NCR Today

He was criticized by many Christians for his controversial movie "The Last Temptation of Christ," but a new review of Martin Scorsese's work paints the director as one of America's most Catholic filmmakers.

Even beyond "Last Temptation," Scorsese has rarely achieved widespread acceptance; his films are often called too dark and tragic for general audiences. Movies like "Raging Bull" and "Gangs of New York" can seem bleak for bleakness sake -- offering nothing more than a downbeat take on a cynical world.

But in the July edition of Harper's Magazine, Vince Passaro writes passionately about how Scorsese's strong Italian Catholic upbringing lies at the heart of the stories he tells on film. In interviews, Scorsese has admitted that one of his great themes is betrayal -- and Passaro notes that in each movie, Scorsese's turncoat ends up alone, isolated from society, a Judas who pays a heavy price. More than that, Passaro writes, Scorsese's tragic figures demonstrate "what becomes of men who are separated from God, men who are lost."

On this day we celebrate the feast of St. Máel Ruain, Abbot and Bishop of Tallaght. He died at his monastery in 792.

Tallaght today is a south-western suburb of Dublin, and St Maelruain's Church, Church of Ireland, stands on the site of the 8th-century monastery.

I heard an economist from the state of Georgia talking on the news the other day about the need for farm labor. He said we need a guest worker program, but not amnesty.

I was disappointed that the interviewer didn't ask why amnesty would be such a bad thing. We need workers. These are men and women willing to do the toughest labor, in the heat amid the bugs, the economist said. That should count as evidence of good citizenship.

Instead, he, the economist, wants to send them all to prison for using false social security numbers. Even there, the money that should go to the workers went back to the government. We could consider its loss as punishment, if punishment is required.