Father Stu

[Roy]

Father Stu (Starring Mark Wahlberg) is based on the true story of a priest with a rare and eventually fatal degenerative muscle disease.

As a movie it was somewhat anti-climactic. Father Stuart achieves his dream of becoming a priest, is beloved by and an inspiration to many, his parents get baptized at his request, and he dies.

I found it more interesting interesting than most would because I have a special interest in "based on a true story" movies and also the philosophy of suffering/"why bad things happen to good people."

Starting with the philosophy.

Father Stu believed with all his heart that he would be healed. In the movie this is portrayed as him lying beneath the statue of the Virgin Mary and refusing to get up until she healed him. IRL he took a pilgrimage to France and submerged himself in a holy spring with the full faith and expectation that he would become healed. Both in the movie and IRL there was no miraculous healing.

The reason that is presented is that Father Stu's condition was a gift from God. This may be a more uniquely Catholic concept. It was explained that our mortal bodies are all dying and all temporary. Father Stu's condition helped him to humble himself and prioritize those spiritual things of eternal significance. He was also a friend and inspiration to many who may have had contact with him and thus he was a "blessing" to others.

His parents were not very religious people but they did get baptized at the invitation of Father Stu.

In the movie this is played up for dramatic effect. His Father (Played by Mel Gibson) was portrayed as being a jerk and divorced from his mother. This increased the dramatic turnaround when he gets baptized and reunites with Father Stu's mother. IRL Father Stu's father was often away from home for his work as a salesman but he was loved by his family and Father Stu's parents were still together. They did get baptized at Father Stu's invitation though.

I fully respect this movie because it doesn't try to shoehorn in any "miracles." It gave thoughtful consideration to how to square the belief in a personal and interacting God, a God of miracles, with the experience of prolonged suffering where no miracle is found.