Translating a World on the Edge

We Americans think of ourselves as a compassionate people. And we are.

But we can also be self-absorbed– sometimes so concerned with ourselves that we don’t notice the suffering of others, even if it’s right under our nose. Still God, who has a plan for each of us, is calling us to make choices.

In the words of Pope Francis:
God calls you to make definitive choices, and He has a plan for each of you: to discover that plan and to respond to your vocation is to move toward personal fulfillment. I ask you, instead, to be revolutionaries, to swim against the tide; yes, I am asking you to rebel against this culture that sees everything as temporary and that ultimately believes that you are incapable of responsibility, that you are incapable of true love. Do not be afraid to go and to bring Christ into every area of life, to the fringes of society, even to those who seem farthest away, most indifferent.

Many of you know that writers of Catholic Fiction, like me, strive to show Christ’s presence in the world, even in the middle of evil. This is what the movie, ‘Gimme Shelter,’  does as well.

Ronald Krauss, director and screen writer for ‘Gimme Shelter’ and Kathy DiFiore, the founder of Several Sources Shelters, the real-life person whose plight inspired the film, have brought Christ into the fringes of society with this movie. This is a prolife film, but also a film about addictions, parenthood, and the breakup of families–unfortunately, all that so prevalent in our world today.

I think this is an inspiring movie. It calls for us to Swim Against the Tide. It calls for action. It calls for us to dive into ourselves and decide what true compassion really is, and in doing so, what we as a people are capable of–on both sides.