1) What role does music play in the religious experience of the tribe and the Jesuits?

What is important about the flute of Jeremy Irons as he climbs to the tribe and the choir the indigenous people create? The music in The Mission has a dimension that highlights the understanding of the movie and the history of missions in South America. The music is intimately involved with the narrative. Music helped to establish contact between the Jesuits and the indigenous population; from another side, the music helps to explain the conflict between the Caucasians and the Indians. Music is fundamental for the Jesuits as well as for the Indians. Thus, its role in the movie is as an element that is not the fruit solely of a single culture. It gives the contrary impression of being part of nature shared by both cultures. The music is almost an element of universality among all peoples that would enable a union and a meeting beyond and above all differences and impossibilities of communication as a sort of language of human groups, understood universally by everybody. The meeting of the priest Gabriel (Jeremy Irons) with the Indians is marked by a song. Gabriel plays flute in the environment of the natives, who find the Jesuit strange and cannot understand his language. The Jesuit also does not know the language of the Indians; thus, there is mutual estrangement. The music breaks through that and enables a meeting, a dialogue to occur and it integrates them into all humanity. This scene suggests is that what unites us a species is a love of music and a desire to feel in harmony with the world. That's what all people share. We are faced with the same logic regarding music as an instrument of approach among cultures and even the most diverse beings (as exemplified in the encounter between Indians and missionaries).

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Even if each culture can produce its own instruments and melody, music expresses the essence of human being.

2) How does the murder of R. De Niros brother compare to the Cane Abel story? What leads De Niro to his conversion? Why does her carry the heavy sack up the mountain? Why do the Indians cut the sack and allow it to fall back down the mountain? Explain what you think that means? Cain was jealous of Abel. He was jealous because God favored Abel over Cain. Cain felt he worked just as hard if not better than Abel. Abel sacrificed his best to God as his offering Cain sacrificed seconds and kept the best for himself. The problem was with character, and Cain was the problem. He thought of himself first. Mendoza is seen above the falls as a mercenary, hunting down the Guarani for sale in the slave trade. His main focus in life is about obtaining material possessions and money. His life is all about what he wants. In the story of Cain and Abel and in the film The Mission the murder of R. De Niro's brother. The issue in both stories is that of jealousy and lack of mercy. In the story of Cain and Abel, it's quite evident that, Cain was merciless and had a lot of resentment towards his own brother. The same situation is also depicted in the murder of R. De Niro's brother; where Robert De Niro character Mendoza kills his own brother because of the jealousy he felt because Mendozas wife was in love with his younger brother. A very important symbol is the bag Rodrigo is instructed to carry as part of his punishment. The contents of the bag are ironic of themselves, for the sack is comprised of armor and other items which represent warfare and fighting. Therefore, it is a direct reminder of why he

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is bearing the heavy load, and attempting to instill in him that killing is not fine in Gods eyes. The lugging of the heavy sack puts me in mind of Jesus heading to his crucifixion while carrying upon his back a cross. Both Jesus and Rodrigo were reconciling sins in a very painful way in the name of forgiveness and of the Church. After Mendoza winds up tragically killing his own brother, he goes to a mission and is despondent, believing that there is no redemption for him and no penance to difficult for him. Through the intervention of Father Gabriel he goes on a journey above the falls in which he carries an extremely heavy net full of armor as his penance. By the time he makes it to the top he is beyond exhausted physically and emotionally. One of the Guarani, the people he used to capture and sell into slavery inquires about his burden and winds up cutting him loose. This is the turning point for him. He is set free by the very people he used to enslave. This is when Mendozas heart begins to break and change and he begins to see that there is more to life than riches and comforts. Through his relationship with Guarani he begins to experience a new sense of joy and peace; a new sense of what is really important in life. This is now the good life to him. His world is all about humanity. He sees the preciousness in human life and eventually commits himself to the priesthood in order to Shepherd that precious life.

3) What are your thoughts about the cardinal? Because he has an agenda when he comes to the mission, how does that impact his work? What does his conscience tell him at the end of the film? What is the difference between and individual response and an institutional response to the slave trade? The Cardinal, early on his tour of the missions, "A surgeon will often hack off a limb to save the body, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the limb I had come here to sever." Thus we

