Dear Friends,
I am excited to say that we are ready to start a new season of watching The Chosen together as a parish and to share the experience with Fireside Chats via Zoom. We did this for the first two seasons of The Chosen and on February 7th we will begin watching Season 3 together.
I will say that this is the best theatrical presentation of Jesus that I have ever experienced. I have been moved to tears in almost every single episode. It has become something of a phenomenon with millions of people watching it, yet I still find very active Christians unaware of The Chosen. If that is you, let me tell you a little bit about it.
The Chosen, as the name suggests, is really more about the disciples of Jesus than it is about Jesus. Rather than merely focusing on Jesus’s greatest hits, Dallas Jenkins (its creator) and his fellow writers linger with characters in their daily lives—marital and professional conflicts, financial struggles, campfire gatherings. When viewers see climactic moments from the Gospels such as Jesus’s healing of a leper, the events are seen from the impact it has on the community, as a disruption of the status quo. Although The Chosen stays faithful to the main story in the Bible, it also creates some speculative backstories. Matthew, a Jew who is also a tax collector, has issues with his family and is somewhere on the autism spectrum. We get to know Peter’s wife and her concerns. Mary Magdalene and Jesus’ own mother play important roles in this community of followers. The account of Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding is well known, but in the show, the miracle also saves the bride’s working-class parents from embarrassing the groom’s wealthy father. The Chosen looks like any high-quality production on network television.
If you have not seen Seasons 1 and 2, then I suggest in the next couple of weeks you binge on The Chosen. That way, you will be ready to watch Season 3 with your fellow parishioners. If you have been watching, you may want to go back and refresh your memory. How can you watch it? Easy. It is on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Peacock and/or it has its own app. If you download the app to your phone you can watch all the seasons by casting it to your smart tv. And, all of this is free! This is the biggest crowd-funding video project in history. They are relying on donors to help them produce Season 4. To join us for the Cabrini Fireside Chat, simply email Deacon Doug at dalenz@archomaha.org and he’ll make sure the Zoom link gets sent to you each Tuesday.
Change of topic, this past Tuesday, we celebrated the feast of St. Francis de Sales. We used his prayer at a meeting I was at that day. I’d like to share it with you as well:
Complete Trust in God
by Saint Francis de Sales
Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life with fear. Rather, look to them with full confidence that, as they arise, God to whom you belong will in his love enable you to profit by them. He has guided you thus far in life. Hold fast to His dear hand, and He will lead you safely through all trials. Whenever you cannot stand, He will carry you lovingly in his arms.
Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow. The same Eternal Father who takes care of you today will take care of you tomorrow, and every day of your life. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it.
Be at peace then, and put aside all useless thoughts, all vain dreads and all anxious imaginations. Amen.
Peace,
Fr. Damian