Fr. Thomas M. Pastorius July 9, 2017 Spiritual Ponderings: Faith & Film – Rogue 0ne
Let us spend sometime today reflecting on the movie: Rogue 1: A Star Wars Movie.
Rogue 1: A Star Wars Movie There were once two scientists who were best of friends. The first was a man named Galen Erso and the second was a man named Orson Krennic. At some point, Galen Erso discovers or reasons that the scientific breakthroughs that he and his partner are working on can be used for great evil and so he takes his family and goes into hiding. Orson Krennic uses the research in order to advance in rank in the Empire. Krennic eventually tracks down his old friend and forces him to help complete building the Death Star. Erso helps build the weapon but includes a design flaw in it. He hopes he can get word about the defect to his daughter Jyn so that she can help the Rebel Alliance destroy his evil invention.
Cassian Andor learns of Galen’s message and tracks down Jyn hoping that she will help him. In the process they put together a team that is comprised of Chirrut Imwe (a blind warrior) Baze Malbus (mercenary friend of Chirrut), Bohdi Rook (a former Empire Cargo Ship pilot) and other rebel outcasts. Together they successfully steal the plans to the Death Star and transmit them to the rebels before they are all killed.
Spiritual Insight 1: Beware of Technology Human beings have demonstrated a great capacity for scientific growth. Unfortunately, I am not sure if our ethical growth as a race has kept up. Just because we can do something does not mean we should do something. A man may be able to physically beat up a child but he in no way should. In the same way, we human beings have advance far enough that we can create life in petri dishes but we shouldn’t because whenever human beings create something we begin to implement quality controls. We have thousands of people literally locked away in refrigerators in small little prisons called petri-dishes. We have created drugs that give us a temporary high feeling to help escape the present moment when we really should be facing these moments and learning, growing, and healing from them. Technology can be responsible for thousands of deaths just like the Death Star in the movies.
Spiritual Insight 2: Ambition and Competition can blind us Orson Krennic’s competition with Governor Tarkin renders him blind to the full implications of the moral implications of his weapon are. He is only interested in gaining fame and power under this new regime. Sadly, Ambition and Competition can blind us today to the needs of others. Ambition and Competition also lead to a greater lack of respect for life. Others become either allies to help one advance or obstacles that must be overcome. This is why Krennic is able to kill Galen’s wife without a second thought and still consider himself Galen’s friend.
Cassian also suffers from a blind ambition in the movie. He is so set on defeating the Empire that he is willing to do anything and in the process he becomes able to kill another without a second thought. As he gets to know Jyn and teams with her, he begins to have a greater respect for life which is demonstrated by the fact that he refuse to kill Galen when he had a chance.
Spiritual Insight 3: Trusting the Future While Chirrut is not a Jedi he is able to sense the force and it allows him to fight despite being blind. Chirrut often speaks a mantra as he fights – “And I fear nothing. For all is as the Force wills it.” Chirrut does not fear death because he trusts that the Force will work things out for good. It would be nice if each of us trusted in the Holy Spirit the way that Chirrut trusts in the Force. Chirrut’s saying made me think of this story about St. John Chrysostom found in Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan’s book:
The Road of Hope: A Gospel from Prison.
“You need to fear only one thing: sin.
When he was the patriarch of Constantinople, John Chrysostom incurred the wrath of the Byzantine court for his strong denunciation of sin in the Emperor’s family. Various plans were suggested as means or exacting revenge on the saint.
Plan A: Imprisonment. “But” court officials protested, “there he will have the opportunity to pray and suffer for the Lord as he has always desired.”
Plan B Banishment “But for him, everywhere is the Lord’s country.”
Plan C Death. “But then we will satisfy his desire to be a martyr… None of these plans will cause him to suffer; on the contrary, he will joyfully accept them.
“No, there is only one thing John fears and hates above all else: sin. But it is impossible to force him to commit sin!”
If you fear sin only, no one will be stronger than you.”