The Catholic Leader - 12 November - Issue 5477

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The Catholic Leader, November 12, 2017
Arts + entertainment
LETTERS TO NEVIE: LEARN-
ING FROM THE SCRIPTURES
Gerald O’Collins SJ; St Pauls
Publishing, London, SW1P 1E;
2016
THE LITTLE BROWN BOOK
TOO: MORE THOUGHTS ON
THE SPIRITUALITY OF ST
MARY OF THE CXROSS IN
OUR EVERYDAY
LIVES
Sue and Leo
Kane; St Pauls
Publications,
Strathfield, NSW;
2011
Reviewed by Barbara Flynn
DURING the past 30 years, the prevalence of
electronic means of messaging, most notice-
ably emails and texts, appears to have cast
letter-writing into the shadows as a medium for
personal communication.
It could be argued that electronic messages,
while very functional, prompt and efficient in
their passage between sender and receiver, are
not a replacement for personal letters of reflec-
tion.
This type of letter has been recognised
throughout the centuries as affording both
sender and receiver opportunity to experience
such human attributes as love between friends,
a range of human emotions, and a sharing of
values, feelings and interests.
Letters may be treasured as keepsakes and
be important as points of reference to reflect
meaningfully on the lives of others.
Fr Gerald O’Collins, a noteworthy theologian
and scripture scholar, used 22 letters of instruc-
tion and personal reflection to encourage his
niece Nevie as she began boarding school.
His aim is to show her affection and concern
while encouraging an interest in the biblical
scriptures as a way of sharing
his own love of the scriptures as
the means he used for coming to
know Jesus Christ as “The way,
the truth and the life”.
On the other hand, letters,
jottings and sayings retained and
treasured in the archival material
of the Sisters of St Joseph of
the Sacred Heart have given op-
portunities for interested people
to make connections to the
spirituality, values and feelings
of our first Australian saint, St
Mary of the Cross.
In particular, this material is a
rich source used by Sue and Leo
Kane to author two books, “The
Little Brown Book” (2009) and
“The Little Brown Book Too” (2011).
In their second book, they invite readers into
a further experience of “the spirituality that sus-
tained Mary MacKillop” and, as well, encourag-
ing readers “to be open to her spiritual legacy”
as a way of discovering new possibilities to
nourish their personal prayer life.
Additionally the authors hope to foster at a
deeper level an appreciation of the Gospel truths
that Mary MacKillop lived and witnessed to
while she consistently placed her faith and trust
in the providence of “her good God”.
Letters by Fr O’Collins are intended for an
adult audience as Nevie is an avid reader and
accomplished student.
Fr O’Collins reveals his inner joy of sharing
his knowledge of Jesus experienced through
years of developing a personal relationship with
Jesus during his daily offering of Eucharist.
Through relaxed “letter
conversation” with Nevie, he
gives critical interpretations of
passages from the four Gospels
as he teaches her
Christian values
and principles.
In a brief
postscript to each
letter he adds
news of personal
happenings and
sometimes retells
humorous anec-
dotes or gives
observations of
birds or other
creatures thus providing ad-
ditional insights into the mutual
interests of uncle and niece.
This is a unique book providing glimpses
into two peoples’ lives while at the same time
affording the reader engagement in critical
explanations of scripture from a scholarly and
innovative perspective.
Sue and Leo Kane, assisted by Sisters of
St Joseph, offer 60 short directed meditations
grouped in tens under six categories or themes
which they identify as stages in Mary MacKil-
lop’s life and ministry.
Skilful illustrations by Josephite Sister Helen
Barnes at intervals throughout the material sup-
port the themes.
Each meditation begins with an authentic
quote from Mary’s writings and concludes with
a quotation from scripture therefore reiterating
the intent of her statement.
Many of the writings are her reflections on
what was happening in her life and that of her
Sisters in relation to the presence and power of
God’s spirit with them in their lives and work.
The categories are Heart Thoughts, Walking
with One Another, Ready to
Receive, Turning Points, Lis-
tening to the Music of Life, and
Coming Home to The Centre.
Mary MacKillop’s beliefs,
values, spirituality and prin-
ciples by which she lived are
explored by the author who
frequently weaves a discussion
of her own experiences into
each meditation.
Mary MacKillop’s writings
and sayings reveal her spiritual
legacy of compassion, concern for others, ap-
preciation of nature and unshakeable faith and
confidence in God.
The authors invite readers to appropriate
these characteristics of the saint in their lives to
bring about deeper personal prayer experiences.
These two delightful books each using reflec-
tive letters and sayings as sources for sharing
Gospel truths are highly recommended.
Available from St Pauls Book Centre,
Elizabeth Street, Brisbane.
Book
Film
Good news stands out in personal letters
By-the-numbers action flick
GEOSTORM: Starring Gerard
Butler, Jim Sturgess, Abbie
Cornish, Alexandra Maria Lara,
Daniel Wu, Eugenio Derbez,
Andy Garcia, Ed Harris, Robert
Sheehan, Richard Schiff, Mare
Winningham, Zazie Beetz. Di-
rected by Dean Devlin. Rated
M (Mature themes and vio-
lence) 109 minutes.
By John Mulderig
MOSTLY murky, with a strong
chance of boredom is the forecast
for Geostorm. Never, perhaps, has
the potential wiping out of life on
Earth seemed so ho-hum.
In between the catastrophes that are the real
business of the day here,
director and co-writer
(with Paul Guyot) Dean
Devlin tries to engage the
audience by having a little
girl named Hannah (Talitha
Bateman) narrate the back-
story and by setting up a
sibling rivalry between
Hannah’s dad Jake Lawson (Gerard Butler) and
his younger brother Max (Jim Sturgess).
Jake is the smart-alecky scientist who created
the Dutch Boy network, a system of weather-
controlling satellites that, as of the near-future,
has successfully overcome the effects of global
warming.
And Max is a conformist State Department of-
ficial who had the unenviable task of firing Jake
after big brother mouthed off to a congressional
committee once too often.
But fraternal estrangement will have to take
a backseat to saving the world once it becomes
apparent that someone has sabotaged Dutch Boy
with the aim of causing a series of overwhelm-
ing natural disasters.
Hail the size of volleyballs, anyone?
So Jake and Max reluctantly bury the hatchet
and, with the help of Max’s live-in girlfriend
Sarah (Abbie Cornish), a Secret Service agent,
set about uncovering and defeating the plot.
Armchair apocalypse fanciers may relish the
ravaging of cities around the globe and the threat
of the titular civilisation-destroying phenom-
enon.
But anyone looking for more than mere
spectacle in this by-the-numbers action flick will
come away disappointed.
Max and Sarah’s dodgy domestic arrange-
ment eventually moves toward marriage and
the numerous armed confrontations are mostly
blood-free.
Self-sacrificing heroism also puts in an ap-
pearance as the movie’s climax looms. Nonethe-
less, given the script’s lapses into divine name-
taking and earthiness, this is still best suited to
easily satisfied grown-ups.
The film contains much gunplay and other
stylised violence with minimal gore, co-habi-
tation, about a half-dozen uses of profanity, a
couple of milder oaths and several crude and
crass terms.
John Mulderig is on the staff of Catholic
News Service.
Future trip: Jake Lawson (Gerald Butler) stars in a scene from the movie Geostorm. Photo: CNS