13 Jan We thought he only roughed uk canada goose outlet up the bad
The Gospel of Tony Soprano
(CNN) The only time I met James Gandolfini, we talked about God.
It was a chance meeting at the Broadway play “God of Carnage,” in which he was acting. I went backstage to see someone else but was introduced to James.
Perhaps it’s unwise for a Catholic priest to admit being a “Sopranos” fan, but I confess to having used it more than once as Canada Goose Jackets fodder for a Sunday canada goose homily. I happen to think it Canada Goose Online was one of the most spiritual shows on television. Had I told James that, he might have been as surprised as he was by my “God of Carnage” quip.
READ MORE: James Gandolfini last roles
Tony Soprano was every man and maybe every Canada Goose online woman, too. That’s why we canada goose uk black friday tuned canadian goose jacket in week after week because we saw ourselves reflected, and we wanted to find out how we would turn out.
While most of us have never belonged to the mob or killed anybody, we’ve all done canada goose coats on sale things about which we are not proud, things we cheap canada goose uk hope nobody finds out about.
Yes, we are basically good people, but we have a darker Canada Goose sale side, too. We try to hide it or dress it up, but every once in a while it emerges, perhaps does some damage, and then recedes to the recesses of our lives until our next stumble. Kind of like Tony.
Despite Canada Goose Outlet his occasional murder or infidelity, most https://www.officialcanadagoosesoutlet.ca of us thought Tony was a pretty good guy. We thought he only roughed uk canada goose outlet up the bad guys who chose to put themselves in harm way canada goose black friday sale with their profession choice.
We believed he loved his wife, even though he cheated on her. We trusted he cared canada goose clearance sale about his canada goose clearance kids, even though it was sometimes with the back of his hand and punctuated with the “f” word.
Yes, Tony was a mass of contradictions, but that’s why we liked him. He made us feel better about our own contradictory lives because canada goose uk outlet they seemed angelic in comparison to his.
There’s precedent for dubious heroes in the Scriptures, too. Many of the biblical boldface names led lives that were hardly free of moral Canada Goose online ambiguity.
Abraham pretends his wife is his sister and proffers her for sex to powerful kings. Noah drank too much. Lot offers his virgin daughter to be gang raped. David was an adulterer and murderer, Samson was a Lothario, too. And Moses was a murderer with a self esteem problem.
Yet despite their glaring peccadilloes, they are heroes for canada goose factory sale us because God uses them despite their foibles, writes straight with canada goose store crooked lines and all that. tells Tony that he doesn’t want to get confirmed in the Catholic Church.
Tony, knowing that his churchgoing and priest befriending wife, Carmela, would have none of that, says, “You go to buy canada goose jacket cheap Catholic school. And your mother wants it.. She knows that even if God is dead, you’re still going cheap Canada Goose to kiss his ass.”
That’s our Tony, profane and to the point. We cheer for him all the more because, even though he messes up his Canada Goose Parka own life, buy canada goose jacket he tries his best to make sure his kids don’t mess up theirs. “Do as I say, not as I do.” How many of us have heard that sage advice from our doting parents?
Reports about the final day of Canada Goose Coats On Sale James Gandolfini’s life seem to show a person who lived large, literally and figuratively.
If we are to believe The New York Post (and I don’t always), Gandolfini partook of a bacchanal feast of four shots of rum, two pina coladas, two beers, plus two orders of fried king prawns and a lot of foie gras.
But lest our final memory of him be marred by his seeming fall into the sin of gluttony, we are told that he had just come from touring canada goose coats the Vatican.
Sounds like uk canada goose something Tony would do.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those canada goose uk shop of Father Edward L. Beck.
A thought to consider without an ego response
I Accepted Jesus christ as my lord and saviour. You never know how soon is too late. Transcend the worldly illusion of enslavement.