Fathers For Good

Boston Priest Gives New Media Challenge

The Catholic New Media Celebration in Boston last weekend was such a rich and informative event that it will take many blogs to cover it all. A few days ago I gave an overview, and now I will get a little deeper into the opening keynote by Father Robert Reed, president of CatholicTV.com, based in Boston. He did a good job of explaining the unique character and mission of Catholic media while underscoring the ongoing need for high professional standards.

Just because it’s "for the Church" or "for Jesus" does not mean that you can let the message speak for itself without attention to presentation and context, Father Reed said. In fact, the Gospel message should be presented in most appealing manner possible – just as the precious blood of Jesus is carried in a gold chalice at Mass to signify the dignity of the divine Person.

Since the Gospel is timeless and true, it is relevant to every age and to each person, Father Reed noted. It is the challenge of media evangelists to find the best way to communicate that timeless truth to the people of today. New media technology can help immensely in spreading the message, but simply using TV, or the internet or Twitter does not guarantee an audience. You have to attract people’s interest and attention, just as with any medium.

The main goal of Catholic media should be to enhance people’s spiritual lives and lead them to the truth, he said.

"With all our technology, how are we doing in the mission?" he asked.

"What we communicate is sacred and deep. Handle with care," Father Reed explained. "We have in our hands the mysteries of the faith."

His final message to the new media gathering was: "We need to be fed if we would try to feed others." Those who are appointed or who take it upon themselves to represent the Church and her teachings in the media must make sure that they have a firm foundation in the faith and take the time to reflect upon the Word of God and receive the Eucharist with grace and reverence. Only then can they go forth to bring the Good News to others.

CatholicTV is the oldest Catholic station in America, and it is growing with the times under Father Reed, taking advantage of all the forms of new media. For more information, visit the website www.catholictv.com.

Driving Out Demons

We don’t like to talk about demons. When is the last time you brought up the subject of evil spirits at home with your family or at work with your colleagues? Have you ever heard a homily about demons, even when they appear in the Scripture passage at Mass?

 

This is not to say that we are not fascinated by the subject. The long lines at horror films and the mega sales of ghost and occult stories show an appetite in our culture for exploring what is dark, hidden, forbidden and frightening.

 

I thought of this the other day when demons played a prominent role in the weekday Gospel reading.  In the first chapter of his Gospel, Mark describes the early public ministry of Jesus: Simon Peter’s mother-in-law is sick and Jesus “grasped her hand and helped her up, and the fever left her.” When news of this healing spread, the whole town flocked to the house and “brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.” Jesus cured the sick and “he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him” (Mark 1:29-39).

 

Every once in a while a word or phrase in the Bible jumps up and grabs your attention, as though you had never come across it before. These words hit me: “not permitting them to speak.” There has been much written and said about why Jesus did not want the demons to speak; basically, he didn’t want his identity and ministry to be revealed yet. But that’s not what intrigued me about those words.

 

What struck me was the fact that these were really demons – evil spiritual beings with an identity and a voice. You see, I had been educated in the modern skeptical tradition, by Catholic scholars who thought themselves smarter than the tradition of the Church. I had been told that the demons in Scripture were not really personal beings; they were really manifestations of some sort of psychological illness that people at the time did not understand. People who were thought to have demons really had epilepsy or some sort of psychosis, and Jesus healed them not by driving out these demons, but by affirming their humanity and reintroducing them to the human community.

 

I never really bought this explanation, but there seemed to be some truth in this way of reading Scripture. After all, the evangelists wrote their Gospels in the language of the time, using the idioms and understandings of their readers to communicate a deeper spiritual message; just as the Genesis authors used the concept of “days” to describe the creation of the heavens and the earth – the message being that God is the Lord of all manner of time, matter and beings.

 

Yet this phrase in Mark’s Gospel, “not permitting them to speak,” stuck in my mind. Mark did not write that Jesus forbade the afflicted persons to speak; Jesus forbade the demons to speak. Once separated from the possessed, these demons had a voice of their own, and a will and a personality of their own – they knew Jesus and he knew them. Clearly, the Gospel is not describing a psychological illness or epileptic siege. These are demons.

 

Exorcists say that demonic possession can often accompany mental illness, and mental illness can often give the appearance of possession or “obsession” by demons. So they must always rule out physical and psychological causes before deciding that demons are truly involved in the life of a troubled person. But they also are clear that demonic possession does occur. Demons are real. They are personal, individual spiritual beings who are smarter than humans and intend to do us harm.

 

I think we all know or suspect this fact. Demons are more than things that “go bump in the night.” A friend of mine recalls an exorcist saying: People may scoff at the existence of demons or the devil, but when they see a possessed person walking on the ceiling, they tend to believe.

 

I write this not to scare anyone, but to wake us all up to the reality of this evil. Demons, of course, have no direct power of us, and we can combat them through prayer, sacraments and the power of the name of Jesus Christ and his Precious Blood. God’s love and mercy expressed through his Church is stronger than even the devil himself, who is the biggest loser of all time.

 

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle!

Talking Fatherhood on Mother Angelica's Network

Awe and joy -- these were the feelings I had upon entering the grounds of the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN). What a wonderful thing Mother Angelica has wrought in Irondale, Alabama. The Catholic faith on the airwaves 24 hours a day, the Gospel message on TV screens, hearts and minds drawn closer to Christ, and converts made throughout the world, some of whom just chanced upon the cable station while searching for sports or cooking or maybe even porn.

There I was where it all started, where Mother Angelica put God's call into action, and did the unthinkable, what many wiser heads told her was impossible.

I was at EWTN with my colleague Patrick Kelly, Vice President for Public Policy for the Knights of Columbus, who oversees Fathers for Good, to appear live on the Thursday night show "Life on the Rock." It was my first time on TV, and what an introduction it was, indeed. Though everyone connected with the network was extremely helpful and pleasant, for me it was trial by fire.

Lights. Camera. Action. As Jackie Gleason used to say, "And away we go!" The lights were in my blinking eyes, the camera caught my nervousness and the action continued no matter what -- no "Take 2!" allowed, this was all live and on the record.

Fatherhood, the Knights of Columbus and Fathers for Good were the main topics. We talked through three 11-minute segments, and covered a wide field. I hope the audience got the message that, through this new initiative for men, the Knights want to take a leadership role in developing programs for fathers and their families, offering encouragement to men, taking on the secular culture and negative portrayals of fathers, and giving men the tools to improve on how they live as husbands and fathers.

As Patrick Kelly said, in the home there is no neutral ground. Either a father is leading his family toward virtue and heaven, or he is losing the battle for souls to the enemy, who comes in the guise of the media, peers, consumerism and secularism.

I wish to thank all the EWTN folks, especially hosts Doug Barry, who spent so much time with Patrick and me in preparation for the show, and Father Mark Mary. They were extremely gracious and led us in an excellent discussion of the topics. Thanks also to Jill Sanders, producer of "Life on the Rock," who was kind enough to invite us to the show and introduce us to the world of television.

The grounds of EWTN are holy -- probably the holiest place with a host of huge satellite dishes out back! It was an honor to spend two days there, and to share time with staff members and hosts. There is great good to be done through mass media, and it has taken a cloistered nun with an unshakable faith to show Catholics the way on the airwaves.