The series, which kicked off Sept. 21, is made up of eight contemporary films shown over an eight-week period, including The King’s Speech with Colin Firth, The Reader with Kate Winslet and The Queen with Helen Mirren. The series started in 2005 and is run on a yearly basis by Williams out of Regis College.
“When we discern, what we are doing is trying to find and operate out of our core values,” said Williams. “And when we try to operate out of our core values, what we are trying to do is find a path through the world that affirms and develops those core values.”
But films don’t tell us how we operate. Instead, they become a test through which we can discover this for ourselves, he said.
For example, when you watch a film and observe the way the characters make decisions, you feel either sympathetic or antagonistic towards them.
It is at this point we need to ask ourselves one simple question: why do we feel this way? This is where our value system is revealed, said Williams.
Williams is the co-author of Finding God in the Dark, a book that offers an approach to developing a spiritual life using the medium of modern movies.
At the sessions, group discussion always follows the film, but the focus is never on analysing the film. Rather, participants explore how it touches them.
There is no cost to attend the series. The next session takes place on Sept. 28 and will feature The Reader.
For more information, call (416) 922-5474 ext. 221 or e-mail inquiries@regiscollege.ca.
Regis College film series explores how we discern
By Vanessa Santilli-Raimondo, The Catholic RegisterTORONTO - All too often, people don’t understand how they operate or what their core values are, said Jesuit Father Monty Williams, creator of the fall film series at Toronto’s Regis College.
Exploring the theme “Discernment: Finding God in the World,” the series at the Jesuit college at the University of Toronto will help participants better understand their own value system through looking at how they deal with ethical situations.
“It’s significant today because the value systems that are given to us come from a whole range of ideological standpoints — even within the Church,” said Williams. “So it’s very important for a young person on their spiritual journey to at least have some understanding of what values are becoming incarnate in them.”
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