The Passion of the Christ
what do Catholics think about the
film that is taking the world by storm?

Viewing “The Passion” as an Icon
By Fr. Charles Irvin

For me, it is the centrality of the eyes that helped me to "see" Mel Gibson's representation of Christ's passion and death. I was captivated by the eyes of the figures, both major and minor, who had a role in all that happened to Jesus in his suffering, crucifixion and death. Eyes are windows to the soul; one enters into the inner reality of others through them. One "sees" reality through them. Vision is the key, and vision is the key not only to this movie but also to all that we understand to be what Christ Jesus was about.

The judgment of Pontius Pilate is likewise a key to entering into this movie's presentation. Pilate represents each one of us; how he judged Christ and why he did so leads us to ask how and why we judge for ourselves who Christ is and what He did for us, along with all that He is for us. Critical to that is Pilate's question: "Truth? What is truth?" How we answer that governs how we answer all of our questions about Jesus. It likewise touches on the question of whether or not in our hearts we are anti-Jewish. It is at the core of all that we judge to be real and of importance to us. "Truth? What is truth?" is at the core of all that is wrong in the world in which we live. Ignoring it places our souls in peril.

FAITHMag.com Web Poll results: Do you think "The Passion of the Christ" movie will cause anti-Semitism? Yes       6% No        88% Unsure  6% Poll conducted Feb. 25 - March 4, 2004

As for violence, well, the Holocaust was violent, war is violent, and our streets, movies, music and culture are filled with violence. How can we protect our children from it all? We cannot. What we can do is to teach and lead our children about dealing with it. Again, it is in seeing the response of Jesus to violence that our children learn how to face and overcome evil and violence caused by sin in our world. Our children are growing up in a world filled with hatred, prejudice, sin and violence. Should we protect them from these things and allow them to escape from them, or should we lead them in learning about this world's evils, their source, and how to overcome them?

Mel Gibson's movie is not a fifth gospel, the "Gospel according to Mel," so to speak. It should not be evaluated as if it is an "eyewitness account" of the events it portrays. Is there any historical account that is absolutely accurate and totally true to the events it presents? Of course not. Nevertheless, but for a few minor artistic devices, Gibson faithfully presents the New Testament's Gospel accounts in his rendition of Christ's passion and death.

FAITHMag.com Web Poll results: Have you watched "The Passion of the Christ" movie yet? Yes        64% No         10% No, but I plan to soon.    26% Poll conducted March 4 - March 15, 2004

Gibson's movie is not really a movie. It is a huge, moving icon. It is by no accident that his production company called Icon Productions. The way to look at any icon is to see through it. One should first pray for a moment, placing oneself in God's presence. Then, and only then, you should into the eyes of the icon and try to see God's eyes looking back at you. An icon is a window into the divine. Unless you see “The Passion of the Christ” in that manner I don't think you will experience the depth of it. Throughout the entire experience, one should see that it is God the Son who is looking at you, looking into your soul – not with eyes of condemnation, but rather with infinitely tender love. It is God offering Himself to us through our rejection of Him.

Finally, this movie, the work of an artistic genius, peels away our own layers of denial and sinful ignorance of who Jesus is and what He did (and still does) for us. Most importantly, it confronts us with the sinister presence of the Evil One in our world –  a major theme that runs through Mel Gibson's presentation of Christ's passion. The entire movie is about the efforts, hatred, rage and jealousy of the Father's of Lies in his attempts to negate the love of God and the mission of His Christ. One needs to go back to Christ's temptations in the desert when He first began His public ministry in His thwarting of the Evil One out there alone in the desert, and recall that the devil left him at that time to return "at another time." “The Passion of the Christ” is all about that "other time" – the time when Jesus' "hour" had come, the time when Love overcomes all that evil can throw at His only-begotten Son, who came among us not to condemn us, but to save us.

Links

• Steven Greydanus, "Beyond Bias: The Passion of the Christ" (DecentFilms.com, National Catholic Register)
• Paul Thigpen, "The Passion of the Christ: Is it Faithful to the Gospel?" (Our Sunday Visitor)
• John O'Malley, S.J., "A Movie, a Mystic, and a Spiritual Tradition: Anne
  Catherine Emmerich & the Passion of the Christ" (America, Mar. 15, 2004)
• Lloyd Baugh, S.J., "Palestinian Braveheart" (America, Feb. 23, 2004)
• Eugene J. Fisher, "The Bible, the Jews and the Passion" (America, Feb. 16, 2004)
• Richard Blake, S.J., "Mel O'Drama: The Passion of the Christ" (America,
  Mar. 15, 2004)

Resources follow on heels of ‘Passion’ movie

In conjunction with, or in response to, the release of the movie “The Passion of the Christ,” several books and other aids have been published to help give more understanding to Jesus’ crucifixion. Here are two:

• The Daughters of St. Paul established a Web site, christspassion.com, which offers one area for greater understanding of the film and three areas explaining Christ’s passion, which are titled “The Passion: What Happened and Why,” “The Passion: Praying with Jesus” and “The Passion: What Can I Do?”
• Ascension Press has published a 70-page book, “A Guide to the Passion: 100 Questions About Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ,’” intended to enrich the moviegoing experience. Small group handbooks, group leader manuals, and other resources are available online at: evangelization.com. (“A Guide to the Passion” is $5.95 a copy; bulk rates are available. Other resources are free. More information is available on the Web site or by calling: (800) 376 0520. – CNS