Latest Episode of CW's 'Jane the Virgin' Emphasizes Importance of Christian Prayer
The CW's satirical romantic comedy-drama telenovela "Jane The Virgin," developed by Jennie Snyder Urman, has always featured religious undertones. But its latest episode highlights the significance of prayer in the Christian faith when one of its characters is diagnosed with cancer.
WARNING: THIS ARTICLE FEATURES SPOILERS
"Chapter Seventy-Seven" of season four, which aired March 16, ended on a cliffhanger when Xiomara Villanueva (played by Andrea Navedo), Jane's mother, tells her extremely tight-knit family that she has breast cancer. The emotional scene ends with the family torn. But then Jane's grandmother, Alba, who is a strict Catholic, leads the family in a unifying prayer on their knees. The Villanueva clan all recited The Lord's prayer found in Matthew 6:9-13 in the Bible.
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Last Friday, "Chapter Seventy-Eight" picked up where the aforementioned episode left off. The episode does feature mature themes some Christians might find contrary to their beliefs. Nevertheless, the show's creator, Urman, continued to explore the importance of the family's faith in God to help them through.
This chapter revealed that Xiomara is battling stage 3 invasive lobular carcinoma cancer and has to decide on whether she will have a lumpectomy, a single mastectomy, or a preventative double mastectomy.
The lead character, Jane (Gina Rodriguez), was accidentally artificially inseminated in season one with Rafael's (Justin Baldoni) child while still a virgin, hence the title of the series. Fast forward to the current season — their son, now a young Mateo (Elias Janssen), is seen clinging to prayer because he believes it will save his abuela. The young boy's theology creates an interesting conflict for his dad Rafael, who is an atheist and not at all comfortable with religious practices. However, he doesn't destroy the hope his son finds in prayer.
The latest "Jane the Virgin" episode further explores Rafael's internal conflict when he hears that his son believes prayer gives people exactly what they ask for. Despite his personal convictions, he explains to Mateo that prayer doesn't always fix problems but instead does give people the strength to push through hard times.
It's a powerful moment because although the TV dad doesn't believe in God, the mainstream show is tolerant to the Christian practice of prayer and even stresses the value of faith in times of hopelessness or sorrow. Overall, the episode highlighted how prayer helps bring people together and in this case, helps the Villanueva family stay strong for each other.
