Book Review: The Catholic Hipster Handbook

I received The Catholic Hipster Handbook as a Christmas gift in the year of our Lord 2017. After quickly reading it and feeling very passionate about the contents, I decided to share my thoughts and passion in the form of an extended review.

The book title pretty much explains what it's all about. It's focused on Catholic subjects, written by various practicing Catholics with a Catholic audience in mind. It emphasized the Hipster attitude and mentality, the desire to be outside of trends, to be highly attracted to vintage things, and to dig deeper into stuff that is obscure in mainstream pop culture contexts. And it was a Handbook in the sense that it covered a variety of ways on how to be a Catholic hipster and provides the reader with various prayers and activities to push them to become an even greater Catholic hipster than before.

Each chapter was written in this specific format:

1) Article on chapter topic

2) A Cool Saint (or Blessed) that connects to the topic

3) A Forgotten Prayer that connects to the Cool Saint (or Blessed)

4) An Activity that connects back to the topic

It's hard to say that each topic is divided up into "chapters". Each chapter felt more like a short article or a blog post written by the individual contributors. Even the occasional footnotes sometimes made it feel more like a research paper from college than an actual book.

With that being said though, each article is engaging, intriguing, and fun to read. The uniform format with which each article is written also gives the book more of a professional touch rather than just a potpourri of friends writing whatever they feel like contributing to a blog. And there was still enough individual approaches to that uniform style that allowed each contributor to stand out in their specific way and provide various amounts of information depending on the topic at hand.

It helped me to be familiar with some of the contributors beforehand through other forms of media, including Youtube (Steven Lewis), podcasts (Sarah Vabulas), radio (Anna Mitchell), and Twitter (Tommy Tighe). This foreknowledge provided me with a better understanding of the voice that the writers were using, allowing me to detect the humor and wit with which they wrote their articles. This understanding also clued me in to how I was supposed to receive the writings of the other contributors, taking them seriously overall while also understanding that there is humor and joy at work in the writing as well.

This book is a very quick read. Even after reading a couple bits at a time, putting it down to do something else, and then picking it up again, it only really took me a couple of days to finish the whole thing and it really could've taken one single day if I was less distracted. Majority of the articles are only about four pages long or so, and each article offers something intriguing to keep the reader interested.

If there was one downside to how fast of a read the book is, it's that I felt like I always rushed through the Forgotten Prayers too quickly, especially when it came to the longer prayers. Whether it was my own desire to bust through each topic as quickly as possible, the overall pace/flow of each article, or my inability to read the book in a prayerful manner, I just always felt like I did not pace myself correctly when it came to the Forgotten Prayers. The good news is that, being a book that I own, I have the ability to go back and re-read each prayer and personally take my time with any of them that I choose to.

The Activities portions of each article provided the most fun and simultaneously the most challenging elements of the book. Sometimes it was simple stuff like take a quiz or look up certain people and websites online. Sometimes they would spiritually dare the reader to begin doing something like go to Daily Mass or begin praying the Liturgy of the Hours.

Then there were surprises like recommending a pilgrimage to local shrines without driving there, reconnecting with people you disagree with to grow in mercy towards them, and practicing minor mortification and Ignatian prayer. There was never any activity that I objected to, just sometimes I would get caught off guard by things that I thought would be hard for me to do initially. Aside from the challenges, there's other fun recommendations for events and games to try with friends. I'm making it a goal to do each activity at some point during 2018.

This book has some potential to appeal to non-Catholic readers as well as the intended Catholic audience. I think non-Catholics can learn some truths about the Catholic faith/ culture from people who seriously practice it and live it out. I'm not saying a lot of non-Catholics are gonna understand or appreciate this book, but I don't think it's so narrow that it doesn't invite non-Catholics to the party. The witty writing and hipster sensibilities are the main elements that will engage non-Catholic readers.

Catholic readers, meanwhile, are given a book that is a step up from the usual How-to-Catholic books that cover the initial basics. This handbook not only reinforces good daily spiritual practices, but also challenges those of us who already strive every day to grow closer to God. That challenge comes through unique activities and events as well as further daily practices. I think this is one of the main reasons why I like this book so much. It mainly addresses those of us Catholics who are daily practicing the faith and looking for something to help us make further improvements as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Since this book not a beginner's level guide to reversion or conversion, it is able to assume that the intended audience already knows a lot of Catholic buzzwords and is probably already doing something for daily prayer and spiritual growth. Sure, it's not a deeply mystical tome heavy on theology and high falutin' scholarly language, but it doesn't have to be because there's other books for that. I find it refreshing to have a book that's in between the intro level and monastic level of understanding Catholicism that can also provide me with insights and challenges that are related to my current way of living and applicable to how and why I want to grow in my relationship with God.

Here's how much I recommend this book: I would give this handbook to every young adult Catholic I know and interact with. I wanna get a book club going on this thing! I wanna hear a talk or give a talk about this book! I wanna hear or do a podcast episode solely about this book! It provides a lot of good conversation material and spiritual things to reflect upon. It's definitely worth having in your personal library at home.