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see that the Cardinal from very early on has a feeling that things will end badly. In the middle of the film the Cardinal receives a letter from Rome, when handed it he does not open it, he is asked why not, and he states, "I already know what it says." Then towards the end of the movie, the Cardinal asks if the massacre was really necessary, the response he receives is "You had no alternative your eminence, we must live in the world and the world is thus." The Cardinal replies, "No thus have we made the world." Here we see a man forced to act as a politician, this creates an internal struggle of conscience with his moral compass and his earlier life as a Jesuit. He knows that in order for there to be peace between the Vatican, the Spanish and the Portuguese he must follow his orders from Rome even though he does not wish to do so. It is observed that the Cardinal regrets the situation he is in and the decision he has had to make. He disagrees with the Spanish and the Portuguese governments' representatives who see this as a victory. The Cardinal states that though the Jesuits are dead, they live, and though he is alive he feels dead. He knows he is in a tragedy yet unable to act to avert it. The Treaty of Madrid in 1750 gave part of South America to Portugal this was a problem because the Spanish intentions were to convert the natives into Christians, but the Portuguese intentions were to enslave the natives. A Spanish Cardinal who was once a Jesuit later comes to visit the mission. He came to decide if the mission should be given up to the Portuguese or stay in the hands of the priest. The natives did not want to leave the mission. One native said "It is our home and it was the will of God to build the missions" the Cardinal tells him "God would want them to leave" and he responds by saying You don't speak of God, you speak of the Portuguese king." The Cardinal decides to give the land to the Portuguese. The natives do not want to leave. There have been many attempts to save undeveloped countries by those superior. During the

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18th century there were many attempts to save the natives of South America. The Portuguese had no attempts to save them; instead they were more concerned with enslaving them. The missionaries dream of a society in which Christian natives will live in harmony with the Spanish and Portuguese. Yet, the colonial governors find this dangerous. They would rather enslave the Guarani than convert them. They issue for the mission to be destroyed. The Mission depicts the challenge of conscience that confronts us all in a world convulsed by power, greed, and violence. At the same time it that reminds us of the vitality of love, the miracle of grace, and the transforming power of acts of conscience.

4) There is significant difference in Jeremy Irons approach to the Portuguese and Robert DeNiros approach to the slave traders. Explain their approaches, how they are different and how would you respond in the same situation?

Fathers Gabriel and Mendoza both vow to stay with the Guarani, but diverge sharply over their responses to the imminent invasion of the mission by a combined Spanish-Portuguese force. While Gabriel insists that fidelity to their vocations requires Christ-like non-resistance, Mendoza reverts to his military ways, organizing the Guarani for an armed response against the invaders. When Mendoza comes to Gabriel to renounce his vows as a priest, Gabriel counters with the theological rationale for not fighting:

Gabriel: What do you want, captain, an honorable death?

Mendoza: They want to live, Father. They say that God has left them, hes deserted them. Has he? Gabriel: You shouldnt have become a priest.

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Mendoza: But I am, and they need me.

Gabriel: Then help them as a priest! If you die with blood on your hands, you betray everything weve done. You promised your life to God. And God is love!

Later, when Mendoza comes to Gabriel asking him to bless his fight, Gabriel responds: If might is right, then love has no place in the world. It may be so, it may be so. But I dont have the strength to live in a world like that, Rodrigo. Ultimately both Mendoza and Gabriel meet their deaths at the hands of the invaders, the former felled in battle, the latter killed while leading his flock in a Eucharistic Procession. Those Guarani who arent killed or captured disappear back into the jungle.

It takes no great leap of insight to recognize that Gabriel and Rodrigo represent two divergent and contrasting Christian approaches to the problem of violence. Gabriel represents Christian pacifism: because God is love, as shown in the example of Christ, Christians cant shed blood even in what may be a just cause. Rodrigo represents the just war ethos: force can be used to defend the innocent when their rights are being aggressed against. Theres no question that the Guarani are innocent and well within their rights, as far as natural justice is concerned, in defending themselves against the European invaders.

Of course, neither one of these approaches prevails in any concrete historical sense. The armed uprising is crushed and the pacifist priest is slaughtered. Force doesnt stop the invaders and love doesnt change their hearts although there is one scene where even the hardened conquistadors hesitated for a moment before setting fire to a church full of men, women, and children.

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The Mission avoids coming off as moralistic or judgmental. It is a clash of good and evil. Slavery is evil. The church's shift from offering true sanctuary to the hunted natives to abandoning those sanctuaries is evil. The political struggle between Spain and Portugal that creates the opening for the slavers to resume their trade is evil. But would it not also be evil if the intercession of the church resulted in the destruction of its ability to do any good elsewhere? The film avoids characterizing this latter concern as of no consequence, but it shows that the wrong decision was made. Another issue that arises is the choices two Mendoza and Gabriel make when they decide to resist the church's decision to abandon the Indian sanctuaries. One, a former slaver and mercenary, chooses to lead the natives in battle. The other "God is love" is the foundation of his worldview, chooses to lead the natives in prayer. However, the correctness of either choice is a foregone conclusion and I can feel sympathy and understanding for both paths.

