50 Shades of "Insanity"

Dear Parishioners,

No, I did not read the book.  No, I have no intention of seeing the movie.  Really, I would rather not bring attention to this insanity at all.  However, before viewing another film (The Imitation Game) on a recent guys night out, the trailer for a soon-to-be released—just in time for Valentine’s Day!—movie appeared.  The coming attractions for 50 Shades of Grey, in and of themselves, made me quite nauseous.  This trailer unfortunately led me to investigate things that I would rather not even think about—ever.

I read a synopsis of the book.  I discovered that it was part of a trilogy.  I had to put  together only a few pieces of the puzzle to realize that I was dealing with the glorification of abusive relationships and extreme sexual perversion.  I was encountering things so dark and demeaning, so sexually distorted and offensive that I dare not describe them here.  Ironic, isn’t it, how President Obama and a victim of sexual abuse, Brooke Axtell, recently appeared during this year’s Grammy Awards to denounce violence against women?  Meanwhile, a novel like 50 Shades of Grey sells over 100 million copies worldwide and is translated into 52 languages.  Global insanity?  You betcha.

Today’s culture has so many radical distortions of the true beauty and meaning of human sexuality.  Do we remember at all that God is the author of life and of the very manner in which we reproduce?  Sex is part of His plan and it is holy and good in its proper context—marriage. 

What’s the big fuss about sexuality, Father?  The Church needs to stay out of the bedroom!  After all, you priests are part of the problem!  Clean up you own act first!

Mea culpa. Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa. (Sin is still sin no matter who commits it.)

The crux of the problem, as I see it, is that the bedroom is far from private these days.  It is literally in our faces.  It is seen explicitly on television, On Demand, in the movies, in books and magazines, on the internet, etc., etc.—in the most graphic and obscene ways.  More and more perversion, deeper and deeper darkness, the glorification of sin and recreational sex, no traditional moral guidelines, further and further down the rabbit hole . . . .  How bad is it going to get?  I thought that we hit rock bottom years ago!  Foolish me.  (And it severely damages the entire culture—including its priests and religious.  We do happen to live in the same world, don’t we?)         

   

A few years ago, when I talked to a Trappist monk, Fr. John Eudes Bamberger, OCSO, the retired Abbot of the Abbey of the Genesee (Piffard, NY) while on retreat, he said something to me that I ponder regularly:  “Our world is gravely sick with perversion.”  He was well aware of this fact even from behind the cloistered monastery walls, living as a hermit!  The cancerous cells of sin have a strange way of attacking—seeking to damage and ultimately to kill any and all organs of the body—even within the mystical Body of Christ!  

Ash Wednesday begins another season of Lent.  It is a time of repentance and a call to follow the Gospel.  

Jesus brings sanity and healing to our world.  He brings truth, clarity, and meaning to our lives.

Hopefully, we all will realize it before it’s too late!

Fr. Ed Namiotka, Pastor

An "Unusual" Experience at the Movies

Dear Parishioners,

A well-done work of art has the ability to provoke thought, to inspire, to elevate the mind and the heart, to stimulate the emotions, and to bring out the best in humanity.  This is true whether it is a painting, a song or musical composition, a play, a sculpture, a novel or poem, an architectural wonder or a movie.  There is definite value to good art.

Last night I went with another priest and his dad to see “American Sniper” at the movies.  I don’t pretend to be a film critic, but I can tell you that I thought the film was done superbly.  Five Stars.  It definitely made me think and question.  It pulled at the heartstrings.  It made me realize what soldiers sacrifice to defend our nation and its values.  It detailed the tragedy of war.  It showed us that evil definitely exists in our world.  It made me proud to be an American.  At the end, I witnessed everyone in the theater remaining seated for a few moments speechless in an eerie, deafening silence.  I have seldom experienced this reaction by an entire group of people in a packed theater.

What follows is a synopsis (by Jeremy Wheeler) of the film by director Clint Eastwood.  It is a:

Biopic of Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), the most-celebrated sniper in American military history. In the aftermath of 9/11, Kyle decides to serve his country by becoming a Navy SEAL. But with each tour of duty, he grows more detached from his wife and children.

As the story opens, we meet carefree brothers Chris and Jeff (Keir O'Donnell) as they work the Texas rodeo circuit. They're cowboys through and through, and despite being notably older than the usual enlistee, Chris pays a visit to his local recruitment office and decides to become a Navy SEAL. Later, at the firing range, he draws on his hunting lessons with his stern father to become an expert marksman. A booze-fueled barroom chat with pretty brunette Taya (Sienna Miller) soon leads to wedding bells, and following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Kyle is deployed to Iraq for his first tour of duty. There, his reputation as a sniper who never misses makes him a legend among his fellow troops, and earns him the moniker "The Devil of Ramadi" from his enemies.

With a substantial bounty on his head, Kyle makes it his personal mission to take out a sadistic Iraqi soldier known as "The Butcher," as well as an elusive enemy marksman with a skill to rival his own. The closer he gets to achieving his goals during repeat tours of duty, however, the more fellow soldiers he sees die, and the further he drifts from Taya and their two children back home. It all leads up to a tense rooftop gunfight in a raging sandstorm -- one that convinces the sniper once and for all to make his family his top priority. Unfortunately, all is not well as Kyle struggles to make the transition back to civilian life, but he discovers that helping his fellow veterans is an effective way to do good and make peace with his wartime experiences.

If you decide to see the film, I caution that it is not for children or for the faint of heart. War and killing is a very difficult topic to digest, even in our much desensitized world.  We are reminded how every time, place and generation seems to encounter evil as it rears its head over and over and over again.

Personally, I thank God for the brave men and women who defend and protect our nation and who allow us to sleep safely each night.  May we never forget them or the difficult lives that they inevitably face when they choose to serve in our military throughout our troubled world.  

May our prayers always be with you!

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor

      Chris Kyle