Ways of seeing: theology, culture,spirituality, cinema (LMU course 11/13

Ways of seeingSr. Rose Pacatte, FSP

THINK THEOLOGICALLY

“You will need to know what you believe about God as well as God’s ongoing, eternal communication with us”

- Meredith Gould “The Social Media Gospel”

THINK SACRAMENTALLY

• Sacraments are outward signs of invisible grace

• Cinema reveals inner realities through outward visual and aural signs

• What inner, transcendent, transforming grace, signs of the divine, are being revealed

Common beliefs between the three Abrahamic (monotheistic) faiths:

theology• One God• Personal• Transcendent

Attributes of God

• Common – Omniscinece– Omnipotence– Omnipresence– Omnibenevolence– Eternal– Immaterial– The source of morality

How we understand – and appreciate – cinema depends on

• Age• Education• Life experience• Human development• Faith formation• Moral and ethical imagination • Expectations

Values

Values are overarching ideals that guide our lives

What are the three most important values that guide your life?

Existential questions

What is really going on deep in the collective human psyche?

What does it truly mean to be human? How can we live transformatively?

Is God present here? - N. Usslemann

Catholic Christians believe

What is truly human is truly of the Gospel and what is truly pf the Gospel is truly human

Cf. Gaudium et Spes

Existential

• These existential questions are always present to humanity but sometimes it takes a cultural parable to make us aware and attentive to these very questions.

• - N. Usslemann

Character

Empathy What you do when no one is looking “How would you feel if someone did that to you?” Character education = human formation The spiritual is built upon the human

Character

Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Content vs context

• Not what’s “in” the movie• It’s what the movie MEANS

Jesus’ Family Values

• Not– Sex– Violence– Bad language– Drugs– Violence– Alcohol

What are Jesus’ family values?

• To feed the hungry• To give drink to the thirsty• To clothe the naked• To give shelter to the homeless• To visit the sick• To ransom the captive• To bury the dead.

More of Jesus’ family values

The spiritual works of mercy• To instruct the ignorant • To counsel the doubtful • To admonish sinners • To bear wrongs patiently• To forgive offences willingly• To comfort the afflicted• To pray for the living and the dead

Morality

• Why does morality matter?• If you believe, then you believe what God tells

us is right and good• Ten Commandments• The Commandment of Love• Principles & Themes of Catholic Teaching

Conscience

• Conscience is out true home

Conscience

• Not to live by one’s conscience is homelessness

Dilemma and Drama

• The most interesting movies deal with the dilemma between following or not following one’s conscience

• The consequences of one’s choices on one’s life and the lives of others

Which religions believe in these ideas?

• Human dignity• Common good• Solidarity• Option for the poor• Rights and responsibilities• Family, community, participation• Care for the earth• These are themes of Catholic social teaching

Ways of seeingPart II

Sr. Rose Pacatte, FSP

Spirituality

• Relationship with God and others that flows from religious belief

• If you are “spiritual” but not “religious” it’s like looking for freedom without responsibility

• Communication• Encounter• Way of seeing, way of believing, way of being,

way of doing

The face of God

Cinema and the face of God

Homework

World cinema can enable profound learning experiences for audiences about the lives of others

To the extend that these are about the human experience, they reveal people’s faith

Global film

• The meaning of the films rises from the relationships of the characters with one another, their society, their environment, their beliefs

• It is in these stories’ exquisite expressions of human love that God is revealed for the characters and for the audience.

Trailers from selected films

• As suggesetd By Fr. Deck

Let us remember that the world is permeated by grace even when it does not seem so

(cf. Karl Rahner)