Recently I watched "The Sessions" where Helen Hunt plays a sex therapist who helps a paralyzed man learn how to enjoy sex. I thought it was pretty tastefully done and definitely not as graphic as a lot of other movies I can name. The movie left me wanting to know a lot more about this man's life and not just that one area. I would have liked to know how he managed to pay his bills and get reliable help if he had to spend most of his time in an iron lung with the exception of 3 hour periods where he could leave the iron lung. But inside the lung or outside he still had to live strapped to a gurney. How did he manage the other challenges of his life? The movie doesn't say.
Anyway, there are several scenes where Mark is going to confession and while I realize that the Catholic church isn't as monolithic as it used to be and that priests can vary from ultra-conservative to ultra-liberal, I found the confession scenes rather inaccurate. The movie has him making his confession from his gurney out in the open church where other parishioners are present and can hear everything. I find that very hard to believe. Confession is supposed to be a private matter between priest and penitent, especially when it concerns something personal. What is more likely is that Mark would have been taken either into the sacristry or the rectory where he could talk to the priest in private. Yes, these arrangements can be made. If in fact Mark was making his confession out in the open where others could see and hear, the bishop in charge of that diocese would hear about it in short order. But I guess it's more dramatic to show it that way.
What Mark wants is for the priest to give him permission to violate one of the major rules of the church. And this priest, being young and hip and liberal, goes right along with it. Well--could be. There are priests and there are priests. But I can guarantee you is if he'd been so unlucky to draw MONSIGNOR we would have a whole 'nuther movie indeed. We might even see a miracle where he gets up off of his gurney. That is, if he survived MONSIGNOR's wrath. Which was not to be taken lightly.
MONSIGNOR was the priest in charge of the parish where I received my earliest religious education. He was a large man with a large voice. The nuns did not need to use rulers on us kids; all they had to do is say MONSIGNOR and we were all quiet little mice. You did not run in MONSIGNOR's church. You did not chew gum in MONSIGNOR's church. You did not have meltdowns in MONSIGNOR's church. You sat quietly through the long Latin Masses. Because MONSIGNOR's wrath was the wrath of God in the Old Testament. There was no God of Love preached from his pulpit.
I had occasion once to be on the receiving end of MONSIGNOR's wrath. I was about 10 years old. At that time it was highly encouraged by the Catholic Church that its members go to confession at least once weekly. In MONSIGNOR's church "highly recommended" meant mandatory. Anyway, I went into the small, dark confessional, knelt down, and waited for him to slide back the cover over the screen window. When I heard the sound of the cover sliding I began. "Bless me Father for I have sinned it has been six weeks since my last confession--" That was as far as I got. "SIX WEEKS?" he roared. "SIX WEEKS!" And he proceeded to tell me that I was well down the road to perdition, that I might as well forget about Purgatory even, that there was no hope at all for me. And--looking back, I guess he was right. He saw something in that little 10 year old girl that even she didn't see then. I never did get to confess my sins to MONSIGNOR. I crept out of the confessional and ran out of the church.
Oh, yes, it would have been interesting if Mark (the paralyzed man) had made his request to MONSIGNOR.
Anyway, there are several scenes where Mark is going to confession and while I realize that the Catholic church isn't as monolithic as it used to be and that priests can vary from ultra-conservative to ultra-liberal, I found the confession scenes rather inaccurate. The movie has him making his confession from his gurney out in the open church where other parishioners are present and can hear everything. I find that very hard to believe. Confession is supposed to be a private matter between priest and penitent, especially when it concerns something personal. What is more likely is that Mark would have been taken either into the sacristry or the rectory where he could talk to the priest in private. Yes, these arrangements can be made. If in fact Mark was making his confession out in the open where others could see and hear, the bishop in charge of that diocese would hear about it in short order. But I guess it's more dramatic to show it that way.
What Mark wants is for the priest to give him permission to violate one of the major rules of the church. And this priest, being young and hip and liberal, goes right along with it. Well--could be. There are priests and there are priests. But I can guarantee you is if he'd been so unlucky to draw MONSIGNOR we would have a whole 'nuther movie indeed. We might even see a miracle where he gets up off of his gurney. That is, if he survived MONSIGNOR's wrath. Which was not to be taken lightly.
MONSIGNOR was the priest in charge of the parish where I received my earliest religious education. He was a large man with a large voice. The nuns did not need to use rulers on us kids; all they had to do is say MONSIGNOR and we were all quiet little mice. You did not run in MONSIGNOR's church. You did not chew gum in MONSIGNOR's church. You did not have meltdowns in MONSIGNOR's church. You sat quietly through the long Latin Masses. Because MONSIGNOR's wrath was the wrath of God in the Old Testament. There was no God of Love preached from his pulpit.
I had occasion once to be on the receiving end of MONSIGNOR's wrath. I was about 10 years old. At that time it was highly encouraged by the Catholic Church that its members go to confession at least once weekly. In MONSIGNOR's church "highly recommended" meant mandatory. Anyway, I went into the small, dark confessional, knelt down, and waited for him to slide back the cover over the screen window. When I heard the sound of the cover sliding I began. "Bless me Father for I have sinned it has been six weeks since my last confession--" That was as far as I got. "SIX WEEKS?" he roared. "SIX WEEKS!" And he proceeded to tell me that I was well down the road to perdition, that I might as well forget about Purgatory even, that there was no hope at all for me. And--looking back, I guess he was right. He saw something in that little 10 year old girl that even she didn't see then. I never did get to confess my sins to MONSIGNOR. I crept out of the confessional and ran out of the church.
Oh, yes, it would have been interesting if Mark (the paralyzed man) had made his request to MONSIGNOR.
