Artists and spiritual writers through the millennia remind us how the capacity to hope keeps us human.  We all too easily live in the illusion of self-sufficiency, relying on our own abilities, or, feeling incapacitated through our powerlessness, succumb to despair.  Samuel Beckett, author of Waiting for Godot, deeply appreciated a line from St. Augustine:  “Do not despair; one of the thieves was saved. Do not presume; one of the thieves was damned.” An essayist elaborated that the mean attitude between presumption and despair is hope. Beckett further stated “. . . where we have both dark and light we have also the inexplicable.  The key word in my plays is perhaps.”  The gift of faith makes the “perhaps” moments in our lives even more poignant.  This season we offer four documentaries and five feature films whose artists evoke all the feelings surrounding hope.  May we feel understood and encouraged to trust in the promise of our God who offers us life and freedom through dying to our self-sufficiency and fear.    

Films will be introduced and followed by a brief discussion facilitated by a Maryknoll missioner.  Come, enjoy and reflect on our faith through the art of film.

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