The Catholic Weekly 14 June 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 24 14, June, 2020 REVIEW I’M NOT a fan of Christian movies. I generally find them cheesy, badly written and poorly acted. They try too hard to evangelise at the expense of good filmmaking. So when I saw Christians were producing a new series on the life of Christ, I rolled my eyes. This time, though, people whose taste in film I trusted were talking so pos- itively aboutThe Chosen, it convinced me to at least give it a go. One strength of the series rapidly winning acclaim and entitled The Chosen is that it doesn’t try to shove Jesus down your throat; rather it gently in- vites you to make up your own mind. It focuses on the charac- ters around Jesus in their ordi- nariness and brokenness. While staying true to what is written in the Gospels about these characters, it applies an excellent creativity infilling out what the rest of their lives may have looked like, showing both how common their lives were and how much Jesus changed them. This, in turn, makes the characters relatable. They sin, they joke, they cry, they laugh at the same things that we would. Throughout the series you find yourself thinking “this story in the Bible makes so much sense now.” It’s true, the way the stories are portrayed may not have actually happened, but that’s beside the point. What they do is actually help bring the real events in the Bible to life in a remarkable way. They make you want to immerse yourself in Scripture evenmore. The figure of Jesus is also a big win. The 8-episode se- ries now available on its own app or on Youtube succeeds in showing the humanity of Christ without compromising His sinless nature or detracting fromHis Divinity. Jonathan Roumie is warm, gentle, strong, funny and hugely likeable as Jesus. Jesus becomes someone youwant to hang out with, become friends with, travel with, joke and muck around with, and – cru- cially – follow. This is what hit home with me in a profound way. I really struggle with pride. While I do my best to prevent my ego getting the better of me, I find that I crave affirma- tion and I can become discour- aged when I don’t get it. It’s a I want to be Chosen particular weakness I need to continue working on. I mention this because of an encounter I had with God in prayer as a fruit of this series. In episode seven, there are two characters who encounter Je- sus, both of whom have been powerfully impacted by Him and His message. In two separate and very moving scenes, Jesus invites them each to follow Him. The series goes on to show their re- actions and ultimate response to this invitation. Once I finished watching this particular episode, I went to my prayer space at home for my night prayer. As I sat down, the image of Jesus say- ing the words “Followme” was strongly in my mind and heart. In that moment I found myself weeping. I realised what I tru- ly wanted was for Jesus to say those words tome. I wanted Jesus to chooseme. God was showing me that this was the affirmation I ultimately craved. This was the answer to my inner longing. But He didn’t leave me there. He revealed that Jesus does want me. He does chooseme to followHim. This concept wasn’t new to me. I havebothheardand taught countless times about how we all yearn for the love of God. I knew it to be true. But it took a Christian series to take that knowledge and let it sink deeper intomy heart. Here’s the thing: truly good art naturally draws one out of oneself. It moves a person to that which is true, good, beau- tiful and ultimately, eternal. When you mix good art with an openness to the Holy Spirit, then you get something power- ful that can change lives. This is the experience I had of The Chosen . The Chosen puts the viewer in the shoes of the characters so well that we feel as though Jesus speaks to us when he speaks to them. As the characters start be- coming Jesus’s chosen who follow Him, we realise that His call extends tous. His invitation is for all of humanity. Wemight grapple with this invitation just as the characters do. Like them, we may also say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to this invitation. But ultimately, we are all given the opportuni- ty to call ourselves His chosen. I’m not saying this series is perfect. Some scenes could have been more effective, cer- tain details seem inaccurate, and the actors’ Middle-East- ern accents can at times be more amusing than convinc- ing. Those things, however, are minor details when looking at the series as a whole. It is both a quality artwork and inspired. So, if you’re avoiding watch- ing this series because of the usual Christian cringe factor, you need not be worried.The Chosen is entertaining, crea- tive, well produced and deep – everything I thought Christian films were not. Or maybe God’s just sof- tening my heart to Christian film? Whatever it is, one thing’s for sure; this series has given greater depth to my relation- ship with Jesus and helped me internalise that I am in fact one of His chosen. Thomas Juszczak is the Director of the Archdiocese of Hobart’s Office of Youth Evangelisation Here’s the thing: truly good art nat- urally draws one out of oneself. It moves a person to that which is true, good, beautiful and ultimately, eternal. Now, when you mix good art with an openness to the Holy Spirit, then you get something powerful that can change lives. This is the experience I had of The Chosen” Jesus amuses children at theWedding at Cana in the new series The Chosen. PHOTOS:VIDANGEL STUDIOS Nicodemus visits Jesus under the cover of darkness. In brief Christian boy mudered Russian pilgrimage Star vanishes A YOUNG Christian boy was murdered in the vil- lage of Kenduguda, in Orissa. The Global Coun- cil of Indian Christians reported that anti-Chris- tian extremists knocked on the door of Somba- ru Madkami a year 7 stu- dent, knowing that his father was not at home. They took him to a lo- cal mountain where they killed and buried him. AN ESTIMATED 30- 50,000 Russian pilgrims are expected to partic- ipate in the annual pil- grimage to Velikoretsk despite COVID-19 restric- tions. Asia News reports that the 150km pilgrim- age, running between the city of Kirov and the sanc- tuary of Velikoretsk, is one of the oldest andmost im- portant popular proces- sions in the country, with around 100,000 Russians making the journey and many more gathering di- rectly at the miraculous Icon of St Nicholas the Wonderworker. The Moscow Patri- archate decided not to intervene and stop the pilgrimage for fear of creating a “clandestine orthodoxy” which rejects health rules and ecclesi- astical authorities. A FORMER Chinese soc- cer star Hao Haidong and his wife Ye Zhaoying, a former badminton cham- pion, no longer official- ly exist in China. On the 31st anniversary of the Ti- ananmen massacre, Hao released a video in which he criticises the Chinese Communist Party and ad- vocates for a new form Asia News reports that within two days of the videos release, all refer- ences to the couple had completely disappeared from available records and the Chinese internet. Tomasz Juszczak Columnist