Join us in “The Chosary”

Photo: Ghirella Rosary on Jonathon Roumie’s Facebook page.

In our family, we have a new weekly tradition. We gather for the Rosary and after our prayers, we watch the next version of The Chosen. Immediately, my youngest started calling it “The Chosary.”

First, the Rosary is more than just a series of rote prayers. It is a meditation on the Divine Mysterious of Our Lord.

Depending on what day you watch the latest episode, you journey through the Joyous, Glorious, Luminous, or Sorrowful Mysteries, reflecting on the life and times of Jesus.

The Rosaries and The Chosen go perfectly together. You can also mix it up like we do.

Sometimes we pray the Rosary ourselves, where each person in our family circle prays a decade, and our children alternate reading one of the five Mysteries. Or we pray along with someone reciting the Rosary online. For example, we sometimes pray as we watch The Rosary by Bishop Barron. (My personal favorite.)

Not only is Bishop Barron reverent as he prays, but his sermons on the Mysteries are also a mini-catechism. Further, as Bishop Barron recites the next decade of prayers, the TV screen is filled with a montage of artwork, all focusing on the specific mystery — a storyboard, if you will, of that Divine and Holy scene.

Much like Dallas, you will see how artists for centuries have been trying to interpret the life of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and all the chosen!

There are other online options besides Bishop Barron. You can pray The Rosary with Jonathon Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus on The Chosen. (But of course, you know who he is.) There’s also the Divine Mercy Chaplet Rosary.

Again, you can pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet along with Jonathon Roumie.

Here’s a Divine Mercy Chaplet with great imagery of Jesus’s Passion. If you only have a few minutes before the episode begins, here are two DM chaplets that are less than 10 minutes. (One is by the Franciscan Friars. The other is by Ascension Press.) Finally, if you’re looking for a Gregorian-style Divine Mercy Chaplet, may I recommend this one done by one of our local parish priests.

No matter what you choose, praying the Rosary quiets our minds and perfectly prepares our souls to be focused on the next episode of The Chosen.

So, this week, join me and my family in “The Chosary”.

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James is the author of Corporation YOU: A Business Plan for the Soul, The Christmas Save, and two children’s books: The Second Prince and Klaus: The Gift-giver to ALL!  

As a writer, James’s appearances include Newsweek, The Inside Success Show, Bob Salter (CBS Radio), Mike Siegel, Mancow, Megyn Kelly, and more.  

Beyond writing, James worked with At-Risk youth in Southern California for over six years.  His contributions to the classroom — featured on local television and in the LA Daily News and the Los Angeles Times’ Burbank Leader — earned him the honors of “Teacher of the Year”.    James was also twice honored by a CASDA Scholar as the teacher who had the greatest influence on that student.   As an educator, James also appeared twice on America Live with Megyn Kelly. 

Today, James lives in New York where he continues to teach — and write.   Besides his books, you can follow his musing on this blog Corporation You.

To contact James or book an interview, please contact Mark of Goldman/McCormick PR at (516) 639-0988 or Mark@goldmanmccormick.com.

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Embrace Your Inner Paganism

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

This past week marked the start of Spring.  If you had clear skies, you would have enjoyed a double-header of astronomical events, the first full moon on the night of the Vernal Equinox in 19 years.

Each year on the Spring Equinox, Druids and Pagans gather at Stonehenge early in the morning to see the sunrise above the stones.  According to Stonehenge Tours, the ad hoc celebration has become a popular event that it brings together England’s New Age Tribes with ordinary families, tourists, travelers.

The ritual brings to mind one of my favorite TV shows, Vikings, a series packed with the ancient.

Personally, I believed the series was going to jump the shark after Ragnar was killed off, but much to my surprise, it actually got better.  Maybe because Lagertha, Ragnar’s one-time wife,  has become a much better character post-Ragnar — but that’s neither here or there.

I was introduced to Vikings by a very odd source: Fr. Robert Barron (now Bishop Barren).

Besides his very popular DVD series Catholicism, Bishop Barron also has a vlog titled Word on Fire.   In one vlog episode, Bishop Barron on TV’s “Vikings“, Barron stated:

“At the promoting of some of my younger Word on Fire colleagues, I spent the best part of my vacation watching the History Channel series Vikings because they told me that it was the most religious show on television … and I must say to my surprise that they were right.”

So, at the promoting of Bishop Barron, I started watching Vikings.

Now, in this country, when we think of a “religious show”, we tend to think of something faith-based from the likes of Pure Flix.   However, the religion Bishop Barron was referring to was the mainly ancient Norse religion, though Vikings does also showcase the practice of Muslims and early Christians, as well.

Every character in the show, Bishop Barron stated, has a “sense of the divine” — everyone!  And, he was right.

Today, the faithful may be entertained by Vikings one hand; while, on the other hand, we tend to shutter when we see or hear of the modern practice of pagan rituals — like those that take place annually at Stonehenge.   More often than not, it’s because we associate such worship with the demonic.

However, I say to the neo-polytheists of the world:  Embrace your inner paganism!

A recent Pew poll  has revealed that the fastest growing religion is the Nones, people who don’t hold any formal religion.  Not only do these Nones have no association with any formal organized religion, they have no foundation in any faith.

As difficult as it was for the Apostles and the early Christians to evangelize, they were, at least, evangelizing to world of theists.  No matter where they went on the planet,  missionaries came upon a group of people who had a religion with a belief in the transcendent and on a life after death.

But how do you evangelize a group of people who don’t believe in a God? Consider religion irrelevant? Question most religious teachings? and religious leaders? [1]

So, instead of worshipping at the altar of nothingness, embrace something.

Embrace your inner paganism.

Embrace the divine.  Focus on life after-death.   Build a foundation of Faith.  Journey towards true Love! Celebrate ceremony and rituals, like a modern solstice celebration.

So, embrace your inner paganism. In the long run, we know how the story will end.

In the meantime, there’s always  Festivus, the holiday for the rest of us!

 

James Henry is the author of Corporation YOU: A Business Plan for the Soul, Hail Mary series, and two children’s books: The Second Prince and Klaus: The Gift-giver to ALL!  As a writer, James has been widely featured on Bob Salter (CBS Radio), Mike Siegel, Mancow, and more.

Today, James lives in New York where he continues to teach — and write.

To contact James or book an interview, please contact Mark of Goldman/McCormick PR at (516) 639-0988 or Mark@goldmanmccormick.com.

 

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