Valuable Movies: The Tree of Life

No, this is not a scene from The Revenant, but I can see where you'd make that mistake.

After watching Drive and feeling underwhelmed by that movie, I decided I wanted to immediately jump into another movie that I desperately wanted to see from my Need-to-See List. So, in two sittings on two separate days, I watched The Tree of Life, directed by Terrence Malick. It has been over a week since I finished the movie and I've been digesting the experience ever since.

There's some movies I watch where I feel like I have to prepare myself ahead of time. I may not exactly know what the experience will be like, but I do know that it will be totally different from most other movies and a truly unique to the picture I'm about to witness. The Tree of Life is one of those movies I felt like I needed to prepare myself for. Get plenty of sleep the night before, be in a relaxed mood, be mentally aware, all that kind of stuff.

This is definitely an experience of a movie. It does not play by conventional filmmaking rules so you do not examine it like every other conventional movie. It plays by its own rules and you have to follow them, allowing yourself to be led on a mystery. That does not mean I still cannot analyze and critique it for its Artistic and Moral Values, just that I have to frame my critique with a different understanding of what makes a movie bad or good compared to how I critique something like Drive.

Artistic Value (Rating: 4.5)

What is it? I don't know. Welcome to this movie's experience!

Most of my critique and appreciation of this movie deals with the Artistic Value because this is mainly a piece of high visual art. This movie is filmed with tons of fast paced edits cutting to a variety of scenes throughout time and space. We get so many visuals involving water and trees, then cut back to suburban life in 1950s Texas, cut to modern urban architecture, then back to flying views of volcanoes and outer space, and in between the movie stuffs in some glowing ethereal lights like an orange Aurora Borealis.

This movie definitely tries to fit a lot of visuals into the camera shot. Often, there are nice big fishbowl lense shots where the actor is the main focus, but there's tons of scenery around them to add to the atmosphere. This is so that, even if you may not fully understand the point of the visual, you at least know where you are and what is going on around the character. It also helps to establish atmosphere and mood, keeping the audience in a calm sense of awe and wonder.

Here comes the sun (doo-duh-doo-doo)

The cinematography is gorgeous, as are whatever effects were used to create the galactic and prehistoric pieces. There were many shots where I had to wonder whether a special visual effect or a practical effect was used to achieve the image. I like that mystery because that means that at least I felt connected to the movie and felt that this image is real, whether it was created on computer or created by props.

The Tree of Life is visual poetry, which can be both good and bad. A lot of the philosophy and questions that are posed in the movie are done through what you see on screen compared to what you hear spoken. And since it does not strive to particularly answer the questions directly, that adds to the poetic aspect of the final product. The reason why it can be considered bad to be visual poetry is because it is such high art that it can feel almost arrogant or self-confident. If movies are busy trying to impress their audience and speak such lofty philosophical jargon, that can turn people off from appreciating the artistry of the movie. Thankfully, the arrogance is kept low in this movie so that the poetic aspect can still maintain integrity.

Although sometimes it does show off.

I often criticize movies for being slow and too quiet. This criticism stems from a connection with the pace of the movie in question. If I think a movie's pace is too slow, it means that I think a movie is lingering on some visual or some idea much much longer than necessary. The reason it's longer than necessary is because the movie was trying to make some point or feed the audience some sort of information, but once it has accomplished either goal, it continues to linger on the point or image without continuing to develop the story or the characters. So, because The Tree of Life is a slow movie in terms of plot and development, it had a hard task of being slow with good reason while keeping my interesting.

The editing of the movie helped to keep the pacing quick enough to the point of keeping it interesting. The pacing of Drive is one of my criticisms or negative opinions about that particular movie because it made its point and yet lingered far too long. Here in The Tree of Life, even if you do not fully understand everything being said and seen on screen, it gives you enough to grasp what's happening then moves on to continue developing its point or move on to the next point of view. This pacing, especially in the first half, is what kept me engaged and interested in moments where I scratched my head and in normal circumstances may have turned the movie off.

The first half is wonderfully enchanting, with so many various shots and angles that you do not care that you're essentially being dropped smack near the end of the story in the beginning. The characters played by Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain first appear at older stages in their characters' lives, then during the rest of the movie we see scenes of them as young lovers and then as young parents. There are different leaps back and forth in time, almost giving the movie a dream-like quality where the dream is constantly shifting or changing but your mental awareness for the story maintains focus and awareness.

Though you always wonder how your house moves itself to the salt flats.

The second half takes on a more conventional narrative, or more specifically the third quarter of the movie does, which focuses on the childhood of the Sean Penn character. Instead of such dramatic leaps in time, we are treated to a straightforward progression in time and we linger longer on moments and stories that in the first half would've been told in passing images. This is where the movie drags more and actually began to lose me because it clashed so much with the first half. When you're introduced to a unique visual and storytelling style that is full of mystery and poetry, you begin to assimilate that style into your reception of the movie. Then we get dropped back into more standard plot development, even if the cinematography and editing remains somewhat stylized. I think the movie should've stuck to what it was doing, especially since in the final quarter it returns to the highly stylized visuals.

