A song for the season

I have never been able to get through this song without crying.  This awesome rendition by Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill is no exception.  Watch especially the reaction of the members of this audience, who are mostly from the Country music world, a part of the entertainment world where Christians are still welcomed and appreciated.  Seeing these big names being moved by this hymn is touching.  So be prepared to thrill, weep and rejoice!

How Great Thou Art 

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Good News in Hollywood: Pierce Brosnan on the importance of prayer

It’s been awhile since I’ve seen any good news coming out of Hollywood, so I was pleasantly surprised to find this gem of an article linked over at New Advent.   The Irish actor Pierce Brosnan, known to many as James Bond (and to me as Remington Steele), openly shares his faith with an interviewer, attributing good in his life to God and telling how his prayer life sustains him.  He credits his Catholic upbringing.

In an interesting new interview with RTE.ie to promote his patronage of the new Irish dramatic art academy The Lir, which will debut this fall at Trinity College in Dublin, Brosnan credits the power of prayer with guiding him through life’s ups and downs. 

“(Prayer) helped me with the loss of my wife to cancer and with a child who had fallen on tough times. Now prayer helps me to be a father, to be an actor and to be a man,” Brosnan told the Irish website.

“It always helps to have a bit of prayer in your back pocket. At the end of the day, you have to have something and for me that is God, Jesus, my Catholic upbringing, my faith.”

Pierce’s first wife, Cassandra Harris, died of ovarian cancer 20 years ago. The son they had together, Sean, was in a serious car crash a few years back in California, but luckily he survived and is thriving again.

Brosnan and his mother left his hometown of Navan, Co. Meath in 1964, when he was 12 years old, for greener pastures in London.  His father left the family when he was only two, so times were tough.

“In a way (my life) all leads back to a little boy in Navan, my home town on the banks of the Boyne.

Sometimes, it has been painted in melodramatic tones but it was a fantastic way to be brought up. The Catholicism and the Christian brothers, those are deep-rooted images and the foundation for a person of some acting skill,” he says.

“God has been good to me. My faith has been good to me in the moments of deepest suffering, doubt and fear. It is a constant, the language of prayer … I might not have got my sums right from the Christian Brothers or might not have got the greatest learning of literature from them but I certainly got a strapping amount of faith.”

Brosnan also feels that faith will help the Irish people escape the gloom and doom of recession.

“But there is one thing that the people of Ireland know how to do and that is to survive. You have to keep your faith and stay optimistic,” he feels

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Cooperate with Grace – Turn off, tune in (the Mothers’ edition)

…having said all that, here is a gem of a quotation I just read (belatedly, it seems).  From an article on former MTV reality star and now mother of 6, Rachel Campos-Duffy, it forms the oppositional yet complementary Lenten prayer activity for busy mothers.

Running a household with six children can get chaotic and even overwhelming at times, so Campos-Duffy once lamented to a priest during Confession that her prayer life was dismal. The priest then told her that her “very life as a mother is a prayer,” which completely changed her perspective: “He said that everything I did at home—whether it was changing a diaper or wiping a nose—whatever it was that I was doing was a prayer to God.”

Campos-Duffy concluded, “For a busy mom, I think it’s understanding that prayer can be very short and immediate. Even (when) . . . we’re running out the door, we just stop for a second. There’s a holy water font right by the door and we bless ourselves and say ‘Jesus, I trust in you.’ And then, out the door. That can make all the difference. And I’ve got to sometimes stop in the middle of the day, in the middle of being upset at a child and regroup myself and think about what little treasures they are and how I would probably give my left arm when I’m 60 to have this moment back. It is about finding those moments throughout the day.”

God bless our mothers.

h/t New Advent

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Yachting victims were Catholic missionaries…and martyrs?

Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? Or distress? Or famine? Or nakedness? Or danger? Or persecution? Or the sword?  (As it is written: For your sake, we are put to death all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.)  But in all these things we overcome, because of him that has loved us.  For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might,  nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.                                            –Romans 8:35-39

Last Friday, a yacht with four Americans was hijacked by pirates south of Oman.  Since then, American warships have been tailing the pirated yacht back to the pirates’ base in Somalia. From CBS News today, comes this sad ending to the Somali pirate hostage situation:

A pirate fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a U.S. Navy destroyer shadowing a hijacked yacht with four Americans aboard Tuesday. Then gunfire erupted, the military said. U.S. special forces rushed to the yacht only to find the four Americans fatally wounded.

