At the heart of the Church is the Eucharist. The presence of Our Lord’s Body and Blood has the ability to transform lives in a variety of ways, and a new documentary film seeks to illustrate that.
EWTN News Nightly recently spoke with Lucia Gonzales, founder of Bosco Films, about ‘Alive’, which seeks to highlight the transformative power of the Eucharist through the lives of five people.
“It’s a very special documentary,” Gonzales said, “because it’s just people speaking about something that happened to them … how their life was before and after this moment in adoration, without knowing what was happening there, that changed their life forever.”
Gonzales described the film’s positive reception in Spain and Mexico, which took some by surprise.
“It was released exactly one year ago … in six theaters … [and] it was a huge success, ” Gonzales recounted. “[The movie] one year ago was sold out in all the seasons and in all the theaters … it was something that surprised a lot in the cinema industry because Alive doesn’t have a well-known director, it doesn’t have stars, [it didn’t have a high budget] to make it and for advertising. It was just people speaking to one another.”
Speaking about the film’s ability to resonate with so many people, Gonzales spoke about how she felt that the pandemic ultimately made people more open to talking more about spirituality. Additionally, the amount of continual hurt and pain that it has caused worldwide has allowed for the film’s themes to touch the hearts of its moviegoers as well.
Gonzales said it is the authenticity of the experiences in the film and how they are expressed to the moviegoer that, she believes, gives the film the heart necessary to inspire viewers.
“It’s just people speaking to you and telling you something that happens to them, ” Gonzales said, “and when you see and hear the truth, I think we can recognize it absolutely.”
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CNA Staff, Jan 13, 2021 / 06:38 pm (CNA).- During a webinar on human dignity this week, Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles reflected on immigration and the Christian’s obligation to love.Gomez, who is president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, spoke … […]
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey walks across the campus of St. John’s Prep in Danvers, Massachusetts, on April 9, 2024. / Credit: Screenshot of St. John’s Prep Facebook page last visited April 19, 2024
Boston, Mass., Apr 23, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).
Pro-lifers in the Archdiocese of Boston are criticizing Cardinal Seán O’Malley over two recent appearances at Catholic education events by the pro-abortion governor of Massachusetts.
Earlier this month, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat who supports legal and publicly funded abortion and who has taken steps to make abortions easier to obtain, spoke at a fundraiser for The Catholic Schools Foundation, which raises money for Catholic schools in the archdiocese and helps poor students attend.
O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston, is the chairman of the board of trustees of the foundation, though he was in Rome at the time of the gala and did not attend it.
Healey also recently visited a Catholic school north of Boston, speaking to students and answering questions.
C.J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, called Healey’s appearances “a grave scandal.”
“Cardinal O’Malley should be ashamed of himself. Is Maura Healey an inspiring role model for Catholic students?” Doyle said.
Thomas Harvey, chairman of the Massachusetts Alliance to Stop Taxpayer Funded Abortions, called including Healey at the Catholic events “really disgraceful,” and he placed the blame on O’Malley.
“Maura Healey is a huge proponent of killing babies in the womb, in direct defiance of Catholic teaching, and yet here she is being presented to impressionable Catholic students as if she were a Catholic role model,” Harvey told the Register by text. “And the clear message being sent to Catholic students here is that killing babies in the womb is just not that big a deal.”
In June 2004, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a document called “Catholics in Public Life,” which states: “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors, or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”
Terrence Donilon, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston, pointed out that Healey was not an honoree at the gala or during her earlier appearance at the Catholic school.
Since Healey is the governor of the state, Donilon said, Cardinal O’Malley has worked with her “on a number of issues important to Catholics and the wider community,” including public funding for the archdiocese’s charitable work providing “basic needs assistance, job training, child care services, and immigration and refugee assistance to thousands of residents,” as well as building “badly needed affordable housing” and trying “to stem gun violence.”
“At the same time, the cardinal has been a leader in the pro-life movement for over 50 years and his commitment in being a staunch promoter of life is well known and unwavering,” Donilon said.
O’Malley, 79, a Capuchin Franciscan, has frequently attended the March for Life in Washington, D.C., and has spoken at pro-life rallies. Last week, The Boston Globe published a column by O’Malley urging state legislators to oppose a bill that would legalize physician-assisted suicide.
But critics such as Doyle claim that O’Malley during his time as archbishop has seemed to mix easily and uncritically with abortion-supporting Catholic politicians, including the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy (whose funeral Mass he celebrated), the late Boston mayor Thomas Menino, former Boston mayor Marty Walsh, and the current governor, Healey, with whom he co-authored a column in The Boston Globe in September 2017 on immigration.
