Fr. Thomas M. Pastorius
July 19, 2015
Spiritual Ponderings
Faith & Film: Going My Way

For the next movie, I will be traveling back to the year 1944. Going My Way is an American musical comedy/drama directed by Leo McCarey and stars Bing Crosby as Father Charles “Chuck” O’Malley and Barry Fitzgerald as the older and more set in his ways Father Fitzgibbons.

Fr. O’Malley has been given the difficult task of being in unofficially in charge of St. Dominic parish while allowing Fr. Fitzgibbon to believe that he is still in charge. This task was given to O’Malley by the bishop himself and so it is one that he tries to do the best of his ability.

Immediately Fr. O’Malley’s more unconventional style clashes with that of Fr. Fitzgibbon who we learn had dedicated his entire life to St. Dominic. Fr. Fitzgibbons eventually goes to meet with the bishop and he is able to deduce the true reason behind Fr. O’Malley’s assignment and thus he resigns from being pastor asking that Fr. O’Malley be made pastor in his place.

Fr. O’Malley sees the hurt in the old priest eyes and tries to cheer him up by having the parish raise money to send him back to Ireland so that he can see his mother who he has not seen since he left Ireland to become a priest and now she is over 90 years old. Before Fr. Fitzgibbons can take the trip, the Church catches on fire and the money is needed to repair the Church. Fr. Fitzgibbons therefore donates the money back to the Church to help it begin to rebuild. I do not want to spoil the end of the movie for you so I will stop there with my summary. It is a movie that I think every Catholic should watch.

The first spiritual insight in the movie that I would like to point out is that I believe the movie gives a good description of how much priest sacrifice for their parish especially in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Many of us do poor our hearts out and give all that we have. It can therefore be very devastating to us when after we given all that we have we discover that it is not enough or that our efforts go unappreciated. I think though that the movie also shows how rewarding the life of a priest is. The joy that we are able to bring to others is immense. Sometimes though we need to be affirmed by others in our ministry, the housekeeper and Fr. O’Malley affirm Fr. Fitzgibbons in good times and in bad and Fr. O’Malley found support from Fr. O’Dowd and Jenny Tuffel .

The second insight from the movie is that sometimes we do not get to see the fruits of our work. Fr. O’Malley planted many seeds in his work at St. Dominic but he is called to serve at another parish before he can see many of them come to fruition. Fr. O’Malley’s willingness to leave and go to another parish shows his love for God is greater than his love for his work or reaping the rewards of success. He quietly slips out in the middle of the night to move to his next assignment.

The third insight from the movie is that faith does not have to be down and dreary but can be uplifting. Fr. O’Malley shows this in the way that he helps people with their problems. He does not judge people but rather he suggests ways in which they can improve their life as a one friend might do to another. He treats all people with equal kindness including the nosy Church woman (who is the same actress as the wicked witch of the west in the Wizard of Oz), the school boys that he forms into a choir, the cohabitating couple, the house keeper, and the grouchy old banker. Fr. O’Malley changes them through his love and kindness and not through lectures.

The final insight from the movie is that God always provides but not always in the ways that we are thinking. In the movie Fr. O’Malley tries to sell a song he wrote called “Going My Way” but the record producers do not buy it. The choir encourages him to sing another song after his failure and the record producers buy that song instead.