The Good Catholic Life

Today’s guest(s): Fr. Roger Landry, executive editor of The Anchor, the newspaper of the Fall River diocese; and Gregory Tracy, managing editor of The Pilot, the newspaper of the Boston archdiocese Links from today’s show: The Anchor The Pilot Some of the stories discussed on this show will be available on The Pilot’s and The Anchor’s websites on Friday morning. Please check those sites for the latest links. Today’s topics: Vocations Awareness Week; March for Life; New Cardinals; Fr. Barron’s persons of the year Summary of today’s show: Scot Landry and Susan Abbott discuss the news of the week with Fr. Roger Landry and Gregory Tracy, including Vocations Awareness week, especially how parents can promote vocations by teaching their children to pray and how all can hear their vocational call more clearly by making a habit of prayer. Also, more youth than ever are heading to the annual March for Life, while those who can’t go are gearing up for a record-breaking number of Holy Hours for Life; 22 new cardinals for the Church, including two Americans; a national conference for deaf Catholics to be held in Boston; and Fr. Robert Barron’s persons of the year in response to a dubious choice by the National Catholic Reporter. 1st segment: Scot and Susan commented on the bad weather in Boston today and whether it would have been better to have the freezing, pelting rain or blowing snow. Scot said various groups in the Archdiocese are coming into the Pastoral Center to talk about Pastoral Planning. Susan said they are difficult conversations, especially with the fear of the unknown, but everyone acknowledges that we can’t have business as usual. 2nd segment: Scot and Susan welcomed Gregory Tracy and Fr. Roger Landry to the show. Scot said this week is National Vocation Awareness Week, starting this past Monday to Saturday. He said the Church’s takes this week seriously, not just for priestly vocation shortages, but also for the decline in the number of marriages. “National Vocations Awareness Week takes place Jan. 9-14”, Catholic News Service, 12/29/11 Susan said she is thrilled that they are looking at the whole of vocations, not just priesthood. Fr. Roger Landry in his editorial in the Anchor this week discusses the vocation of the baptized. Susan said it’s a challenge in this day and age of iPods and earbuds to hear the call of God. She recommended a video from Grassroots Films called “Fishers of Men”. Scot quoted St. Louis Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations from the CNS story: “Through a culture of vocation in families, parishes, schools and dioceses, Catholics can nurture an environment of discipleship, commitment to daily prayer, spiritual conversion, growth in virtue, participation in the sacraments and service in community,” the archbishop said. “Without this environment, promoting vocations becomes simply recruitment. We believe we have much more to offer our young people.” Greg commented on how formation in the Christian family, learning to pray, being involved in the sacramental life of the Church, and seeing their parents live the vocation of marriage are foundational for vocations for priesthood. Scot said in 1997, the vocation awareness week was moved to coincide with the Feast of Baptism of the Lord. Fr. Roger said everything in our life flows from the call we receive at our baptism. The Greek word for Church, ecclesia, means the assembly of those who are called. Scot said that in Fr. Roger’s editorial he wrote about the great decrease in the number of sacramental marriages in the Church. Normally when we hear the expression “vocations crisis” we think of the diminishing numbers of priests or religious. The expression is also now commonly being used to refer to the crisis in the understanding of the vocation to the Sacrament of Marriage: not only is the number of sacramental marriages way down and the percentages of divorce, cohabitation and civil unions way up, but many Catholics seem to be incognizant that marriage is a true calling by God, not just a consequence of ephemeral sexual or emotional attraction. Susan said she was struck by what Fr. Roger wrote about a common habit of prayer, where most people who even bother to pray just a few words at the end of the day, is a habit of conversation that wouldn’t be able to even sustain a marriage. He remarked on the number of people who come to confession tell him that they don’t pray every day, and the people who come to confession are those with a higher level of practice of the faith. He said it’s a matter of priorities. We find time to eat and we even find time to watch TV, but we squeeze God in after all the other things we think are more important. Scot said part of being a good parent is teaching kids how to pray. Greg said he and his wife pray with all the kids every night before bed. They start them from the youngest age and it’s not optional for any of them. They attend Mass Saturday evening so they also pray together every Sunday morning around the table, reciting the Psalms of Morning Prayer and reading a Scripture, usually the Gospel of the day. Then they have a dialogue about what they’ve read. Susan said as a catechist and parent, she recalls teaching other parents to pray when she worked in the parish. They encouraged them to start with grace before meals, even with older kids, and to bless their children every night before bed. The parents really responded to that. Once parents get used to it, it makes such a difference in the family’s lives. Scot said it’s very important for the Dads to be involved. Greg said when his kids come to him for help or advice, he encourages them to think about what God would want them to do in this circumstance. Fr. Roger said the key is to be consistent in prayer, praying even on days when we don’t feel like it. If we pray when we don’t feel the Lord speaking to us, then we won’t be praying when we would be able to hear him. He recalled that his parents praying every day, even when he didn’t feel like it, gave him the foundation to be able to pray on his own when he got to college. Scot aid Fr. Roger’s editorial emphasized the importance of listening to God’s voice, not just talking the whole time. Fr. Roger said the person should just be conscious that God is there, perhaps to pray at the beginning saying that. Then to praise, thank, bless, ask, and offer penance. Finally, then to be quiet and listen to how God might speak to our heart. He said adults don’t do well with this naturally, but kids seem to understand how God responds to us. When we quiet our imaginations and our senses, the Lord enlightens us with insights. 3rd segment: Scot said the cover story in the Pilot this week is that almost 500 youth from Boston are planning to go to the March for Life in Washington DC on January 22. They will be involved in several events over the course of a few days. Greg said this is a full multi-day pilgrimage, including opportunities to be with Cardinal Seán. Since they began this trip as a pilgrimage for life about 4 years ago, the numbers have increased every year. It’s as close to World Youth Day as you can get without going to an actual World Youth Day. “Events in Washington, around US mark 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade”, Catholic News Service, 1/5/12 Scot said some estimates for this year is that between 400,000 and 900,000 will attend the March for Life. Susan recalled going to the first March for Life 39 years ago. Fr. Roger said in the years he’s taken youth to the March for Life, he’s seen the transformations among youth. Many who went on the trip on a lark, came back changed into pro-life advocates. He would take them to the Holocaust Museum to see what man’s inhumanity to man looked like on an unrestrained scale. At the Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, they would experience Mass among a sea of their peers enthusiastic for their faith. Scot said many parishes in the archdiocese are hold Holy Hours for Life, as co-sponsored by the group Deacons for Life and the Pro-Life Office. A record number of 203 parishes will be holding the Holy Hours. Call 508-651-1900 for more information. 4th segment: Last Friday, Pope Benedict XVI named 22 new cardinals to be elevated at a consistory planned for February 18. The two from the United States are Archbishop Edwin O’Brien and Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York. Both men were rectors of the Pontifical North American College. “Pope names 22 new cardinals, including three North Americans”, Catholic News Service, 1/6/12 “This is not about Timothy Dolan,” the New York cardinal-designate said. “This is an honor from the Holy Father to the Archdiocese of New York. … It’s as if Pope Benedict is putting the red hat on top of the Empire State Building, or the Statue of Liberty, or on home plate at Yankee Stadium.” Greg said his wife is a Mets fan and might take exception to that characterization. He said it makes him think to when Cardinal Seán came to Boston and people speculated on when he would be named cardinal and when it happened there was a sense that the Holy Father had deemed Boston worthy again. Scot said it is an honor for the city and the people. He said in 2006 when Cardinal Seán was named in February ahead of the March consistory, there was a large group from Massachusetts at the audience, including Scot and Fr. Roger’s parents as well as people from the Fall River diocese where the cardinal was bishop before, who cheered loudly and unexpectedly. Fr. Roger said he’s thrilled for both Dolan and O’Brien. Archbishop Dolan was the rector of the Pontifical North American College when he was a seminarian there. Archbishop O’Brien saved the NAC, which was a wreck when he came. He hopes they will continue to serve as examples of what priests need to do as images of Christ. Scot said while about 500 people came from Boston when Cardinal Seán was elevated, he expects that New York will have an unprecedented number of pilgrims to come to the consistory to celebrate. Scot noted that in other news, there is a national conference for deaf Catholics in Boston starting on January 13. They will be looking at what Boston is doing in terms of deaf ministry, including Fr. Sean Carey, assistant director of the deaf apostolate and one of only nine deaf priests in the US. Cardinal Seán will celebrate a Mass for all the attendees at Sacred Heart Church in Newton, which has a weekly American Sign Language Mass. Scot said there is an obituary in this week’s Pilot for Fr. Nicholas Driscoll, who was ordained in 1969 and grew up in Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury. Scot said there is also an announcement in this week’s bulletin that Fr. John M. Sullivan will become the new pastor of St. Margaret in Burlington, leaving St. Mary of the Annunciation in Melrose. Also in this week’s Pilot is a column by nationally known priest Fr. Robert Barron about the persecution of Christians worldwide. He notes that Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world. Seventy-five percent of those killed for religious reasons throughout the world are Christians. At the end he writes: And this leads me to declare persecuted Christians as people of the year. At this point, I will make a confession. This reflection was prompted by a piece published by the editors of the National Catholic Reporter. In their lead article, they declared Sister Elizabeth Johnson, a theologian from Fordham University, as the “person of the year” in the Catholic Church. What was the reason for this designation? Sister Johnson, they explained, had been unfairly “persecuted” by the bishops of the United States who dared to question the theological integrity of one of her many books. The bishops did not excommunicate Sister Johnson, or strip her of her teaching position or declare her not to be a Catholic theologian. They simply were critical of aspects of one of her books. And for this, a tenured professor at Fordham, a woman lionized by the academic establishment, is declared a persecuted victim. Give me a break. The nineteen-seventies era narrative of brave progressive theologian fighting against the repressive church is tired and utterly un-illuminating. Far more compelling is the story of the truly brave souls who are risking livelihood, life, and limb in order to declare their faith in Jesus Christ. Fr. Roger said he wishes he could have written this piece as Fr. Barron did so well. Susan and Greg both found it to be great. Scot recommended Fr. Barron’s great miniseries, which is available on DVD, as well as EWTN and local PBS stations, called “Catholicism”.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams Today’s guest(s): Father Paco Anzoategui, Pastor of St. Stephen in Framingham and Director of the Spanish Apostolate Links from today’s show: St. Stephen, Framingham Hispanic Apostolate Today’s topics: Fr. Paco Anzoategui and Hispanic ministry in Boston Summary of today’s show: Fr. Paco Anzoategui joins Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams to talk about his journey from Mazatlan, Mexico, to the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Boston and how he credits the Blessed Mother for his vocation in a direct way. Fr. Paco also discusses Hispanic ministry in the Archdiocese and the US, including the trend of the growing Hispanic majority, plus why some Hispanics leave the Catholic Church for Evangelical churches, and how to make one parish family that includes both English- and Spanish-speaking communities. 1st segment: Scot welcomed Fr. Matt Williams back from a month off from the show. Last week he was a the Theology of the Body institute in Pennsylvania. He heard Dr. Janet Smith, an expert on Catholic teaching on human sexuality. The institute’s mission is helping people understand Bl. John Paul’s Theology of Body, which is all about love. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Fr. Paco to the show. Scot said Fr. Paco is both a pastor and director of the Spanish apostolate. He asked him to share his background. He grew up in Mazatlan, Mexico, in a very Catholic family. That was the origin of his vocation. He went to Catholic schools his whole life, most of them in a Xaverian missionary school. The missionary zeal appealed to him in high school, but he didn’t think of being a priest. But he was finishing high school in 1979 when Pope John Paul came to Mexico. This made such an impact on his life and that of all Mexicans, especially when he addressed the young people of Mexico as the hope of the world. Something happened to him then and he couldn’t stop thinking about those words. The Lord made clear to him that he was being called to be a priest. He became a Xaverian priest in 1988. He studied for the priesthood in the United States. He came to the Fatima Shrine in Holliston run by the Xaverians. He was quickly found by the bishops and inserted into the Spanish apostolates. He was incardinated as a diocesan priest in 2004. He lived there for his first 9 years of his priesthood. It’s especially beautiful because of the walking rosary and at Christmas they put up many lights. Scot asked Fr. Paco to explain the process of incardination. Fr. Paco said it’s a canonical process by which a man who is already a priest becomes part of a diocese at the request and agreement of both the superior of the religious congregation and the local bishop. It lasts for five years. He was first assigned to St. John the Baptist in Peabody, and the pastor at the time was Msgr. John McDonough. At the end of the five years, he was incardinated. He was sent then to St. Patrick in Lawrence for two years and then to St. Rose of Lima in Chelsea. Now he’s in St. Stephen in Framingham. All those parishes have large Spanish-speaking populations. His entire priesthood, he’s been assigned to multicultural parishes. Fr. Matt asked Fr. Paco about his great devotion to Our Lady. Fr. Paco said if he’s a priest today, it’s because of Our Lady. Growing up in Mexico, the devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe is very prevalent. He grew up with that devotion. He remembers at the end of high school as he considered the priesthood, he was afraid he wasn’t qualified. One day he prayed in church and was led to a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe where he consecrated himself to her at that moment if the call to vocation was true. He has since had amazing confirmation that she was listening to his prayer. He was ordained in the Marian Year of 1988 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on the Feast of the Annunciation. He had lost his parents and sister six months before his ordination and his devotion to Our Lady kept him going. As he walked down the aisle of the church and saw the statue of the Immaculate Conception, he felt Our Lady telling him that she brought him to this moment. Then his first assignment was Our Lady of Fatima shrine. At the important moments of his life, she was there. He tries to spread devotion to her everywhere because she always finds a way to keep us close to her son. Scot asked if Mexicans are particularly close to Mary because of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Fr. Paco said Mexico may be 95% Catholic but 100% Guadalupano. Even the non-Catholics have picture of Guadalupe in their homes and cars. He remembers his mother praying the Angelus at noontime every day and praying the rosary. Scot asked if Spanish speakers in Peabody, Lawrence, and Chelsea came from the same places. Fr. Paco said St. John the Baptist had a young Hispanic community when he arrived at the time. The community was mostly Dominicans and some Puerto Ricans. In Lawrence, they were majority Dominican again. But in Chelsea it was mainly Central American—Salvadoran and Guatemalan. In Framingham, it’s also Central American, but also Colombian, Mexican, and Cuban. 