The narrations are also one of the positive and negative attributes of this movie. The narration allows the characters to express their inner thoughts, which is made especially cool when the dialogue is phrased in a way that the character can be speaking internal thoughts about their parent, God, or both. The use of narration also allows the images to continually move in rapid fire motion while maintaining particular focus on developing the character that is narrating. The negative aspect to me, which may seem like a nitpick, is that it's essentially all done in whispers. I cannot really recall any of the narration being spoken at a normal volume level, it was all quiet and raspy. At first, you don't really notice and it keeps you calm, but after so much narration continuously being done at this pitch and volume, it eventually gets grating to listen to. I love Bob Ross, and I enjoy when he does gently whisper, but he also fluctuates his pitch and volume so that it is not constantly at one level like it seemed like this movie was going for.

Moral Value (Rating: 5)

How Brad Pitt hugs all of his children.

Much of this movie's dialogue is like prayer, where the character is alone and communicates to God. They communicate lots of great questions as well as their interpretation of their life experiences based on those questions. We examine what is true love, what is the meaning of suffering, what is the purpose of life and death, what is right and what is wrong, all through tough questions posed by characters in vulnerable moments. Again, the movie does not directly answer the questions, but explores avenues towards answering those questions through the visuals and storytelling.

I found myself relating to a lot of the struggles in the father-son relationship that gets explored in the third quarter of the movie. The son's attempt to understand a tough love father figure, and how that father figure plays into the son's relationship with God, spoke to me directly, as did the boy's struggles when puberty began and the impact that time period had on his relationship with his mother. It was true and genuine, at least in my own viewing of it.

 There are consequences to the negative things that the people do, even if those consequences are not immediate or seen on the surface level. Once people experience these consequences, there is acknowledgement of wrongdoing and repentance, so that they can change for the better. The beautiful thing about the struggles in this movie is that it does involve a happy ending. We experience reconciliation and love at the end after all of the pain and anguish that the characters go through beforehand. This makes the emotional stakes and the suffering of the characters pay off in the end, to me. This also helps to punch up a positive morality in this movie.

...I got nothing. It's just a picture of this movie's family unit.

The MPAA rating for this movie is PG 13, which is only really because of the life experiences that the characters go through. There's images of spousal abuse (mainly verbal) and scenes of the tough physical type of fatherly parenting that we either remember or imagine growing up with in the past. The Sean Penn character, as a boy, goes through puberty and does some wicked acts out of curiosity and malice that he cannot seem to control. There are some images of a man having a seizure and convicts being thrown in police cars, but nothing is explicit or graphic. I can see this movie only really being viewed and enjoyed by adults. Not that there is much that is inappropriate for kids, but only because adults will fully appreciate and grasp the life experience of the characters. Even then, the movie is so different from a standard movie viewing experience, and the quality of the high art poetry is so high, that even some adults may not enjoy sitting through this whole movie. It is strange, challenging, and definitely worth exploring and staying with til the end.

Overall Value Rating: 4.75 out of 5

Saints: Role Models for Men- St. Maximilian Kolbe

Today's post may be short, but that does not mean there is any less significance or importance to the life and work of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest and monk. He is a modern saint for good reasons.

Devotion and Evangelization

St. Maximilian Kolbe had a deep devotion to Mary. He even named a society he founded the Militia of the Immaculata. Then he established a magazine Knight of the Immaculata as an extension of the militia. The aim of the society and the magazine was to evangelize to as many people as possible in order to combat evil. He created houses for his society to work in, one in Poland and the other in Japan. He was a traveler who had a mission that he pursued each day.

Devotion and Imprisonment

St. Maximilian Kolbe lived and worked during the rise of the Nazis and the start of the second World War. Kolbe, along with his Franciscan brothers, was arrested and put in a concentration camp. One time, a prisoner escaped the camp and as punishment, the Nazis gathered a group of men together and picked ten of them to die in a starvation bunker.

 St. Maximilian Kolbe volunteered himself after a man, who had a wife and children, pleaded for his life to be spared. He went to the bunker with the nine other men and led them through song and prayer. In their final moments, Kolbe evangelized and did what he could to aid the men around him.

Christianity in Harry Potter's Wizarding World: The Prisoner of Azkaban Part 1

Heaven & Bless

Let's start at the end. While Dumbledore is talking to Harry, after Lupin leaves Hogwarts, they discuss Professor Trelawney and Dumbledore says "bless her". This is a statement similar to one made by Gilderoy Lockhart in the previous story about one of his admirers. This statement is a way of wishing someone good fortune, someone who may especially need it. Dumbledore knows secret things about Professor Trelawney, and yet knows that she can be a difficult person for the students and staff to get along with, so he makes says "bless her" when Harry brings her up.

