Another scene that I keep coming back to is Jesus demonstrating to Mary the “tall table” he’d just finished building for a “rich man.” Since, of course, Jews reclined at table, Jesus had to show his mother how it worked: positioning her in a kind of sitting position. I had to smile at her words: “It’ll never catch on.”
For me, this was a glimpse of the universality of Christ’s redemptive act.
A couple more thoughts on that Kelly. One, Jesus is shown as having knowledge beyond what he would normally have. Two, don’t we sit at “tall tables?” Doesn’t that make us “rich men?” Perhaps a message for those of us today to recall the story of Lazarus and rich man, a nudge on our conscience and about materialism.
John,
Joseph wasn’t in this movie at all. I think you’re confusing Jesus and Joseph. That was a flashback scene of Jesus and Mary, presumably after Joseph’s death.
I thought the “tall tables” scene was just GIbson’s clever-as-usual humor. But I catch what you are saying.
The question of the baby in the arms of Satan really caught the attention of the kids that I took, they had a hard time explaining that. Has anyone read Ven. Anne Catherine Emmerich to see where she was going with that? (I am assuming this scene was a part of her visions)
My favorite part is the end, and I picked up that Mary was extending her hand in what I saw as invitation-even through her pain. She is our Mother as the Church is our Mother.
A note about the Mary’s mopping up Jesus’ blood- I believe it’s a Jewish tradition or law that the dead be buried all together, that no part of blood or flesh is left unattended. Clearly I missed the whole thought that Dom laid put above. wow. Glad to hear everyone’s thoughts.
Tony, Jesus definitely did say “for many” (or at least that’s how the subtitles rendered it).
Like you and many others here, I also went to see The Passion of the Christ yesterday, with my teenaged daughter. For the remainder of the day, images kept flashing across my mind. I felt physically and emotionally drained, my eyes swollen from crying.
To all the clerics in the Catholic and Greek Orthodox Church who dread an anti-semitic reaction, I asked my daughter if the movie had altered her view of the Jews. It did not. I might contrast their reaction to that of the Evangelical ministers. They have booked entire theaters and bused in their congregations. Where are the Catholic prelates? Why aren’t they encouraging their flocks to see a living Stations of the Cross? Because they are as blind as the Chief Priests and other members of the Sanhedrin! They cower in the shadow of the crucifix, assuming they haven’t yet replaced it with one of those Risen Christ statues, like my parish. Stephen Brady of RCF said it best last Sunday at the Albany conference. “When the take down the crucifixes and rip out the confessionals, you know they are compromised!” The John Jay Report bears that out.
I was very moved by the scene where Peter. realizing that he has denied Christ three times, slumps down against the side of the pillar, eyes glazed over, flashback to the words Christ spoke to him, mouth open, body trembling. In him I saw all of us who have sinned, confessed, promised never to sin again and caved in through weakness. It was so powerful!
I have had a difficult time all of my life relating to Mary. Thank you Mel Gibson and Maia Morgenstern for bringing Mary to life! Watching her mop up the blood in the courtyard, the expression on her face was one that only a mother could understand. It was a look of steady determination as she gathered the Precious Blood of her Son. When she kissed the toes on his foot as he hung from the cross, I recalled the Good Friday service when we venerate the cross. I plan to see the movie again on Good Friday.
Lastly, it was St. Francis of Assisi who gave us the nativity to venerate at Christmas. And now it is (St.) Mel who has given us The Passion of the Cross to commemorate Good Friday and Easter.
Thank you, Mr. Gibson! Pax et Bonum.
Dom writes:
“A couple more thoughts on that Kelly. One, Jesus is shown as having knowledge beyond what he would normally have. Two, doncerpt:encoded> 2616 2004-02-27 16:59:29 2004-02-27 20:59:29 open open a_special_lenten_menu publish 0 0 post
8136 dom@bettnet.com https://www.bettnet.com 192.168.1.1 2004-02-28 10:37:51 2004-02-28 14:37:51 I would guess that Lent isn’t the time to go through the induction phase, though, right? That’s when it really does limit your non-protein intake. Am I right?
