Lalaine M.

Reyes
11510749
TREDFOR A58
Reflection Paper 1

Keeping the Faith

Knowing oneself is a long process that involves experiences and digging much
deeper than what is on one’s surface. It means that one must face his or her fears,
doubts, and insecurities, acknowledging them, and using them to clearly hear one’s
calling.
After watching Keeping the Faith (2000), it manifested the difficulty of the process
one has to go through in discovering his or her real self. The movie shows that it is a
journey, one that is not only filled with laughter and smiles, but also requires the feeling
of pain, crying, and conflict even with the people you love.
The movie tells the story of two friends, a priest and a rabbi, who fell in love with
the same woman they knew back in their childhood. It perfectly depicts the importance
of knowing oneself as first, Anna Reilly, which after years of being apart from the two,
became a workaholic, high-powered executive. Upon returning, the three bonded as if
nothing has changed, and she ended up falling in love with one of her friends, Jake.
One of her major dilemmas is choosing a priority between advancing to her career, or
staying in New York to officially establish a relationship with her friend. In the end, she
finally realized that there was more to her life than working 24 hours a day. She finally
took the courage to choose the path which led to her true happiness.
Second, Jake Schram, the rabbi, who was pressured to finding and dating
eligible woman in his synagogue, eventually fell in love with Anna. Despite how deep
their relationship has gotten, he left Anna after she decided to choose him over her
career. He was conflicted about fighting for Anna as it was unusual for a rabbi to be with
a shiksa. After finally listening to what his friend and his mother had to say, it finally
came to his senses how much of a huge mistake he has done. He finally found, in
himself, the courage to fight for the woman he loves, and that no differences could ever
change that.
Lastly, Brian Finn, was struggling whether to pursue his love for Anna or not. He
was clueless of the relationship between Jake and Anna, and he interpreted their
romance as a sign of Anna’s hidden mutual attraction for him. However, as any other
priest, he did not want to give up his vows for a woman. Although the discovery of their
secrets led to a chaotic aftermath, Brian eventually gave way for his two friends, and
listened to his true calling, that is, being married with God. In the end, he realized that
he was content and happy seeing his two friends in love, and everything falling into
place at last.
 Knowing oneself takes us on a bumpy road. Since it is more than what is on the
mere surface, it requires challenges before we succeed. It makes us choose the most
difficult and undesirable choices in life. It requires sacrifices and pain. However, time
and self-reflection can help us find our way. This work most especially when we do
things along with our faith in God. After all, in the end, knowing oneself is going to be
worth it.