A screenplay: The Cult

By Lotus Point, all rights reserved to her....

Screenplay Act 1 Scene 1
THE CULT – ACT ONE 1.

THE CULT

ACT ONE

FADE IN:

INT. CHAPEL – DAY

A gorgeous, Mexican woman stands behind a podium in a chapel filled with teenage girls. ELENA is reading with a marked accent.

ELENA

Now it came to pass, as they went, that

he entered into a certain veellage: and a

certain woman named Martha received him

into her house. And she had a sister called

Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet,

and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered

about much serving, and came to him,

and said, Lord, dost thou not care that

my sister hath left me to serve alone?

Bid her therefore that she help me. And

Jesus answered her and said unto her,

Martha, Martha, thou art careful and

troubled about many things: But one thing

is needful: and Mary hath chosen that

good part, which shall not be taken

away from her.

Alright girls, now kneel on your knees

and we will begin the meditation.

The girls GET UP from their pews rather loudly and CLANK onto the kneelers. There is a BLUSTER of notebooks moving around and girls turning around and facing forward again. This is when we notice LIA. She is a pale-faced, serious-looking teenager of thirteen. She is focused and attentive to every word coming from Elena’s mouth. In fact, too attentive.

CONTINUED.

THE CULT – ACT ONE 2.

CONTINUED:

ELENA

Let’s start with a composeetion of place.

We are walking along the dusty streets

of Galilee with H-esús and decide to dine

with his dear friends, Maria and Marta.

Let’s enter the cottage and see what is

going on. Marta has been cleaning the house

all day. She dusted. She swept. She even

took a bucket of water from the well

to mop. She caught the fish from the lake.

She cleaned it. And then she cooked it.

There were many hungry men in the house,

and they had to eat. She wanted to sit and

talk with Jesus, but there were many works

to be done. At the same time, her sister

Maria has not lifted a finger to help her.

Maria woke up, bathed, and sat in the

window waiting for Jesus. When he came, she

ran out to meet him, screaming and crying.

Marta would have liked to greet Jesus like

that, but she could not leave the hot stove

with no one to watch it. Jesus came in, and

she stood in the kitchen, while Maria

washed his feet with her hair and kissed

them. Finally, Marta can stand it no more.

She becomes so angry, she goes up to Jesus,

forgetting that they have yet to even say

hello to each other, and she complains!

“Jesus, my sister has not lifted a finger

to help me! Send her immediately to the

kitchen to help me!” Instead of sending Maria

immediately to the kitchen to help her,

Jesus said something else. “Maria has

chosen the better part and it will not be

taken away from her.” You girls can sit down if you

like.

Some of the girls begin to sit down. Some stay fixed in prayer. Lia, especially, has not moved since the beginning of the meditation. Lia takes out a notebook and writes.

CONTINUED.

THE CULT – ACT ONE 3.

CONTINUED:

LIA(writing)Dear God, please help me to find your will

for me, like Mary. I feel called to

do something more in my life.

ELENA(Continuing the talk)

Maybe some of you have experienced the call

of God. You are at prayer, and you feel that

you need to give more to make the world a

better place. Maybe, you have even felt the

call to be consecrated, to give your life

to God in the Regnum Christi Movement, the

Movement so loved by the Pope and the

Greatest gift to the Church in the

Twentieth Century. Maybe you have felt

the call to spend your youth discerning

your vocation. Maybe you don’t feel sure

yet, but you would like to spend some

time in our high school in Rhode Island

to find out what God wants of you, and spend

the most precious years of your life

looking for God’s will. And God, I, like

Maria, want to choose the better part.

And God, I remember that I don’t need to

be afraid of setbacks. There will be

many setbacks in my vocation. But if I

am brave, you will guide me through all of

them. There is the case of the consecrated

whose parents would not allow her to join the

high school when she was fourteen, and so

she became consecrated inside her house,

and even at eighteen, they still forbid

her. But she told them that she was

eighteen and they could no longer forbid her

from following God’s call, and she walked

out of their house, a consecrated woman.

God, maybe my family will never understand

my call, but I will not quiet its sound

in my heart.

FADE OUT.