3rd segment: Scot asked about St. Stephen Parish. Fr. Paco said he is in team ministry with Fr. Albert Stankard. The majority of the community is Hispanic. They get close to 700 people for Mass on Sunday. They are trying to integrate the two components of the parish, so they are one parish family. They have made great progress to bring the community together. Every year they have a Family Day, bringing dishes from their cultural background. They also have a parish picnic. During Holy Week, they have bilingual services together. When people pray together and see the same love for the Lord and Our Lady, it transforms people. Scot said when he travels to Rome, he loves to see the universality of the Church and the richness of all the cultures within the Church. He said in the history of the Archdiocese, we’ve solved the immigrant Catholic problem in different ways. We used to build a different parish for each language group. Today, we try to integrate communities into one. This helps prevent the necessity of closing parishes in the future when the language need has gone away. Fr. Paco said one thing that helped a lot was working with the staff to convey the spirituality of integration. They found people of both Anglo and Hispanic backgrounds for parish council and other ministries. It’s only when you bring two groups to the same level, that both feel that the other is not favored, that they can become integrated. One way to do that is to make sure that you don’t do everything separately. Over time, it conveys a powerful message to the parish: This is who we are and we’re going to celebrate who we are. We are not threatened by each other. We are family. They also do bilingual bulletins and have worship aids that are bilingual. So they all hold the same hymnal and look at the same bulletin, even if they are looking at different languages on the page. When people see each other during worship, during social events there’s a willingness to reach out and get to know each other better. Fr. Matt asked about the youth groups for different languages. Fr. Paco said they have two groups for different age groups. Anglo youth are often younger than the youth involved in Hispanic youth group. He added that in the youth group, the children are usually second generation and are very comfortable in English. Many even want to take religious education in English. This makes it easier for the young people to bridge the cultures. 4th segment: It’s time to announce this week’s winner of the WQOM Benefactor Raffle. Our prizes this week are two audio CDs by Catholic theologian and educator Jeff Cavins: “Are You Happy?” and “How to Simplify Your Life”. In “Are You Happy?”, Jeff notes that everyone wants to be happy, this seems so obvious that it hardly needs mentioning. But what is the secret to happiness? We all want to be happy, but how do we achieve it? To answer these crucial questions, Jeff asks a more fundamental one: “What is it in your life that you are continuously desiring and seeing?” Answering this question is the key to understanding what will truly make you happy. For “How to Simplify Your Life”, Jeff observes the chaos of modern life: got to get it, got to see it, got to have it, got to be it; deadlines, commitments, the things I need to do, whether for work or family. How can you navigate though the stress and strife? “Just simplify,” Jeff says. But don’t just buy a weekly planner or listen to an Anthony Robbins “success” tape or read Seven Habits of Highly Successful People. As Jeff points out, simplicity is not an external but an inner struggle. In this inspiring presentation, you will learn practical ways to separate the wheat from the chaff in your life; to stop organizing the frantic and urgent calls in your life and answer the one true call to right relationship with Christ. As Jeff notes, we live in a world filled with worry, and this worry translates into excessive activity that “burns out” many in our culture. Discover discernment tools to help you clear away the internal and external clutter in your life, and learn the keys to true success, joy, and peace. This week’s benefactor card raffle winner is Debra Michalski from Somerset, MA. Congratulation, Debra! If you would like to be eligible to win in an upcoming week, please visit WQOM.org. For a one-time $30 donation, you’ll receive the Station of the Cross benefactor card and key tag, making you eligible for WQOM’s weekly raffle of books, DVDs, CDs and religious items. We’ll be announcing the winner each Wednesday during “The Good Catholic Life” program. 5th segment: Scot said many statistics say that most of the growth of the Church in the US is due to Hispanics. For Catholics under 35, a majority are Hispanic. This trend is likely to continue in this direction. Fr. Paco said according to the latest US Census, there about 50 million Hispanics in the US and about 68% are believed to be Catholic. By 2025, it’s believed that Hispanics will be the majority of Catholics in the US. Hispanics come to this country mainly with a Catholic heritage. Protestantism doesn’t have a large footprint in Latin America, although even that’s been growing. He noted that the 15% of Hispanics in the US who are Evangelical has been doubled in the past 10 years. He said some of the younger generations are being assimilated into the dominant culture. More important than maintaining their culture, they need to maintain their faith. They need to help them have an encounter with Jesus that transforms them. Fr. Matt asked why they’re leaving and why are they going to Evangelicalism? Fr. Paco said there isn’t one answer. One reason is that Hispanics in general are seeking to be in community. Sometimes the policies in some US churches don’t make it easy for them to get the sacraments, especially since the policies in their own countries were less rigorous. For example, to receive confirmation they need to go through a formation program in the US, even if they know their own faith very well. If someone moves a lot, they can’t complete a long program. This is particularly acute for migrant farm workers. Fr. Paco said we need to be accommodating. We need to be more welcoming and not to be so precise in everything. Not that we don’t need regulations, but that we have to look at the particular circumstances and be flexible. Because this is what they find in the Evangelical churches. They find a welcome and a sense of community. For Hispanic people, the church is their second home and the priest is like their father, and if they don’t find that in the Catholic parish, they will find it elsewhere. Fr. Paco said 80% of Hispanics in the US find the Catholic Church very welcoming. Scot said storefront churches are specifically targeting immigrants by using very Catholic-like symbolism to encourage them to come and check out their church. Fr. Paco in many parishes with Spanish Masses, they don’t offer anything beyond the Mass. Cardinal Seán has said he wants parishes with Spanish ministry, they must offer more. Hispanics want Bible studies, charismatic groups, Marian groups, and youth groups. That connects people to their parish more. Scot said 37 of the 291 parishes in the Archdiocese have at least one Mass in Spanish. How does the Apostolate coordinate and connect those parishes? Fr. Paco said his office offers services to respond to the needs of each of the parishes. They provide programs that bring people together rather than multiplying efforts. They also try to find Spanish-speaking priests and other lay pastoral ministers for parishes. He also said so many of the priests who have served part of their priesthood in the St. James Society in Latin America come back speaking Spanish and knowing much more of the culture. This means that priests are available to provide the sacraments. Fr. Paco said he has seen a growth in the Spanish-speaking diaconate and lay leadership programs, including catechists. They are doing well for the near future. As for priests, they are counting on so many priests who should be retired already. Fr. Paco said the charismatic movement has been a part of his spirituality and he has found it appeals to more than just Hispanics. People who follow the spirituality helps people to grow in their faith and grow more excited about it. They have prayer group Mondays in English and Fridays in Spanish. Fr. Matt said he met Fr. Paco while he was in seminary at a healing service and asked him to explain healing ministry. Fr. Paco said it happens within the context of the charismatic renewal ministry. It comes from the miracles of Jesus and brings them closer to people, with the message that Jesus is alive and continuing to heal people today. When people open up to the power of the Holy Spirit, he’s seen miracles. He noted that it’s distinct from the Sacrament of the Sick. Everyone can come forward and receive prayers of healing.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor Today’s guest(s): Fr. Willy Raymond, National Director of Family Theater Productions Links from today’s show: Family Theater Productions Holy Cross Family Ministries Today’s topics: Family Theater Productions Summary of today’s show: Family Theater Productions wants to bring faith and family values back to Hollywood and Fr. Willy Raymond, national director of the ministry, talks to Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor about some of the ways they’re doing that, including an annual student film festival, faith-based outreach to the entertainment industry, and creating original productions. Fr. Willy also shares some stories about celebrity encounters, including meeting Patriots QB Tom Brady on his wedding day. 1st segment: Scot welcomed Fr. Chris O’Connor back to the show after a month off. Fr. Chris said Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. He traveled in the footsteps of St. Paul, going to Istanbul, Turkey, and Ephesus, near Izmir, Turkey. He recalled the Letter to the Ephesians and was in the amphitheater where St. Paul would have spoken. They also visited St. John the Evangelist’s church there and Catholic tradition is that the Blessed Mother lived with St. John there until she was assumed into heaven. He was able to pray in St. John’s house there. Fr. Chris thinks that Ephesus is where she was assumed into heaven. As early as 451 AD, the Church documents refer to Ephesus as the final earthly home for Mary. Fr. Chris said being in a Muslim country was very interesting. He visited the Blue Mosque. He said the only Turkish he learned was, “Let me out of this cab immediately.” The men have returned to St. John Seminary. Archbishop Alfred Hughes, who was a rector of the seminary and was most recently in New Orleans, is leading a retreat for the men today. Scot said Archbishop Hughes confirmed him and his brother when he was an auxiliary bishop here. 2nd segment: Scot and Fr. Chris welcome Fr. Willy Raymond to the show. Fr. Willy is in Hollywood, California, but was born in Old Town, Maine. There were 12 siblings and they spoke French primarily at home. His father was a lumberjack. His mother never learned to speak English. He grew up in a close-knit parish community and it was the social center of their lives and they used to pray the Rosary every night in French. He owes a lot of his vocation to the priests and sisters of his parish. He’s now a member of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. They’re known for Notre Dame University and Father Peyton. Fr. Willy said the pastor had encouraged a lot of the boys to go to college in New Brunswick, Canada, and he won a scholarship to go. The Holy Cross Fathers operated that school. He pointed out that they are not Congregation of the Holy Cross, but Congregation of Holy Cross, because their founder was from a place called Holy Cross. The charism of the Holy Cross Fathers is somewhat eclectic but somewhat family-centered. The order was founded after the French Revolution and the founder, Bl. Basil Moreau, aw the family as the foundation on which to rebuild the Church. He modeled them on the Holy Family and the charism is unity for the mission and the virtue is complete trust in divine providence and zeal for the mission. They wanted to reach young people to educate both their mind and heart. They also seek to help out in parishes wherever they are located. Scot said many people know Fr. Peyton for “the family that prays together, stays together” and promoting the Rosary. He was born in County Mayo, Ireland, as one of 9 children. They ended up in Scranton, PA, and he was working as a janitor. He heard a parish mission by a Holy Cross priest and felt called to a priestly vocation so he went to Notre Dame. When Fr. Willy was eight or nine years old, he became an altar server, which every Catholic boy wanted to be at the time. When he went to the university, it was not to enter the seminary, but to get an education. In his sophomore year, the prefect of studies told him that if he was thinking of entering seminary, he had to decide whether to apply then. He took the test, was accepted, and the next year went off to the seminary in Montreal. But then changed his mind and wanted to go to the Holy Cross Fathers instead and then went to Stonehill to the seminary there. Fr. Peyton’s drive to promote the rosary came from a miraculous healing from tuberculosis through the intercession of the Blessed Mother. He wanted to promote a devotion to her and found that he could do so more widely through radio and television. So he came out to Hollywood convinced that the glue of the family is prayer. 