SATURDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK OF EASTER
St. Germaine Cousin (1601) Virgin, Patron of Victims of Child Abuse
St. Vitus & Companions (300) martyrs (Trad)

My Beloved:

I recently watched the movie "Cheaper by the Dozen" with Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt. The movie was enjoyable and funny, but Hollywood just cannot help itself with its penchant for distorting Catholicism.

Although the movies does not specifically state that the family is Catholic, there is a hint of it when the mother suggest praying a rosary. A secondary hint is the idea of such a large family in the first place.

Within the humorous context of the film and the drama of a large family, were subtle hints that were contrary to the idea of children being a blessing. These were subtle hints amidst the overall acceptance of the idea of a large family from the parents in the film. Nevertheless the film had to say enough is enough somewhere. Thus the script included an unnecessary reference that the father had a vasectomy after about 9-10 kids and that the last 2-3 kids were because the couple did not wait long enough to have for the procedure to be effective before having sex.

Do not get me wrong. The parents of this family loved all their children greatly. The film is a great pro-family film otherwise. In fact watching this family be such a family reminded me of how miserable a failure I was as a father myself. I found myself wishing I had been as good a father as the character Steve Martin depicted.

I do recommend the movie, but just lament that Hollywood just couldn't resist to include a five second scene to reveal that the father had a vasectomy (a very anti-family note amongst an otherwise pro-family movie).

While this was such a small thing in the movie, it nevertheless reminds us of the worldly mindset. We need to remember to be ambassadors of the Catholic worldview and not just ambassadors of the Catholic faith.

Let us all examine ourselves to test just how Catholic we are! Are we a Catholic is belief only, do we practice only a surface Catholic life, or do we seek to imbue all that is a Catholic worldview and all that doing that means?

We are called to be more than Catholics obedient to the Magisterium, more than Catholics who are orthodox in belief and orthopraxis in practice. We are called to a excellence that comes with every breath and thought and action illustrating all that the Catholic worldview has to offer.

We need to learn what constitutes a Catholic worldview (which most Catholic Americans really haven't a clue) and seek to be role models of that worldview amidst the secularization of our world.



Your miserable servant,
Brother Bubba

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