The power and the glory of Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ"

Gibson's Film
The power and the glory of Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ"
Inside the Vatican
By: Robert Moynihan

Another excellent review. Some powerful excerpts:

I wept.

I wept for the implacable inevitability of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, the ruin of his body, which, yes, is presented as the temple of God, but which reminded me of my own body, of my sons' bodies -- how many times I have bandaged their little, and not-so-little, cuts! -- of the bodies of soldiers and civilians being blown apart in Iraq... and in Israel... of the bodies of millions in the past century... of the bodies of those who suffered and died in the concentration camps...
. . .
Mary, the mother of Jesus, is splendid.

It is her sorrow that made me weep.
. . .
During the struggle in the garden to arrest Jesus, his eye is struck. From that moment until the end of the film -- except in flashbacks -- one eye is black and shut.

I hated that. I wanted to see his whole face more, both his eyes. I think: "I wish Mel had waited until the middle of the film to strike Jesus' eye..."

And then I think: "What a foolish thing to wish..."
. . .
During the scourging, I longed for a flashback, anything to bring us back to a time when things were good, when Jesus was living with his parents, or when he was preaching.
. . .
There is no doubt that there is a "eucharistic" dimension to this film, which makes it more profoundly "religious" or Christian -- but also Jewish, as I will explain in a minute -- than any other film about Christ's passion.

The film is "eucharistic" -- a depiction of the religious sacrifice which constitutes, in Catholic belief, the initiation of a new world, redeemed from sin, a world of eternal life.
. . .
In a few days, barring a cataclysm, the film will be in theaters, and millions will see it.

And millions will weep.

But that weeping will not be channeled into hatred of any group or groups; rather, it will be channeled into a renewed commitment to the central message of the man who is depicted suffering in this film: "Love one another."

Perhaps this movie will be an impetus for many to turn from a sinful world and a sinful life? Perhaps it will help us realize the importance of God's infinite merciful love? Maybe it will help us restore some sanity and virtue to our society?