Posted: December 15

Finding God at the Movies

John Pungente SJ reports that he has had a productive year in his work in media education. The Canadian Jesuit has done five Scanning the Movies seminars this year; he used the movie, Mystic River, as an example of the Three Classes of Men. He is considering using a version of this presentation as a pilot for a TV series on the Exercises based on a book he is co-writing with Fr. Monty Williams, a Jesuit who does retreats at Loyola House in Guelph. Known for now as "Finding God in the Dark: The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Go To The Movies", it will be published by Novalis in Canada next year and possibly by Loyola Press in the USA.

He described the book: "This book intends to present the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola using film. For most people, the opportunity to do the full exercises of 30 days is impossible. They have neither the time nor the opportunity. Yet most people crave a spiritual life and a spiritual life that integrates the different elements of their daily lives. This book offers the opportunity to do so without leaving their home or work. It presents a practical way to make the Exercises using contemporary popular film, where watching the film becomes the act of contemplative prayer. The book is designed to be used by individuals or by groups. Besides daily life, it can be used in retreat, pastoral, academic or parish settings. It can then provide the basis for a television series. Such a broad range is possible because the Exercises of Ignatius focus on the imagination as embodying spirituality. Imagination does not exist in particular contexts; it is the context out of which we live our lives and the context in which the Incarnation occurs - that is where God encounters us, communicates with us, and transforms us."