3rd segment: Scot asked for an overview of the types of projects that Family Theater Productions has done. Fr. Willy said they are evangelizing the culture through the mass media through programs that entertain, educate, and inspire the family. they do everything through that lens. In radio, Fr. Peyton broadcast a half-hour radio drama nationally. The network agreed as long as there was a Hollywood actor involved each week. They were able to do it 22 years until 1969. The first program featured Jimmy Stewart. Fr. Peyton came to know many stars, including James Dean who got his first screen credit through Family Theater Productions. They have a list of the celebrities who worked with Family Theater over the years. Scot read some names from the list which includes stars from the past and present. Fr. Willy said after John Paul II issued his letter on the Rosary, they wanted to find a fresh way to introduce the rosary to a new generation. They asked young people what would make the rosary helpful to their spiritual life. They came up with Rosary Stars praying the rosary. It’s available at rosaryfamily.org. The Angelus Student Film Festival is for college students and the theme is exploring respect for the dignity of the human person. Last year, they had over 500 submissions. They weed about 80% of them in the first round. They have blue-ribbon committees that select winners in documentary, animation, and live action categories. A prior overall winner last year also won an Oscar. The film was “God of Love” by Luke Matheny. Fr. Willy said many of these students will end up in Hollywood as key figures and they want to engage with them early to encourage them to make true works of art, to make what is true and beautiful and good. Fr. Willy believes that Hollywood can change, especially through prayer. Every day at Family Theater, they have Mass and the rosary for the conversion of Hollywood, to use these incredibly powerful communication tools to shape a culture open to life and the Good News. Scot asked how Hollywood is changing to be more friendly to family-friendly and faith-friendly films. Fr. Willy said this year, there are several films, like Hugo and The Artist, that deal with serious issues and do it well. There are a lot of films that wouldn’t have been made 10 years ago. He credits the Passion of the Christ for convincing a lot of people that religion is something that the public will come and see if it is well done and isn’t trivialized. He said most of the truly successful small-budget films are films we could take our whole family to see. Fr. Chris said there’s a fascination in media and the culture with faith. He cited the example of Tim Tebow, who some are rooting for and others are rooting to fail. HE then asked what stars today are good role models. Fr. Willy said some Eduardo Verastegui is a noble figure for sacrificing part of his career to put his faith and our Lord first. Matthew Marsden is another, Jim Caviezel too, who is in a successful TV series, Person of Interest. Martin Sheen is another faith-filled Catholic, who just made the movie The Way. He named Patricia Heaton from Everybody Loves Raymond and the current show, The Middle. There are also a lot of writers and producers who are less well-known but very serious about their faith. Fr. Willy noted Boston native Mark Wahlberg who has a checkered past, but goes to daily Mass now. Fr. Chris said he read an interview with Wahlberg in Time magazine where he said the most important thing to teach his children is the faith. Fr. Willy brought up Tom Brady, who lives in his parish, St. Monica’s. He told the story of meeting Tom Brady in the sacristy of the church during Tom’s wedding. He noted that Tom’s grandmother prays the rosary for him and that Gisele’s family was involved in the Sao Paolo Rosary rally. They then discussed rooting for Tim Tebow or Tom Brady. Fr. Willy said he also celebrates Mass for the Dodgers when they’re at home, but he still roots for the Red Sox. 4th segment: They discussed which came first, St. Monica parish or the name of the town, Santa Monica. Fr. Willy said the town was named first by Blessed Junipero Serra. Fr. Willy said Family Theater’s archives have the whole Life of Christ filmed by Fr. Peyton in the 1950s in Spain. They have a number of documentaries filmed over the years and are in the middle of producing a series of dramas intended for teens for catechetical purposes. They are also located right on Sunset Boulevard, so they have an outreach to young Catholics, mainly through an open house called Prayer and Pasta, which includes prayer, meal, and a speaker or film and discussion. They also have a Bible study and holy hour every week for people in the industry. They have an RCIA program and they are also discussing Fr. Barron’s Catholicism series. Fr. Chris noted the new series coming out this spring called Faith Bowl. Fr. Willy said it was filmed last year with Vin Scully as the host and five-time All Star baseball player Mike Sweeney. Fr Willy talked in an aside about how difficult it can be for professional athletes to go to Sunday Mass. For Faith Bowl IV, Mike and his dad were interviewed about their faith life and then a young woman, Kristen Sheehan, who runs the program Play Like a Champion Today out of Notre Dame. This promotes that faith and morals and virtue should be integrated into sports. They are now working on Faith Bowl V, hoping to get NFL players on board.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell Today’s guest(s): Fr. John Currie, Pastor of St. Joseph Parish, Holbrook Links from today’s show: Cardinal Seán’s Letter - Ten Years Later Ten Years Later — Reflection on the Sexual Abuse Crisis in the Archdiocese of Boston Today’s topics: Reflections on 10th anniversary of the sexual abuse crisis Summary of today’s show: Today, the feast of the Epiphany, marks the 10th anniversary of the the first major new stories of the clergy sexual abuse crisis in Boston that started a process of coming to terms, of seeking forgiveness, and of rebuilding trust. Scot Landry sits down with Cardinal Seán O’Malley to discuss the somber anniversary and reflect on the past and future. The Scot talks with Fr. Mark O’Connell and Fr. John Currie their thoughts on the Cardinal’s remarks, their own reflections on the anniversary, how the crisis has affected them as priests over the past decade, how it has affected other Catholics, and the path forward for the Church and society. 1st segment: Scot and Fr. Mark discussed that January 6 is the Feast of the Epiphany, although we celebrate it liturgically on Sunday. Scot welcomed Fr. John Currie. Scot today marks the 10th anniversary of the breaking of the clergy sex-abuse crisis in Boston when the Globe published the first accounts of predatory priests who had been moved around after accusations. Cardinal Sean has marked this anniversary by re-committing the Church to providing a safe environment for in the Church. He has done many media interviews. He also sat down with Scot for a pre-recorded interview which we will hear now. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Cardinal Sean O’Malley to the show. Ten years ago the sexual abuse scandal became the dominant topic in the Church and society for 2002. He marked it with a letter to the community. Cardinal Seán said it was important to remember these events so we don’t ever go back in the future. We need to express contrition and sorrow, and assure people that going forward we will do everything we can to make our churches and schools as safe as possible for children. Scot said one of the messages was to survivors. Cardinal Seán said if it had not been for the victims who’d been willing to come forward and tell the stories and the media that publicized it so much, we might still have been in a state of denial. Their courage was an important part of the change that was initiated. We are grateful to them and hope they have found some healing and reconciliation. Scot noted the Cardinal came to Boston in 2003 and prioritized our resources for protection of children. Since then 300,000 children have received safe environment training and because of that, 575 children came forward to trusted persons to disclose abuse by someone in their life. the Church has tried to respond in a way not only that we are doing everything possible, but that there is a good that people now know the signs of abuse and come forward. The Cardinal said an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The archdiocese does 60,000 background checks per year which also contributes to a safer environment. But this wouldn’t be possible without the support and work and volunteered time of thousands of people who have helped put these policies in place. In his letters this week, Cardinal Sean acknowledged the difficulties faced by priests and one of the reasons we have such safe environments now is because of the leadership of priests. Cardinal Sean added that parishioners have also been leaders too. In his reflections document, he noted that the media helped us to deal with this problem, but going forward he asked media and other institutions to help contextualize the abuse. The John Jay Report noted that most of the abuse took place decades ago, where the media coverage often presented it as new allegations from the present or that it was a particularly Catholic problem. Cardinal Seán said he does believe that clerical sexual abuse is worse than other kids of abuse, because of the spiritual wound it inflicts beyond the psychological or emotional damage that is done. In society, most sexual abuse happens within families. We’ve always said we stand ready to work with other organizations and institutions to make our society in general a safer place because sexual abuse is rampant in our society. There’s a certain amount of denial because it’s so unpleasant but unless we do talk about we won’t be able to overcome it. He finished his reflections by saying that we can never conclude that the crisis is solved. Our commitment is to continue the screening and education and every year we bring in outside auditors who study what we’re doing and tell us how well we’re doing in implementing our policies of child protection. It’s important to continue to monitor how we’re doing so we don’t become complacent. He wants to assure those most affected that we want to help them to find their way home for those who have been alienated by these horrible mistakes of the past. We renew our prayers for healing and renew our commitment to work with all people of good will to make society safe for everyone, especially our children. 3rd segment: Back in the studio, Scot asked Fr. Mark his reaction to the interview. Fr. Mark said ever since Cardinal Seán has come to Boston, we’ve been on a path of healing. He remembers in Cardinal Sean’s installation homily in which he said the victims of abuse are the wounds in the side of Christ. Fr. Currie said he wanted to begin speaking on behalf of priests and bishops to say he’s sorry for the abuse they suffered. His intention is to join our God in making all things new for everyone. The Spirit has brought us to a new moment in the life of the Church. Referencing the wounds in the body of Christ, he’s been talking with people recently about the last 10 years and they characterize it as a time of opening old wounds. But they’re not old wounds; they’re still new wounds. But we can heal them with hope. What he has seen in many ways over the last 10 years, soon after the revelations and the undeniable truth of children by priests was evident, he began meeting victims and survivors and family members. The horror they were discussing and reading about was incarnate before him. It motivated him at the time to reach out to the newly created office that serves victims to volunteer. He continues to work with them. He wanted to be the face of the Church to people, to sit and listen. Scot said some people have wondered whether it’s appropriate to mark this anniversary the way Cardinal Seán has, by sitting down with the media to talk about the way forward. Some think it’s just reopening old wounds. Fr. John said that for some it’s so painful. Many people lived a lifetime never believing the Church would cross this boundary and to admit it to themselves, it really rattled their faith, what they were taught and led to believe. At 50, 60, 70 years old, it’s hard to comprehend and it’s quite natural for them not to want to talk about it any more. But for others, we need to continue pondering and contemplating what happened and how it happened. This is the point we’re at now in the crisis. The Church should be commended for policies and procedures, but we are moving into a new period of contemplation. Scot said in his conversations with people, there’s a recognition of how difficult it is to talk about. He believes this will be with us the rest of our lives. But there has been some good that has come out of this, like he mentioned in the interview with Cardinal Seán. Fr. Mark said another quote that helped him came from Bishop Irwin who said, “This is not the darkest hour. The darkest hour was when these things were hidden. Now is a better day. It’s still horrible, but it’s better.” Fr. Mark was working in the chancery during those days as a canon lawyer and for 10 years has been working to clean up the mess and fix the problems. A time like this makes you reflect on the wider issues. He’s been working so hard on the problem that he hadn’t had time to pause and think about the long term. Scot said the compelling argument for marking this anniversary is to make sure the awareness of this is still high. Anyone who read the papers over the past couple of months know that this is a problem in many places. His prayer for the next decade is that the program we developed in the Church get better and get implemented in dioceses around the world and in all sectors of society. So many Catholics have said the media was out to get the Church, but the media was out to expose hypocrisy and mismanagement in order to protect the children. The fight was that we would walk to the talk as a Church. Fr. John said he liked the way the Cardinal characterized the spiritual dimension of the sexual abuse of children by priests. HE doesn’t think that most people understand the depth of the pain of the survivors and their families. The priest violated the one thing they were supposed to respect, nurture, and cherish: the soul’s relationship with God. Many nights he’s sat up thinking about it, crying. Most priests are committed to correcting this egregious wrong. The spiritual hurts and pains violated that innocence and purity. Fr. Mark said every priest has the experience of an altar server or child approaching him and there’s so much trust, and you think to yourself that some sick priest violated this. It’s horrifying. Maybe doctors or other professions experience the same thing. Families trust the priest and the kids look up to them and to violate that is a disgusting thing. Scot said the Cardinal in his letter did speak to priests. A large part of the healing has been by faithful priests, who themselves are struggling to make sense of it. Besides survivors and their families, the next most affected group was the priests. Fr. John said 10 years later, the experience particularly though meeting many victims and families, have stripped away from his thoughts a lot of hindrances to faithful priesthood. The whole culture of clericalism was rampant. It was such an enabling factor. Many abusers knew how to manipulate it. The Church took refuge in it. But it was one of the most damaging contributive factors. So 10 years later, after praying and wrestling with it, it’s one thing he hopes and prays that he’s not contributing to, but instead lifting up a faithful, humble, kind, Christ-like priesthood, rooted in the Eucharist and the command of Jesus when he washed the feet of his disciples. He hopes that’s what he’s demonstrating. Scot said many priests have responded by trying to be the holiest, most caring, most generous priest they can be. That’s the only response they can make. You can’t take away the pain or memories of the survivors. He said it’s been tough for all Catholics, but the response has been to just be the best Catholic you can be and that’s the only way you can deal with it. Fr. Mark said every priest and layperson dealt with it in their own way. Many priest felt they were tainted unfairly. But sharing in the priesthood of Christ means your brother did this to a child. However, he is not someone who won’t wear his clerical collar. If someone expresses their anger and pain, he takes it the best he can. Scot quoted Cardinal Seán’s letter about the Roman collar as a sign of suspicion. Fr. John said he’s felt that suspicion, but he said he always felt that the right thing to do was to always remain present among the people. He’s taken the shouts and anger and even had people spit on him. His response was to offer remorse and love and to beg people to join in healing the Church and most of all those who were most abused. Fr. Mark said he’s also had mockery and screaming. What also hurts is not just those who were abused, but also the many who left the Church because of it. For some it was just an excuse, others will come back, but for many they lost their faith. It’s the mission of every Catholic to make invitations ask them to come back. To tell them that we’re less without you and better with you. Fr. John said the number of people even in the worst of time who came up to him to assure him that they trust was touching. It led to many honest conversations with people about what was going on. Fr. Mark said it surprised him that the Holy Father’s Year of the Priest was so very healing. They needed that. Scot said Cardinal Seán’s letter ended with acknowledgment of people who walked away from the Church out of disgust. The Church didn’t live up to the standard. Cardinal Seán wrote: God made us to know, love and serve him and wants us to love and care for each other. As Catholics we do this best when we are united around the altar for Mass each Sunday. It is our prayer that by seeing the response of the Church, and by viewing the issue in its proper context, all those who have been away will return to join with us, to make the Church stronger and always a safe place for all people. This past decade has been difficult for the Church. Yet, we are transformed by the experience and the mission endures. Please pray for continued healing for all those impacted and join with us as we strive to bring the light of Christ’s healing, love and hope to the world. Fr. Mark said he’s trying to clean up many of these cases and working on healing is as much a part of his job as it was 10 years ago. He’s still personally committed as much as he ever was. Fr. John said he hopes the Church continues to do what she has been doing and he will continue to work with Barbara Thorp’s office. He’s learned the lesson of humility in the face of difficulty and challenges and wants to help the Church insert that into healing for the future. 4th segment: Now as we do every week at this time, we will consider the Mass readings for this Sunday, specifically the Gospel reading. 2nd Reading for the Epiphany of the Lord, Sunday, January 8, 2012 Brothers and sisters: You have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for your benefit, namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation. It was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Gospel for the Epiphany of the Lord, Sunday, January 8, 2012 When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.” Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.” After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way. Scot noted that the Magi were not Jews and that this was one way that God signaled that Jesus was coming to save all people. Fr. John said Herod completely missed it. He was threatened in a political sense. Fr. John remembered a Carmelite nun telling him that anyone who meets Jesus with an open heart never leaves unchanged for the better. The Magi went with an open heart, but Herod’s heart was closed and that’s why he was troubled. Scot said some scholars speculate that it took two years for the Magi to travel to Bethlehem and this is why Herod ordered the massacre of all boys under the age of two. Fr. Mark said the Magi may have had an original plan to go back and tell Herod, but they went home by another way and were perhaps changed in that way. Fr. Mark commented on the word epiphany, where you think one thing and your mind and life is changed. Scot said it’s not lost on him that the revelations of the Boston Globe started on Epiphany. God brought good out of this bad news by exposing the sickness. Fr. Mark said anyone listening who is in a dark place, the epiphany they should hear is that Christ can change your life. If you approach Christ with an open heart, you can go home by another way. Scot said while the Magi brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, our gift is ourselves. Fr. John said God’s gift he gives us the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Scot noted that the stars that guide us today are the tabernacle lamp and the light on top of the confessional box, both of which lead us to healing.

Today’s host(s): Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Susan Abbott Today’s guest(s): Fr. Roger Landry, executive editor of The Anchor, the newspaper of the Fall River diocese; and Gregory Tracy, managing editor of The Pilot, the newspaper of the Boston archdiocese Links from today’s show: The Anchor The Pilot Some of the stories discussed on this show will be available on The Pilot’s and The Anchor’s websites on Friday morning. Please check those sites for the latest links. Today’s topics: Tenth anniversary of abuse crisis; Romney’s pro-life record defended; Santorum’s near-win; physician-assisted suicide; new head of ex-Anglican ordinariate Summary of today’s show: In our first news show of the year, Scot Landry and Susan Abbott talk with Fr. Roger Landry and Gregory Tracy about the 10th anniversary of the major eruption of the clergy sex-abuse crisis in Boston, touching on an extensive interview with Cardinal Seán in the Pilot; Pro-life and pro-family leaders in Massachusetts defending Mitt Romney’s record; Rick Santorum’s surprising surge in the Iowa caucuses; the appointment of a leader for the new Ordinariate in the US for ex-Anglicans; and more. 1st segment: Scot welcomed everyone to the show and caught with Susan from her Christmas break. Scot said there’s been a lot of media coverage of the church this week and Cardinal Seán has conducted a number of one-on-one interviews talking about he 10 years since Epiphany in 2002 when it was revealed in the pages of the Boston Globe about John Geoghan and how he was assigned to several parishes after being accused of abuse. Susan said she remembers exactly where she was sitting in her kitchen when she read that article. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Fr. Roger and Gregory to the show. He said Antonio Enrique, editor of The Pilot, did perhaps the most detailed interview with the Cardinal, along with several other stories on this anniversary. Greg said it’s a monumental anniversary which has so much meaning for so many. they wanted to give it the coverage it deserves. The interview with the Cardinal tried to delve a little deeper than the letters, but also to cover how he went to Fall River in the 90s during the Fr. Porter case and then what we should do moving forward. Scot said some people are questioning why we are marking this anniversary this way and Antonio asked the Cardinal about it: I think that the commitment of the archdiocese to work for the protection of children is an ongoing commitment. Often times we memorialize the tragic events in history so that they will not happen again. I think that this is one of those kinds of things. Susan said the Cardinal is on target that this is an ongoing commitment and this is a tragic event that needs to be memorialized. Greg said they have received a lot of feedback over the years asking them to stop printing about it in the Catholic newspaper, but they reply that this is a reality that we have to face up to and deal with as a Church. Scot said there are twelve interview questions in the transcript. Fr. Roger said he was struck by the Cardinal’s candor with a direct answer to a question about whether Cardinal Law should have resigned. Fr. Roger said like Americans won’t forget December 7 or 9/11, Catholics should not forget January 6, where we beg God’s mercy and mark the day with reparations. He encouraged listeners to fast in reparation for the pain of the victims and for the harm done to the Church by this scandal. We need to beg the Lord to draw good out of evil and lead us from darkness to light. Scot quoted a question of the Cardinal: “Ten years after the scandal broke in Boston, how do you explain the actions, or inactions, of Church officials who did not act swiftly when credible accusations of abuse were reported, often repeatedly?” The Cardinal responded: As we say, hindsight is always better than foresight. In today’s world we have an awareness of the great harm that is done to victims of child abuse. In the past, I fear, that was not the case. People did not realize how profound the harm was that was visited upon children. The harm, I think, was compounded when the perpetrator was a priest because of the identification of the priest with God, with the sacred, and, therefore, besides the psychological damage it also did grave spiritual damage. Then lists many other reasons as well: But I think there was a lot of ignorance of these kinds of things. It became clear to me that, in the case of Father Porter, the bishop at the time, every time there was a complaint, he sent him to a mental health facility and there the psychologists were telling the bishop that he was cured, that he could be returned to (ministry) - absurd things - but at the time even the psychologists were giving that kind of advice. So I think all that contributed to the terrible decisions that were made. There was also an exaggerated fear of scandal and trying to protect the institution. And I think, too, just in the culture at the time there was a lot of denial of this problem. People did not speak of these kinds of things - ever - even though it was like the elephant in the middle of the living room. I think Wl see reflections of that in the reporting on the case in Pennsylvania, where people just didn’t want to deal with it, didn’t want to face it. Even though they saw it, they were denying it. There was an unwillingness to grapple with the ugliness of this problem. Scot said it’s still ugly today, but the Cardinal as much as any bishop in the Church,. has spent the last 15 to 20 years of his life meeting with survivors of abuse and helping now his third diocese overcome these problems. Greg said in 2002 the Pilot made a special issue when the crisis first broke, trying to get a handle on what this meant. He recalled that until March, people thought this was one horrible case that came to light and it would pass, but then it became clear it was not an isolated incident. Even then people were already saying these same things about there being a great ignorance about these matters in the past. Greg said society has come a long way and we need to keep this in its historical perspective. These things didn’t all occur ten years ago. Ten years ago, the tragedies that occurred mainly in the 60s, 70s, and 80s were brought to light at one moment. Scot said seeing the progress made in the past 10 years makes him proud. We’ve trained 300,000 children and 175,000 adults in safe environment education. He said 575 young people have come forward to reveal that they’re being abused by someone in their life. Susan recalled how the archdiocese brought together people of various disciplines to form a special committee to bring together materials to provide training for the children and adults. Susan said in the Office for Religious Education they went through a lot of displaced anger because they found their office under attack for promoting the implementation of safety programs for children. Scot said the Cardinal in his letter asked the media and other organizations to contextualize the abuse, by not treating every instance of abuse as if it was a present occurrence and by giving special emphasis to abuse in the Catholic Church and not giving regard to the problem that this is a societal problem. Fr. Roger said for priests, when all these abuses were treated as if they just happened, were subjected to many indignities and suspicions. The Church needs to be treated just like any other institution when accusations of these kinds come up. Fr. Roger said the fact that those with secular mindsets treat the Church differently is an implied recognition that the Church should be held to a higher standard, the standard applied by Christ. Scot said these wounds are still raw for victims and their families, all priests in a particular way, and all laity. We should pray for everyone who will go through a difficult time this week. 3rd segment: Scot said anyone who’s seen the TV this week know that the US presidential primary season is in full swing. He said many critics of former Mass. governor Mitt Romney have alleged that he wasn’t a strong defender of life or family issues in Massachusetts. Nine leaders in pro-life and pro-family matters in Massachusetts have come out to set the record straight about Romney. “Pro-family advocates defend Romney’s record on life, marriage”, Catholic News Agency, 1/3/12 Fr. Roger said his reaction is that the defense was too strong. Romney’s record in Mass. was mixed and they should have just combatted lies. He would like to hear Romney explain what he thinks he didn’t do enough. On same-sex marriage, Fr. Roger thinks Romney should have refused to order city clerks to issue marriage licenses and bring about a constitutional crisis over the ability of the Supreme Judicial Court to order same-sex marriage. On the other hand, he did do a lot of the pro-life, pro-family message and could have done more. Susan said before Fr. Roger just spoke, she would have trusted the signatories to this letters based on her knowledge of their reputations. The signatories included “Raymond L. Flynn and Mary Ann Glendon, both former U.S. Ambassadors to the Holy See, as well as the former executive director of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, Gerald D. D’Avolio.” Scot said one of the things that came out of the Iowa caucuses was that Rick Santorum, a pro-life Catholic, did so well in the voting, ending up within eight votes of Romney. Greg said Santorum appealed to the Christian conservatism of Iowa in a particular way and his defense of the family. While Greg personally would like to see Santorum become president, he thinks the voters of New Hampshire may not respond in a similar way and may not become the GOP nominee. But the fact that he came so close in Iowa shows that there’s a thirst for the pro-life, pro-family message that isn’t being supported by other candidates. Scot said he’s never seen Rick Santorum ever dilute his conservatism on the pro-life issue. He asked Fr. Roger if Santorum will hear criticism of his pro-life views during the primary. Fr. Roger said Santorum will be cast as an extremist because he doesn’t include a rape or incest exception for abortion. He may receive flask for statements from those supportive of the gay agenda reacting to his views of the gay agenda as harmful to America. Also from the Pilot this week is an obituary of Fr. Thomas Fleming, who was ordained in 1959. He served as Army chaplain in Vietnam, Korea, and Germany during the Vietnam conflict. In the Anchor, Fr. Roger said there will be a lot of focus on the Church’s teaching on physician-assisted suicide. The Anchor noted that the Mass. Medical Society came out now in opposition to the practice and they wanted to be sure Catholics knew that Massachusetts doctors were not in favor of this proposed law. Also in the Pilot is a story about the forming of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, which encompasses the United States for ex-Anglican parishes that become Catholic. It’s like a diocese in function and is based in Houston. The first ordinary, who is not a Catholic bishop, is a former Episcopalian bishop. “Former Episcopal bishop to head new US ordinariate for ex-Anglicans”, Boston Pilot, 1/3/12 Scot noted that Fr. Jeffrey Steenson is not a bishop, and doesn’t have the power to ordain, but in most other respects has the same powers as a bishop. Greg pointed out he’s not eligible to be a bishop because he’s married. Fr. Roger said it’s part of Pope Benedict’s response to Christ’s prayer that “all would be one” and reuniting Christians under one Church.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Sr. Emi Magnificat and Sr. Christine of the Daughters of St. Paul Links from today’s show: Daughters of St. Paul Pauline Books and Media Today’s topics: The Daughters of St. Paul Summary of today’s show: The Daughters of St. Paul proclaim the Gospel in every medium available from printed books to films and TV to music to ebooks, apps, and websites. Scot Landry interviews Sr. Christine and Sr. Emi Magnificat about the mission of the Daughters of St. Paul, whose American headquarters are right here in the Boston area; their paths to the vocations in the order; and the story of the order’s founder, Bl. James Alberione. 