My newest book, See Yourself Through God’s Eyes: 52 Meditations to Grow in Self-Esteem has just been released.

It’s very exciting, and also a bit nerve-wracking, since this book is so personal. But so far, people have been picking it up off the “new shelf” in our Toronto Pauline Book & Media Centre.

What’s most exciting is that the message about God’s love is reaching more people!

Here’s the write-up from our Pauline Books & Media website:

Using meditations, Scripture passages, stories, and prayers, Sr. Marie Paul Curley offers a way to develop a personal relationship with God and to discover his unconditional love for us. Curley writes from her own experience, creating a guide to fostering healthy self-esteem and a sense of personal affirmation for even the busiest reader.

ISBN: 0819871273  (US price: $9.95  Canadian price: $14.50)

I’m giving a talk about the book, followed by a book signing on Thursday, November 26, from 7:00-8:00 pm at our Pauline Book & Media Centre. It’ll be a bit multimedia presentation, since I’ll be using power point, at least one film clip, and a video. If you’d like more information, visit the “upcoming events” page: http://windowstothesoul.wordpress.com/upcoming-events-at-pbm-toronto/

On Saturday night, I attended the second showing of the North American premiere of the Polish film Popieluszko: Freedom Is Within Us. The film courageously attempts to capture the life, character, and brutal murder of the Servant of God, Father Jerzy Popieluszko, popularly known in Poland as the “solidarity priest.”

For those who don’t know him, Father Jerzy Popieluszko was born into a devout Catholic family in eastern Poland in 1947. Despite the political atmosphere, he decided to study for the priesthood. After two mandatory years of military service, he was ordained and served in several parishes, finally being assigned to St. Stanislaus Kostka parish in the city of Warsaw. In 1980, Solidarity was born, and Popieluszko was asked to celebrate Mass for the striking workers. He became their chaplain and their champion. On December 31, 1981, the government imposed martial law and started persecuting the leaders of Solidarity. Father Jerzy was tireless in assisting the workers and their families. He also became famous for his widely attended monthly Mass for workers, where he preached about human dignity and the possibility of peaceful change. After several years of intimidation by the government (including arrest, imprisonment, and death-threats), Father Jerzy was brutally murdered by the Polish secret police on October 19, 1984. Here’s a link to a one-page biography: http://saltandlighttv.org/blog/?p=7563

The film, Popieluszko: Freedom Is Within Us, is not always easy to watch–but for those with a little patience, it is compelling and rewarding, because of its artistry, its attempt to “bear witness” to the life of Father Jerzy in a respectful and honest way, and the hope it offers to all who have known oppression.

Artistry
Biopics, when well-done, are probably my favorite genre. But many are so poorly done that they seem to fall into another, separate genre altogether. It is extraordinarily difficult to weave the many strands of a person’s life into one compelling portrait that is also a cohesive story with unity and thematic depth. Poor biopics seem to use the fact that it’s a “true story” as an excuse to avoid this difficult work. Which means good, solid biopics are to be appreciated all the more.

Popieluszko: Freedom Is Within Us achieves this. While the film may not be a “great” film, it compellingly covers the major events of the Father Popieluszko’s life, and gives us glimpses of other, less important events which, nonetheless, give us insight into his character. Actor Adam Woronowicz actually seems to become Popieluszko onscreen, imitating his very gestures. The film is slow in places, even grueling–because during its 2 1/2 hours, we witness an oppressive government’s efforts to crush the soul of the Polish people. But writer/director Rafal Wieczynski skillfully directs the acting and pacing, so that it builds to a powerful end where we not only accompany Fr. Jerzy in his martyrdom for truth, but also begin to grasp the powerful impact this humble man has had, and may continue to have, on so many.

One aspect of artistry which stands out is the filmmakers depth of research and commitment to accuracy.

Accuracy
The film seems to capture well the tension of those times where it was dangerous to say the rosary with too much devotion, never mind express a political opinion. One interesting facet of the film is the director’s choice to occasionally cut in real historical footage, which, rather than distracting, heightens our awareness that this is a true story.