Now, there is another common phrase that makes an appearance much earlier in the book. Just before the return to Hogwarts, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are having a debate in the Leaky Cauldron about Harry and Sirius Black. Mrs. Weasley says "for heaven's sake" when talking about Harry.

What does this statement mean as a Christian reference within the context of the wizarding world? Well, as a phrase, it seems to be used as a way of expressing frustration. Mrs. Weasley expresses frustration towards her husband, who wants to reveal secrets about Sirius Black to Harry and her frustration is caused by her desire to protect Harry from horrible knowledge about Black. The phrase itself, outside of any context, may sound like "for the sake of heaven", meaning that the person saying it would be making a statement for the sake of Heaven, the eternal good paradise with God. However, in the context, it seems to follow that Mrs. Weasley is just simply bringing the name of eternal paradise into the conversation as a way to make her frustration known.


God

At the first Care for Magical Creatures lesson, Malfoy says "God, this place is going to the dogs". Later, while talking to Harry and Ron, Hagrid says "Gawd knows". Both of these uses of "God" lightly make use of the name. Malfoy uses the name of "God" in a way to express his frustration while Hagrid uses the same name to express his confusion on a matter. Both usages demonstrate that the wizarding community is incredibly familiar with God, familiar enough to be able to use His name in conversation without anyone being confused about what the wizard means when they say "God".

Godfather

I know this is from the fifth movie and not the third. There's just wasn't a good picture of these two from the latter.

The first time that Harry, and the reader, learns that Sirius Black is Harry's godfather is when he eavesdrops on a conversation in the Three Broomsticks and Minister Cornelius Fudge says "Black was best man when James married Lily. Then they named him godfather to Harry".

I think that brings up several questions concerning the nature of Sirius' role as godfather. Was he made godfather just to kind of be a non-related uncle or a possible future guardian? Like, did James say "Hey, Sirius, just in case my wife and I end up dead, do you wanna be first in line of being Harry's guardian? We'll even call you godfather just to make it official. Our only other option is Lily's sister and her husband, and...we'd rather it be you."? Or is this a religious title? Was Harry baptized and by his baptism Sirius was made godfather, to help raise Harry and bring him up in the faith? What denomination was Harry baptized in?

Next time we hear about Sirius as "godfather" is while Sirius invites Harry to come live with him on their return to Hogwarts castle. This helps us understand that the role of godfather in this context is like the first scenario. Sirius was expected to become something of an uncle to Harry and help raise him up if Harry's parents were ever gone. There does not seem to be any religious responsibility when it comes to being godfather. It just seems to be a man outside of a family to be given a title to connect himself with the family.

Compare that with the Catholic Christian title of "godfather". As a godfather, I also take on the responsibility of helping to raise my godson as if I were an uncle or a guardian (I'm technically a cousin once removed, so I'm not called Uncle Keeler or anything like that). However, I'm also given responsibility to help bring up my godson faithfully and to watch over him spiritually. I am called to model my life in a way that brings my godson closer to God and help him along his faith journey. Sirius Black, in the wizarding world, does not seem to have any of this kind of role in his position as godfather.

Saints: Role Models for Men- Sts. Peter and Paul

Yesterday was the Feast Day of Sts. Peter and Paul. Both are awesome and today I decided to highlight some of the incredible things we learn about these men from Scripture.

St. Peter

Made a Mistake/ Picked Himself Up

St. Peter seemed to kind of be the guy who spoke before he acted often during Jesus's ministry. He seemed to think he had the answer and knew what to do, and then through Jesus learned that he was wrong. However, during the Passion of Jesus Christ, we see Peter stumble the greatest. Even though Jesus warned him of the three denials before the cock crows, Peter seems to forget it as he quickly denies knowing who Jesus is three times. Big mistake!

St. Peter, however, becomes the Church's first Pope and one of the first martyrs. How? He admits that he was wrong, and works to set thing right. After Jesus' resurrection, Peter replies to Jesus three times "Lord, you know I love you". He takes on the role of leadership once Jesus ascends into Heaven and leads the early Christians through the beginnings of their evangelization and persecution.

Boss Speaker

During Pentecost, after the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles, they began speaking in various languages and preaching to the Jews. Many were confused, and others thought the Apostles were drunk. St. Peter replied with the first century equivalent of "Dude, it's only 9am!" before launching into an epic speech explaining why it was that the Apostles could speak in tongues and he taught the crowds about the truth of Jesus. At the end, St. Peter asked the people to be baptized in the name of Jesus, and 3000! people were added to the number of Christians that day.

Not to mention, during this time period, Peter and the Apostles were brought before the Pharisees. When the Pharisees would accuse them of crimes and blasphemies and attempt to have the Apostles dig themselves into a hole, Peter always came back with the best response to keep from falling into the Pharisees' traps.

Man of Faith

So one night the Apostles were sailing across the Sea of Galilee and a storm disturbs their boat. They see Jesus walking on the water, at first thinking that it was just a ghost or vision. Peter called out and Jesus invited him out onto the water. Because of his love for Jesus and his faith, Peter stepped out of that boat and walked on top of that rough sea water to join Jesus.

