A priest friend has sent me this

extraordinary column by a Canadian writer who had bitterly criticized “The Passion of the Christ” when it

was released in theaters, but who has seen it now on DVD, and had a

conversion experience. It’s quite a moving reflection.

As it happens, my wife and I watched the DVD version this week. It was the

first time for her, and the third for me. She was torn to emotional bits by

the intensity of it, as I had been on first viewing. What moved her most, as

a mother of two boys, was Mary’s participation in her son’s suffering. She

also told me that after seeing that film, and realizing what Jesus endured,

it’s hard to see how one can experience the mass in the same way. “Maybe you

can understand now,” I said, “why on Ash Wednesday, after having seen the

movie, I wanted to run out of the mass that evening when the priest started

his usual happy-clappy banter.” She agreed that the film did a terrific job

of making Jesus and Mary into flesh-and-blood people, not plaster saints,

while also greatly raising their dignity.

My wife also said something that got to me, and that gave me something to

think about. She reflected on the “bloodthirstiness” of the crowd, and said

how frightening it was to see how indifferent they were to the agony going

on right in front of their eyes, and in fact caused in part by their own

decision. My wife said that no matter how angry we get at our enemies — and

here she was talking about those who attack this country — we must never,

ever forget that they are human beings, and even if we have to kill them for

just reasons, we should never take pleasure in that. “We are not them,” she

said. “And we can’t let ourselves be.” She’s right. I’m going to have to do

better.