Donilon, O’Malley’s spokesman, addressing Healey’s participation in The Catholic Schools Foundation gala last week, said that “the governor has been a vocal supporter of Catholic education. … Our Catholic schools save cities and towns hundreds of millions of dollars in education costs. Our families benefit from an outstanding education based in an excellent faith-based environment.”
Gov. Maura Healey speaks to students at St. John’s Prep on April 9, 2024. Credit: Screenshot of St. John’s Prep Facebook page last visited on April 9, 2024.
Who is Maura Healey?
Healey, 53, was elected Massachusetts attorney general in 2014 with an endorsement from Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund. She served two terms as attorney general before being elected governor of Massachusetts in November 2022.
As an elected official, Healey has frequently supported public policies that clash with Catholic teachings on life and sexuality.
She has verbally attacked pro-life pregnancy centers, steered state government money to private abortion funds, and, in April 2023, quietly arranged for the flagship campus of the state-run University of Massachusetts to purchase 15,000 doses of abortion pills.
Healey’s administration in June 2023 successfully proposed a curriculum framework for public schools that calls for teaching between third and fifth grades “the differences between biological sex and gender identity” and “how one’s outward behavior and appearance does not define one’s gender identity or sexual orientation.”
Healey appeared Thursday, April 11, at the annual gala of The Catholic Schools Foundation at a hotel in Boston.
“So I didn’t have the benefit of going to Catholic school,” Healey said, according to a text of her remarks provided by a spokesman. “My mom went to Catholic school, and my nephew goes to Catholic school; we have priest[s] at the dinner table every Sunday. But I do know, both having been your attorney general and now as your governor, what your work means. And I can see that experience firsthand.”
She also said she wants to find ways “to partner” with the foundation “in the important work that you [are] doing.”
“And I want you to know that, as governor, I value our vibrant mix of education, our public schools, our private schools, and our religious schools,” Healey said.
Two days earlier, on Tuesday, April 9, Healey spent about 50 minutes with a group of 120 students at St. John’s Preparatory High School, a Catholic boys’ school founded by the Xaverian Brothers in Danvers, about 18 miles northeast of Boston, according to a description of the visit published on the school’s website. The school is in the Archdiocese of Boston, though it is not run by the archdiocese.
Healey had never visited the school before, “but it was quickly clear her personal values are closely aligned with those of the Xaverian Brothers,” the school’s write-up states.
Healey emphasized leadership and empathy during her remarks. The governor also told the students that while she believes in civil discourse, “there are some basic values that have kept our society intact,” and she told students they should “call out hate when you see it.”
“We can have differences of opinion on things,” Healey said, according to the school’s write-up, “but, to me, equality has got to abide. Respect for the dignity and worth of each person is something I call on people to really adhere to.”
Robert Joyce, a lawyer and member of the board of the Pro-Life Legal Defense Fund, which provides legal representation for pro-lifers, said that St. John’s Prep last fall turned down an offer he made to provide a pro-life assembly for students featuring a canon lawyer, a physician, and a vocations director. (The head of school, Edward Hardiman, did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.)
Joyce called Healey’s recent appearances at the gala and at the school “abominations for Catholic education.”
“They send the clear message to Catholic students and parents that critical, fundamental precepts of the Catholic faith are not all that important. In simple terms, they declare that protection of innocent unborn life and the defense of traditional marriage are negotiable with these Catholic educators,” Joyce indicated.
Healey is also a featured speaker at the annual Spring Celebration of Catholic Charities Boston scheduled for Wednesday, May 29, at the Boston Harbor Hotel in Boston. O’Malley is expected to receive an award at the event for his work in welcoming immigrants.
Healey and the Catholic Church
Healey does not often talk about religion in public, but she occasionally identifies herself as a Catholic.
In October 2018, when she was state attorney general, she led off a brief column in The Boston Globe with the words: “As a member of law enforcement and as a Catholic …”
In April 2022, when Healey criticized Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester for calling for a Catholic school to take down a rainbow flag, she added, according to MassLive.com: “And I speak as a Catholic …”
In October 2022, during a debate while she was running for governor, Healey used a Catholic reference while defending herself from a claim by her Republican opponent that a bill she had supported effectively legalized infanticide, as the National Catholic Register subsequently reported. “You know, my mom goes to Mass every morning,” Healey said.
Healey is widely thought of as a potential candidate for other offices. She would be an obvious Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts if either of the two incumbents (both in their 70s) leaves office.
Additionally, just hours before her appearance at The Catholic Schools Foundation gala, Healey participated in an event at Northeastern University in Boston honoring former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis. The moderator floated Healey as a potential future candidate for president of the United States, to applause from the audience.
This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and is reprinted here on CNA with permission.
St. Louis, Mo., Aug 14, 2024 / 18:01 pm (CNA).