Granted, Peter eventually began to fall and Jesus had to rescue him and rebuke him for his little faith, but just think how amazing it is that, because of his love for Jesus and his desire to follow him, Peter was able to walk on top of the sea even for a short time.

St. Paul

Change of Heart

St. Paul was a strict and dedicated Jewish man before his conversion. He was so dedicated, that when Christianity first came into being, St. Paul (also named Saul) would capture and persecute any Christian person he could find. Just think about that. The man who wrote many of the letters found in the New Testament started out by imprisoning Christian people. However, after a miraculous encounter with Jesus, St. Paul converted and became one of the greatest evangelizers the Church has ever known.

Deep Conviction

St. Paul's characteristic dedication transferred well into his life as a Christian. Often times, when preaching about Jesus in various towns and synagogues, Paul would cause such trouble that mobs of people would gather to beat and stone him. There is one story in Acts that explains that Paul was injured so bad from one stoning that people thought he was dead and dragged him outside the city wells. However, Paul woke up, got to his feet, and walked right back into the city to continue evangelizing to the people like a boss.

Reaching Out

The early Christian movement before Paul was focused on the conversion of the Jewish people. However, it was St. Paul who began to reach out to the Gentiles, the non-Jewish, pagan members of society. At first, this caused a stir within the Christian community, however, St. Peter had a vision and agreed that it was the right thing to do to reach out to the Gentiles. It was St. Paul who was the primary evangelizer to the Gentiles and without him, it might have been some time before Christianity became its own entity that differed from Judaism.

Christianity in Harry Potter's Wizarding World: The Chamber of Secrets Part 1

Ottery St. Catchpole

In Chapter 3, after the Weasley brothers rescue Harry from the Dursleys, the readers first come to the Burrow, which is located in a town called Ottery St. Catchpole. This is a town with both a Muggle and a wizard community.

It turns out that Ottery St. Catchpole is a small town based on the real life Ottery St. Mary around Devon, England. That "St." does not stand for Street, but rather it stands for Saint.

I think the name of the town may reinforce a wizard's knowledge of who or what a saint is. For example, out here in my neck of the woods, city names include St. Paul, St. Charles, St. Peters, and St. Louis (among others). These are not just random names of cities, but also names of saints with a history and a past. Citizens of these cities have the knowledge of where the name of their town comes from. In the same way, wizards who live in Ottery St. Catchpole have the knowledge that the town is named after a Catholic person, thereby having access to info about what a saint is and what makes St. Catchpole a saint.  I think it is interesting that J.K. Rowling changed the name of the real town so that instead of a real saint's name, she used a fake name (there is no St. Catchpole in reality, at least not that I could find. Though in Harry Potter's world, St. Catchpole is a real figure).

Devil

In both the movie and the book, Gilderoy Lockhart describes Cornish pixies as "devilish". I think by examining the appearance and behavior of the pixies, we can better understand the wizard's concept of  the devil. At first, the pixies seem small and harmless. It's kind of a way for them to lure wizards into a false sense of security. As soon as the pixies are released, they wreck havoc throughout the classroom. They attack the students, they take Lockhart's wand, and they pick up Neville and hang him up on the ceiling. While the pixies are small, they are vicious.

All of these describe how the devil manipulates us through sins and temptations. He lures us into a false sense of security by making himself or something bad seem small and harmless and then attacks us after we fall for the trap. In this understanding, Lockhart correctly defines the pixies as devilish and by experience the student wizards also understand why the pixies are defined as devilish.

Bless

While Harry helps him answer fan mail, Lockhart is telling the boy about one of his admirers and says "bless her". This phrase kind of reminds me of the little old ladies who say "bless you" to people as a term of endearment. What does bless mean, according the wizarding world then? Most definitions of bless revolve around asking God to bring His grace down upon the person being blessed, but bless can also mean to bestow good upon someone. I think that the latter definition is how the word bless is used in the wizarding world. Though wizards like Lockhart most likely understand the Christian background behind the term, bless is used by wizards as a way of wishing good things upon someone, as this example from the book demonstrates.

Christened 

At the beginning of Chapter 14 "Cornelius Fudge", the book goes over Hagrid's liking for large creatures and, when it comes to the three-headed dog that we encountered in the first book, it says that Hagrid "christened" the dog Fluffy.

This is not an unfamiliar word, Christened. One of the definitions of christen is to give a name to something, as in "I christen you the U.S.S. Enterprise" or "I christen you Fluffy the three headed dog". However, other definitions refer to the receiving of one's Christian name, particularly during baptism. The word itself is derived from the ancient word for Christian. In the wizard world, if one uses the word christened, it is most likely being used according to the first definition, to name something, but with the understanding that Christ is there in the word, thereby linking the word to the Christian world.


This is only half of my findings from The Chamber of Secrets. Look for a continued examination of Christianity links from Harry's second year in the next installment of the series.