1st segment: Scot recounted that yesterday the show did not broadcast over WQOM due to technical difficulties, but it is available on our website. This week is a big anniversary as well. He also noted that Friday, January 6, we mark 10 years since the first publication of major revelations concerning clergy sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston. Cardinal Seán is marking that anniversary with perhaps the most significant rounds of media interviews he has done since coming to the Archdiocese. Links to those are below. He’s also conducted other interviews that will be published in the coming days as well in the National Catholic Report, the Pilot. This Friday, January 6, Cardinal Seán will be on The Good Catholic Life. “Rebuilding From the Ruins: Cardinal O’Malley on the 2002 Boston Sex-Abuse Scandal, Part 1”, National Catholic Register “Rebuilding From the Ruins: Cardinal O’Malley on the 2002 Boston Sex-Abuse Scandal, Part 2”, National Catholic Register “Cardinal O’Malley on changes in the Church”, NECN “On the long road to healing”, Boston Globe 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Sr. Christine and Sr. Emi to the show. He said he’s somewhat embarrassed that he hasn’t had the Daughters of St. Paul on the show before now. Sr. Christine said the Daughters were started specifically to work in media. They started in Italy and worked in books and other print, then radio and eventually TV, movies, cassettes, CDs, DVDs, websites, ebooks, and smartphone apps. Scot said if St. Paul himself were evangelizing today, he’d been on radio and TV and Twitter and Facebook. Sr. Emi said Bl. James Alberione, their founder, said that was their mission, to be like St. Paul. She said St. Paul was so convinced of the love of Christ that he wanted to give his life proclaiming the Gospel. that spirit impels the daughters today. Sr. Christine said Bl. James started with a group of men he wanted to train to be the media apostles of the 20th century. In 1915 he founded the Daughters of St. Paul because he thought women should be evangelizers. They should be there as mothers and sisters of the church to spread God’s word in that manner, but also through personal contact. They do that in the media centers and at conferences and wherever they encounter people. The witness of their vocation and vows is the first proclamation of their mission and the mission flows from that. In 1932, Sr. Paula Cordero was sent from Italy to New York to start a foundation. She went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and put a medal of St. Paul behind the bishop’s chair to pray for the intercession of St. Paul with the cardinal. Cardinal Cushing invited them to Boston to start their novitiate here and there American headquarters is in Jamaica Plain. Sr. Emi said about 60 sisters live in Jamaica Plain, including the novitiate, provincial government, bindery, and the sisters who work at the Dedham book center. She said the novitiate stage is the first entrance into the community and occurs after about two years of postulancy. At the end of the 2 years of novitiate, they take first vows and then about5 years later, they take perpetual vows. Sr. Christine said there are 2,500 sisters in 32 nations. She said in Africa, there are many books printed and many book centers. Each country works in the predominant media needed in that society. In Italy they are the major religious publisher. Near the Vatican they have a multi-language bookstore. From Boston, they record radio programs that air in the US and Latin America. Six months ago, they started a Spanish and Portuguese initiative where they are working on distribution of books in those languages throughout the US. Sr. Emi said the book centers sell all of the Daughters’ own books and music, but also any materials they think will help others. Every book center also has a chapel with the Blessed Sacrament. Sr. Christine said it’s a 50/50 ratio of Pauline books versus other publishers. They are looking forward to receiving new daily Missals for the new translation of the Mass. The bookstore in Dedham is on Route 1 across from Legacy Place. There is a beautiful little chapel there. They look to serve people any way they can so if they don’t have a book, they will suggest another one. They have many CDs and many Catholic DVDs. They will be soon adding St. Paul DVDs. Sr. Christine spoke of some of the books they publish. They have weekly meetings to determine what manuscripts will be accepted. They have the book printed by an outside company. They warehouse the books in Jamaica Plain and do the marketing and sales from there as well. They also ship orders from Boston. Many of the senior sisters do the packaging of books and sets. They don’t have retired sisters; everyone does what they can. Sr. Christine said that while their books are available on Amazon.com, it provides more support to them if people buy them directly from their website or book centers. They have a Facebook presence too, especially for their choir. They do two CDs per year and have many concert performances around Christmas. They have their music on iTunes as well for downloading to iPods and iPhones. Sr. Emi said all their new books they hope to make available as ebooks in addition to bringing their popular older titles to ebook. The whole province is also working to reach out more to Catholic schools with book fairs in the schools. They also have new apps for iPhones, including a Rosary app, a Missal app, Saint of the Day, and the Mass Explained app. Sr. Christine said Jaymie Stuart Wolfe wrote a booklet about the new translation of the Mass and it was so popular that they turned it into an app. Sr. Emi said they have an app for healing psalms and prayers. It accompanies people throughout the day in prayer. 3rd segment: It’s time to announce this week’s winner of the WQOM Benefactor Raffle. Our prizes this week are Girls’ Night Out: Having Fun with Your Daughter While Raising a Woman of God and A Lamp for My Feet and a Light for My Path (For Catholic Teens). This week’s benefactor card raffle winner is Kathleen Sullivan from Cohasset, MA. Congratulation, Kathleen! If you would like to be eligible to win in an upcoming week, please visit WQOM.org. For a one-time $30 donation, you’ll receive the Station of the Cross benefactor card and key tag, making you eligible for WQOM’s weekly raffle of books, DVDs, CDs and religious items. We’ll be announcing the winner each Wednesday during “The Good Catholic Life” program. 4th segment: Scot asked Sr. Emi how she came to be a Daughter of St. Paul. She said as a sophomore in high school, she encountered the Daughters’ website which inspired her. She had an aunt who had worked with the Daughters for many years in Japan. The order has a program for high schools to come to Boston for a week in the summer to get to know the community. That’s when she felt at home with the sisters and was attracted to their way of life. She was so impressed by how the prayer of the sisters fit so well with their mission of proclaiming the Gospel. Because they are always looking to the new forms of media, their mission will never grow old. Scot asked her to talk about her aunt. Sr. Emi said she expressed the joy she felt in working with the sisters. Discovering her vocation as a Daughter of St. Paul was not a “being struck by lightning” moment, but something she became aware of over a longer period of time. Right now, she’s working in much of the bookkeeping and computer operations work. She’s also served in St. Louis, Honolulu and Texas, but now lives in Boston. Sr. Christine said she joined the Daughters in 1964 at 17 years old. She went to Catholic school only for first grade, but it made a big impression on her. She told God at 6 years old she would be a nun. She had another love as well: TV and movies. As she grew older, especially during high school, the call waned a bit, but she told God that if He showed her an order that works in show business she would join. So she encountered a book that said the Daughters of St. Paul work in show business. She encountered the congregation right in the middle of her senior year of high school. Sr. Christine said she made a second “Yes” to God in her mid-30s when she came through difficulties and uncertainties and knew that this was truly where God had called her. Sr. Christine said her attraction was the apostolate. The Sisters talked about living in community, the challenges of different personalities, but also the joys of getting to know each other, their different cultures and backgrounds. Sr. Emi said they often have fun together. Sr. Christine said they have a movie night every Saturday, they play board games together, they play games like scavenger hunts. They have space and place for recreation and relaxation. Sr. Emi said 6 temporary professed sisters and two of them are in Rome in preparation for final vows. There is one novice and five postulants. Sr. Christine said they have come-and-see weeks and weekends. An interested woman would meet with a sister, then come and live with the sisters for a time. Sr. Christine said she’s been friends with Marianne Luthin, director of the archdiocesan pro-life office, and for the last 4 years has been helping in the office for several hours a week. She helps with Women Affirming Life, which includes two prayer breakfasts per year with speakers. She mentioned the archdiocesan Holy Hours for Life coming up on January 22. 5th segment: Scot said he recently heard a presentation on Bl. James Alberione, who founded five religious congregations, including the Daughters of St. Paul. Sr. Emi said he grew up on a farm in Italy. She told a story of how he illuminated his family’s planting the farm by holding up a lamp and that became a metaphor for him for his life’s mission. Scot said on the Daughters’ website there are photos of Bl. James behind a film camera directing a movie. Sr. Christine said his motto was “Ever onwards, Daughters of St. Paul.” He was always pushing onwards. He always wanted to read the news of the day in order to pray with the news of the day. The co-founder of the order was Mother Thecla. He invited her to share with him in his dream of establishing the Pauline orders. Sr. Christine said she was a holy quiet soul. Her role was to take the feminine branch and to see them grow. She sent many of the missionaries from the orders throughout the world. She has been declared Servant of God. Sr. Emi said BL. James was kicked out of the first seminary he was in and was admitted to a second seminary on probation. It was then that he was given the great grace of his mission from God.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Danielle Bean, editor-in-chief of Catholic Digest and co-host of CatholicTV’s The Gist Links from today’s show: Catholic Digest Danielle Bean’s blog Danielle Bean’s books at Amazon.com Faith and Family Live The Gist on CatholicTV The Gist in CatholicTV Magazine Today’s topics: Danielle Bean, Catholic Digest, TheGist, and Faith and Family Live Summary of today’s show: Danielle Bean is a homeschooling mother of eight, author of three books, editor-in-chief of America’s largest Catholic publication, a well-known blogger, and now the co-host of CatholicTV’s The Gist, an all-new talk show for women. Whew! Scot Landry talks to Danielle about being the queen of all Catholic media, how she juggles her responsibilities, and her vision for serving Catholic women and their families by offering inspiration, support and community. 1st segment: Scot welcomed everyone to 2012 and he wished everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We start the new year with a great guest, Danielle Bean. He also noted that Friday, January 6, we mark 10 years since the first publication of major revelations concerning clergy sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston. Cardinal Seán is marking that anniversary with perhaps the most significant rounds of media interviews he has done since coming to the Archdiocese. Links to those are below. He’s also conducted other interviews that will be published in the coming days as well in the National Catholic Report, the Pilot. This Friday, January 6, Cardinal Seán will be on The Good Catholic Life. [“Rebuilding From the Ruins: Cardinal O’Malley on the 2002 Boston Sex-Abuse Scandal, Part 1”, National Catholic Register “Rebuilding From the Ruins: Cardinal O’Malley on the 2002 Boston Sex-Abuse Scandal, Part 2”, National Catholic Register “Cardinal O’Malley on changes in the Church”, NECN “On the long road to healing”, Boston Globe 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Danielle Bean to the show. He noted that she is a very busy mom living her Catholic faith. He asked her about her new TV show on Catholic TV called The Gist. She said it’s an opportunity for Catholic women to have a new voice in Catholic television. It’s Catholic women talking to one another about the topics they care about: family lives, faith lives, balancing schedules, balancing work and family life. Scot said this month’s CatholicTV magazine said Danielle posed the idea for the show to Fr. Robert Reed this past summer. In her work on Faith and Family magazine helped her to understand what Catholic women need from media to serve them as whole persons. Her goal for The Gist was to do something similar to Faith and Family in television form, offering women what they care about from a Catholic perspective. Scot asked Danielle how the Gist will compare with shows like the View. Danielle said those shows are popular because they meet a need. Women like to communicate with one another and talk. Women respond to a talk show of women sharing and connecting. But those shows appeal to less admirable qualities. The Gist will help them encourage and build up one another, to share their struggles and triumphs from a Catholic perspective. Danielle said recording the show never felt awkward. She said her co-hosts are Carolee McGrath and Rachel Balducci and they have a real connection to one another because they share their core values. Danielle said each show takes up two different topics, balancing deeper topics and lighters ones, plus interviews, including recent TGCL guest Lisa Hendey. They will also do brief review segments, sharing ideas and products they find useful in their lives. Scot noted that Lino Rulli will also be on the show, as well as Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez talking about their new movie The Way, and later this month author Fr. Jim Martin. Scot said doing TGCL has been wonderful to get to know new people both as guests but also to develop new relationships with the co-hosts. Danielle said a big part of what they do as Catholic women in the Church is to support one another, and sometimes that comes in the form of knowing that someone out there who shares your values, shares your circumstances. Scot said Danielle has worked in print, online, and radio. What’s it like to learn to do TV? She said it’s been fun and she went into it hoping to learn alot. She’s found a lot of great energy. She credited CatholicTV for the great shows they’re making. She said it’s also been humbling. She said watching the taping of This Is Day, she remarked to Rachel how much fun TV is. Scot said Helen Lee and Bonnie Rodgers were on TGCL before Christmas and talked about the social media component of the show. Danielle said she and Rachel have been active online for many years and it felt natural to do stuff online for the show. They’ve already built up a Facebook page where they will include poll questions and ask viewers their opinions on the topics they take up. She hopes to get that feedback on a regular basis and incorporate it into future shows. During the premiere tomorrow they will host a live chat on Faith and Family Live to talk about the show as it airs. The show will air on Wednesday morning at 10:30am with numerous rebroadcasts throughout the week or on-demand at CatholicTV.com. 3rd segment: Scot said Danielle is also beginning the new year with new responsibilities as editor-in-chief of Catholic Digest. He asked her about the new position. Scot said he was surprised to hear that it’s the number one Catholic publication in the US. Danielle said she came into the position sort of sideways. She was editor of Faith and Family magazine for years and it was purchased last year by Bayard, the company that owns Catholic Digest. They made the decision not to publish Faith and Family in its current form. (She emphasized that the website is continuing.) Faith and Family will be combined into Catholic Digest and the Digest will re-launch in March with a new look and a larger format of 6x9. It will have a new contemporary look. They want to create a magazine that will be attractive to the core of their audience, which is Catholic women. It will be more visually appealing. She hopes to bring the visual appeal of Faith and Family to Catholic Digest. It’s a broader audience than Faith and Family. She’s been looking for a balance between the old content and the new and is looking forward to the March re-launch, speaking to a new audience and being respectful to its 75 year tradition of publishing. Scot said said it publishes 11 times per year. Danielle said the magazine reaches about half a million people, including issues in parishes. They are looking to build the subscriber base and trying to find a right balance with providing content for free online. They will provide 9 regular issues and 2 special issues that will ship simultaneously with regular issues. They hope to give added value for the subscriptions. Danielle said Catholic Digest will even less a news magazine and more a lifestyle magazine and will include the kind of content you can’t get online. She wants people to be inspired but she also wants it to be a tool for Catholic living. She wants to the pages of the magazine to reflect community and practical support. Scot said other magazines called Digest often have shorter articles or abridged articles from elsewhere. Is that what Catholic Digest will be like? Danielle said they talked about possibly changing the name of the magazine to address this question, but they kept it because it the number-one recognized Catholic publication name. She said reprints were part of Catholic Digest history, but that’s not the plan for the future. Her focus is on providing fresh and relevant content from contemporary writers. Scot talked about the way the Catholic Digest website is organized. He said there’s a lot of content available there on a wide range if subjects. Scot said he was impressed by how broad the content is. It shows that living the Catholic faith isn’t just about praying, but it’s about embedding our faith into all aspects of life. Danielle said her goal is to serve the whole person. This is what the Church does for us. 4th segment: Scot said Faith and Family Live is a very strong community that built up around Faith and Family magazine. He asked how that developed and why is it important to continue when Faith and Family ends as an independent entity. Danielle said it goes back to the days when she started her own blog in 2004 and she said gathered a following of Catholic women who would have weekly conversations on whatever was on their minds. When she took on the role of editor of Faith and Family, she convinced them to create a beautiful website that fosters the same sort of community. The look and feel is expressive of the kind of community they have built there. They managed to grow the site through promotion in the magazine and other ways. On a daily basis, the cadre of bloggers who contribute regularly post on topics of interest, but they also do a daily coffee talk where it’s freeform discussion on various topics. Early on they discussed that access to one another was the most valuable commodity they could offer. The greatest resource was the community of Catholic women online, not just the writers for Faith and Family. Scot said one of the comments he often heard at the Boston Catholic Men’s and Women’s Conferences was being present with other people like themselves and Faith and Family Live is one of those conferences every day. Danielle said she’s often heard from women who say the best part is just not feeling alone. Many women don’t have someone they can talk to about their faith and family life. For those living their faith counter to the culture, they often feel isolated from everyone else. You don’t want to feel constantly on the defensive or so alone. Scot said someone could bring up a question about NFP in an environment they can feel is safe, unlike a random gathering of friends or neighbors. It’s a private and perhaps anonymous forum for asking questions and getting answers. Danielle acknowledged that the Internet can be a difficult place to keep charity and they have struggled with the comments, but they don’t want to forbid anonymous comments because of that very reason. Scot said all the supportive comments show how much Catholics care for one another and anyone looking for help. Danielle said it’s like the holy Father says, which is we want to give the Internet a soul. Danielle said you don’t have to register or provide personal information to comment on the site. But you can also join the free online community by registering. 5th segment: Scot said Danielle has written three books, My Cup Of Tea: Musings Of A Catholic Mom, Small Steps for Catholic Moms, and Mom to Mom, Day to Day: Advice and Support for Catholic Living. My Cup of Tea was the first book and it included some reworked columns from when she was a columnist at National Catholic Register, but also some new essays sharing in a very real way what the day to day living of the Catholic life looked like from her perspective. After that book was published, she started a website to promote the book and through the blog she started to get lots of request from women from advice. She heard a lot of the same questions over and over from women who were struggling and looking for help. From that came the idea for Mom to Mom. She tried to do it with humor and honesty from her own experience. Scot said parenting without a sense of humor is very challenging. Sharing the moments of humor with first-time moms and others who are struggling can expose them to deep and profound joy. As the mother of eight children she has a lot of experience and many moments to share. Being a writer, especially a daily blog, gives her a perspective to step back and see the bigger picture. It’s easy to get lost in the day to day drudgery, so it’s important to step back and see what a high calling it is. She remembers early on in her writing career, she was at home and fell down some stairs and at the bottom lay there and thought, This will make a great column. This is part of that perspective. Small Steps was a project she worked on with her friend Elizabeth Foss. They had the idea that they like the daily support from a book that gives them guidance to inspire and encourage and support in a practical way.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry, Fr. Mark O’Connell, and Susan Abbott Today’s guest(s): Sr. Olga Yaqob, Servant Mother of the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth Today’s topics: Christmas Gospels and The Incarnation Summary of today’s show: We prepare for Christmas as Scot Landry, Fr. Mark O’Connell, Susan Abbott, and Sr. Olga Yaqob consider the four different Gospel readings and reflect how each one illuminates a different message of Christmas and the Incarnation of Christ. Our panel then discusses the meaning of Christ being born as a baby in the most humble circumstances and then growing up in obscurity for 30 years in preparation for just 3 years of public ministry. Finally, they look at the first heralds of Christ, the humble shepherds who dropped everything to adore and then proclaim the Messiah, and encourage us all to take the opportunity this Christmas to make Christ our top priority and to proclaim him fearlessly and with enthusiasm. 1st segment: Scot said this is the last broadcast prior to Christmas and next week we’ll have a series of Best Of programs. Scot welcomed Sr. Olga to show. Fr. Mark said he will be celebrating a vigil Mass on Saturday and then Sunday morning, but he’s celebrating midnight Mass for his parents in their home with his family. Susan will be celebrating with her family at her daughters’ home. Sr. Olga said her sisters will go to nursing homes and then feed the homeless and see the families of the young women. Scot said his family will travel on Christmas Eve to his brother’s parish, where Fr. Roger will celebrate Mass and then they will all have a Christmas Eve meal. On Christmas morning they will go to Mass at their home parish where his daughter sings in the choir. Scot said there are many who will also experience sadness on Christmas if they’ve lost a loved one recently and we will pray for them. Scot said we will look at the Mass readings for Christmas and then reflect on the meaning of Christmas. At the end of the program, we will discuss some of our favorite Christmas hymns. 2nd segment: Scot said there are four different Christmas liturgies from which readings come. One is the vigil Mass, the midnight Mass, the Mass at dawn, and Mass during the day. We will hear the four Gospels. Fr. Mark points out that if someone goes to the same Mass every year they only hear one of these Gospels. Gospel of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord At the Vigil Mass This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus. Gospel of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Mass During the Night (Mass at Midnight) In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Gospel of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Mass at Dawn When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them. Gospel of the Nativity of the Lord, Mass during the Day In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. Scot said there’s so much richness in these readings and so many characters in these readings: infant Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds. He asked Fr. Mark to reflect. He said we have accounts from Matthew, Luke, and John, which shows the variety. The full version of Matthew has the complete lineage, placing Jesus in his historical context. Luke tells the story focusing on the shepherds, Jesus coming to common people. John has high language and his audience was both Jew and Greek. Susan said in St. John what strikes her is that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome. There is so much darkness and division in the world today. In Paul we hear a lot about hope. We have to hang onto hope and she sees hope in this line of this Gospel. Sr. Olga said she loves the Gospel of Luke and always wonder through the heart of Mary and Joseph how they felt in that moment when they first saw the birth of the Son of God. She wonders what happens in the heart of priests what happens when they first consecrate and it becomes the Son of God. For her, Incarnation is in the heart of the Christmas season. As a campus minister, she saw how the students would get excited when famous people came to campus. Do we pause and think about the special guest who we are celebrating this season. “Blessed be the Lord, the God os Israel, He has come to set his people free.” It is overwhelming to think about the beauty of the Incarnation. Scot said what he didn’t fully appreciate growing up until he heard his brother preach about it a couple of years ago was what the setting was really like for Jesus. He was laid to sleep in a place where the animals ate from. It wasn’t a pleasant scene. Scot read from Fr. Roger’s homily. “Embracing the Christ Child”, Fr. Roger Landry, Christmas 2005, CatholicPreaching.com Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Son of David, the one who will reign forever, is not born in a palace, but in rock-hewn animal stable. Rather than having a floor of marble, he had dirt. Instead of a throne or a princely crib, he was placed in a trough from which animals were accustomed to eat. Rather than being clothed in fine royal linens, he was wrapped in poor swaddling clothes. Rather than the perfumes and incense common to middle-eastern homes, he was surrounded by the smells of animals and what they leave behind. So often we can sentimentalize and romanticize the scene in Bethlehem by gazing at the gorgeous figurines in our beautiful Christmas crèches, but then we would miss the incredible humility of God, who divested himself of all majesty to be born in such poverty that by his poverty we might indeed become rich (cf. 2 Cor 8:9). Moreover, as we know, his birth was just the beginning of this shockingly humble life. He, through whom all things were made, would be hunted down by assassins while he still nursed, be an illegal immigrant in Egypt before he could walk, and a quiet boy, teenager and young simple carpenter in Nazareth until his hour had come. When his hour did come, he would take off his humble robes, cover himself with a towel and wash our feet. Then he would be betrayed by one of his closest followers, framed by the leaders of the people he had formed for centuries, be less wanted than the murderer Barabbas, and hammered to a Cross between two thieves by soldiers he had formed in their mothers’ wombs. As Archbishop Sheen used to say, he was born in a stranger’s cave and buried in a stranger’s grave. Jesus’ life was one of tremendous embarrassment and the homily goes on to explain why God took on such humility. This was His choice. Pope Benedict talked a few years ago why St. Francis created the living creche so that we could visually come to terms what it must have been like on that Christmas morning. Fr. Roger’s homily is very strong in its imagery. This is how the shepherds saw him. Fr. Mark said St. John couldn’t show that poverty. It was high language and people who come to Mass only on Christmas Day don’t get the sights and sounds of the stable. John was speaking to the Greeks and the Jews and beautifully speaks to them with the Word. All Jews have respect for the Word. All Jews would know of the power of God’s Word throughout history. The Greeks had the same idea of Logos, a divine word. John could bring them both into the story. We go into the heavens with John and come down the stable with Luke. Susan said the tension and balance of these readings is that they are so familiar, which can give comfort, but we can also take them for granted. She encourages people to pick a word or a phrase and then put yourself into the scene, using your imagination of what you see, hear, taste, and touch. Who are the characters? If I were there, who would I be? Sr. Olga said she always prays and ask for the grace to be with the shepherds. It’s amazing they were chosen to be the first to see the newborn Savior. She prays to be able to see him through their eyes. As we read in the Scripture, it was at night. We get so busy and noisy and crowded that there is no time to pause and reflect on that silent night to hear with the shepherd to hear and see the signs. Fr. Mark has preached in the past on his favorite rendition of Matthew’s Gospel on Christmas. When he was a seminarian, he was assigned as a chaplain to St. Elizabeth’s hospital. On a hot day in July, he was told to speak to an old man in his bed. He was so still at first he though the man was dead. He asked Fr. Mark to read the story of the birth of Jesus. He had to scream the story of Jesus’ birth to the nearly deaf man on a hot day in July. His homily is that there’s something about this story that it needs to be screamed from the rooftops. Susan said it is indeed Good News to be proclaimed. Scot said he thinks of the angels telling the shepherds, Do not be afraid. The shepherds then dropped everything they were doing. They made it their top priority to visit Jesus, even leaving behind their flocks. They were prepared for the Messiah, but perhaps not for a child born in a manger. They took this gift of being the first witnesses and went out and witnessed to others. Those they encountered were amazed, not just by the story, but by their great enthusiasm. How are we the shepherds today? We should have the same priority as the shepherds to encounter Christ at Christmas and then proclaim it to everyone. What will be our conversation at Christmas dinner? Will we talk about the NBA season or about Christ? 