Me so Hungy!

Yep, it's Ash Wednesday. Mmmmm... fasting. Actually, I got nothing to complain about. A few of us went out last night for Mardi Gras, and I got my fill of fast food, wings, beer, pop, etc. Awesome to see Pituch and Devin too.

So lent eh? What're you giving up? I've got my standard junk food, and this year a new addition, 'carbonated beverages'. I'm not 100% sure if iced tea counts in that category or not. So I gotta force myself to eat healthy for the next 40 days. I'm really hoping the habit sticks... can't say I always treat my body like the temple it is! My number 1 goal, is to get through all of Lent joyfully this year. Penitent too of course, but there should be joy in penance and the knowledge of forgiveness.

Time for a rant.

I'm sick of everyone's opinion on The Passion of The Christ by Mel Gibson. Seriously. I saw it a few weeks ago and loved it. Well, I suffered deeply through it. It was good for my faith to see a portrayal of Christ that was so human, yet so amazingly strong and determined. Everyone is talking about how the portrayal reflects an older view of the Gospels, not in line with the modern Christian or Catholic, conservative etc etc etc. Whatever. The Gospel of John came out in theatres too. Haven't seen it or heard much, but someone told me it portrays a very 'happy Jesus'. You know, the gentle, sentimental, laughing sort of Christ that a lot of the more evangelical films show.

I don't doubt Jesus was happy a lot of His life. He's the Son of God, He knows the Father, He's divine. I'd be happy and joyful too. But you know, it isn't the whole picture. I bet Jesus got sick, he probably got a little frustrated (or a lot frustrated) from time to time, and He DID suffer on Earth. He had to suffer in a real way, experience pain in a real way that can't be forgotten for it to mean anything. So, is a portrayal of Happy Jesus complete? No. Neither is the Passion. Neither is any story we can show. The only ones who know a lot about what he was like in person, are the people who hung out with him. No sermon, movie, drama, play, whatever, can portray the entire message and meaning of the life of Christ.

So here's MY opinion. As a Catholic I believe God is universal. In fact, Catholic means universal. So that means it's my job to always challenge my faith to have a universal prayer life, a universal knowledge of my faith, and a universal image of God. That is, all encompassing. That is taking everything good I can find, and finding a way to relate it to my faith, through progress, tradition, joy, suffering, love, tough times. Having said that, I think it's stupid to say that the Passion only portrays one side of Christ. Duh. It's about about 12 hours of the life of a guy who lived 31 some odd years. I don't think you can fully develop a character that fast. What I like is it REALLY showed the humanity of Christ, and through the resurrection and some other scenes, showed how amazingly Divine he was too. Is it complete and accurate? NO. Is ANYTHING we write about Christ 2004 years later... I doubt it. There's no real way to accurately measure it, cuz we have a faded, kinda blurry picture of it to start with. If you wanna analyze it historically go ahead, but leave me out of it, cuz it's all theory. If you see the movie and like it, like it. If it inspires something new in your faith, celebrate it, if it raises questions, ask them, but if you ain't gonna see it, don't complain, and if you didn't like it, fine, but quit raining on my parade.

That's it.