Christianity in Harry Potter's Wizarding World: The Sorcerer's Stone Part 2

Souls and Ghosts

-There are two phrases that Harry Potter hears his first day in the wizarding world that can be quickly missed at first. The bartender at the Leaky Cauldron, upon recognizing Harry as the famous Boy Who Lived, says "Good Lord" and "Bless my soul". First, the term "Good Lord". This is usually used as an address for the Christian God or Jesus Christ, which in today's world is used much more often in a lighthearted context. This term recognizes that God is both Good and that He is Lord. Meaning that at least this wizard, the bartender, has an idea of God as a "Good Lord".

Then there is the phrase "Bless my soul". Some definitions of bless include: to make something or someone holy by saying a special prayer, to ask God to take care of something or someone, and to provide someone or something with a desirable good.  Meaning that not only is the use of the word bless a positive statement, but it is also in a way a prayer, which makes it a spiritual statement. This reinforces the idea that there is a spiritual side to the wizarding world that is often quickly glossed over or seen under the surface value.

In this phrase we also are introduced to the concept of a soul in the wizarding world. Wizards throughout this series address the existence of souls (which is manifested in the existence of ghosts). Christians recognize that the soul is the spiritually eternal part of us that lives on even after we physically die on Earth. In the wizarding world, ghosts are proof of the soul.

-As the first year students await to enter the Great Hall, a group of about twenty ghosts enters the room. The ghosts are described as "Pearly-white and slightly transparent". Ghosts make frequent appearances throughout the Harry Potter series and they pretty much match what the modern concept of ghosts is in the terms of looks and abilities. However, we must quickly realize that these ghosts are the living souls of people who died. These are souls that interact with the physically living. Meaning that the wizard understanding of death and the afterlife is connected with the Christian understanding of Heaven (examined in the first post) as well as the soul.

-A major reason why the soul is important to Harry Potter is because of Voldemort. In the hospital after Harry's adventure to rescue the stone, Dumbledore tells Harry "Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort...". The connection between Voldemort and souls comes up throughout the series, but note that Dumbledore clearly speaks about the reality of souls and points out what connected Quirrell's soul and Voldemort's. Both wizards are connected by dark, wicked emotions and that connection leads them towards sinful actions. Speaking of sinful...

Sin

The engraving on the doors to Gringotts Bank begins with the phrase: "Enter, stranger, but take heed of what awaits the sin of greed". We have all probably heard of the seven deadly sins, right, and that one of them is greed? Well, what is sin?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that sin is first and foremost an offense against God and an abuse of the freedom that He gives us. Sin causes damage in one's relationship with God. It goes on to say that sin also damages one's relationship with the Catholic Church, though I think that sin can damage our relationships with all peoples, whether they are part of the Church or not. Sin is an act contrary to reason.

So, in the case of "the sin of greed" and its relation to Gringotts, being greedy could cause someone to try to steal something valuable or powerful. That act of stealing would be contrary to reason (especially with the special security at Gringotts). Greed at Gringotts would damage one's relationship with the people around them, whether it be the people that they steal from or the staff of Gringotts or the staff of Gringotts or anyone directly connected with the thief. And since the wizard's understanding of God, Heaven, and the afterlife has been addressed, acting upon the sin of greed would damage one's relationship with God and probably land them in the same area as Quirrell and Voldemort.

Christmas and Easter

The first of many times that Christmas is mentioned throughout the entire Harry Potter series begins in chapter 12 "The Mirror of Erised". This is the beginning of the Christmas holiday for Hogwarts.

This brings to the surface two interesting connections between the wizard's world and the Christian world. The first connection is the word holiday. In the modern English vernacular, holiday is more defined as vacation, which is how it is applied to Harry's experience in the wizarding world. However, the fact still remains that they use the word holiday. Break that down: holi-day, or rather holy day, as in Christmas-is-a-holy-day, as in "we're on break because we are celebrating a holy day". Christmas isn't the only holiday that the wizards celebrate. The mention of the Easter holidays is in chapter 14 "Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback".

The second connection is the word Christmas, which breaks down to Christ-mas (Christ-Mass). As stated in the first post, the wizards have an awareness of Jesus Christ and now we know that they even set a school break around the time that the Christian people celebrate Christ's birth. However, we never see wizards discussing Jesus Christ and we never see them going to church or even praying for that matter. Yet, they celebrate a holy day anyway, in the fashion of modern times of putting up decorations and giving each other presents on Christmas day.

Saints

While the main trio attempts to catch Snape in the acting of stealing the Sorcerer's Stone, Ron gets frustrated with Hermoine and says "Honestly, Hermoine, you think all teachers are saints or something". Saints can be taken in a couple different ways.

There is the Catholic understanding of saints, which is acknowledging that someone led a holy life of selflessness and charity by helping the poor and the needy and that person has become a part of a special community in Heaven by interceding in miraculous situations on Earth. There is also the more general Christian or worldly concept of saints, in which a saint is defined as a person who is virtuous, benevolent, and overall a good person, meaning that they can do no wrong and are always focused on the good and positive. I think in this case, Ron means to use the word "saints" in the latter understanding. Now, is Severus Snape worthy of being labeled a saint? That's for you to decide.