I know of no other feature film where a cardinal acts as himself onscreen, and yet this is exactly what Cardinal Glemp does. (And the first scene is not so complimentary.) This gives a unique “texture” of authenticity to the scenes where Father Jerzy interacts more directly with his superiors–a texture which otherwise might be hard to believe: that someone so actively and intensely devoted to the spiritual care and the human dignity of his people could combine that with a humility about his own opinions and a real trust in the obedience he has vowed, in the persons of superiors who did not always agree with him.

Another distinction that the film makes is that, while the government called his preaching “political,” Father Jerzy was basing his preaching on the social teaching of the Church. From what I have read, the film actually underplays the intimidation and threats from the government that Father Jerzy suffered in the last years of his life. As the film progresses, we see his awareness and preparedness for giving his life grow dramatically.

Uplifting
How can a story that ends in a brutal murder be uplifting? Despite my tears and the turbulence I felt at the end of the film, I have been uplifted and inspired since Saturday night. The beautiful strength of the film lies in its gradual revelation of Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko, tracing his spiritual journey of transformation from an ordinary, devoted priest with attitude, into a pastor who grows always more Christlike and, in the end, willingly lays down his life to defend the rights of the people he serves. Father Jerzy Popieluszko’s cause for canonization was introduced in 1997. October 19th, 2009, was the 25th anniversary of his martyrdom.

Popieluszko: Freedom Is Within Us is a powerful and insightful film, well worth viewing. It is not being carried nationwide, but can be seen locally at the Empire Theatre at Square One in Mississauga in the upcoming week. I have not yet seen a rating for the film, but due to its violence, the film can be quite disturbing and is not suitable for young children. Made in Poland, the film is in Polish with English subtitles.

Tonight, I am going to the second showing of the North American premiere of the new film, Popiełuszko: Freedom Is Within Us. The film dramatizes the life of Father Jerzy Popieluszko, the “solidarity priest” who was murdered in 1984, as Poland’s solidarity movement gained support.  I’ve pasted in the trailer for the film below, and will put up a review by Monday.

I understand that there are still tickets available for the 8:00 pm showing tonight at the Cinesphere at Ontario Place. For more information, visit: http://www.catholicradio.ca/skystore/home.php?cat=261

One of the sisters and a dear friend of mine, Sr. Roberta Hummel, has been missioned to Moscow. Her diocesan newspaper, the Catholic Herald, recently published an article telling her story. Check it out here: http://www.catholicherald.com/detail/11267.html

As the website of Pauline Books & Media is redesigned and relaunched (check it out, it looks great: www.pauline.org ), PBM is also asking readers, listeners, and viewers to let us know what kinds of online “social media” they use. And I’m curious, as well. If you have a minute, go to PBM’s marketing blog here: http://pbmmarketing.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-reader-polls.html , and take this first survey about booksites.

Thank you!

When I get stumped writing–as I was last week–it’s usual for one of two reasons: 

1) I’ve got too much going on–either in my life or in my head, or in both.

2) I have, once again, let the fear of failure overtake me. 

Surprisingly, this time it wasn’t #2. At least I don’t think it was. 

#1 may be an easier problem to face, but it is much more difficult for me to solve. I suspect that for me, as with most people who juggle multiple commitments, setting priorities so that I have time to do the important but mostly non-urgent work of writing can be a mammoth challenge. Especially when I have been away from home for six months and need to catch up, at the same time that I move my office, change over computers (from a pc to a mac), and take on several small but new responsibilities.

All of this has had me spinning. I’ve been so eager to get back to writing that I was able to put in some hours here and there, but mostly my mind has been playing catch up. Finally, this past Sunday I tried to make my monthly retreat. (Monthly retreat is a one-day, usually silent time where I focus exclusively on my relationship with the Lord.) I was spinning so fast that, even though I “did” all the right things, it took me practically all day to unwind. Once I did, it was the end of the day and retreat time was over.

Now, sometimes that happens, and I believe that the Lord saw the effort I was putting into pray. But I didn’t have a retreat that I felt would nurture me for the next month. I’d taken the time to pray, but I hadn’t given myself the space I needed to pray. And suddenly, I realized that this might be my problem for the past weeks–not just with my prayer, but with my writing as well. (It’s amazing how my prayer affects my writing, and my writing affects my prayer.)

To put it succintly: Since I got home four weeks I’ve been home, I’ve given myself some time to write, but not the space.

