night. A couple nights we had a bonfire and a rousing discussion of The Mission that a few of us watched together. Great movie...but I'm still not sure what to make of it. I think Fr. Gabriel (Jeremy Irons) had the most virtuous response. Despite the greed and contempt of the Portuguese, I could not bring myself to side with Rodrigo Mendoza (Robert De Niro) or even appreciate his resistence at all. His breaking of vows, seeming vengeance and the way he takes up arms, as a priest, with the Guarani Indians completely turned me off. Even in self-defense, taking another's life must be a last resort. I hope that if I was in the same situation I'd have the same courage as Fr. Gabriel, embracing the Church militant, and opposing agression with none other than our Lord himself in Eucharistic procession. There were several Romero undertones: a hint of liberation theology, religious subordinates resorting to violence, confronting violence with peace and the Eucharist, etc. See here, one of my favorite sites, for an excellent review.Anyway, back to the retreat. It was good being able to hang out with Michael and I'm looking forward to studying with him at St. Mary's. We joke that Louisville's "taking over"! haha :) All the guys were great and I was glad to get to know them better. And the house and my room were very comfortable. Sounds of the crickets and the train tracks nearby brought good sleep.
Yesterday afternoon we took pictures as a group with the Archbishop and then had a huge luncheon with the Serra Club. I didn't realize how numerous they are! There were several priests from the Archdiocese there too, which I was glad to see. And I even got to meet a Dominican brother who I'd met through a friend and who has given me much good advice over the last few months on discernment. He invited me to drop by the Dominican House of Studies in D.C. some time. To top it all off, the venerable Archbishop Maloney was there as well. What a blessing!
I hope to post a picture on here soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment