Seven Inspiring Movies for Lent

Lent is a great time to be inspired. If you haven’t given up your television, laptop, media, or internet, try and find one or more of these titles. Watch, pray, be inspired.

The Way – Currently on Netflix and Amazon Prime (March 2014)
(Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez)

A deeply Catholic movie. Tom (Martin Sheen) finds out his son, Danny (Emilio Estevez) has recently died on the Camino de Santiago, a Christian pilgrimage following the footsteps of St. James. His rocky relationship with his itinerant son is exposed, and Tom decides to pick up his son’s pack and walk the Camino himself.

It is a movie of joy and laughter, but ultimately one of transformation. As many experience on such pilgrimages, Tom becomes defensive, objective to the faith he is experiencing, and has to make a choice that will define his life and his relationship with his son. I can’t give it away, but the scene at the end, in the Cathedral, is worth the entire Camino. I hope to trek it one day as well.

The Apostle – Currently on Netflix and Amazon Prime (March 2014)
(Robert Duval)

This book is used as a primer for Patrick Madrid’s newest book, . Sonny, a Pentecostal preacher discovers his wife had an affair with a youth pastor and soon his life spins wildly out of control. Running from the law, he makes a new name for himself and ends up as a radio evangelist in the bayous of Louisiana. He ignites a flame in his new found identity, bringing a whole new flock to the gospel.

The story is inspiring, one of discovery, repentance, and forgiveness. You’ll love it.

Passion of the Christ – Currently on Netflix (March 2014)
(Mel Gibson’s hand, Jim Caviezel)

It’s easy to say that this is a lot of people’s favorite Lenten movie. Following the last hours of Jesus’ life, the film captures the struggle of the Apostles, the trial of Jesus, and His ultimate death and resurrection. Powerful. It’s one of the few movies that demands a passionate reaction and response. It still remains the highest grossing movie of all time.

End of the Spear

The story of the missionaries who gave their lives for the conversion of the Waodani, a brutal and aggressive Amazonian tribe, is told in detail. The famous missionaries Jim Elliot and Steve Saint are slain shortly after making peaceable contact with the Waodani. The families of the fallen recover the bodies and the torn apart plane, eventually making contact with the natives as well. They choose to live with the Waodani. Their submission becomes evangelism, and the powerful story of the conversion of the ruthless tribe is told. Simply one of the best Christian films of all time.

For Greater Glory – Currently on Netflix (March 2014)
(Andy Garcia)

The true story of the Cristeros War. The people of Mexico are begotten by their own government, an atheistic one that signs into law the anti-Catholic 1917 Constitution of Mexico. A crackdown results in a violent and turbulent civil war in which the Catholic faithful are put to the test in waves of persecution. Jose Luis Sanchez, beatified by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in 2005, is the central figure.

Schindlers List
(Liam Neeson)

The heartbreaking and unforgettable true story of Oskar Schindler and the thousands of Jews he rescued during the Holocaust. Magnificently directed by Steven Spielberg, this drama captures the horror of hate and the potential of self-sacrifice. It is personally, one of my “desert island” movies (if I were to have one movie on a desert island, it would be this).

Les Miserables
(Russell Crowe, Wolverine, the Princess Diaries girl)

Look down. Hear the people sing. Build a barricade. Look down. Notre Dame. Justice. Compassion. More justice. Double the compassion. See it. Nuff Said.