Come and See: ‘The Chosen’

By Grace Fay- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

“Come and See” is the message that Philip gave Nathanael in John 1:46 and is the theme for Season 2 of “The Chosen,” a web-based, crowd-funded, multi-season series about Jesus. What is special about this series is that while it uses the Scriptures as its main inspiration, it also has a Catholic priest, a rabbi and an Evangelical scholar as script supervisors and is casting people who look like they belong in 1st century Palestine under Roman rule. Their goal is to bring the message of Christ and His life to the world, as well as bring that world alive for viewers. As an avid viewer, I can confirm it does just that. It shows Jesus as both human and divine; performing miracles and healings, but also having fun with His friends and a relationship with His mother. It makes the Scriptures come alive in a way that is not found with any other religious movies or series and adds insight into the lives of Jesus and His disciples.

Our parish did an eight-week discussion group on Season 1 of this series. We watched one episode a week, then got together and discussed it. It surprised me that after the eight weeks, I was still having parishioners stopping me at Mass or emailing me asking for the discussion questions so that they could watch the show with their friends and discuss the episodes with them. I am still getting stopped by people asking when we are going to do it again or do more with it. People want to keep engaging with the content; my young people especially. As part of this article I asked one of my young people to write about his experience with “The Chosen.”

He wrote the following:

“The Chosen has changed the way I go about my faith. This past year I went through confirmation and having this show be a part of my life has changed me. It was always hard for me to relate to the readings during Mass and to see myself in the disciples’ shoes. But now after watching the different episodes, I can see what is happening. I’ll close my eyes during the readings and I can watch in my head as the different scenes being read play out in my head. This has made it much easier for me to relate to the different biblical figures in each reading.

Hearing all the comments from different people around the world and watching this community of faith-loving people come together as one and relating themselves to it, has become my story as well. It is a story of healing and believing. This show has brought everyone together over a common belief and it has changed many lives including mine. The way they portray each disciple and the way Jesus is portrayed as a kind, gentle human has really changed my perspective on the way I treat myself when I don’t do something right. Because of this show I am forever a changed Catholic.”

That is just one young person’s experience with the series. I know I have also been moved and changed by the series. There is so much to it and everyone can relate to something in each episode. You can find the series on their website thechosen.tv as well as the app. I echo Philip’s words and invite you to “Come and See.”

Grace E. Fay is pastoral associate for Youth Ministry at Our Lady of Grace Church in Ballston Lake and St. Joseph’s Church in Scotia.