Questions for Reflection: • What positive elements in today's culture might we adapt as Church to help us grow to be "the body of Christ" that we are called to be? • Talk about one way the Church has grown or changed that has helped you in developing your faith.

Sometimes it's difficult for independent folks like myself to accept authority that resists questioning. Such authority seems constraining. As a youngster I hated hearing, "Because I told you so" from an adult. When my first child was born I resolved that I would raise him to question things, to question me. But it took me years before I realized the importance of developing a voice and look that conveyed absolute authority.

I was feeding two toddlers when my oldest son came in the house, accidentally bringing a huge wasp with him. Now big flying bugs scare me silly, but I knew I could not show panic. I would take care of the wasp—after my children were safely away.

I asked Roger Andy to take his young brother and sister out of the room. Rather than taking each by the hand, he sat down and asked me, "Why?" My explanation, "Wasps sometimes sting," was met with another, "Why?" By the third "Why?" I met his eye, gave him "the look" and in a voice two octaves lower than normal, commanded: "Because I told you so." He grabbed his two siblings and left the room. Later, I thanked him for rescuing Kristin and Jamie. (I would like to say I then proceeded to answer all his questions about wasps, but I didn't. I was never the perfect mom.)

Mother Church can be similarly demanding. Questioning is fine until she suspects her children are in danger (of heresy, sin, etc.). Her "look and voice" are called dogma, and we are expected to accept it without questioning. Occasionally I feel like my son must have felt on that spring afternoon: still questioning, just a bit resentful. Often Catholic teaching is fully explained and I can understand what is taught and the reasons. Sometimes it is not to my satisfaction. Maybe I just don't get what Mother Church is telling me or don't want to get it. Or, once in a while Mother Church's follow-up teaching isn't quite perfect either.

For Family Response: Parents, ask your children if you have a look or voice or unquestionable authority. Ask them to show you what each is like. Discuss.

Movies often encourage the idea that a wedding is the crowning achievement of love. The first movie Shrek did its part, ending with Shrek and the ogre princess Fiona finding true love after learning that true beauty is not skin-deep. Shrek 2 picks up from there, where the "happily ever after" of marriage faces challenges.

Problems begin with Shrek's in-laws. Fiona's parents, king and queen of the Kingdom of Far, Far Away (labeled by white letters on a hillside in imitation of the famous Hollywood sign), eagerly anticipate the first visit of their daughter since she was released from her spell by her rescuer and husband. All the kingdom's citizens turn out for a grand celebration of the special occasion.

But no one has been prepared for the mate the beloved princess has chosen—nor for her transformation. In a fairy-tale version of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?, how will her parents react? Will love trump their loss of long-held dreams for their daughter?

Those dreams include a handsome (and narcissistic) prince they had earlier selected for her from their own kingdom. After the initial shock Fiona's mother begins to adjust to the new reality, but her father, the king, is determined to reform it. This obviously requires extraordinary action.

He turns first to the invincible assassin Puss in Boots, voiced by Antonio Banderas, a character with a flair competitive with that of the faithful donkey voiced by Eddie Murphy, who has tagged along on the visit. When Puss in Boots fails to eliminate Shrek and instead becomes his ally, donkey grouses, "The position of annoying talking animal has already been taken."

Enter the fairy godmother, who, it turns out, is the mother of the handsome prince and has an evil streak. "Ogres," she promises Shrek, "don't live happily ever after." When the godmother's attempt at replacing Shrek with her son fails, Shrek, the donkey and Puss steal the magic potion she had created in an effort to turn Fiona back into a beautiful princess, Shrek into a strapping hulk and donkey into a dazzling steed.

Shrek 2 is more plot-driven than the character-driven Shrek, but the fun is still in the telling. A contest should be created to see who can find the most references to past movies and parodies of popular culture in the film.

The result is a hilarious sequel that is less of a children's tale than the original. When I saw Shrek at a mid-afternoon screening the theater was crowded mostly with adults, a testimony to the word of mouth that this is a funny movie for grownups too. Still, the kids I saw it with loved it. The movie doesn't lose the message of self-acceptance of the original, while its mild double entendres probably go over the heads of youngsters. The added messages of overcoming prejudice and the need to work at marriage will appeal more to adults.

For Media Watch: What values do you find in this film?

St. Monica (322?-387)

Life seemed to present St. Monica with one challenge after another, but through prayer and persistence her most heartfelt wishes were fulfilled.

Born of Christian parents in what is now Algeria, she was married off at a young age to a pagan man who proved to be an unfaithful husband and absent father. Of their three children, she had a clear favorite: Augustine, her firstborn.

He was brilliant but he was a handful, breaking her heart with his immoral lifestyle and his rejection of the faith. Monica tried tough love—forbidding her son to eat or sleep in her household. But she welcomed him with open arms when a vision assured her he would ultimately embrace the faith. And he did—in time.

Before that happened Monica followed Augustine and his mistress to Rome and then to Milan. There she met a bishop (now St. Ambrose) who became her spiritual director. At his advice she gave up some of the practices and habits that complicated her relationship with her son. Not long before her death, Monica witnessed Augustine's Baptism by Ambrose, who had come to know the young man well. She called it the fulfillment of "all my hopes in this world."

Augustine went on to become a priest, a bishop known for his devotion to the poor, one of the Church's most distinguished theologians and, finally, a saint. After 20 years of marriage Monica received another gift late in life: the conversion to Christianity of her wayward husband and her peevish mother-in-law. Her lifetime of charity and piety had impressed them; her prayers had moved them.

St. Monica is the patron of mothers. Her feast day is August 27.

Saundra Willingham

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