I ended up going back to a question that’s been bothering me more and more: How do I balance all of these aspects of my life, while surrendering to the call of God in my daily life?

• the discipline that I need to write
• the relaxed atmosphere that my writing (and I) thrive in
• the embracing-all-aspects-of-life nature of being a writer (that I never stop being a writer can be wonderful but sometimes can feel overwhelming or exhausting)
• the relationships in my life–especially with the community I share daily life with
• the contemplative, receptive “mode” of prayer
• the multiple commitments I have (many are service to others; I value all of them)

At first, I felt a bit hopeless: All of these things pulling me in opposite directions, impossible to reconcile. Then I realized that maybe these “opposites” weren’t really opposite, but contrasts. The key for me might be to find the rhythm of going deep within (to pray and to write) and then going forth into community, communication, and evangelization. Because all of these aspects of my life are important, it really becomes a matter of discernment which ones I pay attention to in the moment. Where is God calling me at this moment? That’s the only question I need to focus on in the day to day.

Just as surrender is important to prayer, it’s also important in responding to God’s call in my daily life–including the call to write.

So, I determined to change that this week. It wasn’t easy to slow down–it’s one of the things I dread the most. But I can tell I’m on the right path. I’ve outlined my revisions for the feature script I’m rewriting; I rewrote the first 20 pages; I’ve journaled almost every day; I’m blogging today; and best of all, I feel quite connected to my writing. And my prayer has been deeper and richer too.

Where is God calling me at this moment–as a sister, as a writer? At this moment, I believe I am right where I am supposed to be: blogging here while I’m waiting for another sister to finish her responsibilities so that we can share supper together.

For the first time in three years, I was in Toronto during the Toronto International Film Festival. But, in contrast to my experience at the Montreal World Film Festival, during which I saw 30-odd films in 10 days, I was only able to see one film. However, it was a great choice.

The French film Lourdes is not what a good Catholic would expect–it doesn’t retell the story of young Bernadette Soubirous’ amazing visions, nor is it a documentary on the miraculous. Instead, director Jessica Hausner chose to focus on what it’s like to go on a pilgrimage to Lourdes today in search of healing. Every character in the story has a different approach to faith: the devout, the casual believer, the superstitious, the desperate, and the cynic. Despite the unusual perspective of the film, I think that St. Bernadette would like the unusual and very human protagonist, Christine.

As I was planning my own review, I received the news that Lourdes won both the SIGNIS award and the Fipresci Award (from the International Federation of Film Critics) at Venice Film Festival. SIGNIS’ statement describes the film so well (and better than I could) that I include it below:

SIGNIS STATEMENT – September 14, 2009

The new film, Lourdes, is a project written and directed by Austrian Jessica Hausner who has a Catholic background. However, she does not approach the subject from an explicit Catholic point of view. Rather, she wanted to put on the screen the Lourdes pilgrimage experience and to raise the issues of the nature of God, the possibility of miracles and the ‘fairness’ of God in granting healing to some and not to others.

The film-makers discussed the project with the bishop of Tarbes, where Lourdes is situated, and received collaboration during the making from the shrine authorities. It is certainly a film Catholics can be comfortable with, the presentation of devotion and faith, the range of perspectives of the pilgrims themselves, the experience of healings. The questions the film asks are those that believers and non-believers must ask.

The film shows a group of French pilgrims, with their chaplain and assistants from the Order of Malta, following the rituals of the visit to Lourdes: the grotto, the Eucharistic blessing, confession, processions, bathing in the water… The central character, Christine, has severe MS and is paralysed. She has come with some devotion but, principally, for a trip. The elderly lady she shares a room with is prayerful and solicitous for her. During the pilgrimage, Christine feels a growing strength and seems to be healed. There are various responses from the group, joy and suspicion, and the film is open-ended concerning Christine’s future.

What the Audience Sees

Non-Catholics have been puzzled and some admiration for what they see. The gathering of the sick seems to some just like one of those revivalist tent gatherings, full of enthusiasm, which have sometimes been exposed as frauds. Confession is often problematic for those who have never participated in it. The touching of the grotto wall, the statues and candles may seem quaintly devout. Outside the precincts of the shrine is the kitsch-commercial paraphernalia of images, candles and souvenirs.

