Docu-Drama on Blessed Junípero Serra Released for 300th Birthday

GARRISON, N.Y. - Nov. 15, 2013 - PRLog -- Rev.  Joseph M. Scerbo, S.A., Ph.D., who is a Franciscan Friar of the Atonement, contributed to a five-part television series, “Serra: Ever Forward, Never Back,” that will air on EWTN Global Catholic Television beginning on November 20, 2013 in commemoration of the Blessed Junípero Serra’s 300^th birthday.  Producer/writer James Kelty, experts from Spain, Mexico and the United States and Rev. Scerbo collaborated to help create a docu-drama about the life and work of Blessed Junípero Serra, Franciscan priest and missionary.

Blessed Junípero Serra, O.F.M., S.T.D., was born on November 24, 1713 in Majorca, Spain.  He became a Franciscan priest and left his native land for North America, working as a missionary in Sierra Gorda and Mexico City. Serra was later sent to California, making the journey on foot despite sores on his legs. Serra established his first mission, San Diego de Alcalá, in 1769. He built eight more missions over the next thirteen years. He died in 1784 at Mission San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo, in Carmel, California and was beatified in 1988.

The show will air starting at 8pm (ET) with a discussion, clips and a live audience call-in with Mr. Kelty and Rev. Scerbo about the project, followed by the first episode which will begin at 9:30pm.  The remaining episodes air in sequence on November 21, 22 and 23 at 9:30pm and on November 24, episodes 1-4 repeat back-to-back starting at 7:30pm with the final episode showing at 9:30 pm.  For more information about local listings or to view the shows live on the internet, visit ewtn.com. The show was produced with the assistance of many sponsors including the Serra Cause of Santa Barbara, a mission of the Province of St. Barbara OFM Franciscan Friars, and Serra International Foundation.

Rev. Scerbo joined the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement in 1962 and was ordained a priest in 1970.  In 1983 he received his interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Religion and the Personality Sciences from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, and also holds a Master of Teaching Science in Counseling Psychology from the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., and a Master of Arts in Theology from St. Paul’s College, Washington, D.C. He served as Academic Dean of Trinity College of Graduate Studies for sixteen years. He has been involved in Newman Centers campus ministries at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Berkeley, and Los Angeles City College and served as a Retreat Master at Graymoor, Garrison, N.Y.    He is a past President of the Catholic, ecumenical, eucharistically-centered Association of Christian Therapists International, Christian medical, therapeutic and pastoral-counseling professionals who are open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit and of healing. He is currently in residence and ministers to St. Paschal Baylon Catholic Church in Thousand Oaks, California. In 2013, he authored a short biography, Fire in the Night, about the founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, Father Paul Wattson, S.A., which is published by the Friars.

The Franciscan Friars of the Atonement are a Roman Catholic order of brothers and priests founded in 1898 by Fr. Paul Wattson, SA at Graymoor in Garrison.  Since that time, the Friars have worked for reconciliation and healing through “at-one-ment” — the unity of men and women with God and with one another —  so that the prayer of Jesus “that they all may be one” might be fulfilled.  Through their mission and ministries they serve people of every race, religion, and walk of life. Their social ministries help the poor, the needy, and the homeless; people living with HIV; frail and elderly in hospitals and hospices; those in prison; and people seeking recovery from alcoholism and chemical addictions.  Their ecumenical work makes them leaders of the international movement to heal the divisions within Christianity and among all faiths.  Through their prayers and pastoral ministries, they bring spiritual renewal, unity, harmony, and reconciliation throughout the world and carry the Gospel message to three continents. For more information about the friars, visit atonementfriars.org.