3rd segment: Scot said the Sr. Olga that one of her favorite topics to speak about is the Incarnation and she spoke at the WQOM conference on being missionaries of the Incarnation. Christmas is often misunderstood that we are just celebrating the birth of the Savior. Sr. Olga said we can’t just stop at celebrating the birth of someone who came 2000 years ago. Christ came to reconcile us to himself, to redeem us, to free us. He came for each one of us. If we don’t take this message of Incarnation beyond just celebrating the birthday of the Lord, we are missing the mission of the Messiah. We have to take Christmas to examine how much his coming to the world to dwell among us has changed us, to be redeemed and live in the heart of the Word? How am I changed spiritually? We have to examine our personal journey with the Lord? And what am I doing with this changed in me caused by this personal journey? For those for whom Christmas is a time of sadness because of broken relationships or death or poverty, the message of the Incarnation is that you are still loved, whether you are in prison, a nursing home, a hospital, a shelter or a big cathedral, it’s the same God, the same Love who came to dwell with us. Scot said his kids ask great questions and he often responds, “Because can do whatever he wants.” But they ask why Jesus came into the world as a baby and why did he live for 30 of his 33 years doing ordinary things? He chose this way. Scot said one reason may be that our response to babies brings out the best in us. Even a crying baby makes us want to pick him up and comfort him. He chose to take on human flesh in this way and what is our response? We should have a response to Christ as a new baby entering our home. If a new baby came to our homes this Christmas, we would gather around and appreciate him. This encourages us to appreciate all that God brings to us and treat him with the same love and attention as a new baby. Fr. Mark said during those 30 years Jesus saw the lilies of the field, he observed the shepherds, he watched the sparrows, learned how to work, to share in our lives. Jesus born as a baby and growing up with a mother and father is a gift of God that he truly became man. He didn’t just take on human appearance. Susan said she has a piece of art in a Christmas card. It’s set in a city and shows a woman in a window of an apartment building, waving at a truck pulling up outside which says on the outside, “Joseph and Sons Carpenters”. Jesus was a little boy who grew up with his parents. His mother taught him his prayers and he lived an ordinary life and by doing that he lifts up our ordinary lives and makes them holy. Scot said not only does he take on our flesh, remaining fully human and fully divine, he also raises us up to communion with God in our flesh. It shows us the way and helps connect us in a deeper way with God. Sr. Olga said when she hears people say they believe in God but have been away from church for awhile and it’s impossible to go back now, she says just go and read the nativity and reflect on the way he came. It’s a sign that I am your God and I am the God of the second chance. He spoke through many signs and miracles and prophets and people walked away from him so he came as a man in an impossible way—virgin birth as a baby among animals—to make us his children. Because of him who reconciled us to himself, he allowed us to call God our father. For anyone who’s been away for any reason, it’s a great opportunity to come back. Fr. Mark said we have an opportunity this Christmas to start conversations at Mass because of the new Missal. Instead of staring at the person next to you in the pew and being annoyed that they don’t know the right words. We could turn to the people next to us before Mass and introduce them to the new prayers in a pew card or missal. Someone can get a positive experience of being helped and welcomed. Scot said in Pope John Paul II’s last Christmas homily, he wanted to draw the specific connection between the Incarnation and the Eucharist, which is Jesus’ ongoing Incarnation to us. Our churches swell at Christmas. It’s wonderful all these people are here and let’s pray us that they stay with us. Or there’s the resentful attitude when you can’t get a seat in church and there’s so much traffic. Let us all pray that those who come to Mass because of the human interaction they encounter. It’s important we approach everyone who comes with the same love as we would approach the newborn savior. Sr. Olga said we become what we eat. If God dwells among us, we have the opportunity to receive this God who became human every day if we choose. We can become one with the person who came to be one with us, to be his love, mercy, and kindness in every place we go. This is living the mission of the Incarnation. As we each experience this Christmas season, we have to take this impossible way of loving to the people around us. The most difficult thing that has torn humanity apart is anger. We need to reflect on reconciliation. He came to reconcile us to himself and if that is Jesus’ main purpose, then we need to reflect on areas we need to reconcile with in ourselves and with others. This is the heart of Christmas. 4th segment: A roundup of everyone’s favorite Christmas hymns. Rick Heil’s favorite Christmas hymn os “Silent Night”. Fr. Mark’s is “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming.” Susan’s is Handel’s “Messiah”, even though its an Easter song, but have parts related to the nativity. Sr. Olga’s favorite is “Joy to the World”, because nothing else brings us joy than that God came to love us. Scot’s is “O Holy Night”, because it begins softly and ramps up the emotion.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Fr. Roger Landry, executive editor of The Anchor, the newspaper of the Fall River diocese; and Gregory Tracy, managing editor of The Pilot, the newspaper of the Boston archdiocese Links from today’s show: The Anchor The Pilot Some of the stories discussed on this show will be available on The Pilot’s and The Anchor’s websites on Friday morning. Please check those sites for the latest links. Today’s topics: Christmas message from Cardinal Seán and Bishop Coleman; Profile of Cardinal Seán in the Boston Herald; Pastoral letter for undocumented immigrants; the famous musical Fr. Pat; New pastor; New saints Summary of today’s show: In our last news show of the year, Scot Landry, Fr. Roger Landry, and Gregory Tracy discuss Cardinal Seán’s Christmas message that will air on Vatican Radio, as well Bishop George Coleman’s message to the Fall River diocese; a laudatory front-page profile of Cardinal Seán in the Boston Herald; a pastoral letter from Hispanic bishops of the US to undocumented immigrants; the famous musical Fr. Pat from La Salette who’s celebrating 40 years of ministry; a new pastor for Catholics in Townsend; and miracles to make new American saints. 1st segment: Scot welcomed Fr. Roger and Greg to show and noted how today is the first day of winter, but it’s 53 degrees outside. He asked Fr. Roger how his Christmas planning is going and whether it’s easier for priests when Christmas is on a Sunday. Greg talked about Christmas traditions for his family, which is a blended family of both Cuban traditions and New England traditions. Scot and Fr. Roger talked about their family gathering in New Bedford at Fr. Roger’s church on Christmas Eve. 2nd segment: Scot said Cardinal Seán recorded a Christmas message for the world to air on Vatican Radio. WQOM listeners get a preview of the message today. [Cardinal Seán’s Christmas message to air on Vatican Radio across the world] This is Cardinal Seán O’Malley from the Archdiocese of Boston. At Christmas our God comes to us as a humble pilgrim in search of hospitality. Nourished by the bread of life that comes to us from the manger, let us open our hearts in welcome to this Divine Humble Pilgrim, to the Lord Jesus. By reaching out with compassion and loving care we can give Him hospitality as he comes to us disguised in the hungry, the homeless, the mentally ill, the imprisoned, the stranger, the immigrant. Jesus came to reveal the merciful face of the father: the poor, the sick, the marginalized were the protagonists of His Gospel. It is our task to be the merciful face of Christ - as the Father sent me, so I send you Jesus tells us. He does not send us alone but with our brothers and sisters whose faith and solidarity sustains us. And He gives us the spiritual food of His Body and Blood in the Eucharist. At Christmas we come to the manger to see the Baby Pictures and rejoice as we look at our Family Album. But our faith tells us that Christ born at Bethlehem 2000 years ago is still, Emmanuel, God with us. He comes to offer us His friendship and love and to invite us to a life of discipleship in His Church. At Bethlehem the Shepherds were filled with joy and wonder and were anxious to share that joy with others. Knowing the Lord, carries with it an obligation to make Him known and loved. Christmas is the feast of the Child, the Christ child, our God who made Himself small to be close to us. Jesus says in the Gospel- Unless you become like a little child you shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. God came to us in the humility and simplicity of a little baby—God’s love in face of a child, always new, always fresh, that never tires of loving us, of giving us another chance. We can go to Him only in the humility and simplicity of a child. Children have a sense of trust in their parents - God wants us to have that trust in Him and in His love. At Christmas we are able to catch a glimpse of the face of God and His love. When we discover His love, we discover who we are. Merry Christmas to all of you who are listening. Scot said he was struck how we can describe Jesus by serving those who come disguised as the poor, the hungry, the ill, the immigrant. Greg was thinking of how in the Old Testament God would show himself as a cloud with thunder and lightning that terrified the people who said they didn’t want to see him. So instead God came in a form that wouldn’t terrify us, but is a sign of meekness. Scot said at Christmas, God talks on flesh to show us his love. His face is that of a baby. Fr. Roger said it is a remarkable sign. The child wrapped in swaddinling clothes is a very ordinary sign for the extraordinary Lord to appear in. Pope Benedict talked a few years ago about this translation confusion about what the angels say to the shepherds. What is the good will they t alk about? It’s not just peace to those of us who are Christian. It is God’s good will and our good will comes in response to God’s good will by imitating that humility of God by going out in serving all the rest, not to be afraid to be poor or immersed in the lowest human reality to continue to serve Christ’s mission of lifting up others. We need to become like children. We need to abbreviate ourselves like a God abbreviated himself in a child. Scot said a few weeks ago he trashed a slam-piece in the Boston Herald against the Church, but today, Joe Fitzgerald has a really good profile of the Cardinal. He talks about his Christmas traditions growing up in eastern Ohio. “Christmas Memories: Cardinal reflects on his roots”, by Joe Fitzgerald, Boston Herald, 12/22/11 “My father always waited until Christmas Eve to get our tree because he wanted us to be excited when we got up,” he recalled, smiling. “He and my uncle Ed would go to get it together. Ed was our bachelor uncle, the fun uncle, the one who’d set up our electric trains. “By Christmas Eve, of course, the trees were pretty well picked over, so sometimes they’d have to buy two, then drill holes into one in order to stick in replacement branches.” The absurdity of that story made him laugh. “Then we’d all go to my grandmother’s house for dinner, all the uncles, aunts and cousins, an all-day affair where we’d sing carols before heading off to Mass together. I came from a very faith-filled family.” […] It meant telling his parents, Ted and Mary Louise, of the path he had chosen to follow. “Their reaction was a blessing to me. They said, ‘That’s great. Try it! And then if you decide it isn’t for you, you can always come home.’ They wanted me to know I had their support one way or the other, which was a wonderful attitude. You don’t want to be so enthusiastic that a kid feels he can’t turn back.” For O’Malley, there was no turning back. “I never had any doubts.” The cardinal then talked about his work in Washington, DC, among Spanish-speaking immigrants in the turbulent Sixties and Seventies. And at the end of the article: “And I guess that’s the message I’d most want to give others this Christmas, that we have a loving and all-powerful God who wants us to feel how close He is to us. “That would be it; I’d love us all to catch just a glimpse of the love He has for us.’ Fr. Roger said Joe Fitzgerald is one of the best columnists in New England. He’s always written sympathetically of believers and has always been on the side of the mission of Christ in the world. Despite his Irish last name, he is Protestant but is very fair and friendly to Catholics. Greg said the editors could have buried the column, but they made it a front-page headline. Greg said most people’s only exposure to the Cardinal is a soundbite in the news or his policy decisions, but very few people actually know the man. It brings to a wide audience a picture of this man who comes from a background of faith and has a very normal background and upbringing. Scot said Bishop George Coleman of the Diocese of Fall River also has a Christmas message in The Anchor this week. Dear friends in Christ, This holy season provides me the opportunity once again to share with each and every one of you the Good News that God has become man and is born among us. Of course, Our Lord’s Nativity is an event that happened long ago. The basic story is surely familiar to all of you: the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God, in Bethlehem more than 2.000 years ago. Christ entered the world not as a conquering king at the head of an army in a mighty show of power, but as a defenseless child, born in poverty. The first Christmas can seem like an occurrence from a long time ago that once took place in a faraway land. Yet, it is an event which happens even today and which can speak to all of us again. The birth of a child is always a momentous occasion which fills all people with hope. But, this Child was no ordinary infant; for, Hc was the Son of God. And, when He takes on our human flesh with all its weaknesses, He reveals in Himself and in the power of the Holy Spirit, the true nature of humanity, the true worth of all human life, and the dignity of every person. We cannot, however; overlook the challenges that face us today: a slow economy, unemployment and underemployment, addictions and drugs, crime and violence, wars, and a morbid fascination with darkness. We bring all these troubles to Christ. We offer them to Him. We ask Him to transform them for us and to turn them into something life-giving. As our Holy Father Benedict XVI assures us, the birth of Christ has the power to change the world, “for it bas the power to choose hearts, to enlighten minds, and to strengthen Wills? (homily at Mass in Manger’s Square in Bethlehem, May 13,209). At Christmas, Jesus calls us to be witnesses of His victory over sin, death, and sadness. Therefore,let nil men and women, believers and non-believers, but especially all Christians, rejoice at the birth of Christ, which brings a divine light into the world now and forever. May the Infant Jesus bless you and your families with the peace and joy of this holy season. Scot reiterated that Christians must rejoice at the joy of Christmas and be joyful witnesses. Greg said earlier in the letter he spoke about the idea that we can easily think of the coming of Christ as something that happened 2,000 years ago, but Christ can be born in our heart at any time. We need his help to overcome his sin and so we need his presence to be born in us. Scot noted how he said that we need to bring our troubles to Christ and ask him to transform them. Fr. Roger said “Jesus” means God saves. “Emmanuel” means God with us. We’re not alone in facing our challenges. We have the one who conquered sin and death on our side. He may not take them away, but he will help us not to be overcome by them. It’s time to announce this week’s winner of the WQOM Benefactor Raffle. Our prizes this week are “Let Us Adore Him”, a music CD of traditional Christmas hymns by the Dady Brothers and Friends; Hiking the Camino: 500 Miles with Jesus by Fr. Dave Pivonka, and Spiritual Freedom: God’s Life-changing Gift, also by Fr. Pivonka. This week’s benefactor card raffle winner is Richard Grande from Concord, MA. Congratulation, Richard! If you would like to be eligible to win in an upcoming week, please visit WQOM.org. For a one-time $30 donation, you’ll receive the Station of the Cross benefactor card and key tag, making you eligible for WQOM’s weekly raffle of books, DVDs, CDs and religious items. We’ll be announcing the winner each Wednesday during “The Good Catholic Life” program. 