5) Who are the martyrs in this story? How does it relate to the religious experience? Are the Guaran tribe slaves of the both the Portuguese and the Church at the end? Explain.

Mendoza ignores a cardinal tenet of just war theory: that war should only be waged when there is a reasonable likelihood of success. Unlike the pagan ideal of a noble death, the Christian just war tradition finds no virtue in fighting for a lost cause and being martyred is another matter. The ragtag band of Indians, accompanied by three renegade priests, hardly seems likely to fend off an invasion. Yet, at least as the movie portrays it, Mendozas response is understandable, if not justifiable. He sees massive injustice about to be inflicted on the people he loves and wants to fight back and to defend them. And this ideal is hardly unknown in Christendom. Rodrigo could

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be seen as a kind of knight-errant who, after repenting of his evil ways as a mercenary, uses his skills to champion the cause of the poor and oppressed. The movies heart seems to be with Gabriel and his Christ-like non-resistance. The image of him, dressed in white surplice, bearing the monstrance with the Host, leading his flock into the hail of gunfire has a special kind of power. It suggests, at least, that there is a power that love has when it refuses to hate, even if it is trampled underfoot by the world. Mendoza gives in to the temptation to use violence, and fails anyway. Gabriel refuses to hate or strike back and that does seem to give him a kind of victory. Its not some sentimental notion that you can love your enemy into loving you back, but that precisely by refusing to hate, love overcomes the powers of this world.

Martyrdom is death that's imposed because of one's adherence of a religious faith. It plays a major role in this movie, because Father Gabriel, one of the main characters of this movie, has adhered to his religious faith despite all the beneficial things that would have awaited him if he has given it up to greed, but he did not. Although Father Gabriel died in the process; his work and faith will live on in the living. 6) Given the film, The Mission and our course, Faith, Justice and the Catholic Tradition how would you explain elements of faith, justice and Catholic teaching as they relate to the film?

The Mission also offers a thoughtful look at redemption and personal responsibility. Mendoza faces up to his own guilt and seeks penance; given the events as they unfold, we might ask ourselves whether he achieves redemption in his own heart. An early scene foreshadows

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Mendozas situation: Gabriel asks him if he has the courage to attempt redemption, and Mendoza counters with the question of whether Gabriel can accept the consequences of his attempting it and failing. Our attention is also drawn to the figure of the Cardinal; he might easily be dismissed as an adversary, except for the fact that his character has been given the opening and closing narration for the film. His perspective forces us to acknowledge him as a human being attempting to do what is right, and denies us the easy way out of vilifying him and placing the blame for the situation entirely in his hands.

The missionaries dream of a society in which Christian natives will live in harmony with the Spanish and Portuguese. Yet, the colonial governors find this dangerous. They would rather enslave the Indians than convert them. They issue for the mission to be destroyed. The Mission depicts the challenge of conscience that confronts us all in a world convulsed by power, greed, and violence. At the same time, The Mission is a film that reminds us of the vitality of love, the miracle of grace, and the transforming power of acts of conscience. The two main points in this film is the intrinsic virtue of a life lived in harmony with nature and the humanizing, beneficent power of the Catholic Church. Overall, The Mission is a film that exercising goodwill amongst everyone, even those who are of different cultures, is the most courageous gesture any human can make. The actions made by the Jesuits in the effort to protect the Guarani tribe from harm are a bright shining example of this.

The relationship among the indigenous community and the Europeans begins by being hostile, for the first Christian priest to arrive to the area is murdered. However, Father Gabriel accomplishes to win the love and trust of the indigenous people. The role that religion plays in the film is extremely important. The indigenous people come to believe the word of the Jesuits-

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that is, that it is God's will for them to abandon the jungle and build a mission. Their convictions grow to be so strong that later, when the Cardinal, who professes to speak for Portugal's king and for the Catholic Church, insists that it is crucial for them to abandon the mission, the Guarani leader opposes to do so and, instead, fights back. Other aspects, regarding the relationship among the Europeans and the indigenous people, that stand out in the video are the indigenous people's adoption of European religious rituals, beliefs and daily life practices, the role that language plays, and lastly, the issue of power among the oppressing entities of politics and religion. The Mission is one of the most compelling videos that I have ever watched, and what is most compelling about it is that its historical aspect is actually based on facts. It brings up the following ideas: What does it mean to be a human being? Who has the right to determine what a human being's rights are? How can men be capable of being so selfish, inhumane and cruel to other human beings, yet they are also capable of being so loving and altruistic in such a way that they are willing to give up their lives for others? Living a good life means that you value other human life. Human life is precious and people are more important than things which are at the very heart of faith, justice and the catholic tradition.

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