A Mission for God . . .

I'm not even going to try to not give away the plot in The Mission, so if you don't want to see how the film ends, better quit now.

The film's unforgettable opening has a nameless priest tied to a cross by natives and sent over a waterfall to his death. We next see several Jesuits discussing his martyrdom after his burial at the foot of the waterfall. Father Gabriel, played brilliantly by Jeremy Irons, goes to the tribe that killed his brother in the order. He wins the initial affections of the tribe with his flute, and builds a relationship with the tribe. As this relationship is forming, we are introduced to Rodrigo Mendoza, who kidnaps several members of the tribe and sells them into slavery.

Shortly thereafter, Mendoza kills his brother over a woman, and sought refuge in the priests home mission. When Father Gabriel comes back to report his progress on building a mission, he is asked by the leader of the mission to talk to Mendoza. He agrees to undertake penance, although he is of the opinion that "there is no penance hard enough." Mendoza carries his armor up the waterfall, and hikes to the village with Father Gabriel, when he gets there, begs the tribe for forgiveness, and is accepted as one of their own. In one of the most moving sequences in the film, the former mercenary becoming a Jesuit.

The priests return to the main mission to report how successful the mission has become. The problem is that a treaty has changed the territory from Spanish to Portuguese control. Unlike the Spanish, who only illegally dabble in slavery, the Portuguese allow it, and want the Jesuits to abandon all their missions in the area so they can enslave the natives.

The decision is already made, but when the priests become aware of it, they advise the villagers to flee. The villagers decide to fight instead, and Mendoza leads them into battle, and ultimately defeat, while Father Gabriel leads the mass before fleeing with the remaining villagers. Both did what they saw as their duty after being excommunicated because they refused to cower to the mealy mouthed Altamirano, who was their superior in the church.

Roland Joffe did job with the use of water. It acts as a purifier throught the film, in the death of the first priest, prior to Mendoza forgiveness, and in a few other places. It was a rainy movie, and that enhanced it significantly.

Although I see the doctrine of penance in Scripture, there is certainly rich symbolism in the scene where Mendoza is forgiven by the natives. He has climbed a mountain with the burden of amour and past weighing heavy on him. He has done so of his own free will, in hopes that it will relieve his guilt. The natives are prepared to kill him when Father Gabriel tells them why he came. Instead of cutting his throat, the native cuts the rope that holds the burden on his back, and we watching it fall into the river.

In my life, I cannot relate to the guilt of having killed my brother, or sold people into slavery, but I can certainly relate to being forgiven. I feel refreshed every time I turn from my sin and back to God, like a cold shower on a hot day. It's energizing, invigorating, and there is nothing like it. Obviously, it is better to not sin in the first place, but when the relationship has been damaged, life can only be restored with forgiveness.

One of the things the Indian chief said, when Altamirano was explaining to them the predicament, was to question whether or not he spoke for God as he claimed. When Altamirano protested that he spoke for the church, which spoke for God, the chief replied. "We think you speak for the Portuguese."

As leaders, we need to be very careful who we speak for. There are times when the pressure from various places pushes us to speak in a way that does not truly represent God. When that happens, the people will either follow us away from the will of God, or detect our shattered and divided souls, and leave us. Both are painful to us, and destructive to God's work in the world. Prior to Mendoza going into battle, he asks Father Gabriel for a blessing. Father Gabriel responds: "If you are right, you'll have God's blessing, if you're wrong, my blessing won't help." That's a good thing to hear from a priest. If we are unsure of the proper direction, we need to allow people to do as they see fit before God, rather than dictate that our guess is better than theirs.