The Greatest Showman is a delightful musical with fabulous sets, amazing choreography and lively songs. The story is based on the character PT Barnum and inspired by his creation of the Barnum and Bailey circus. In this film, we see a variety of themes: family life, human frailty, relationships, compassion, forgiveness, the pain of being different and the joys of belonging. Hugh Jackman is so talented and here supported by a huge cast. Loved it!
All Saints is a recent well-reviewed faith-based movie. It is based on the true story of the experience of a newly ordained Episcopalian priest and his family at his first parish in Tennessee. His as signment is to close the church because of dwindling attendance and finances. A group of Burmese refugees who have arrived join the parish and efforts are made with their farming experience to use the surrounding land to increase income so the church won't have to close. It's available on ppv etc.
Timely Reflection from the research of Sister Patricia Simpson, CND recorded in Marguerite Bourgeoys and Montreal: 1640-1665. (p.4-5)
Like several of the other early leaders in Montreal, Marguerite Bourgeoys came from a region of France where women had played important public roles since at least the Middle Ages. In becoming part of the Montreal endeavour, she participated in an undertaking in which women played key roles, both behind the scenes in France and in the leadership of the early colony. The evidence of the time indicates that the relationship between these women and the men who were their partners was cooperative rather than confrontational. But Marguerite Bourgeoys was not just concerned with the prominent persons of Montreal, the men and women whose names history has recorded. She was convinced of the importance of the ordinary women of the colony: in their hands - the hands of those who were to be its wives and mothers – lay the future of Canada. Their education was of paramount importance to her. Marguerite’s words, as well as the lifework she undertook, reflect her belief that people, and therefore society, can be changed if only they can be enabled “to understand,” an object of all true education.