 The experienced yacht enthusiasts from California and Washington are the first Americans killed by Somali pirates since the start of attacks off East Africa several years ago. One of the American couples on board had been sailing around the world since 2004 handing out Bibles.

Like a good number of people, I have been wondering what on earth made these four Americans sail in such dangerous waters.  Now we know:  they were acting as missionaries in the twilight of their years, bringing the good news to people who need to hear it.  Their yacht was stocked with bibles which they took to many third world locations.  From the Santa Monica newspaper, where their home parish is located, comes this story of how their faith community is grieving, and also telling us a bit more about these unconventional missionaries.  I am posting the entire article with the paper’s updates.

They were “very supportive of St. Monica’s, and over these last years, they took our mission—’to form loving disciples who will transform this world’—and did,” Monsignor Lloyd Torgerson tells Santa Monica Patch.

(Updated at 1:37 p.m.): On Tuesday afternoon, Torgerson shared with Santa Monica Patch his thoughts about Jean and Scott Adam.

“They’re an extraordinary couple, a wonderful part of our community,” the pastor said. “Jean had been my dentist, so I got to know her that way.”

The couple was highly active in the church, and two sons of Jean attended St. Monica Catholic High School.

They were “very supportive of St. Monica’s, and over these last years, they took our mission—’to form loving disciples who will transform this world’—and did,” Torgerson said.

The pastor said that, after working hard all their lives, Jean and Scott decided to “make a difference” in their retirement.

“Retirement for them was relaxed, but they went to the far-flung corners of this world and visited the poorest of the poor,” bringing Scripture to them, he said.

He added that the Scripture that was read during Mass on Tuesday morning says, “if you’re faithful, you’ll win the crown”—and, according to Torgerson, “that’s what they did.”

“They died doing what they wanted to do,” he said.

—

(Updated at 12:29 p.m.): The Rev. David Guffey, a priest who is in residence at the church, reflected on Jean and Scott Adam at the 12:10 p.m. Mass on Tuesday.

He told the congregation, which had gathered for the regular daily service, that “we do so today with special feelings of sadness and sympathy.”

He said the news was “tragic,” and that Torgerson is “working with” the grieving family of Jean and Scott Adam.

A funeral and a memorial service are pending, Guffey said.

Guffey noted that, last weekend, parishioners had lit a candle in the hope that the couple would return home safely.

“We pray for their eternal rest, and for their family and friends,” he said.

Torgerson said Tuesday that Jean and Scott were “faithful people” and that Jean sang in the church choir, according to City News Service.

“They were people that worked hard all their lives and decided in their retirement that they wanted to do something to make a difference in this world,” he said.

—

Family and friends of Jean and Scott Adam are mourning the deaths of the St. Monica Catholic Church parshioners, who were killed by Somali pirates early Tuesday. At the church’s morning Mass, Monsignor Lloyd Torgerson said the parish was heartbroken at the news, according to The Associated Press.

The couple had been on a voyage around the world, distributing Bibles.

The Bibles, which numbered in the thousands, had been donated to Jean and Scott Adam through grants and gifts. They referred to their effort to distribute them as “friendship evangelism.”

A “wonderful turn of events have occurred as a result of this endeavor,” the couple wrote on their Web site, SVQuest.com.

“They loved the experiences they were having with the people they were meeting and the places they were going,” Scott Stolnitz, a longtime friend of theirs, told CNN. “We asked them once if they ever looked forward to living on land again, and they both, believe it or not, said no.

“They were not proselytizing evangelicals,” he continued. “They were using their Bible mission as a way to break the ice in the Christian community, particularly in the Pacific.”

“This is all of our worst nightmares,” Stolnitz told the Los Angeles Times.

Stolnitz said the 70-year-old Scott Adam was laid-back, had a dry sense of humor and earned a theology degree later in life, after retiring as a film executive. Jean Adam was a retired dentist, according to CNN.

