Google has a cuckoo clock wishing us a happy new year, and I’m still kinda excitedly waiting for the aliens, so there’s that to look forward to .
W e hear that 2020 was a year for the history books, and it certainly was for a number of reasons. The pandemic took too too many lives and wreaked havoc on businesses as well as personal finances. For many, it was a heartbreaking year. Let us remember that each year, when taking a personal view, can be an annus horribilis. But there were also moments of joy and an abundance of grace. Let us hope and pray that 2021 brings us peace in all areas of our personal and public lives.
Instead of a long list of resolutions, I’m taking a different tack this year. I’m yearning to grow closer to the Lord, and what better way to do that than to strive to become more like the Blessed Mother? I’ve embarked on Fr Edward Looney’s wonderful daily retreat, A Heart Like Mary’s: 31 Daily Meditations to Help You Live and Love as She Does.
On this first day of the year, and first day of the retreat, I’m working on patience. Perhaps it’s something we can all work to cultivate. I hope your year is full of God’s blessings!
Watching Patty Jenkin’s new film,WW84, the latest DC treatment of Wonder Woman, left me nostalgic for my childhood. The opening sequence took me back to the carefree days when I ran through the woods and fields near my home with a pack of neighborhood kids. We were always pretending to be warriors and carried makeshift spears and twine bows with stick arrows. Oh! How eight-year-old me would have loved this movie. Fifty-eight-year-old me adored it.
Little Diana is a spunky self-assured child, but Gal Gadot’s portrayal as the adult Diana brings a charming sweetness and strength to the role that is disarming and brings to life a richness in the character that captures the foundational element of Wonder Woman: love.
I explore the comic book character of Wonder Woman in my book, Super Girls and Halos, because I’m fascinated with her origin story – not just her unusual birth on the island of Amazons, but her creation by William Moulton Marston. Here is a superhero whose superpower is love.
Now let me be clear, Wonder Woman is a badass through and through. A demigod. A warrior. An intelligent woman with physical prowess capable of domination. Instead of leveraging that power for personal gain, she leads with love to help humanity. Wonder Woman’s strength is her femininity, what St. John Paul II calls the genius of women.
In Wonder Woman, Diana Prince take on the enemies of humanity to put an end to war, and we see the great cost of many lives sacrificed, including her love, Steve Trevor. In WW84, the sacrificial nature of love once again saves the day. Set decades after Wonder Woman, WW84 introduces a Diana who is chic and accomplished in the often-times hilarious backdrop of the eccentric fashion of the 80s.
Always ready to help humankind, Wonder Woman finds herself on a quest to reverse the damage brought on by humanity’s selfishness. The world is caught up in the dangerous antics of a villain granting everyone’s deepest-held wishes. Weakened in battle, Wonder Woman’s sensitivity appeals to the villain’s own capacity for love to save the day.
As always in superhero movies, the special effects are spectacular. Some visual gags and 80’s era comic relief play well, too. However, it is the character story arc that continues to draw me in, and I am left wanting more of Diana Prince’s adventures.
I don’t usually make new year’s resolutions, and when I do, it’s very rare that I follow through. In this year we’ve all shaken our heads at, I’m here to tell you I managed to keep my resolution: to add spiritual reading to my regular morning prayer time. I did, and not only did I enjoy it and benefit from it spiritually, I’ve found consolations, devotions, and wonderful insights into the faith.
Emily’s personal and informative chapters give us great insight into this devotion, but my favorite part was finishing each chapter praying the Litany of the Sacred Heart. I wish I had this book available years ago when our home was enthroned, but it was a wonderful refresher for me. I hope you’ll give this one a read.
