Holiness

I just returned from watching The Nativity Story, a timely repast on this night midway between the Feast of the Holy Innocents and the Feast of the Holy Family, both of which were well-rendered onto the screen. The filmmakers obviously had many decisions to make, and I thought they chose admirably considering their goal was not biblical scholarship but cinematic portrayal.

Others in the Catholic blogosphere have chided the filmmakers' portrayal of the Magi as a trio of misfits, a criticism that fails to grasp its charm. In my creche, while the Magi are journeying across the bookshelves and tabletops to their destination under the tree, I have them face various directions, as if they were in disagreement over the correct route; so I greatly enjoyed their levity. Rev. Euteneuer at Spirit&Life blog shares many of my misgivings about the choice to make Mary accessible to today's teenage girls; he rightly points out that Mary's labor would have lacked the pains ascribed to Eve, and her obedience to the Lord would have precluded any adolescent misbehavior.

I was also uncomfortable with Keisha's Mary through the first part of the movie, wherein she seemed more uncertain than I would have preferred. Yet, as Mark John has explained to me, Mary's questioning was contrasted with Zechariah's to reveal Mary as the least doubtful character in the end, the most willing to trust in Divine Providence. I especially loved the interpretation of Joseph as the exemplar to Mary of this fidelity and fortitude (or perhaps that they were exemplary to each other, which makes for portrayal of genuine matrimony). The movie truly represents Joseph in a way not done often enough, with endearing heroism, a Joseph most like the one I have imagined and written about before. Joseph's virtue is apparent, and he becomes the star of the film in many ways.

Pondering the Mary described in this film leads me to ponder the nature of Holiness. Mark John would say in response to Rev. Euteneuer that Mary was like us in all things but sin, so her questioning was - unlike Zechariah- sinless. Was her defiance sinless too? Would she have been so unsure that she would have relied upon the Angel's word about Elizabeth in order to muster confidence? How much strength would Mary have drawn from Joseph if she was "full of grace"? I think the filmmakers chose a more pedestrian Mary than the contemplative that Mark and I would have preferred to see. In so doing they pose an interesting question about what it means to be human and concupiscent: what part of our faith journey has Mary walked?

These are understandably ponderous ponderings, and the filmmakers did not benefit from being Catholic. So we may forgive them any small errors in interpretation and simply enjoy the art whose beauty will hopefully become a mainstay for Christmases to come. If nothing else, the holiness of the Carpenter's family and the virtue of the simple folk who help them stand in sharp contrast to the cruelty of Herod and his dealings with his son and heir; the foreshadowings of the Passion are properly and cleverly arranged; and the dread imposed by starting the movie with Herod's decree was a good cinematic decision that sets the story in the right context as a story of Good vs. Evil--

Of course we all know that Good wins out, but we also learn that Trust in Divine Providence keeps us from Evil, as Mary and Joseph listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit many times during the movie teaches us. Holiness means having your priorities straight: Balthasar didn't pack as many pillows, the Romans only cared about money, Joseph gave up food for the donkey carrying the Lord, and Herod disregarded the slaves dying so that he could have a pretty view. Holiness is made up of many little choices made along the way. Let us ask for the grace given to Mary, the devotion shown by Joseph, and the gifts provided when we seek the Lord above all else~

Pray for the Innocents, the Flowers of the Martyrs, still being massacred around the world by those with priorities other than consideration for the dignity of every human life, brought to stunning clarity in the birth of the Christ-child.