Reflections on Faith, Feasts, and Film

Review by Father Scott Archer March 12, 2020 Emma , a film directed by Autumn de Wilde, is a surprisingly faithful adaptation of Jane Austen’s comedy of matchmaking and love of the same name. Credit is to be given to Eleanor Catton, the screenwriter, for not modernizing the story to placate contemporary tastes. The acting, set design, score, and costuming transport the audience to a time when life and its pleasures were simple; thus, planning other people’s lives took center stage in the world of Emma Woodhouse, who is “… handsome, clever, and rich... and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.” Emma is played delightfully by Anya Taylor-Joy. She is perfectly cast in the lead role and is brilliant in carrying the story from beginning to end. As the movie opens, we find that Emma has arranged for a match between Miss Taylor, her governess, to Mr. Weston. With that relationship cemented with marriage, she turns her sights to ...

By Father Scott Archer March 8, 2020 “He was transfigured before them” (Matthew 17:1 Douay-Rheims Version). Today’s gospel passage from Saint Matthew recounts our Lord’s transfiguration, during which time Moses and Elias appeared alongside Him and they spoke with Him, to quote the Gospel of Saint Luke, “…about his decease that he should accomplish in Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31 Douay-Rheims Version ). In this miracle, Jesus partially showed forth His glory in order to give hope to the apostles when they would witness His crucifixion. Jesus wished to remove from them the fear of the cross and of death. He not only intended this miracle for His apostles but wished to assure us that there is hope for our future resurrection and to sustain us in our trials here on earth, since it was an image of the glorious state to which our bodies are destined. Today we are witnessing a great deal of panic in regard to the outbreak of coronavirus, so much so that people are stockpiling goods...