Hello, friends, brothers, sisters Down Under.
First, I apologize for my voice. I’ve been having some problems with a chronic bronchitis recently. Please pray for me because of the bronchitis. I cannot go training, and lack of training is cause of this bronchitis. So, I’m trapped in a vicious circle. I can only get out with your prayers.
Next, I want to apologize for the bad quality of this film. It’s dark already, and I didn’t have time to put all the lights and the cameras in place to make a more or less professional video. It’s quite amateurish.
Next, I want to apologize that I don’t want to comment on the readings for today, because I was too impressed by a film I saw yesterday evening. A friend (a young friend) invited me to see it, and probably you know the film it is “Warrior”. I think it’s 2011 2012 It’s about, basically it’s about the father and his two sons. One is an ex-marine boxer and the other is in is a family father who actually has some experience, and quite a good experience, with mixed martial arts.
It’s not unusual that quality films have a screenplay that actually has a lot of Christian or philosophical themes. There’s always a certain wisdom behind good films but yesterday I was really struck because I think, providentially, there are a lot of things in that film. I just would like to mention that, and maybe encourage you to look at this this film again because it’s not just a fighting film, but it’s the fight of life.
Very often when there are two heroes fighting, it is an image of men fighting with himself and it is actually man fighting with God, not so much between good and evil (that’s for the cheesy Hollywood movies) but between the man who wants to know God and the man who, with the best intentions, wants to live a good, dutiful life as nature wants men to be. So, it’s more a fight between the religious man and the good natural man who is tempted to forget that he is a mediator between God and his wife and his family, and to a larger to a larger extent, with society.
The allegory in this film I found very, very deep, and, in fact mystic. Have a look at this film and imagine that the father of the two sons is in fact the Heavenly Father. The older son, Brandon, is either the Holy Spirit, and then Tommy, his younger brother, is Christ. You could also say Brandon, the older brother, could also be Christ, who is risen, who is united to his bride, and then Tommy is more like John the Baptist – John the Baptist, who lives and has lived in a fantastic way, and he wants to live in us!
The phrase that was written on the big poster that was (that used to be) in Father Dave gym that unfortunately burned (and I guess this poster burned with it) but it shows a boxer, and it has the text, “All Guts, No Glory”, and I think that just defines the personality of Tommy in this film.
So, it’s either John the Baptist, and then his older brother is the Holy Spirit – sorry, and then his older brother is Jesus – or Tommy is Jesus before, and in his sacrifice, sent into the world, and then Brandon in some way is the Holy Spirit.
Think about that. Have a look at this film. See the different relationships of these men with the mother = the mother who, well, you know, the film and you’re going to see it in the film, who died a long time ago. See the role of Brandon’s wife. See the role of the of the relation, or see the relationship between Tommy and the widow of his best friend. Have a look at that. It’s about not the sweet and cheesy way of looking at Christianity. It’s about the real fight in life when God sent his Son into the world, the real fight started – the fight that will bring the end of the world, not with a bang but a whimper – a whimper where the correct kind, the religious kind, of vulnerability is shown.
It’s not a weakness or being a coward when you cannot solve problems. Man wants to, and I think should, escape from that vulnerability. If your vulnerable on that side, because of fear, you’re not going to be able to sacrifice. You’re not going to find any fulfilment of your deepest desires in your life – your deepest aspiration – but you see that the vulnerability of this man – of these men – is that they cannot change the past and that’s where they meet God.
And so, the three men in this film actually, in an amazing way, signify the way that, through real strife, real spiritual fight, the three Divine Persons have to break their way into our hearts, and they will continue fighting in our hearts until we return to our father.
Prepared for broadcast on The Sunday Eucharist for Sunday, September 24, 2023
Connect with Father Elias Leyds on Facebook