3rd segment: Scot said earlier this week a group of US Hispanic bishops wrote a pastoral letter to undocumented immigrants in the US. “‘You Are Not Alone,’ Hispanic bishops tell undocumented immigrants”, by Patricia Zapor, Catholic News Service, 12/12/11 Fr. Roger said a lot of immigrants feel totally abandoned, like the wandering Holy Family in Bethlehem, who are told there’s no room for them in our country. The bishops said regardless of their legal status, they have a home in the Catholic Church and they will be welcomed with open arms. The bishops noted that they are sometimes scapegoated for some of the economic issues facing our country. Fr. Roger said it was an unprecedented of the 33 Latino bishops in the US. It doesn’t mean that immigration laws aren’t important, but that we need to have our eyes open that beyond the legal issues and real concerns for safe borders, we do need to look at those in our country as people beloved by God. Scot noted statistics that show that there are more low-income jobs than those willing to take them in the US, but there are only about 70,000 visas available for immigrants who would want these jobs. Greg said the bishops are advocating for a rational immigration reform. Fr. Roger said immigration isn’t just an issue to be solved. It’s our brothers and sisters who need to know the love of God. 4th segment: Last Saturday, the Women Affirming Life breakfast saw record numbers. Increasingly, women are bringing their own young daughters to the breakfast to begin preparing them to take up the battle for life. Scot said having women leading the pro-life side disproves the argument that legal abortion is a necessary right for women. “That so many Catholics come together and so readily share their values through this event is a sign of hope not only for the Pro-Life movement but for the Catholic Church as well,” said Marianne Luthin, director of the Archdiocese of BostOn Pro-Life Office, which oversees WALI. The primary speaker was Sister Maris Stella Karalekas of the Sisters of Life religious order, which is dedicated to pro-life work. Fr. Roger said they not only care for women in crisis pregnancy but also taking the message out to the world and educating people about pro-life. Moving to a new topic, he reviewed an article in the Pilot about the new CatholicTV show for women called “The Gist”. “New CatholicTV show aimed at Catholic women”, by Chris Pineo, The Boston Pilot, 12/23/11 Scot talked about the hosts and the audience it’s aimed at. He noted that we talked about it at length on yesterday’s show. Greg talked about how the show can be a good outreach to young mothers who might have drifted away from Church and discover it on cable TV. In the Anchor this week is a profile of Fr. Pat of the LaSalette Shrine in Attleboro and his 40 years of musical ministry. He does two concerts a day during Advent at the shrine which is famous for its Christmas lights and displays. He’s had a busy year traveling to India and cutting new CDs. He has a beautiful gift of using music to connect the faith to where people are in their faith today. La Salette Shrine Scot said in the Pilot this week are some new priest assignments announced, including Fr. Jeremy St. Martin who has been made pastor of St. John the Evangelist in Townsend, and leaving his ministry as coordinator of deaf Catholic ministry in the archdiocese. Scot said Townsend is the farthest corner of the Archdiocese. Greg said he always shows a special preference for Townsend and Ashby when covering stories about events there because of how far they are. Scot said there is an article about Mother Marianne Cope, who ministered alongside St. Damien of Molokai among the lepers. Scot said she was named Servant of God only in 2003, beatified in 2005, and will be canonized soon, which is very quick. Fr. Roger said there were many miracles attributed to Bl. Marianne. He also noted that Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha will also be canonized. It’s very exciting for our country, which has only 10 saints so far. As far as they are aware, she is the first American laywoman who will be a saint.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams Today’s guest(s): Bonnie Rodgers, Director of Public Relations, Marketing and Programming, and Helen Lee, Manager of Social Media and VoD, of CatholicTV Links from today’s show: CatholicTV CatholicTV on Facebook CatholicTV on Twitter CatholicTV on YouTube The Gist on Facebook The Gist on Twitter Today’s topics: Christmas at CatholicTV and new programs in the new year Summary of today’s show: Every year, CatholicTV becomes ChristmasTV for three days starting Christmas Eve. Bonnie Rodgers and Helen Lee from CatholicTV join Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams to talk about all the great programming on tap for the holiday as well as the new shows on tap for the new year, including The Gist, a new talk show for women. They also discuss CatholicTV’s ubiquitous presence in new media and how they’re using every possible medium to spread the message. Plus all their favorite CatholicTV shows. What’s your favorite? 1st segment: Scot explained why The Good Catholic Life did not air live on 1060AM yesterday because of difficulties at the network in Buffalo, but listeners can listen to it online on our site and it will air again next Tuesday, December 27. Fr. Matt said he loves the Christmas season, including driving around and seeing all the lights decorating homes. He will celebrating Masses at St. Joseph in Holbrook, where he lives. For his family, their celebration will center around liturgies. His family gets together on the day after Christmas for a memorial Mass for all the deceased members of his family. His grandmother died many years ago on December 26 and it’s become a tradition ever since. Scot mentioned that tonight is the night for The Light Is On For You, when every church and chapel in the archdiocese will be open 6:30-8pm for confessions. If you’re looking for a parish, go to PilotParishFinder.com. Fr. Matt talked about why we need to go to confession especially before Christmas as we prepare to welcome Christ. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Bonnie Rodgers and Helen Lee. He asked Bonnie what brought her to CatholicTV. She’s been there for 4 years. She met General Manager Jay Fadden in the Masters of Arts in Ministry program at St. John Seminary. She was working for Verizon at the time, then got early retirement from her job. Jay hired her first as part-time in marketing and now she’s been there four years full-time overseeing public relations, marketing and programming. She said those three aspects really connect together. Helen started at CatholicTV about 4 months ago. She oversees all social media: Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and manages video-on-demand resources. Scot said CatholicTV is trying to reach people in their 20s like her. Helen majored in college in new media communications and theology, so she was looking to do something like this when she graduated. Twenty-somethings are in those media and that’s where they are. She’s in the Facebook newsfeeds of many of her Catholic friends from Fordham University now. Scot asked Bonnie all the ways people can get CatholicTV, in addition to cable TV. Bonnie said they want to be wherever people are consuming media. They want to be on every platform, but they want to design for the particular platform. They’re on Twitter, articulating the faith in 140 characters or less. There is YouTube, where they tailor their work for the format. They include both soundbites and segments as well as full programs. They’re on Facebook as well. They are now available throughout the country on cable and Sky Angel IPTV. Scot said you can watch the content at CatholicTV.com. And a small widget can be placed on any website or blog so people can watch the programming on other websites. Bonnie said a diocese in Ohio was using content from CatholicTV for faith formation via DVDs on cable access television. But they adapted it for CatholicTVjr and the whole diocese started using it. They introduced it to the bishops at the US bishops meeting and they’re having dioceses ask them to tailor it to their purposes. Scot asked how many people watch the programs on other platforms other than TV. Bonnie said it’s hard to quantify how many are there, but she loves the stories. She encountered a man in New Jersey once who stopped her and knew her from the daily Mass. He’d watched every day from Afghanistan on his iPod and remembered seeing her do the readings. They are now in a little more than 11 million homes via cable. They do see a big spike in viewership on Sunday for the Mass from the University of Notre Dame and the Mass from the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Scot said “Going My Way” is a funny program that interviews priests and makes them sing songs and do other bits. Bonnie said the premise is to show priests are normal people and having a good time. When she first started at CatholicTV, she thought the show was pretty hokey, but they get so many calls for the show that love it. One man called who had been in RCIA and was getting discouraged at the “Church of No”, but he saw the priests on Going My Way and how much fun they were having and he decided he wanted to be part of a church like that. It’s a sing-a-long show with priests from anywhere in the world they can get them. Fr. Matt said he was on the show in 2008, just before July 4 and just before World Youth Day Sydney. He remembers saying he didn’t know what to sing, because he’s not much of a singer. He sang patriotic songs and so now it airs every year before July 4. Scot asked if Going My Way is the most popular show. Bonnie said absolutely. The show has a great following from young to old. She said Stephen Colbert’s Comedy Central show “The Colbert Report” once featured it and called Fr. Chris Hickey, the host, the modern Merv Griffin. Bonnie said there are just about 30 people now working at CatholicTV, so everybody pitches in to carry off all the programming. Scot said he notices that people spend their whole careers at CatholicTV, there’s a lot of loyalty among the employees. Bonnie said there’s a great ability to attract people, especially those in technical fields. Part of the attraction is that with such a small crew, people can try their hand at many disciplines. 3rd segment: Scot said Christmas is a big deal at CatholicTV because of all the special programming. Bonnie said they turn into ChristmasTV starting with Christmas with midnight Mass from the Vatican. Many of the shows do special Christmas editions. Fr. Reed and Jay also do special reflections. There are also many programs of music including choirs from the Vatican. They have some movies and cartoons about St. Nicholas. It goes for three days. Scot said people love to watch the homily of the Holy Father on TV. Bonnie said the midnight Mass is so beautiful, as well as Masses from the Basilica of the Saxcred Heart at Notre Dame, and the National Shrine. Scot said there are 61,000 fans of CatholicTV on Facebook. Helen said online they plan to post many different video reflections and soundbites on YouTube and Facebook. They also had a musical group last week. Fr. Matt asked how many follow them on Twitter. She said about 12,000. He said he’s amazed how many young people are moving from Facebook to Twitter. Helen said the Twitter users are very active, retweeting their content. He asked how to use Facebook and Twitter to evangelize. Helen said she’s lucky at CatholicTV to have the daily Mass to pull from the homilies and other good messages from shows. She also uses her theology background to create messages to reconnect people to the faith as they go through their day. She said when there are big events that CatholicTV covers during the work day, she tries to tweet excerpts for those who are at work and can’t watch. Helen noted that many of the followers on Facebook and Twitter aren’t even from this country and communicate in other messages. Scot said that Facebook and Twitter users skew young, but aren’t only young. Helen said there are many followers on Facebook who are 35-50 who are vocal and a lot of younger followers who are pretty quiet. Bonnie said at the National Catholic Youth Congress they had over 700 kids like them on Facebook and told them that while they don’t post much there, they do read it. 4th segment: Scot said it seems like CatholicTV is always launching new programs. He asked about the new program launching in January called The Gist. Bonnie said the hosts are Danielle Bean, editor of Catholic Digest, Rachell Balducci, author of How Do You Tuck in A Superhero, and Carolee McGrath from Springfield. They will talk about anything and everything of their faith. They’ve recorded their first six episodes already. They drive home that our faith is a lived one. Scot asked if it’s a Catholic version of the View. Bonnie said it’s like that where talk about current events, issues of life, and anything else through a Catholic lens. They talk about managing their families and raising kids, for example. It launches January 3. It will have five or six air times. One of the toughest things about coming up with a new show is the new show title. They were excited that Helen was able to grab the name on Facebook and other social media. Danielle and Rachel are very into social media while Carolee is just into media. Scot said Rachel was on one of our early shows and it was a very funny episode. Her blog is Testosterhome chronicling raising her six boys and one daughter. Helen said user-generated content will be important for the Gist. They started weeks ago on Facebook and Twitter with polls and questions to get real-world feedback from women to feed the discussion on the show. Scot said on Thanksgiving they launched “Mass Confusion”, the first Catholic sitcom. Bonnie said there’s been a lot of great feedback. It was created by Greg and Jennifer Willits from Georgia. She noted that Georgia has the fastest growing Catholic population. She said they’ve created other great content that CatholicTV has used in the past. Scot said the Willitses co-host a daily radio show on SiriusXM’s The Catholic Channel. It was big departure for them to do completely scripted TV. It’s also a very expensive show to produce because of the number of people involved. But the appreciation and response was so great that they are looking at how to make it work if they can. Fr. Matt asked about the premise of the show. It features two Catholic families, the other played by Mac and Katherine Barron, and the first show is about a birthday party for Jennifer and some confusion over a pregnancy. Scot said it’s about real life and family. He said he saw it at the Catholic New Media Celebration in October and the crowd of 200 people laughed boisterously. He said it’s family friendly. There’s nothing you’d be unhappy about your kids watching, even though the quality is as good or better than what you see on network TV. Scot said entertainment is part of CatholicTV’s mission. We’re Catholics that love to laugh, to express joy, to take our faith seriously, but not to take ourselves seriously. Bonnie spoke of another show called House+Home where Fr. Reed goes into a home to meet a family and they take over the house for the day. With Mass Confusion, they took over the Willitses house for several days. Helen said people can watch it on YouTube, on Verizon on Demand, or on the CatholicTV website. 5th segment: Scot asked about programming that comes from other Catholic dioceses. While they are part of the Archdiocese of Boston, they are also America’s Catholic TV Network. Diocese of Trenton produces a youth program called Real Faith TV, which has won Emmy Awards and Gabriel Awards. Diocese of Springfield, Diocese of Rockville Centre, and Diocese of Brooklyn produce shows too. Diocese of Worcester does a show with Bishop McManus. Scot asked Helen about her favorite program. She said she likes Mysteries of the Church and Seventh Street Theater. It’s not a Catholic TV show, but it’s a theater troupe that put on faith-inspired shows. Scot said one of his favorites is Catholic Destinations with Kevin Nelson. They have gone to many cathedrals and shrines around the country and in some other nations. He’s also enjoyed House+Home, including seeing how families integrate the faith into their lives. Bonnie said Mysteries of the Church is from the Diocese of Brooklyn and it’s as good as any Discovery Channel show. Scot asked about Way of Beauty. It was shot on Thomas More College and it has high-production values. It looks at how art expresses our faith. Helen said ClearVoice is a Catholic magazine show that helps people be informed about what’s going on in the Church all around the world. Scot said Wow: The CatholicTV Challenge is now going into its 10th or 11th season. It’s a game show for kids which quizzes them on their faith. Bonnie said people call from all over about how great it is. Catechists tell them that they use the show to teach their classes. Scot said his kids love the competition aspect, but it also leads to discussion about the faith. We’ve Got To Talk with Fr. Dan O’Connell has been on the air for over 20 years. Bonnie said he brings energy and love to that show. It’s the longest-running program, outside of the Mass. He gets into all kinds of situations with the show and brings the same energy. The Spotlight features Fr. Chip Hines and Fr. Bill Kelly doing movie reviews. Scot said it’s a wonderful program that takes movies seriously. It’s time to announce this week’s winner of the WQOM Benefactor Raffle. Our prizes this week are “Let Us Adore Him”, a music CD of traditional Christmas hymns by the Dady Brothers and Friends; Hiking the Camino: 500 Miles with Jesus by Fr. Dave Pivonka, and Spiritual Freedom: God’s Life-changing Gift, also by Fr. Pivonka. This week’s benefactor card raffle winner is Richard Grande from Concord, MA. Congratulation, Richard! If you would like to be eligible to win in an upcoming week, please visit WQOM.org. For a one-time $30 donation, you’ll receive the Station of the Cross benefactor card and key tag, making you eligible for WQOM’s weekly raffle of books, DVDs, CDs and religious items. We’ll be announcing the winner each Wednesday during “The Good Catholic Life” program.