His mother had made her way along the Via Della Rosa.
A brutalized, wounded Jesus was soon to fall again, under the weight of the cross. One scene in the film has now been forever etched in my mind. We had experienced a kind of art that is a rarity in life, the kind that makes heaven touch earth. No one could speak, because words were woefully inadequate. The crowd that had been glad-handing before the film was now eerily silent. I am not sure there was a dry eye in the place. were shaking indeed, but this time from sobbing. When the film concluded, this 'invitation only' gathering of 'movers and shakers'in Washington,D.C. In addition to being a masterpiece of film-making and an artistic triumph, The Passion evoked more deep reflection, sorrow and emotional reaction within me than anything since my wedding, my ordination or the birth of my children. From the gripping opening scene in the Garden of Gethsemane, to the very human and tender portrayal of the earthly ministry of Jesus, through the betrayal, the arrest, the scourging, the way of the cross, the encounter with the thieves, the surrender on the Cross, until the final scene in the empty tomb, this was not simply a movie it was an encounter, unlike anything I have ever experienced. The film was very briefly introduced, without fanfare, and then the Room darkened. The environment was typically Washingtonian, with people greeting you with a smile but seeming to look beyond you, having an agenda beyond the words. I arrived at the private viewing for The Passion, held in Washington D.C., and greeted some familiar faces. I have a life long, deeply held aversion to anything that might even indirectly encourage any form of anti-Semitic thought, language or actions. I grew up in a Jewish town and owe much of my own faith journey to the influence. I was thrilled to have been invited to a private viewing of Mel Gibson's film The Passion, but I had also read all the cautious articles and spin. (Catholic Online) - I really did not know what to expect.