Another scene that I keep coming back to is Jesus demonstrating to Mary the “tall table” he’d just finished building for a “rich man.” Since, of course, Jews reclined at table, Jesus had to show his mother how it worked: positioning her in a kind of sitting position. I had to smile at her words: “It’ll never catch on.”
For me, this was a glimpse of the universality of Christ’s redemptive act.
A couple more thoughts on that Kelly. One, Jesus is shown as having knowledge beyond what he would normally have. Two, don’t we sit at “tall tables?” Doesn’t that make us “rich men?” Perhaps a message for those of us today to recall the story of Lazarus and rich man, a nudge on our conscience and about materialism.
John,
Joseph wasn’t in this movie at all. I think you’re confusing Jesus and Joseph. That was a flashback scene of Jesus and Mary, presumably after Joseph’s death.
I thought the “tall tables” scene was just GIbson’s clever-as-usual humor. But I catch what you are saying.
The question of the baby in the arms of Satan really caught the attention of the kids that I took, they had a hard time explaining that. Has anyone read Ven. Anne Catherine Emmerich to see where she was going with that? (I am assuming this scene was a part of her visions)
My favorite part is the end, and I picked up that Mary was extending her hand in what I saw as invitation-even through her pain. She is our Mother as the Church is our Mother.
A note about the Mary’s mopping up Jesus’ blood- I believe it’s a Jewish tradition or law that the dead be buried all together, that no part of blood or flesh is left unattended. Clearly I missed the whole thought that Dom laid put above. wow. Glad to hear everyone’s thoughts.
Tony, Jesus definitely did say “for many” (or at least that’s how the subtitles rendered it).
Like you and many others here, I also went to see The Passion of the Christ yesterday, with my teenaged daughter. For the remainder of the day, images kept flashing across my mind. I felt physically and emotionally drained, my eyes swollen from crying.
To all the clerics in the Catholic and Greek Orthodox Church who dread an anti-semitic reaction, I asked my daughter if the movie had altered her view of the Jews. It did not. I might contrast their reaction to that of the Evangelical ministers. They have booked entire theaters and bused in their congregations. Where are the Catholic prelates? Why aren’t they encouraging their flocks to see a living Stations of the Cross? Because they are as blind as the Chief Priests and other members of the Sanhedrin! They cower in the shadow of the crucifix, assuming they haven’t yet replaced it with one of those Risen Christ statues, like my parish. Stephen Brady of RCF said it best last Sunday at the Albany conference. “When the take down the crucifixes and rip out the confessionals, you know they are compromised!” The John Jay Report bears that out.
I was very moved by the scene where Peter. realizing that he has denied Christ three times, slumps down against the side of the pillar, eyes glazed over, flashback to the words Christ spoke to him, mouth open, body trembling. In him I saw all of us who have sinned, confessed, promised never to sin again and caved in through weakness. It was so powerful!
I have had a difficult time all of my life relating to Mary. Thank you Mel Gibson and Maia Morgenstern for bringing Mary to life! Watching her mop up the blood in the courtyard, the expression on her face was one that only a mother could understand. It was a look of steady determination as she gathered the Precious Blood of her Son. When she kissed the toes on his foot as he hung from the cross, I recalled the Good Friday service when we venerate the cross. I plan to see the movie again on Good Friday.
Lastly, it was St. Francis of Assisi who gave us the nativity to venerate at Christmas. And now it is (St.) Mel who has given us The Passion of the Cross to commemorate Good Friday and Easter.
Thank you, Mr. Gibson! Pax et Bonum.
Dom writes:
“A couple more thoughts on that Kelly. One, Jesus is shown as having knowledge beyond what he would normally have. Two, doncerpt:encoded>
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