Ulysses, the classic hero of excellence, spent 20 years far from his beloved Ithaca due to the Trojan War and difficulties on the journey.
Throughout that time, not a day passed without him missing his home, to which he was finally able to return, just like the characters in a new documentary fittingly called “Ithaca.”
However, these people haven't returned to a physical place, but rather to one to which they've always belonged but from which they grew apart for one reason or another.
“The loss of my brother, the loss of my marriage. And in November 1997, my mom gets sick. On November 12, my mom dies from an aneurism. That was the breaking point.”
“I thought God wasn't necessary and that the Church was pernicious.”
“I hated God, because he took her away from me. I was 15, and he left me with no mother.”
All of them found a reason to forget God, but with time, they discovered a stronger one for returning to Him.
ANA SÁNCHEZ DE LA NIETA
Director, “Ithaca”
“It comes from one of Pope Francis' ideas. The pope talks a lot about conversion, about coming home; that the Church, regardless of how distant that person is, is a shelter, a tent hospital.”
“Ithaca” is the return trip to the Church by a group of people who gradually realized there's a place whose doors are always open. Now home, they felt the need to share the experience of finding themselves once again where they were always meant to be.
ANA SÁNCHEZ DE LA NIETA
Director, “Ithaca”
“We spoke with different parishes and priests who told us about certain people who could tell us their testimony and were willing to do it. The converts share a common denominator of being people committed to their mission of spreading awareness about a return to the Catholic Church. That's how we contacted the characters, whom we've called 'children of Ithaca.'”
The documentary is divided into chapters that explain the phases through which the six people traveled, each one's journey from afar, which included nostalgia, the turning point that made them change their ways, and finally, the return.
“That emptiness was absolutely filled because that was what was truly missing. God is the only One who can fill a part of the soul where no person can reach.”
“I never feel alone, ever. I'm at home every second.”
“Like the Prodigal Son, I know I've returned home.”
“Ithaca” can be viewed on Opus Dei's YouTube channel. Thirty-two minutes summarize the long journey back home, to the Ithaca that was always closer than they thought.
