Being Church and Community

                            
This weekend we read the Gospel story when Jesus gets upset when seeing the people turning the temple into a marketplace. Respect for our churches is something that is thankfully respected and honored. Yet there were cases when people were driven out of their churches because of ruthless leaders. Pope Francis is presently visiting Iraq where many churches were desecrated by the enemy. I referred to in my homily to 3 films that show the people with their priests to form the Body of Christ, the church as it should be. These scenes are very striking and I encourage you to watch these films, whenever you can. The first film is ‘Romero’ with Raul Julia playing the part of St. Oscar Romero, who was killed when saying Mass in El Salvador on March 24 1980. There is a moving scene when the military soldiers take over a church to use it as their barracks. At one moment Archbishop Romero enters and demands to take back the church, and for the soldiers to leave. Out of disrespect the soldiers start to shoot at the altar the crucifix, even the tabernacle spilling all of the hosts on the floor. Romero starts to pick them up, but leaves for a while. He returns with a big crowd of people following him, and continues to pick up the hosts from the floor. The soldiers could do nothing when they saw that huge crowd with their bishop, in solidarity and in love with each other and everything that is sacred. There we saw truly the Body of Christ in action.

The second movie is ‘The Mission’ with Robert Deniro and Jeremy Irons in the part of two Jesuits helping the indigenous people in Brazil, who were being attacked by the their enemy, the Portuguese regime. The Jesuits sacrifice their lives for the people, and stay till the last attack when their huts are burned, while the Jesuit priest walks holding the Monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament, with the people around him. Another beautiful example of the Body of Christ, the people with their priest who stayed till the end, until they were killed.

The third movie is called ‘For the Greater Glory’ about the persecution of the Catholics in Mexico around 100 years ago. Here we see the Catholic Mexicans persecuted and killed by the cruel Government which eliminated all signs of religion from their country. Yet the people got together as Cristeros (Soldiers for Christ) choosing their own leader, played by Andy Garcia, and the Catholic religion remained strong until this day.