The film’s attention to detail will be appreciated by Catholics. It may not lead anyone in the audience, except the devout, to think that Lourdes is a place that they should visit. The sceptics in the audience will generally remain sceptical though they may appreciate better that authorities in Lourdes have procedures and doctors to examine those who think that they have been cured. The psychological benefit of religiously going to such a shrine will be appreciated – believers realising that this can be a personal healing experience in itself.

The priest with the group is down-to-earth (playing cards in the evenings and showing a sense of rhythm in dancing at the social at the end of the stay) but the lines he is given, inside and outside the confessional, tend to be the abstract sayings about God and freedom along with rather facilely quoting texts from the scriptures about completing the sufferings of Christ in our own bodies.

A great strength of the film is the performance of Sylvie Testud as Christine. As an ill woman, confined to a wheelchair and completely dependent on others, she is both sweet and kind, extraordinarily patient despite her confessing to being angry. She is a woman of faith, joining in the hymns, prayers, visits to the grotto. However, she also wants to socialise, experience the pilgrimage as an outing. Her experience of healing is at first tentative, not immediately very spiritual, an entering into the ordinary, even banal, world of day-by-day. Is this a miracle? Not? Does she deserve this experience? Will it last – and does this matter? Does her experience challenge her deeply? Spiritually?

APPENDIX: ISSUES RAISED: GOD, FAITH, MIRACLES.

God

Almost all of the characters believe in God. The characters do not question God’s existence. That questioning may be for many in the audience. What the characters do is express different aspects of belief.

One of the difficulties in discussions about God is God’s seeming arbitrariness in dealing with suffering people. If God is God, why does God not intervene directly in the world and in people’s lives (while we fail to remember how much most of us resent parents and authorities when they do intervene and take away our freedom and freedoms)? The other question is that of suffering – and one needs to reflect on Elie Wiesel’s response when asked where was God in the holocaust. His answer suggests that God was in the ovens and with the suffering concentration camp victims.

Jessica Hausner has remarked that one effect of making Lourdes was to make her question more strongly the ‘fairness’ of God in dealing with different people, favouring some and not others.

Faith

There is an unfortunate presupposition amongst believers and non-believers alike that discussion of faith limits itself to the intellectual aspect of faith: believing what God says, intellectual assent to the truth. This keeps the discussion in the realm of the mind and focuses on ideas, reason and logic.

However, faith is something lived, lived in ordinary day-to-day life as well as in crises. It is what St Paul calls ‘faith from the heart’. Faith is a spirituality in action, sometimes heroic, sometimes faint. This is dramatised in the characters in the film but, in the context of the Lourdes experience and people being prone to focus on faith and ‘truth’ in discussion, drawing attention to this more explicitly without being didactic would have enhanced the film and given more nuanced attention to the characters. The traces can be seen in Cecile, the Order of Malta leader, and her rather ascetical lived faith, and the old lady, pious and kind, who looks after Christine.

Miracles

In the early centuries of the church, miracles were claimed at the drop of a crutch, many of the reported miracles being enhanced storytelling. In the century of ‘Enlightenment’, the 18th century, Benedict XIV tightened criteria for the acceptance of a miracle. The language was used of an occurrence (generally a cure) being outside the laws of nature. More recent theological reflection highlights another criterion: that the cure take place as a response to and in the context of prayer. Maybe an occurrence is a psychosomatic experience but, in the context of faith and prayer, it can be described as ‘miraculous’, even though the ‘big’ miracles are those which seem to transcend the laws of nature.

Bringing this line of thought to what happens in the film, Lourdes, raises interesting issues of whose prayers are answered, whether Christine has experienced something miraculous (‘big’ or ‘psychosomatic’) and what is the nature of her spiritual experience – of the healing and its consequences for her life, of the challenge to her intellectual faith and to her faith from the heart, of her witnessing God’s healing love and power?

There are some suggestions in the film – and Jessica Hausner does not want to make a propaganda film – but visitors to Lourdes have testified that they have experienced so much more of this faith from the heart which transcends previous experience.

For the press release about the SIGNIS Award, visit: http://www.signis.net/article.php3?id_article=3458

SIGNIS is the World Catholic Association for Communication, bringing together radio, television, cinema, video, media education, Internet, and new technology professionals.