“She wore her heart on her sleeve,” Stolnitz said.

He added that, even though Jean Adam often got seasick on boats, she wanted to be with her husband and decided to sail with him.

“The Quest started an ‘around-the-world’ trip in mid December of 2004 after sailing her to the States from New Zealand in 2002,” the couple wrote on their site. “This is planned to be an eight or ten year voyage.”

The couple was aware of the dangers of piracy, friends told the Los Angeles Times. They said Scott had considered shipping the boat instead, but later decided not to after learning that a rally of yachts was headed to the Arabian and Red Seas.

Ten days ago, Jean and Scott said via e-mail that, in an effort to avoid being located by pirates, they would be out of communication for almost two weeks, according to BBC News.

“They basically had said, ‘We’re not going to be in communication for 10 or 12 days because we know this is territory where there could be problems and we don’t want pirates or other people to know our location,’ ” said Robert Johnston, a professor who taught Scott at the seminary he attended.

According to St. Monica’s Annual Reports, Jean and Scott Adam donated money to the Partners in Mission effort benefiting St. Monica Catholic High School. They donated to the effort’s campaigns in 2008-09 and 2009-10.

I do not understand what happened, why the pirates would kill these hostages with the US Navy right behind them.  But I believe that the Adams and their passengers died because they were following a call to witness for our faith, as part of the new evangelization.  And because of their followership, they put themselves into a dangerous position leading to their deaths.  This makes them martyrs for the faith, though maybe not technical martyrs, I don’t know how that is defined by the Church.

But I will pray for the eternal rest of their souls, for mercy for everyone involved, and comfort for their family and friends.  I thank God for their lives and example.

As it is written–

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

-Psalms 116.

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Some (more) Hollywood Good News

National Catholic Reporter mentions two developments in Hollywood for us Catholics.

First, Fr. Eric Andrews is the new head of Paulist Productions, which works with big production companies to make mainstream movies that are ‘good and good for you.’  NCR highlights Fr. Andrews “unique background”:

Eric started out his career not in a seminary, but at a first-rate production company: Jim Henson Productions out of New York. There, he worked on a number of TV shows and films — but he soon felt the call and joined up with the Paulists.After nine years as chaplain on the University of Tennessee campus at Knoxville, Fr. Eric is now in Hollywood — looking to increase outreach by increasing production.

Second, NCR mentions the outreach happening at Family Theater Productions. 

Today, Family Theater still produces shorts, films and documentaries — but under the direction of Holy Cross Fr. Willy Raymond has geared up its outreach program to Hollywood Catholics, and those interested in becoming Catholics. The theater now sponsors a monthly gathering called “Hollywood Prays,” a prayer group that includes music, singing, pasta, and — of course — some pretty decent red wine. It draws a growing crowd of younger actors, writers, etc. — artists who are new to Hollywood and looking for a place to be themselves.

….Artists like Catholic convert/actor Matthew Marsden whom I wrote about before.   Family Theater Productions is the same company that is bringing us Rosary Stars which I mentioned here.

Hat tip to  Inside Catholic.

Full article at Changes afoot in Catholic Hollywood | National Catholic Reporter.

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Rosary Stars–Praying the Rosary with Catholic celebrities

Personally, I think this is a great idea.  Let your youth groups and religious education directors know!   From Praying the Rosary with Catholic celebrities – Catholic Digest:

The power and relevance of the Rosary in today’s world is the message “Rosary Stars: Praying the Gospel” is trying to send young Catholics. The DVD, produced by Family Theater Productions, a Catholic television and radio production company in Hollywood, features 21 Catholic celebrities who pray the Rosary with viewers and offer reflections on the Mysteries and on how prayer has made a difference in their lives.

 The project began taking shape in 2002, when Father Wilfred Raymond, CSC, national director of Family Theater Productions, began organizing informal focus groups around the country to determine how to best bring the Rosary to young Catholics.

“What would make the Rosary appeal to you?” they were asked. One, they said, if it were electronic. Two, if the Rosary’s instructions, history, and purpose were accessible online. Three, if professionals visible in the culture — like actors and sports figures — were involved.

