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BEYOND THE MOVIE :

The Third Miracle (1999 - 119 minutes, R)

by Raymond Teague

"Where does faith go?" "How does it get away?" "Is God here or isn't He?" These are some of the most disturbing questions the main character of this movie, a catholic priest specialized in investigating alleged miracles, continually asks himself. Have you ever, maybe in trying times, wondered as he does? Here's an invitation to look inside yourself.

While Father Frank Shore (Ed Harris) is having uncomfortable doubts about his faith on screen in The Third Miracle, you can almost hear some movie-goers squirming with thoughts about their own faith.

Father Frank's character invites identification. Most of us at trying times have wondered as he does: "Where does faith go? How does faith get away?" Many of us have encountered disturbing circumstances as he does when we've asked ourselves that awesome question: "Is God here or isn't He?"

Of God or religion or faith, the priest says, "I want it to be true," but he's not sure. You'd think a priest would know, but it's somehow reassuring to realize that even priests occasionally have doubts.

Father Frank has these doubts big time. He tells a fellow priest and friend, "You and me are going to look like a couple of assholes if we die and there's nothing there."

His job has forced Father Frank to look closely at issues of faith, and the examination has left his own faith shattered. He is a postulator for the Roman Catholic Church, a priest who investigates so-called miracles and whether or not those who have performed alleged miracles are worthy of sainthood. He's called "the miracle killer" because of his past successes in debunking miracle reports and would-be saints.

Father Frank, however, is bothered by destroying other people's faith, and has left his church work. He is called back to his postulator duties to check out the case of Helen O'Regan, who supposedly healed a girl of lupus and whose death is marked each year in November by a statue that weeps blood outside a Chicago church.

Was Helen a saint? Will Father Frank identify a third miracle attributed to her — necessary in the 1970's for a person to be considered for sainthood? What was Helen's past? Will Father Frank give up the priesthood because of his attraction for Helen's daughter Roxanne (Anne Heche)?

These are intriguing questions in this movie that is part mystery, part romance, and all spirituality. At the heart of the movie, however, is faith.

What is faith anyway? The Bible says that faith is "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1) Another concept that I read recently on a wall hanging is "Faith is not belief without proof but trust without reservations" — that is, complete trust in the allness and goodness of God.

Faith also can be thought of as that avenue of awareness that sees God everywhere present. In the 1948 film Joan of Arc starring Ingrid Bergman, the Maid of Orleans, a woman noted for her faith, tells her beloved dauphin, "What you need is faith in God. When you have that, you'll have faith in yourself. Put aside your doubts and fears."

Easier said than done for many people. Just where does faith in God come from? Father Frank, who has a natural bent toward truth-seeking and is the author of a book titled The God Within, is determined to find out and to discover how God -- if He exists -- makes Himself known to people.

He thought he had God figured out. When his father, a policeman was shot, Frank prayed to God and told God that he would become a priest if his father lived. When his father survived, Frank kept his word, but was devastated when his father died three months after he had become a priest. What was God's role in the situation? "I realized God doesn't make bargains," Father Moore said. "He was just making it hard for me."

As a result of his investigations and the struggle with his faith, Father Frank seems to come to an understanding that just because everything does not go smoothly in our lives or according to how we imagine they should be, God is involved and there is divine order.

"God has given me doubts, yes," Father Frank admits, "but he has also given me Helen. I believe that." God, Father Moore understands, has given him not only the desire and the ability to look for Truth, but also has given him obstacles and situations that press him onward in his search — that, indeed, make his search more meaningful and solid.

Wrestling with his own faith also gives Father Frank more empathy for others with similar doubts. He knows that there are those with natural faiths — such as his priest friend who says, "I don't need to ask questions. I know." He also knows full well that others must come to faith by a more difficult path.

The movie from Polish director Agnieszka Holland, the script by John Romano and the novel by Richard Vetere don't neatly tie all the issues and plot elements together. Much is left to the movie watcher's own faith and belief systems, as Holland intended it to be.

What Holland does, however, is give us a serious look at faith and spirituality, and offers us much to contemplate. As for "the third miracle," viewers can decide for themselves, but one candidate certainly is the miracle that is Father Frank's own change in perception.

Copyright © 2000 Raymond Teague