Movies

Forty-eight years ago, abortion on demand became “the law of the land” with a controversial 7-2 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. Roe v. Wade, a 2021 film now available digitally through on-demand streaming services, explains the real story behind that tragic ruling that has resulted in the killing of 62 million unborn lives to date.

Saint Augustine and his mother, St. Monica, lived a long time ago in a land far, far away. But the story of a parent’s sorrowful prayers for a child whose search for meaning has led him astray is familiar to every generation, including many right now.

As COVID-19’S winter surge and social restrictions continue, one question on many minds is, “Will this pandemic ever end?”

The two men bonded over this common goal — and, in the end, they triumphed, having exerted significant influence in such victories as the rise of the Solidarity movement in Poland, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the end of the Cold War.

Tragedy can test our faith. The question of why bad things happen to good people has haunted humanity from the start. When misfortune befalls people we perceive as evil, it’s easy to suppose it’s a matter of divine justice. But what about the virtuous and the innocent?

A Hidden Life tells the story of this brave man who held to his sacred principles even when much of the populace of Austria — including its clergy — capitulated in fear to the Nazi annexation of their country. Even his wife, mother, and parish priest initially wished he would somehow accommodate the call to fight.

The familiar story of the 1917 appearances of the Virgin Mary to three young shepherd children in Portugal receives a beautiful big-screen treatment in the new 2020 drama Fatima, scheduled for release to theaters everywhere on April 24.

The new docudrama Faustina: Love and Mercy provides a window into the brief life and work of St. Faustina, whom Pope St. John Paul II canonized in 2000 as the “first saint of the new millennium.

A new documentary film releasing in March, I Am Patrick, relates the true story of this great fifth-century “Apostle to Ireland” as told by Patrick himself in his Confessions and his Epistle to Coroticus. Through expert interviews, narrative voice-overs, and dramatic re-enactments, his amazing life unfolds and the authentic Patrick emerges.

When people used to write Mother Teresa of their desire to join in her work among the destitute of India, she would often respond: “Stay where you are. Find your own Calcutta.”

Single mom rose and her seven-year-old daughter Katy don’t have it easy. They sleep in a junkyard vehicle, tidy up in a diner restroom, and face a future as bleak as it is uncertain. And little Katy has never had a Christmas present.

Change is a fact of life, but we would more easily weather inevitable challenges and transitions if they would line up politely and come at us one at a time. Unfortunately, that’s not always how it works. Sometimes multiple challenges hit concurrently, and in attempting to cope with them all we are pushed to our limits or beyond.

JAMES ALLEN’S 1903 collection of essays, As a Man Thinketh, exhorts readers to take control of their lives through positive thinking and tireless focus on ideals and purpose. It’s why Allen is rightly counted among the pioneers of the modern self-help movement.

Overcomer, opened in theaters Aug. 23, is about conquering life’s obstacles. Yet often the greatest roadblocks are not those externally, but those within, because individual ability to confront challenges depends heavily upon one’s sense of identity.