The Life of Christ

This book tells the story of the passion and resurrection from the point of view of the donkey that carried Christ on his back. "The little donkey had never been ridden before, but Jesus spoke gently to him, and soon he stopped being afraid." The donkey (and an angel companion who is never mentioned in the text but is always present in the scenes) follows along after the entrance into Jerusalem and witnesses the primary events of the Gospel narratives including the Last Supper, the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Ascension.

Beautiful soft watercolor illustrations with gold highlights on each page bring the story to life. The language strikes a nice balance being neither overly simple nor overly flowery.

Most pleasing to me, the Eucharistic language of the Last Supper is maintained:

"Take and eat this," said Jesus, holding the bread. "It is my body." And the donkey watched as Jesus lifted up a cup of wine. "Take and drink this,"Jesus said. "It is my blood."

The bloody details of the passion are gently minimized so this book is easily read to even the youngest toddlers. For example, there are no details about the scourging just the mockery of the soldiers:

So the soldiers took Jesus away. They put a crown of thorns on his head and made fun of him. 'Hail the King of the Jews!' they said. They gave him a huge cross of wood and forced him to carry it.

A this point the donkey wishes he could help Jesus carry the cross and Simon of Cyrene does help Jesus. I like the way the donkey becomes a stand-in for the child and how this aside opens up a space to discuss with the child how we can help Jesus carry his cross. And the crucifixion and death are all covered in a simple statement: "They crucified him between two thieves." The narrative moves directly from that to Joseph requesting the body from Pilate. This allows the adult reader to help a sensitive child navigate the more difficult aspects of the passion narrative.

The donkey witnesses the resurrection and the ascension and then returns home:

And the donkey stayed there the rest of his life, remembering the kind and good man he had carried on his back to Jerusalem.

I'm not thrilled with reducing Jesus to a "kind and good man" in the final sentence. There are plenty of stories and pious legends about animals recognizing the divinity of Christ and I'd have preferred the story take that tack. But it isn't a terrible distortion of Christ. At least the book covers all the essentials of the story.

This is a good introduction to Easter and works well with my three-year old's level of understanding and her attention span. It will appeal to older children as well.

The Fourth Magi is the story of Artaban, a Persian magi, whose family has recently died tragically. Artaban, while studying the stars, discovers a new star, the one foretold in the Old Testament. He resolves to follow the star and find Jesus, despite the ridicule of his friends. Taking his ever-complaining slave, Orantes, he embarks on his perilous journey of faith.

The movie details the journey of Artaban and the many trials he encounters. In the end, Atraban meets the physical Jesus only on his death bed, but we learn that Artaban had been ministering to Jesus whenever he helped "the least of my brothers".

Our family highly recommends this movie for family viewing. Orantes provides several interludes of comic relief. Though the story is fictional, it would still be an excellent addition to your study of Israel in the time of Jesus Christ, and an inspiring movie for all to watch. *****

The Fourth Magi stars Martin Sheen and Alan Arkin, and is based on the novel, The Story of the Other Wise Man, by Henry Van Dyke. The movie was produced in 1985 by Paulist Productions.

In a similar manner to The Miracles of Jesus, Tomie de Paola presents seventeen of Jesus' parables. This book makes them very accessible to small children and may even be the start of some interesting little discussions with your children about why Jesus told these stories. Some of the text of the parables is very brief.

My husband and I finally went to see the Passion just last night (Monday of Holy Week). It was a very powerful and thought-provoking movie. There are a few things in particular that I think make it stand out from other movies I've seen about the Life of Christ.

The role of Mary in the story: The thing that struck me most about the Passion is how strong Mary's role is in the story. Rather than a minor character that flits in and out of the story (as occurs in many of these type of movies) this movie is quite Mariocentric. Many of the most moving scenes involve Mary's interaction with her Son. The movie also illuminates the Blessed Mother's role in Redemption, contrasts her role with that of the devil, and helps develop our own relationship with her and her son through her interaction with the Apostles of Jesus. It is difficult to put into words how powerful her role in this movie is. It is certainly worth seeing even if only for this alone.

The way Jesus is portrayed: While a lot of press has been given to the graphic nature of the portrayal of Jesus in this story, the uniqueness of his characterization goes well beyond this. Jesus is portrayed as having a very natural balance of strength and gentleness and appears as very strong and "manly". Flashbacks of Jesus talking to His followers and interacting with His mother particularly highlight this and provide contrast to the drama of His extreme torture. The portrayal of the brutality of Jesus' tormentors is quite graphic and hard to watch. I think it is beneficial, however, in many ways - particularly for modern viewers accustomed to movies with a lot of gore and violence.

Other Catholic symbolism: There was a great deal of beautiful symbolism which I have rarely seen in other movies of a similar nature. The most striking, to me, was the sacredness of the Precious Blood spilt during the scourging and highlighted by Our Lady and Mary Magdalene lovingly wiping it up with linens. There are also strong themes relating to the Eucharist and repentance. The whole movie can make for a great examination of conscience (I believe this is actually aided by the original language and subtitles because it has such a different feel from other movies) and would be excellent to watching during Holy Week.

The Question of Children watching the Passion: While watching the movie, I did focus on whether it would be appropriate for my eldest daughter to watch (she's almost 11). My husband and I agreed that it would be better for her to wait. Not only the graphic nature of Jesus' torture, but also some of the details involving the devil and the children tormenting Judas might be both troubling and confusing to her. We plan on purchasing the movie when it comes out on DVD and letting our children see it a little at a time where we can discuss it and focus on areas most appropriate to their age and maturity levels. Because of the the Passion movie, we have recently bought Jesus of Nazareth and the Robe, which I believe will be helpful at their particular stages. (Even the four and six years olds seem to be getting quite a bit out of these two movies - particularly when we discuss them at the dinner table or when the children chat about them together.) I do know a number of pre-teens and young teenagers who have seen the Passion and were glad they saw it. I think parents need to decide on an individual basis who the movie would be appropriate for. For my part, I think the movie is intended for adults but probably would be managable for most teens 14 or 15 years and older.