The roots of ‘May the Force be with you’
The well-known Star Wars phrase “May the Force be with you” is modelled on the biblical phrase “The Lord be with you”, first found in the Book of Ruth, wrote Philip Kosloski at Aleteia.org.
“George Lucas was raised in a Methodist family and may have heard the phrase there, or while attending other Christian services, he wrote. “Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz confirmed in the book How Star Wars Conquered the Universe that the phrase was intentionally evocative of the blessing.”
“In the end, the Jedi in the Star Wars universe use ‘May the Force be with you’ in a very similar way to how the Jews and early Christians used the phrase ‘The Lord be with you.’ This was no coincidence and it should remind us how Christianity’s influence can be found in the unlikeliest of places,” Kosloski said.
The first Romani woman beatified Emilia Fernández Rodríguez, a pregnant woman who found her faith in a Spanish prison, refused to give up the name of her Christian catechist to her persecutors, and died for lack of medical care was beatified last Saturday.
At the Catholic News Agency, Blanca Ruiz quoted historian Martin Ibarra: “Emilia is a martyr of suffering, because she died some 10 days after giving birth for lack of medical attention, clutching her rosary. She had a chance to apostatise, to betray the one who taught her the faith, but she did not. She’s an example.”
This March Emilia became the first Romani or gypsy woman to be beatified, in a group of martyrs from Almeria in Spain.
Ibarra’s book Emilia, the Basket Maker, Martyr of the Rosary tells of her life and death, and of her profound devotion to the rosary.
Homophobia and Catholic schools
On LMSchairman.org, Dr Joseph Shaw of the Latin Mass Society was strongly critical of a 37-page document on homophobic bullying, Made in God’s Image, from the Catholic Education Service.
He quoted a scenario from the document in which a mother tells her son that Uncle Michael is gay and living with his boyfriend. The mother says: “That sort of thing isn’t right, Andrew, and I’m not having it – living with a man, for God’s sake! I wouldn’t be exposing you to that nonsense. He knows the family doesn’t approve of him and he just goes right ahead and does it anyway.”
Shaw commented: “The Church’s teaching on sexuality can still be taught in Catholic schools, they say: and isn’t that nice?” But this section of the document implied that the Church’s teaching “just is homophobic. To distance oneself from wrongful public behaviour cannot, we are told, be separated from the idea of fearing and hating a whole category of people, on the basis that some of the people in this category might on occasion behave wrongly.”
✣Meanwhile…
✣ In an interview in the Daily Trust, Cardinal John Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria said: “Since I turned 65, doctors warned me about taking things easy and cutting down on some things. So I have lost control over my choice of food. My dietician has already instructed my cook on what to give me.” The closest person to him is “the priest with whom I live, Fr Emmanuel. I call him my landlord. He and my cook conspire over what I eat. Without them I’m not sure what I would eat.”
✣ Pope Francis is to appear as himself in a feature film – the first time any pope has done so. Beyond the Sun was inspired when Francis asked the producers to create a film aimed at young people that could communicate the message of the Gospels. “Who better to have on your side to deliver an important societal and spiritual message than the Pope?” said Andrea Iervolino, a co-founder of Ambi Pictures.
✣ The Vatican hosted a conference last week on “Black Holes, Gravitational Waves and Space-Time Singularities”. The event at the Vatican Observatory helped to demonstrate that science and religion are not in conflict. Br Guy Consolmagno SJ, director of the Observatory, said it might help if more scientists who were believers “came out”, sharing their faith.
✣The week in quotations
Many young people in the Church today … have fallen into the temptation of rigidity Pope Francis in a homily at the Domus Sanctae Marthae Catholic News Service
Weep bitterly, be humble, and believe in Christ A letter from Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan European Union Times
I respect it, but I will not use it Vatican Archbishop Rino Fisichella on the title ‘Pope Emeritus’ Vatican Insider
Let’s not just always focus on the negative Cardinal Kevin Farrell on the Church’s mission to families Catholic News Agency
✣Statistic of the week
62% The proportion of French Catholics who voted for Macron in the presidential runoff Source: Ifop
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