The trailer for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader has finally appeared. I’ve been waiting for a long time to see what the adaption of my favorite of the Narnia books would be like. It looks exciting but one big mystery: Where are Eustace and the dragon?
If you read the book (and I’ll try to avoid spoiling it if you haven’t), the character of Eustace and his adventures with a monstrous dragon form one of the story’s major (almost) explicit Christian threads. But Eustace barely appears in the trailer. He has a line or two at the beginning, and — I think — a voice-over line later on, but more important there is no CGI dragon in sight. So are the book’s Christian themes once again being censored or dumbed-down for secular audiences? I think Prince Caspian was hurt by this, especially by its muddling the theme of following Aslan even when you can’t see him.
Of course, the trailer might not mean much; after all the movie is six months or so away, and this is the teaser; the advertising is bound to focus on the familiar characters; and the CGI dragon work might not be completed yet.
Also, there are some teasing dragon-hints right at the trailer’s very close. I was tipped off to this by an observant viewer who commented on the American Papist blog (second comment down as of this posting).
Today has been a bit frustrating; it was off to the library to finally convert Brad’s files from his camera’s format to something I can use. I needed iMovie on the Mac, but the library’s Macs don’t have the proper plugin. 2-3 hours of frustration. I did some more research, but really need to work on the documentary.
Back home to find that I’d missed Catholic TV’s broadcast of the Memorial Mass in New York for Bishop Fulton Sheen 30 years after his death. That was a shame, since while I was too young to have seen much of his show on TV, when it originally aired, I’ve read and admired his books. And of course, watched him on video. Last year, the cause for his canonization was opened. If he makes it, St. Clare will have herself some competition for the spot of patron saint of television!
I’m still waiting for the video-on-demand. In the meantime, here’s a nice retrospective, also from Catholic TV:
I’ll put the Mass here as son as it appears. And of course, there is always quite a bit of Bishop Sheen to watch on YouTube.
Update:
And here is an awesome funny video of Bishop Sheen’s appearance on What’s my Line? Particularly delightful is the way he tried to disguise his voice by speaking French.
And some classic stuff from early in his Life is Worth Living Series.
Spirituality, intellect, wit and humor — and could that man wear a cape well!
Check out his take on anti-Catholicism in the media, which he originally sent in as an op-ed piece to the New York Times — which refused to publish it:
Here’s hoping he’ll soon join the list of cardinals who have blogs (No, I have no idea how many there are).
It’s been over a month since I last posted here and a great deal has happened. I spent November 15-22 at the SFO General Chapter in Hungary as an observer and documentary filmmaker . . . and attended the closing celebrations for the centenary of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. It was the experience of a lifetime. More about all that later.
I was delayed for an extra night in Paris, because of the airline being unable to find my reservation. As soon as I got home on November 23, I had a call from my mom telling me my Uncle Joe had died.
It wasn’t really unexpected, because he had been ill for some time. But it was a hard blow all the same. He had served in the Air Force like my dad and had been a resident for the past few years at the Iowa Veteran’s home. He continued to attend our family holiday gatherings and was faithful in attending Mass at our parish church until he became too ill to go out. He was one of the most warm-hearted men I knew and a devoted father to his children and stepchildren. I was also named after him; my full name is Lori Josephine. He was the one member of our family who could never remember how old he was. But we can. He died at the age of 79.
I went home immediately for the funeral, and to be with my family for an extended Thanksgiving vacation. Joe’s funeral Mass was at St. Mary’s Church. He got full military honors and the blowing of Taps when he was buried at the Veterans’ Home on November 26.
I was actually delayed another whole day in getting back to New York because of bad weather, finally arriving on December 2, and had to immediately set about making up all my lost work time. That was 10 days ago.
Today as I was finally sitting down to work on my blog, I got some more sad news: sad news for the whole Fordham University staff, students and alumni: Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., longtime professor at the university and a brilliant and renowned theologian, died today in the Fordham infirmary at the age of 90.
I wasn’t privileged to have taken any classes with Cardinal Dulles while I was enrolled at Fordham for my graduate studies (1994-2001), but I did have a chance to listen to him speak on C.S. Lewis, 2 or 3 years ago, at a very crowded hall at the Lincoln Center campus. He was already very frail, but what a mind and soul! He got a tremendous ovation; the love and respect that flowed to him were palpable.
Cardinal Dulles had a most unusual path to the priesthood. The son of John Foster Dulles, who eventually became U.S. Secretary of State, he attended Harvard Law School before joining the Navy during World War II. He began life in a Presbyterian, became an agnostic in his late teens, then converted to Catholicism in his twenties. In 1946, he joined the Jesuits. After his priestly ordination in 1956, he taught at Woodstock College and the Catholic University of America; he became Professor of Religion and Society at Fordham in 1988. John Paul II, in recognition of his great contributions to theology, named him a cardinal, but he asked to be dispensed from becoming a bishop because of his advanced age.
I was very moved to learn that Pope Benedict XVI met privately with the ailing Cardinal at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie during his trip to New York this past April; the Holy Father addressed him not as “Your Eminence,” but — something that undoubtedly meant more to him — as “Herr Professor.”
Whispers in the Loggia has a great deal more about him here.
And there is a wonderful biographical interview on video here.
One more little anecdote that shows how much the Cardinal was the life and soul of Fordham: as a graduate student it often seemed to me that I had my own branch of Fordham library going at home with the large number of books I had checked out, not just for my dissertation, but on many other subjects I was interested in. In fact, I really went overboard, checking out books I didn’t have time to read. Once when I was at the circulation desk renewing my books, the student in charge said, “Wow — you’re the only person who has more books out than Cardinal Dulles!” Evidently they were keeping track there, and were proud of his record. I will freely confess than I managed to read less than half the books I checked out, so I am sure I didn’t real more books than he did. At any rate, I’m certain that checking out more books was the only thing I could ever have beaten that brilliant man at!
May he and my uncle Joe and all the faithful departed rest in peace.
Pausing to look at all the sights on our way to Jerusalem. . . Mainly about faith, the Church, film, writing, famous Christian authors, and anything else I'm interested in at the moment.
The photo above was taken at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome in March 2007.
Quote of the Month
"The history of the Catholic missions is by now a long road: at the beginning of that road is the Father of Mercy, who holds out his arms to all his children. All those who encounter the missionaries encounter the Father. And they also encounter the Son, the first missionary, who, obeying the Father, comes to earth, becomes flesh in human nature, is one of us, in solidarity with our misery (except for sin) and ends up dying for us in order to then return to heaven, carrying on his shoulders the human race his has won back.
Out of the same mold are the missionaries, who repeat, in some way, his journey. They too leave their fathers and families and depart to go among a foreign people. They too strip themselves of the refined culture they have acquired in their homelands; and of their native customs and habitat, of a hundred little comforts, in order to be in solidarity. With who? With a people who are on one hand naked and poor, and on the other rich in possibilities, which the missionaries intend to respect, value and elevate."
Albino Luciani (Pope John Paul I), to the people of his diocese of Vittorio Veneto, on his return from the diocesan missions in Africa in 1966
