Would you believe that there’s a Jesuit rom-com?
It sounds like a joke, but that is a fairly accurate description of “Crossroads” (alternately titled “The Novice”), a 2006 film written and directed by Murray Robinson. It’s this week’s Catholic Movie Club selection for two reasons.
First, next week we celebrate the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, and it seemed appropriate to mark the occasion with a Jesuit-inspired film—but a less well-known one than, say, “The Mission” or “The Two Popes.” (The middle of summer didn’t seem like the opportune time to cover “Silence.”)
Second, this is a movie about decision-making—or discernment, in Ignatian parlance. President Joseph Biden’s announcement that he will not seek re-election has us all talking about how we make decisions, especially ones that are potentially life-altering. Fortunately, St. Ignatius left us with a method for prayerful discernment which helps us to make decisions in light of God’s desires for our lives. “Crossroads” shows us discernment in action and how tricky that can be.
The film follows Peter (Jacob Pitt), a Jesuit novice struggling with his vocation. Maybe that’s underselling it: When we meet Peter, he seems fairly certain that he is not called to be a priest, but he is unsure what to do next. His novice master (Frank Langella) sends him and another novice, Gilbert (Matthew Carey), to work at a soup kitchen on Alabama’s Gulf Coast run by Father Behnke (Alan Arkin). The plan is for Peter to get some clarity, but things just get more muddled, especially when an instant attraction forms between him and Jill (Amy Acker), a staffer at the kitchen.
While some of the usual rom-com complications and antics ensue, “Crossroads” is strongest when it focuses on Peter’s and Jill’s discernment journeys. Peter, of course, is discerning if he should remain with the Jesuits. Jill, who has received several rejections from the Peace Corps, is trying to figure out what to do with her deep desire to serve abroad. They wonder if their restlessness is a passing mood, or a sign that they’re meant to be somewhere else.
In my favorite scene, Jill asks Peter if he entered the seminary because he wanted to or needed to. Peter admits that at the start it was a need, but now he’s not so sure. Jill offers her assessment: “I think you’re an idealist, a disillusioned idealist. And I think seminary life hasn’t turned out exactly the way you planned, and now you’re sitting here flirting with me because you don’t know the difference between want and need.” It sounds harsh, but Jill’s aware that the same words apply to her.
Peter suggests getting Father Behnke’s opinion, and Jill said she already has. “He said, ‘Want isn’t part of the equation,’” she says. “He said the goal is to make yourself indifferent to what you want.” In this case, he means indifference in the Ignatian sense: not becoming apathetic, but (as Peter says) that by “ignoring the distractions of the world you free yourself to follow your call.”
This idea is rooted in the First Principle and Foundation, the opening statement to St. Ignatius of Loyola’s great spiritual work, the Spiritual Exercises. Ignatius says that we need to hold the things of the world in balance, embracing them insofar as they help us to reach our ultimate goal (unity with God) but never becoming so attached to them that we limit our spiritual freedom. This extends, he writes, to “not want health more than sickness, wealth more than poverty, fame more than disgrace, a long life more than a short one…desiring and choosing only what conduces more to the end for which we are created.”
It sounds so simple in theory, but as we see in “Crossroads,” it rarely is in practice. We are all in the midst of our own discernment processes, whether it’s considering religious life, a presidential bid, or simply what to do about that deep, spiritual yearning that won’t leave you alone. It can be difficult to sift through all of the distractions, external pressures and momentary wants to discover what we are truly called to do. Maybe the best advice that Peter receives in the film comes from his novice master: “The best thing in the world for you is to get out and work with other people.” Often it is by stepping outside of ourselves that we get the most clarity.
As a disclaimer: I usually cover major studio releases in this column, but “Crossroads” was an independent film shot on a modest budget and the production value may not be what you’re used to. Some story elements—like a priest inviting a man discerning a religious calling to stare at bathing women to understand “what he’s giving up” or an older priest’s inappropriate comments being played for laughs—have aged poorly. Still, the story and its treatment of discernment are well worth your consideration.
“Crossroads” is streaming on Peacock Premium, Hoopla, YouTube, Tubi and the Roku Channel.
