Mary Remie Jane T.

Marasigan 2H

I had already seen the play of Les Miserables when Lea Salonga played Eponine even before having watched the Les Miserables (2013). And the scene that I think I can really relate to Christianity is the part wherein Jean Valjean has an internal struggle with himself after the Bishop saved him from the authorities when the Bishop said that the silver that Valjean stole was a gift from the Bishop. In the movie, what happened after that was Jean Valjean was reflecting on what had been his life, how he had fallen so far after stealing a mouthful of bread. He admitted that the act of the Bishop touched him, one word from the latter and Valjean would have been back in prison but instead the Bishop offered him freedom and claim his soul for God. This internal struggle gave Valjean a ray of hope that it is not yet late for him to take another path from how he had lived and change anew.

I think Christiniaty should be like this for us, a light a ray of hopeto lead us from our wrong choices, bad decisions, the darkness of our sins and offer us a chance to change for the better. The Church taught us of the good that we are to do for our fellowmen, the good that we are capable of sharing to others as Jesus had during His ministry. He gave us examples of acts to follow and showed us the way in order to be more human, more sensitive to others aside from ourselves. I also think this is why the Church is against death penalty. One wrong will not right another wrong. Even God forgives, so should we. We dont hold in our hand s the lives of other people. And how will they right their wrongs if the opportunity to change is taken from them. I think Christianity offers us, not only the criminals, another way to live, how to stand up after we have fallen so low in life. Through every hardship, struggle, failure and sin that comes our way, Christianity promises hope for something better. Hope is a very important aspect of our life, something that we should never lose along the challenges that we have faced and will still face.

Like the Bishop, we should serve as models of kindness, something to influence others so that they too in turn will show the same kindness to others as they have been shown. But also like Valjean, we cannot achieve this if we are not to reflect on the person we have become as compared to the person we should be, a person for God. The internal struggle experienced by Valjean, having been shown compassion by the Bishop, had helped him to realize his crooked path prior to his meeting with the Bishop; how the harshness of the world has changed him into something bad. Because in the movie when Valjean knocked on the door of the Bishop, the latter offered him food and a roof over his head but he repayed kindness with treachery when he stole silver later that night. And still the Bishop showed kindness. I think that is what had been a wake up call for Valjean. Christianity is a wake up call for all of us to move away from our past mistakes, learn from them and take the hardship that we have endured and change it into lessons that will make us stronger and not more evil so to speak.

There are other great scenes in the musical that can be reflected on and learned from but even after having watched the movie/play a few times, still I chose this as what would strike me most to relate to Christianity.