I try to pray the Rosary with my own kids.  We keep Rosaries in the car and we’ll rattle off a decade or two as time allows.  And it’s amazing how much time is allowed between all the shuttling we do. 

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“my plan sucked”

A candid Mickey Rourke sums up his life and mine:

Looking back on where it all went wrong, a candid Mickey admits: “Before I got to the top of the mountain I jumped off head first. I had a lot of lessons to learn the hard way. I thought I’d get back in after a year or two, but the struggle has been longer than 15 years to come back.

 “My grandmother always said: ‘God has a plan for all of us.’ I should have went along with his, not mine, my plan sucked.”

Good Lord…it has been over 15 years to come back.  But with God’s grace, I can do it like Mickey did.

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Mickey Rourke thanks God and Catholic faith for ‘second chance’

Some (Hollywood) awesomeness.

Mickey Rourke thanks God and Catholic faith for ‘second chance’

Speaking to the Bosnian daily “Avaz,” Rourke said, “God gave me a second chance in life and I thank Him.”

He’s had a tough road.  No doubt he added to his own burdens but I think we should all keep him and others struggling with addictions in our prayers.

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More ‘good news’ in Hollywood

I thought this was also a sweet little faith story.  It concerns the young British actor Matthew Marsden who was in, among other movies, Black Hawk Down.  He works with Family Theater Productions, the longtime family-friendly (and Catholic) film, TV and radio production company.  He was interviewed in Catholic Digest : I found an oasis of faith in Hollywood.  Read the entire article (it’s great! it’s short!) but in the meantime, I thought this was worth quoting:

I don’t look at the world in the same way as I did before reconnecting with my faith. I feel so excited about how much there is to discover. All these things have helped me realize what’s really important. Sometimes I would say to Father Willy, “If such-and-such ever happens, I would never forgive myself,” and he would say, “Who are you? Who are you not to forgive yourself when God has forgiven you?” It’s overwhelming. I’m this 6-foot-3, 210-pound guy, and yet when I go to Mass I have to hold back the tears, especially when we say, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive You. But only say the word and I shall be healed.” It just kills me, every single time.

(italics mine)

Michael–I.feel.the.same.way.

By the way, how could you NOT love a man who says something like this:

When I met my wife,” says Marsden, “I knew there was a God.”….Marsden believes it was nothing less than divine intervention that brought Nadine into his life. “She was absolutely chosen for me.”

Awwwwww.

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Jim Caviezel cooperates with grace

I very much admire Jim Caviezel and the choices he makes in his life.  Some things we can learn from him:

I’m not ruled by my feelings, I’m ruled by love, which is a decision…

And you won’t have to tell people whether you’re praying or not; they will know you’re praying. Because I’ll tell you, the difference between that person and someone who does not pray [is that] he has peace and real love. And if you change just a little bit every day, my gosh, you’re going to start experiencing heaven now, not waiting until you die to experience it…

“There were four things in my life that were really hard — where I could have easily said, ‘No, I don’t want to do this,’” says Caviezel. “Number one, becoming an actor. Number two, meeting my wife and deciding [whether to marry]. In this society when the girls are plenty and the world is like, “Keep taking your time,” I knew I met a special lady and I knew, If I don’t do this, it’s going to be a mistake. Third was “The Passion of the Christ”. There were many, many people on my team who said, “Stay away from this thing.” And I would go to bed and I would say, “Okay, I’m not doing it.” And then I couldn’t sleep. I had every indicator that this thing was not going to be the right thing to follow, but something in me just kept saying Do it. The fourth was my children, this situation (of adopting disabled children).

[These four things are] all familiar, they’re all tied together. If I had been tied to feelings, I would have said no on all four of them. I think upon death, judgment, [God would have] said, ‘This is what I had planned for you. And you said no.’ And I (would have) said, “Well, because I was scared!” So that became the thing. I can’t make a decision based on feelings. Whenever I feel [Jesus] I feel a peace and a calm. And I don’t say that just goes with me everywhere. But I know it when I feel it and I say, ‘That’s the right way.’

Please God, let me be led by love, not by feelings.

Jim Caviezel, actor: How being a dad has changed his life – Catholic Digest

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