Brought to Life
June 23, 2025 at 1:55 p.m.
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
If you haven’t watched any of The Chosen yet, I think you should. It does something to the Scriptures that we’ve heard so many times – it brings them to life.
The Chosen puts dialogue, characters, emotion, crowds, music and more to the stories that we have been hearing since we were young. Our Gospel for Sunday, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, is the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. I know this story. I’ve heard many times growing up, at Mass, in CCD, Faith Formation, Communion Prep, Confirmation Prep, maybe even in Youth Ministry. I could tell you about what happened in the story. But what I never connected with, was how the people felt, how they might’ve reacted, how the disciples might’ve reacted, how Jesus might’ve reacted.
The Chosen does an amazing job of making these familiar stories life-like. You can feel the anxiety about how hungry the people are, the disciples are brainstorming ways they might be able to solve the problem. They feel unsure when Jesus tells them to feed the people when all they have are 5 loaves and two fish and 12 baskets. They give each other skeptical glances. When the miracle happens and they all open their baskets back up to find them filled to the brim, they are elated. They’re laughing and smiling, smacking each other on the shoulder, looking over to Jesus who is grinning at them. The crowd is cheering and excited to eat, some of them after having not eaten for days. This is possibly the biggest picnic the world has ever seen. And when you watch it in a show like The Chosen you can feel those emotions welling up inside of you, the excitement, the relief, the laughter, the disciples cannot believe their eyes at what happened. When you listen to the words sometimes those feelings are missed. There are parts of the Gospels that say “and all were amazed at what they saw” but The Chosen can bring it to life in a new way.
This week, my invitation to you is to watch this one scene. All the miracles are available to watch on YouTube as little 5-10 minutes clips. Just look up The Chosen, the feeding of the 5,000. Even if you don’t want to get into the show, or watch full episodes, I encourage you to watch the miracles and the teachings after you hear them at Mass on Sunday (or before if you’re able to). Take some time to pray with the way that these stories from Scripture make you feel. Not just what happened, but what the people felt, how you would feel if you were there. Let the stories come to life.
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The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
If you haven’t watched any of The Chosen yet, I think you should. It does something to the Scriptures that we’ve heard so many times – it brings them to life.
The Chosen puts dialogue, characters, emotion, crowds, music and more to the stories that we have been hearing since we were young. Our Gospel for Sunday, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, is the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. I know this story. I’ve heard many times growing up, at Mass, in CCD, Faith Formation, Communion Prep, Confirmation Prep, maybe even in Youth Ministry. I could tell you about what happened in the story. But what I never connected with, was how the people felt, how they might’ve reacted, how the disciples might’ve reacted, how Jesus might’ve reacted.
The Chosen does an amazing job of making these familiar stories life-like. You can feel the anxiety about how hungry the people are, the disciples are brainstorming ways they might be able to solve the problem. They feel unsure when Jesus tells them to feed the people when all they have are 5 loaves and two fish and 12 baskets. They give each other skeptical glances. When the miracle happens and they all open their baskets back up to find them filled to the brim, they are elated. They’re laughing and smiling, smacking each other on the shoulder, looking over to Jesus who is grinning at them. The crowd is cheering and excited to eat, some of them after having not eaten for days. This is possibly the biggest picnic the world has ever seen. And when you watch it in a show like The Chosen you can feel those emotions welling up inside of you, the excitement, the relief, the laughter, the disciples cannot believe their eyes at what happened. When you listen to the words sometimes those feelings are missed. There are parts of the Gospels that say “and all were amazed at what they saw” but The Chosen can bring it to life in a new way.
This week, my invitation to you is to watch this one scene. All the miracles are available to watch on YouTube as little 5-10 minutes clips. Just look up The Chosen, the feeding of the 5,000. Even if you don’t want to get into the show, or watch full episodes, I encourage you to watch the miracles and the teachings after you hear them at Mass on Sunday (or before if you’re able to). Take some time to pray with the way that these stories from Scripture make you feel. Not just what happened, but what the people felt, how you would feel if you were there. Let the stories come to life.