I can describe it in only one word: amazing!

But I will use the rest of this blog entry (729 words in all) to describe it more fully. Of course, part of the reason it was so incredible was that I was serving on the Ecumenical Jury, and so was able to see all the films in competition, and share insights with five other faith-filled and perceptive jury members.

Here is the Ecumenical Jury on the red carpet going into the opening ceremony. From left to right, Niquette Delage (Canada), Julia Laggner (Austria), Ed McNulty (USA), myself (USA), Gabriella Lettini (Italy), Connie Purvis (Canada).

I understand from anecdotes of other festival attendees that Montreal’s World Film Festival has a reputation for films that are intense. Overall, I found the selection for the official competition to be both artistic and concerned with social issues (such as war, suicide, troubled relationships and domestic abuse). In contrast to the star-studded “glitz” of the Toronto International Film Festival, the World Film Fest seems less about the marketplace and more about celebrating the films themselves.

For some people, I guess the question would be–why would a Roman Catholic sister go to a film festival? In my interview with Salt & Light Radio, I voiced aloud how powerful film can be for us to reflect on what it means to be human. As one of the most beautiful and complex of the arts, film has unique potential to open us to God—through its compelling use of story, image, sound, and music.

For many people, it is easy to discover the reflection of God in great works of art. (Pope John Paul II, in his Letter to Artists, encourages both viewers and artists to view art as lighting up our journey towards God.) As a writer myself, I am fascinated by how art can bring us to deeper insights about ourselves, about our human condition, and about God.

As a jury member, I had an additional reason to be there: to award a film which raises awareness of the transcendent dimensions of life, portrays spiritual, social or human values, and contributes to human progress.

Almost all of the films included striking portraits of characters that I could sympathize with. And yet, many struggled with a sense of hopelessness because their landscape–and the landscapes of the films themselves–were purely horizontal. Without a sense of the transcendent, without a sense that there is more to life than what we can see, the bleakness and emptiness seems to take over.

Against this bleak background of films about the desperation and pain of the human condition, several films stood out for their sense of hope and of striving for true justice. The two films which received recognition from the Ecumenical Jury were truly outstanding.

Ecumenical Jury Announcing Award

Korkoro, about the persecution of the Roma people (also known as gypsies) during World War II, received special mention because even though its story was tragic, it also inspired. The sense of community of the Roma people and their caring for each other, even under the pressure of persecution, was deeply moving. And the heroism of some of the French villagers who risked their lives for the survival of that small Roma caravan also pointed to a belief in a justice that goes beyond that of earth.

"Ceasefire" director Lancelot von Naso accepting Ecumenical Prize

The German film Ceasefire (Waffenstillstand) received the Ecumenical Prize because “of its focus on human suffering in war, and because it offers a different perspective from the usual war reporting. First-time feature director Lancelot Von Naso skillfully places the viewer directly into the situation of the protagonists through the cinematography. The movie challenges the audience to examine their perspective on the consequences of war and our responsibility in the face of human suffering.” First-time feature director Lancelot von Naso received the Ecumenical Prize at the Montreal World Film Festival.

It was wonderful to be able to talk with the director after the press conference about his film and the many challenges that he and his crew faced in making it. I hope that Ceasefire will cross the ocean and be distributed in North America.

Participating fully in Montreal’s World Film Festival was not just enjoyable but a wonderful way to broaden my knowledge of international film, and to serve the film community by highlighting films that offer compassion and hope.

"Ceasefire" director Lancelot von Naso with Ecumenical Jury



What:       DISCERNMENT RETREAT

with prayer–talks–sharing–Eucharistic adoration
silence–discernment helps—community life

Who:        Young Women ages 18-30 who are discerning a call to religious life

When:      Fri., Oct 23 @ 6 pm – Sun., Oct 25 @ 6 pm

Where:     Daughters of St. Paul Convent in Toronto, ON

Why:        To better understand how God is calling YOU to return his love in your life.

Limited spaces available!  Applications due Oct. 12^th
For applications, please contact:

Sr. Marie Paul

Phone:  1.416. 781.9131 ext. 247 or Email: daughters_stpaul@yahoo.ca

Sr. Margaret Michael

Phone:  1.703.549.1323 or Email: vocations@paulinemedia.com