Marian Brother JL
Thursday, May 29, 2003
Just visited the Shrine dedicated to St. Philomena in Briggsville, Wisconsin at St. Mary's Church. This shrine is mentioned in the book St. Philomena: Powerful with God. There was a recent article about the shrine in the Wisconsin State Journal. If you want more information about this saint, visit the official web site of the Sanctuary in Italy. This saint has indeed proven herself as a powerful intercessor. St. John Vianey, the Cure of Ars, had great devotion to her.
Tuesday, May 27, 2003
Just heard the new morning radio show with Jeff Cavins: Morning Air today. This program can be heard through the Internet from 8 to 10 AM Eastern USA time on the Starboard Network website. Jeff Cavins has guests on that are involved in spreading the faith in the media. It's worth giving a listen.
Sunday, May 25, 2003
If you are reading this, you probably know that Mother Teresa is going to be beatified on October 19, 2003. The official site is at www.motherteresacause.info
It's worth checking out.
Friday, May 23, 2003
Once again, I mention Charles Untz. I found that a link in the My Lady's Knight page that used to work is not currently working. The document it is supposed to point to is, however, in the site. You can view it through this link: Seton Newsletter follow-up. The document contains testimonies of the intercession of Charles Untz. May God be praised.
Monday, May 19, 2003
Yesterday was the Pope's birthday (and the birthday of the founder of my community: The Marians of the Immacualte Conception, too). Also, there are four new saints! Here's the Vatican biography of one of them: St. Maria de Mattias. She gave great honor to the blood of Christ. Her love for the Precious Blood is quite inspiring.
The Pope's birthday and new saints! Here's the Vatican biography of one of them: St. Maria de Mattias. She gave great honor to the blood of Christ. Her love for the Precious Blood is quite inspiring.
Saturday, May 17, 2003
A group is trying to put together a new movie about the life of St. Maria Faustina. The website is: www.faustina.org. If you are interested in the project, check out the site. If you don't know who St. Maria Faustina is, also check out the site.
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
Who is Charles Anthony Francis Untz? Is he interceeding for people? What about testimonies? The website My Lady's Knight gives some information about this young man who wanted to be a saint.
Saturday, May 10, 2003
The (Rather Incomplete) History of Catholic Youth Television in the U.S.A. By Brother John Larson, M.I.C.
(Part 3 of 3)
2000 and beyond
What I really wanted to say is the first "reality-based" Catholic teen show, featuring 7 teens in Minnesota, from Catholic Youth 2 Youth. This is quite impressive since they got an editor who worked for MTV to do some rather slick editing. It has been shown on Boston Catholic TV.
More recently (late 2002), EWTN produced a "Reality TV" show called Onward Pilgrims, which follows young adults around Europe on a pilgrimage. They are interviewed throughout the shows on how the pilgrimage impacts their lives.
Life Teen is doing some webcasting of teen-oriented spots from their website. They put on a short clip of a priest, layperson, or some teens talking about faith-related matters. The clips are updated regularly.
Short movies aimed at teens have been produced by Family Theater Productions in Hollywood, California. These "manifest mystery" movies (30 minutes each) try to portray the mysteries of the Rosary through events in young people?s lives. Some succeed more than others. My favorite is the Secret of the Horse.
What does the future hold? This depends on the interest of Catholics who have talent in this area, and what kind of support they can get to do projects aimed at a young audience. One thing is for sure; Protestants in the U.S. are light-years ahead of Catholics in the area of youth television.
Thursday, May 08, 2003
The (Rather Incomplete) History of Catholic Youth Television in the U.S.A.
By Brother John Larson, M.I.C.
(Part 2 of 3)
The 1990's
A TV show on EWTN in the early 1990's called "You Better Believe It" was aimed at youth and featured Fr. Ken Roberts. It was based on a book Fr. Ken wrote for teens. Fr. Ken talked in a "living room" setting. Two teens, one boy and one girl, usually talked a bit during the show. Considering there had been practically nothing else like it up to this point, it was something of a breakthrough.
Life on the Rock was and is the most ambitious Catholic TV program aimed at youth in terms of longevity and expense. It is broadcast live (almost every week) Thursday nights on EWTN. It is also webcast weekly, with an audio archive of past shows. Jeff Cavins hosted it for about six years. Now Fr. Francis Mary, MFVA, hosts the program. Usually there is one guest who talks and answers questions on a topic. If the guest is a musician, then some music is presented. Sometimes there is a group of people on at a time. Questions are taken by phone or e-mail.
Generation Cross is a show aimed at young adults (those 18-30something). It is fast paced and features the witty and self-deprecating humor of Lino Rulli, who makes sure you know he is Italian. Based in St. Paul, Minnesota, the show is full of aspects of Catholic life and doctrine, but it is done in a casual (sometimes hilarious) manner, with a variety of segments taking place around the local area and sometimes around the world. It is seen on various diocesan channels, including over the Internet on Boston Catholic TV.
Boston Catholic TV has also produced some teen-oriented shows, including "Online," which was fairly good considering the low budget. The target audience was definitely the Boston area. It had lots of local people with local events and issues. A group of teens chatted about various topics at one point in the show.
Another show with teens chatting about topics is Real Faith TV. It?s currently in production through the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, and seen on various diocesan channels - including Boston Catholic TV.
Tuesday, May 06, 2003
The history of Catholic Youth TV will continue... but for now, check out the Vatican Radio's FM station 105Live. You can listen to it over the Internet. It broadcasts in Italian, English, French, and Spanish at different points during the day.
Monday, May 05, 2003
What does this brother in the Marians of the Immaculate Conception focus on???
The (Rather Incomplete) History of Catholic Youth Television in the U.S.A.
By Brother John Larson, M.I.C.
(Part 1 of 3)
Before Television
On radio, before the days of TV, The Ave Maria Hour presented some good dramas based on lives of the saints that attracted a younger audience, and some episodes of the radio drama Family Theater presented by Fr. Patrick Peyton, CSC, were specifically aimed at a younger audience.
Prior to the 1980's
The author of this document doesn't know very much about attempts prior to the 1980's, mainly because he wasn't interested in this sort of thing prior to the 1980's. Some episodes of the late Fr. Ellwood Kieser's Insight were probably directed at teens, such as an episode about drug abuse. These programs dealt more with social issues than doctrine. Perhaps some Catholic Hour dramas from the early years of television dealt with teen issues. I don?t have much expertise in these areas. A dramatic program produced in the 1960's called the Hour of St. Francis tried to reach a wide audience with programs about serious issues like suicide. Perhaps some of its shows were aimed at a younger audience, but I've never seen any of them.
The 1980's
The only Catholic (or Catholic-oriented) programming of the 1980's that I know of that attracted the attention of Catholic youth was... anything about Medjugorje. In the case of this alleged apparition, the visionaries were young, so as poor as some of the attempts at documentaries were, the message coming from the young visionaries spoke louder than the flashiest music video of the day (obviously a subjective statement, but I believe there are a lot of 30-something Catholics who can attest to this).
Pope John Paul II did a sort of "talk show" in Los Angeles for his visit to the U.S. in 1987. Teens and young adults that were satellite linked from four other cities. Young people from each city asked the Pope questions and gave him various gifts. This is one unusual and special gathering of the Pope and youth. Since then, there was a live webcast of World Youth Day 2000 in Rome, which was archived for a while at lightsource.com, but is no longer. World Youth Day has been covered on TV, particularly when the Pope when to Denver and thereafter.