Now that many things have been defined through The Sorcerer's Stone, it's time to move on to The Chamber of Secrets in the next installment of the series

Saints: Role Models for Men- St. John de Brebeuf

I was first introduced to the legacy of this man by my friend Lee Brokaw, who was one of the FOCUS missionaries at Missouri State University during my first two years there.

St. John de Brebeuf was a missionary himself. He traveled with fellow French priests to the Canadian territory. He became one of the first Europeans to explore and chronicle the journey from Quebec to 800 miles west into mostly unfamiliar territory. There he became acquainted with the Huron people. He spent many years evangelizing to them, informing them of and showing them God and the Catholic faith, which they had never known before.

Just imagine the scene. Being far, far away from home or familiar civilization. Becoming part of a community that primarily speaks a foreign language and lives a lifestyle that is totally different than anything you experienced or grew up in, and trying to convert those people. Yet, St. John and his companions did just that in order to reach out to the Huron nation and help them develop their relationships with God. He lived among the people, got to know their customs, became fluent in their language, and wrote out a catechism for them.

St. John overcame obstacles in establishing his relationship with the people. They were, at first, very nervous about him because of his race and whenever something horrible like disease rampaged through, he would get the first blame. Yet, because of his perseverance, St. John managed to evangelize to the people effectively.

Eventually, members of the Iroquois tribe attacked the Huron and captured St. John de Brebeuf and his company. They were martyred in a very brutal, gory, horrific torture. Yet St. John persevered happily. He did not harbor harm or anger against his torturers and killers. He is said to have kissed the stake he was tied to while they slowly killed him and prayed during his torturous death.

St. John de Brebeuf, along with his company and other French missionaries, are great examples for those of us nervous of traveling to new places and unfamiliar territory. They show how to persevere whenever a situation proves difficult. St. John especially shows us how to treat all people with kindness and how to face death happily, rather than with anger in our hearts.

Christianity in Harry Potter's Wizarding World: The Sorcerer's Stone Part 1

This is the first part in the series of blog posts digging in to the references to Christian ideas and themes within the world of Harry Potter. In order to make things more succinct (i.e. not throw too much info out there at once), I will be breaking up each book into parts.

God and the Devil

-In the movie, Mr. Filch is escorting the main trio Harry, Ron, and Hermoine, along with Malfoy to detention with Hagrid. In 3 separate sentences within a couple of minutes, Mr. Filch says "God". However, he says it in a very casual, slang way each time. "God, I miss the screaming", "Good God, you're not still on about that dragon", and "Oh, for God's sake, man!"

That's a lot of mention about God, which would be pointless or not worth bringing up in a conversation if the wizarding world had no concept or knowledge of God. Through these sentences, we come to understand that God is some part of the wizarding world and that the wizards acknowledge God's existence. Granted, this is most likely a case of using contemporary slang and also, in an intense view, it takes the Lord's name in vain. However, it is important to realize that wizards have knowledge and awareness of God.

-One of the obstacles that the trio faces on their way to the hiding place of the Sorcerer's Stone is a plant provided by Professor Sprout. The plant is called Devil's Snare. I think this gives us a few insights into the wizarding world's understanding of the Devil. Notice I capitalize Devil, which is because it differentiates between the term devil, which can be applied to multiple things in a variety of ways, versus the Devil, which refers to the one singular being that is Lucifer the fallen angel.

First, wizards either know that there is such a thing as the Devil or think that something like the Devil exists. Just as God exists for wizards, so does the Devil. Second, the name of the plant tells us what the wizards think the devil does. The plant is a trick. At first, one thinks that it is soft, comforting vegetation then quickly it begins to wrap itself around you and restrains you. The more one struggles against the plant, the tighter it grips. Just as the devil traps people in sin through seemingly-appealing temptations, the plant ensnares its victims by appearing comforting at first.

Heaven

Early on in the story, we get a little glimpse into the wizarding world's concept of the afterlife. In the very beginning, on the night after Harry Potter becomes the Boy Who Lived, Professor McGonagall meets Professor Dumbledore outside the house of the Dursleys. As Professor McGonagall questions Professor Dumbledore about the true events that occurred at the scene where Voldemort failed to kill Harry, McGonagall says "but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?". At first glimpse, this may just seem like a nonchalant line full of British slang. In fact, a lot of the dialogue in this book seems to be full of modern slang, which is interesting since, as explained in the Introduction, the wizarding world tries its best to shut itself off from the Muggle world.

Anyway, McGonagall mentions heaven. This introduces us to the concept of the wizard's belief in life after death. McGonagall's brief mention of heaven can allow the reader to hypothesize that the wizard community does believe in a good, eternal resting place with God after life on Earth called heaven.

