Through his work with the Archdiocese of San Francisco chaplain and teacher, Father John Jimenez has published numerous articles and papers on contemporary issues and their links to the past.
Reflecting on America’s involvement in the Middle East in the Post 9/11 era, on how it has affected all involved, our soldiers, intelligence agents, civilians, political leaders and diplomats, on all sides, a great insight is gained by the Showtime produced drama “Homeland”. whose overall message could be summarized as ‘to avoid pain and tragedy, both on the personal level, and geopolitical level, considering the sacrifice of the people involved, ‘good intelligence’, or ‘sacred study’, even, is necessary”. So, this television series is a good study, seeking to understand ourselves, and even our “enemies”, and learn lessons to avoid innocent suffering in the future.
In this sense, “Homeland” is an epic, like “Lord of the Rings”, or “The Iliad”. an epic of the hero’s journey, with Carrie as the hub amongst the spokes of many characters, each with their rationale, serving flawed institutions, yet, the only way they can see of bringing a good. So, too, at the personal cost of loss of trust, negative affects on family and loved ones, and the tremendous sorrow of death, especially for those who sacrificed so you could live, or for the ideal of the institution. A metaphor, then, for the struggle that many people live with, perhaps without such costs, but still painful. This is why tears for such great characters such as Brody, and all he went through, who just wanted to serve his country as a Marine after 9/11, Quinn, an orphan recruited to be Special Ops, trying to find the moral way. Max, the quiet, tech specialist, loyal friend of Carrie, and the young soldiers who would pat Max’s head as their “frosted lucky charm”, whose sacrifice enabled Max to get the black box and help stop a major nuclear exchange, or Astrid, a German agent whose care Quinn did not realize until too late, or Farah, the Persian/Afghan translator, who, like many, becomes willing to take more and more risks, or the Afghan family man, a secret source of intelligence, kidnapped from his home
Homeland, then, is a Homeric tapestry put together by committed actors, writers, producers and production staff (even the details of life in an Afghan village, and the culture of hospitality, or life in the capital of our “enemy” Iran) to help us understand ourselves better, even our “enemies”, who have their stories too.
With “good intelligence”, and sacred study, we can know better how to avoid conflict, or when, or if, we really need to use force to defend the innocent. This tapestry gives hope that it is possible we can come to understand, and do good, despite our fallen nature.
Father John Jimenez 