The second film in the Footprints of God series is dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus. Unless your an expert in the ancient Biblical history and a frequent traveller to those places or a Christian Biblical tour guide in Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Italy, Greece, Jordan and Syria at the same time, the series is definitely not to be missed. They say the Holy Land is the fifth Bible. It is definitely true in that so many places described in the Bible, unless they were completely destroyed by wars and time, are there to tell us their stories of life, customs, traditions and events of the time. They help to get the much needed dose of reality of those events that happened in the course of several thousand years of history, especially in this age of scepticism or plainly a blind refusal to accept the historicity of Christianity. If you'll never see some of the places, use it as a great travel and history source, and if you're going to see some of them - as a travel guide of the places not to be missed. And not just a travel guide, it will help you understand the deep meaning of the events connected to these places.
And that's what Steve Ray does. Mary is often overlooked and ignored and even reduced to simply a speechless tool in the story of Salvation by most of the non-traditional (Protestant) Christian denominations that appeared no more than 500 years ago. But her role is not that of simply a birth-giver. Her "yes" to God was key to all that happened later, as was her life after the Annunciation. Christians have always venerated saints and Mary as a very special saint. They also venerated the sacred places where most important events happened, they built churches over those places, thus preserving the memory for future generations. Christianity is not a religion of the Book that "fell from the skies", completely detached from this world, people and places. It is deeply rooted in history and without its history it is in danger of turning into a myth - exactly what the sceptics and atheists are desperately trying to make it to be.
Of course, there is so much to tell about Mary's life and her role in Salvation - both historically and theologically, and one hour of this documentary is barely enough just to cover the main points, albeit briefly. But it does the job very well, combining history and faith in one organic story-telling, and can certainly be used as a starting point to familiarise yourself with what it is that Catholics actually believe, as opposed to what you may think they believe. If you are not a traditional Christian: Catholic, Orthodox or Oriental, things that you hear may sound quite daunting and not entirely clear but information is all widely available in books and online. I would recommend this to anyone - whether you are a sceptic, a protestant or a traditional Christian.
