Benedict XVI on Advent

Christian Bale on Exodus

Prior to the December 12th opening of Exodus: Gods and Kings has generated controversy for not casting enough blacks as Egyptians in director Ridley Scott's biblical action/adventure film.

However lead actor Christian Bale's take on Moses may make the Exodus movie into another box office bomb of biblical proportions, like director Darren Aronofsky's Noah (2014).

Ben Watson on the Rioting in Ferguson

After playing  in a Monday Night Football game at the Superdome, New Orleans Saints' Tight End Ben Watson wrote an reflection about the rioting in Ferguson, Missouri after the Grand Jury handed down the decision on the Michael Brown shooting. 

While Ben Watson was angry at stories of injustice and fearful that stereotypes could unjustly frame law abiding citizens like himself as a threat, he was embarrassed by the looting and law breaking which characterized the demonstrations after the verdict was handed down.

What was remarkable was Watson's hopefulness in seeing how race relations were improving as well as his encouraging expressions of faith that the Gopsel gives mankind hope over sin.  

G.K. Chesterton on Gratitude

Rick Warren on Marriage

Rick Warren, pastor of the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, was a participant in the interfaith Colloquium on the Complementarity of Man and Woman   (also known as the Humanum Colloquium) at the Vatican. 

Pastor Warren eschewed giving his prepared remarks as he found that he was reiterating points made by 27 prior speakers.  Instead, Pastor Warren gave a practicum observation on marriage.

The presentations made at the Humanum Colloquium mirror the traditional positions espoused by the majority of participants at the recent Extraordinary Synod on the Family, despite the misleading midterm relatio report.