Donate Here By Secure Server
Posted on 04/09/2004 3:35:04 PM PDT by rhema
Now showing at a church near you: the Passion of Jesus Christ.
More than usual, the Passion, or "suffering,'' has received top billing in the buildup to Easter, thanks to what many Christians simply refer to as "the movie.''
The story of Jesus' final 12 hours plays out today as Christians observe Good Friday — remembering the day Christ was crucified.
"If nothing else, Mel has forced us to pay attention to how we tell the story,'' said the Rev. Linda Loving of House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul.
Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ'' is among the 10 highest-grossing movies ever and climbing. That has boosted awareness of Good Friday — "God's Friday'' in Middle English.
"As Christians, we often try to skip over Good Friday,'' said the Rev. Shirley Duncanson of Sunrise United Methodist in Mounds View. "We like to go from the celebration of Palm Sunday right to Easter and resurrection.''
Few pastors predict how the "Passion'' might affect Easter attendance, other than a possible spike of worshippers on what already is the busiest Sunday of the church year.
"But my guess is that for a lot of people, it has certainly made Good Friday seem more real,'' said the Rev. Paul Harrington of Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran in Apple Valley.
Ironically, the movie could lure some worshippers away from services today.
"A couple of friends told me they hadn't seen the film yet but planned to see it on Good Friday,'' Harrington said. "They thought that was an appropriate time.''
The Rev. Nathan Thompson couldn't persuade his wife to see the movie because it was too violent. But he took his 85-year-old mother, who thought it was profound.
"It really caused her to reflect about what Jesus did in her life,'' said Thompson of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church.
Twin sisters — high school seniors — in Thompson's Shoreview congregation saw the movie and couldn't talk about it for a week.
Clearly, Hollywood has primed many Christians for Good Friday this year.
Even nonbelievers have come under the influence. An atheist relative of Thompson's daughter-in-law tried to pray for the first time several days after seeing the movie.
The "Passion'' still is showing in more than 30 theaters in the Twin Cities. But countless churches will present the Passion today in a variety of ways, without a $25 million production budget.
"Year after year we try to present the story, but this year we can present it a bit differently because the 'Passion' is out there,'' Duncanson said.
Her Mounds View church is opening its sanctuary all day for a "silent meditation walk,'' similar to the "stations of the cross'' long used in the Catholic Church.
Many have likened Gibson's movie to a theatrical presentation of the "stations,'' an exercise dating to medieval times in which followers "walk through'' the final events of Jesus' life.
"Since the 16th or 17th century, there has been a lot of emphasis on the Passion, sometimes at the exclusion of the resurrection,'' said the Rev. Phillip Rask of Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Maplewood.
"If I had any objection to the movie, it was the short shrift given the resurrection.''
Whereas "Scooby-Doo 2'' recently surpassed the "Passion'' in single-week box office receipts, Good Friday for Christians will be eclipsed by the resurrection story of Easter.
"If Christ had simply died on the cross and remained in the tomb, it wouldn't have been any different than other crucifixions in those days,'' said the Rev. Bruce Petersen of Bethany Baptist in Roseville.
"Any number of people have died horrible deaths. The question is what qualifies Jesus? That throws us back to the whole incarnation of Christmas, that we believe he was God in human flesh."
Riding a crest of "God talk'' in recent months, which included the fictional "Da Vinci Code'' and the ever-popular "Left Behind'' series, Time magazine asked on its cover this week, "Why Did Jesus Have to Die?'' And Minneapolis book publisher Fortress Press just re-released Gerard Sloyan's "Why Jesus Died.''
"Everybody is talking about God today,'' said Thompson of Shepherd of the Hills. "This may be a religious surge, like after 9/11. Who knows how long it will last? That lasted about six weeks.''
At St. Maron Maronite Catholic Church in Minneapolis, they already speak the language. As in Gibson's film, prayer at St. Maron is in Aramaic.
"So when we celebrate the Eucharist, we're uttering the same words Jesus spoke 2,000 years ago,'' the Rev. Sharbel Maroun said.
Good Friday at St. Maron resembles a "Jewish funeral,'' Maroun said.
The crucifix will be taken from the cross, shrouded in black cloth, and placed in a "tomb'' lined with flowers that parishioners will bring to the church. The "body'' will be carried around the church, as in a funeral procession.
"The 'Passion' has raised in the hearts and minds of people a great awareness of the depth of God's love and forgiveness for us,'' Maroun said.
"People have said, 'For years we've been reading the gospel, meditating on this, but this time we really understand.' "
'THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST'
Release date: Feb. 25, 2004 (six weeks ago)
Gross to date: $330,856,971
Weekend gross (April 2-4): $10,605,106
Rank: 10th highest grossing movie of all time
Seen by: 11 percent of Americans
Congressman Billybob
What a pathetic comment from a "Rev". Glad I don't attend her Church.
God bless Mel Gibson. It took a lot of courage to make this movie.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.