Fumbling towards Beatitude

Review by John D. O'Brien S.J. Director: Frank Capra. 130 min., U.S.A, 1946. Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers Plot The townspeople of Bedford Falls are sending up prayers for George Bailey (Stewart), who is in great distress. Their prayers are heard and the angel Clarence (Travers) is assigned to come down and convince George to not commit suicide. George is a good man, who sacrificed the dreams of his youth to serve the needs of his neighbours. He gave up traveling the world and going to university, and inherited the savings and loan business from his father. Over the years he resisted the proposals of avaricious banker Mr. Potter (Barrymore) to buy out the family business. He married the lovely Mary Hatch (Reed) and had four children with her. When his Uncle Billy (Mitchell) loses $8,000 of their clients’ money, George believes he is facing ruin and that he is worth more dead than alive. Once Clarence sees he is not ...

There's a retreat coming up on the weekend of April 20-22 in the Toronto area, for young men who wish to discern a possible vocation to some form of consecrated life. To be lead by Fr. Anthony Wieck, a Jesuit from the United States, this silent retreat will be based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. It is not a vocations retreat for any particular order or group, but an encounter with Christ to help clarify his Word in the life of the retreatant. There are only a small number of spots available, so if you think you or someone you know might profit from this, please contact me directly. My email address is on the bottom of the following poster. Thanks and God bless. -John