Faith into Action
By: Joseph Serwach
Tags: Mercy In Action, Film, Fátima, Faith, Religion

Mercy in action: Actions speak loudest. How we spend time and money signals what we treasure. Believers took “You Say’’ to a record number 1. Fathom is testing two faith films nationwide on October 28 and November 6.

“Acting is all about decisions,’’ says Director Robert Orlando. “You can change the entire perspective with one decision.’’

Faith is what we believe and what we do, and the tiniest actions and gestures can make a huge difference. Melissa Villalobos prayed “make the bleeding stop’’ to Cardinal John Henry Newman, and it did. That miracle made him a saint.

Buying a movie ticket can save a soul when the film sends the right message. Little acts move people. Simply praying in front of an abortion clinic has repeatedly changed hearts, making young women choose to keep their children.

A Coast to Coast Rosary across America and in 50 nations marked the 102nd anniversary of Fatima’s Miracle of the Sun, a supernatural event seen across Europe. Everyone from Protestants to Muslims keeping asking Orlando about Fatima, a key part of The Divine Plan, which gets nationwide showings Nov. 6.

Every institution is under attack in these cynical times. But individual gestures and actions, people to people influence others. More than 128 people representing 28 parishes came to see Orlando’s new film about how two actors' actions averted World War II, transforming the globe.

But more importantly, the film shows how we take our freedom for granted, how such apathy takes down great nations. Ronald Reagan and St. John Paul the Great focused instead on praying to God, seeking his higher purpose and Divine Plan. That helped them remake the entire world.

“You know The Divine Will in retrospect,’’ Orlando says. “You can only know by living it. Faith is an action. It's not a teaching… This is what loves looks like…’’

Two actors on a stage. Orlando was fascinated by the fact that Reagan and John Paul were both actors open to reading scripts and taking directions from a higher director. We disparage actors today, but Orlando’s theological background taught him that acting in plays goes back thousands of years as a method for helping us find meaning from life.

“It’s all about acting,’’ Orlando says. “We have a bias toward theater but if you go back to the Greeks, where it all started: the theater is where they performed their religious rituals, so the idea that you had to wear a mask to perform a role to find your identity in the world was not seen as ‘that’s a superficial thing.’ It was actually part of the dynamic of being human.’’

Why less is more

Our pride tells us we can’t make a difference unless we do something massive and time-consuming, so we often give up without trying. Often, less is one. One simple, humble act moves hearts like. And a string of little acts leads to major changes:

More 250,000 students nationwide joined together on football fields to encourage others to pray via “Fields of Faith’’ events. In Fatima 102 years ago, Our Lady of Fatima appeared to three small shepherd children roughly once a month from May 13 through October 13, 1917. Most doubted these acts until the October 13 Miracle of the Sun. Over the course of the next century, it took numerous smaller actions to change hearts. Reagan and St. John Paul, we learn in The Divine Plan, believed in these messages, and that belief helped save their lives from twin assassination attempts that nearly killed both men six weeks apart in spring 1981. Our friend Dr. Ed, an orthopedic surgeon, does big things: he formed Livingston Men on Fire to bring out great Catholic speakers. He’s started restaurants and saved lives. When his wife died suddenly September 5 (the Feast of Mother Teresa of Calcutta), more than 1,200 came to pay their respects, praying a decade of the Rosary with him. But he took our breath away days later when he quietly sat in the pews a few days later, praying alone in Adoration, sitting alone in morning Mass.

“It’s more about who eat with than what you know,’’ Orlando says. “How do you carry on your life?’’

The Divine Plan plays nationwide on one night only, November 6. If enough people order tickets in advance, the film will be extended to bigger audiences.