This mention of heaven is different from the mention of the plural form of heavens. For example, when Harry first enters the Great Hall of Hogwarts and looks up to the ceiling, the description states "It was hard to believe that there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall simply didn't open on to the heavens". This mention of heaven, heavens, is closer to the way that the centaurs use the term heavens. This is identifiable with the pagan phrasing of heavens, which is the cosmos, the universe, the stars in the sky that people of Earth look up to see.

B.C.

Now, here is a something that can be quickly overlooked. The sign over Ollivander's Wand Shop in Diagon Alley reads: "Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C." That B.C. at the end, as we all know, stands for "Before Christ". Meaning that wizards have some understanding or familiarity with the life of Jesus Christ and organize their timeline according to Christ's life.

Again, this goes back to and connects with the idea that the wizard world is separate from the Muggle world. The wizards could have their own way of telling time, marking days, and forming their own wizard calendars. Instead, they follow the Muggle format of 12 months that include October, December, and May and they mark their timeline based on B.C. and A.D.. They could have months like Gryfember, Merlinuary, and Percelvay, and they could mark their time according to some other major event in their history, but they follow the Muggle format (which was started by Catholic Christians).

At some point in history, Christians interacted with wizards enough to influence the wizarding world's calendar and track of the year. This is a huge influence, meaning that the wizards at some point in the past were greatly connected with the Christian community.

Friars and Monks

-One of the ghosts that everyone first meets at Hogwarts is the ghost known as the Fat Friar, the ghost of Hufflepuff House. In the next installment, I will discuss ghosts and souls, but the identity of this particular ghost is what most interests me. I think the character of the Fat Friar gives the reader some insight into the history of the wizarding world. At some point, wizards came in contact with Christian missionaries like monks. Meaning that the wizards have had direct contact with Christianity at some point in their history. This shows that religious men like friars have reached out to wizards. Now one of them, the Fat Friar, spends his afterlife as a living soul floating around Hogwarts, keeping that connection between wizards and Christians going to the present time.

-One of the potions ingredients that Snape asks Harry about on the first day of class is called monkshood. As in monks hood or monk's hood. While this is not a tremendous find, I think it shows that wizards have been connected with Christians long enough to know what a monk's hood or what a monk with a hood on looks like. Whoever had discovered this particular potion ingredient must have particularly been connected with an order of monks.

The next installment in this series will continue to explore findings from the first book in the Harry Potter series.

Christianity in Harry Potter's Wizarding World: Introduction

I think it was while reading the last Harry Potter book that I began to notice more and more references to Christianity in the wizarding world of Harry Potter. I also remember during my last year of college, running down to a friend's room as he was watching one of the Harry Potter movies (Sorcerer's Stone, I believe). It was a scene around Christmas time and I mentioned the fact that the wizards celebrated the season of Christmas without celebrating the reason for the season (with Christ right there in the name).

Here's the thing. It's explained in the books that the wizards really try to separate their world from the Muggle (non-magic) world as best as they can. That's kind of tricky to do when many wizards and witches at Hogwarts come from Muggle families. However, for the most part, wizards do not really understand Muggle money, transportation, occupations, and other references to the Muggle world because of that separation between the worlds. Yet, somehow the Christian religion and references to Christianity are still a part of the wizarding world, which is why they celebrate holidays like Christmas and Easter or they say things like "heaven" and "soul".

So, since it's summer time and there's supposed to be a lot more free time for fun things like reading and writing, I've decided to begin a sort of research project. The research is actually pretty fun. Read the whole Harry Potter series and watch the movies that go along with them. Along the way, I take notes at references to Christianity. This isn't focused on things like "Harry Potter as the Christ-like figure versus Voldemort the Devil" or "Which characters represent the seven deadly sins", but rather just how the society of wizards references Christianity and what that means for the Christian religion in the wizarding world. I put down these notes on the blog and expand upon them in order to fully grasp the Christian influence on Harry Potter's wizarding world.

Will I be reading too much into most things and probably digging deeper than necessary? Oh yeah, it's most likely that J.K. Rowling did not intend to make as many references to Christianity as I may find. However, if it's there in the books or it's in the movies, meaning it's a part of that world, then I will explore it as best I can. Besides, if people can write fan-fiction, then why can't I write research notes and put them up on here? Also, you may be wondering why I am focused so much on Christianity and not other world religions or just religion in general if I want to find religious influences in Harry Potter. Well, I'm a Catholic-Christian writer, J.K. Rowling is a Christian writer, Britain/ Europe has an extensive history of Christian influence, and seriously there are quotes from the Bible in the last book.

So, look for parts of the series to be posted soon and for new ones to be posted sporadically throughout the rest of this summer.

P.S.-It was super difficult to find a decent picture on Google Images. Most of it was either normal Harry Potter stuff or anti-Harry Potter images from Christian groups deeply opposed to Harry Potter. Why isn't there more good stuff available when one types "Harry Potter Christianity"? Also, last thought, I really hope this can help anti-Harry Potter people find something good or something to like about the series.