wake up before your kids” is advice that works for moms of older children and teens, but for those of us in the throes of the tiniest years, it is simply impossible.

For a long time, I was frustrated by the impossibility of prayer. But eventually I came to realize that raising my children wasn’t actually keeping me from daily prayer; it was asking me to think outside the box about what prayer could be. I learned that St. Francis prayed by simply being in nature. I learned that St. Ignatius found God in all things. Did I have to be sitting on my couch in silence with an open Bible or devotional book to be praying? Must I be physically in church observing Eucharistic adoration? What constituted prayer, anyway?

When I began to ask those questions, I could see that I had developed ways of encountering God during my everyday life without even thinking of them as prayer. In the bustle of caring for small children, spiritual habits had formed that I hadn’t credited to God; yet these habits renewed my spirit, granted me fresh perspective, and helped me feel the divine presence again. If that’s not prayer, what is?

A MOTHER AND A CHILD

When I pushed the stroller around the neighborhood while the babies were silenced by the surrounding birds and trees, I was soaking in the calming presence of God. When I sat still in the backyard watching my children play, I was making space in my heart for gratitude

and thanksgiving rather than busyness and complaining. When I snuck away to yoga class, I was attuning myself to listen to the whispers of the Holy Spirit through the vessel of my body. When I wrote essays or devotional reflections, I was inviting God to help me make sense of my world and my place within it.

In the past, self-imposed feelings of guilt for not doing “enough” spiritually had only kept me stuck in the same despondent patterns. But the realization that I actually had found ways to make prayer work for me in this tight season of life was an empowering one, and it made me want to seek out more ways to do it.

I think the same is true for most moms. It’s hard to dig ourselves out of the hole of spiritual shame, but if we can affirm our strengths rather than fixate on our failings, we find we have more energy to go even further. Thomas Merton once wrote to God, “I believe the desire to please you does, in fact, please you.” That is wisdom every young mom needs to hear.

Once we recognize our own efforts for what they are, we can be more intentional about securing them as habits. For instance, since I noticed that I naturally pray while going on walks with the kids in a stroller, I can make that a part of my daily routine, even down to the route and time.

If my children tend to happily play outside at lunch, I can identify that as a time to bring a devotional book to the lawn chair and sneak in 15 minutes of prayer. One mom I know lets her kids have regularly scheduled screen time first thing in the morning so she can start her day alone with God.

Everyone who has small children knows it’s impossible to keep a strict schedule every day. Interruptions will arise or something will go wrong. Missing your prayer routine here and there won’t hurt anything, but when we start neglecting it for too long, we are likely to feel the effects.

When I notice myself becoming listless, despondent, or grumpy, it’s usually because I have lost the centering force of my prayer life, and I know it’s time to try again. Luckily there is no shame in that because that’s part of being a child of God. And how good it feels to be both a mother and a child.

CREATING A NEW RHYTHM

Dear God: It feels as if I am pulled in every direction—except toward you. I want to spend time with you, and yet my days are unpredictable and messy. Show me how to create a rhythm of prayer by speaking to me in the ways I can best hear you.

Amen.

PRAYERFUL TIPS PRAYER TAKES PRACTICE 1Experiment with prayer. When it comes to different styles of prayer, the possibilities are as varied as the people who practice them. Perhaps traditional forms work well for you. If not, don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Your prayer time might include pushing a stroller, writing poetry while your children play, or finding time for solitary hikes.

2Be consistent. Identify the best time of day for prayer and commit to doing it then as often as possible. That way, even if you miss one day, you know how to get back on track the next.

Mother: the most beautiful word on the lips of mankind.

—Kahlil Gibran