Pro-life leaders in Missouri are urging voters to reject a proposed “reproductive freedom” constitutional amendment that would enshrine a so-called “right to abortion at any tim… […]
3 Comments
One day showing that didn’t get much advertising… Just like the movie about the baths in Lourdes… It’s seen all over Europe but here in ‘merica… Nope
I went to see the Movie Father Stu this past week. I knew it was playing in a particular theater because I had been to that theater days before and seen the listing over the cashier. HOWEVER, when I went to “Moviefone” online, Father Stu was not listed as showing AT ALL. Then I put Father Stu into the Moviefone search function and it came up as “not listed”. I dont know if there was simply no budget to advertise a listing for this film, of if someone made a decision not to list a “religious” film at Moviefone. However, I finally found the listing by going to the general AMC website. I found the whole experience odd. Had I not already been aware the film was playing at a particular location, I would have assumed it was not showing there at all. I guess only garbage gets an advertising budget. But why would a theater provide the listings for only SOME of the movies they were showing??
The movie will enhance your belief and faith, no matter where on the spectrum it lies. Definitely worth your time and effort to find and view. The film, in Spanish with English subtitles here in the U.S., played for only one day at select theatres, without much (any?) mainstream advertising outside Catholic media. I simply stumbled upon it and took the chance. The theater held a scant few of us, together in awe at the film unfolding. The projectionist forgot to start the film at the posted time; we had to go remind him that showtime was 10+ minutes late in starting.
The film is as described: Intermingling of 5-6 stories of individual lives transformed after discovery of the Eucharist, specifically Adoration. Powerful full-front facial images of all individuals, together with friends or acquaintances who confirmed changes in people’s lives. Particularly compelling were the atheist and non-believing skeptic who went along with a Catholic friend to adoration or to Mass, not expecting anything, not pressured in any way to attend, but who went due to lack of anything better or out of pure curiosity, puzzled by the friend’s or acquaintance’s commitment to adoration or to Mass. Then WHAM. Either at once or after some time still spent puzzling about the something, someONE happened to the skeptic, the atheist, the juvenile delinquent, the anomistic young none, the couple facing a difficult pregnancy, etc.
Artistically, the film powerfully wows. The initial interviews appear a bit of a confused whirlwind. Who are these people and how do their stories fit together? is the question asked at the start then answered by story end. Beautiful ending depicting a Baptism (only the beginning). One will leave the theater, bearing prayers for the seminarian’s parents, about whom I won’t spoiler alert the reader.
One day showing that didn’t get much advertising… Just like the movie about the baths in Lourdes… It’s seen all over Europe but here in ‘merica… Nope
I went to see the Movie Father Stu this past week. I knew it was playing in a particular theater because I had been to that theater days before and seen the listing over the cashier. HOWEVER, when I went to “Moviefone” online, Father Stu was not listed as showing AT ALL. Then I put Father Stu into the Moviefone search function and it came up as “not listed”. I dont know if there was simply no budget to advertise a listing for this film, of if someone made a decision not to list a “religious” film at Moviefone. However, I finally found the listing by going to the general AMC website. I found the whole experience odd. Had I not already been aware the film was playing at a particular location, I would have assumed it was not showing there at all. I guess only garbage gets an advertising budget. But why would a theater provide the listings for only SOME of the movies they were showing??
The movie will enhance your belief and faith, no matter where on the spectrum it lies. Definitely worth your time and effort to find and view. The film, in Spanish with English subtitles here in the U.S., played for only one day at select theatres, without much (any?) mainstream advertising outside Catholic media. I simply stumbled upon it and took the chance. The theater held a scant few of us, together in awe at the film unfolding. The projectionist forgot to start the film at the posted time; we had to go remind him that showtime was 10+ minutes late in starting.
The film is as described: Intermingling of 5-6 stories of individual lives transformed after discovery of the Eucharist, specifically Adoration. Powerful full-front facial images of all individuals, together with friends or acquaintances who confirmed changes in people’s lives. Particularly compelling were the atheist and non-believing skeptic who went along with a Catholic friend to adoration or to Mass, not expecting anything, not pressured in any way to attend, but who went due to lack of anything better or out of pure curiosity, puzzled by the friend’s or acquaintance’s commitment to adoration or to Mass. Then WHAM. Either at once or after some time still spent puzzling about the something, someONE happened to the skeptic, the atheist, the juvenile delinquent, the anomistic young none, the couple facing a difficult pregnancy, etc.
Artistically, the film powerfully wows. The initial interviews appear a bit of a confused whirlwind. Who are these people and how do their stories fit together? is the question asked at the start then answered by story end. Beautiful ending depicting a Baptism (only the beginning). One will leave the theater, bearing prayers for the seminarian’s parents, about whom I won’t spoiler alert the reader.
Go see it if you have the chance.