Thanks to the editors at Beliefnet for inviting me to write about our Movie of the Month, The Passion of the Christ.

Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ” is both more and less than a movie. In one sense, it is less a movie than the heartfelt prayer of a gifted film-maker and devout Catholic who has had some very public struggles with sin. In another it is a narrow and harrowing perspective on a story that, no matter what your faith, is bigger than any attempt to portray on film.

Mel Gibson has made this movie to convey his view of the last hours of the life of Jesus. It is not history and not drama, though it has elements of both. It is not a full retelling of the Gospels or of the life of Jesus. It is a personal and spiritual statement about the view that the suffering Jesus endured in the last hours of his life demonstrated his divinity and his sacrifice in taking on the sins of the world.

According to the film’s website, the use of the word “passion” is taken from the Latin for suffering, but is also used to mean a profound and transcendent love. The theme of the movie is Jesus’ statement, “You are my friends, and the greatest love a person can have for his friends is to give his life for them.”

– See more at: http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Movie-Corner/Movies/Passion-of-the-Christ.aspx#sthash.j9sOUKS6.dpuf