Catholic Students Will Fill the CatholicTV Studios During Catholic Schools Week

During the week of January 31-February 6, CatholicTV will host students from six different Catholic schools in honor of Catholic Schools Week.

During Catholic Schools Week, Catholic school and homeschooled students of many different ages will attend the live daily Mass at the CatholicTV studios and will serve as lectors and altar servers. In past years, students have made brief appearances on the live CatholicTV talk show “This is the Day” during Catholic Schools Week.

On January 26^th, Sr. Janet Eisner, SND, President of Emmanuel College, (a Catholic college in Boston) will be interviewed live on “This is the Day” at 10:30AM ET. Sister Janet will be joined by students from the school. On that same day, Father Stephen Boyle, Emmanuel’s Chaplain will preside at the televised daily Mass.

Catholic Schools Week is a joint project of the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

“Catholic Schools - Dividends for Life” is the theme selected for Catholic Schools Week 2010. According to Karen Ristau, NCEA president, “In these challenging times, the theme also reminds parents that the dividends of a Catholic school education—students prepared in faith, knowledge, morals and discipline—last a lifetime. There is no better way to invest in a child’s future—or the future of our world.”

CatholicTV produces and airs a catechetical game show called Wow: The CatholicTV Challenge (WOW). WOW is a children’s game show which energetically teaches viewers the Catholic faith. The show resembles the show Jeopardy!, yet has young contestants just like the show “Are You Smarter Than a 5^th Grader?” More information is available at http://www.CatholicTV.com/shows/default.aspx?seriesID=137

CatholicTV Will Attend Diaconate Ordination in Boston

We will be at the Diaconate Ordination for the transitional diaconate tomorrow at 10am at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston. Daniel Moloney, Guy Sciacca and Gregory Vozzo will be ordained.

Catholic Musician Sarah Hart Will Sing on CatholicTV

During the week February 1st, “The Commons”, a Catholic music show which airs on CatholicTV, will feature musician Sarah Hart. Sarah will sing the song “Renew” during the show.

The Commons airs each week at CatholicTV.com and on CatholicTV at the following times (Eastern): Monday 6AM and 9:30PM, Thursday 2AM and 5PM, Saturday, 11:30AM and 9:30PM.

“The Commons”, is a coffee house-styled music show which includes performances by Catholic musicians such as Matt Maher, Sarah Hart, and others. The show also includes interviews of the musicians in which viewers can get a glimpse into the lives and spirituality of the musicians.

Sarah Hart is currently a staff songwriter for EMI-CMG Music in Nashville, TN and spiritandsong.com in Portland, OR. Her songs have been recorded by numerous artists such as: Robbie Seay, Matt Maher, 33 Miles, This Beautiful Republic, Sarah Reeves and Jaime Jamgochian. Her music has been featured in the television shows “Joan of Arcadia” and “Strong Medicine”, and the film “Coyote County Loser”. Sarah’s songs can be found in print in almost every Catholic church in the U.S. Sarah has also penned music for two musicals, and works as a songwriter and voiceover artist with the Tom Tichenor Children’s Theater in Nashville, TN. She is the recipient of six Unity awards for her work.

“The Commons” is produced by spiritandsong.com (a division of ocp). The Commons is a video showcase giving viewers an opportunity to experience candid conversations with intimate and unplugged performances by your favorite spiritandsong.com artists. Learn more about the artists, and Spirit and Song at http://www.spiritandsong.com/commons

"We've Got to Talk" Behind the Scenes

This footage was shot on January 27th in the CatholicTV studios on a Flip camera. This episode will air in the beginning of March 2010. Watch an episode of We've Got to Talk" now by visiting http://www.catholictv.com/shows/default.aspx?SeriesID=77

Mass of Thanksgiving in Honor of Canonization of St. Damien of Molokai Will Air on CatholicTV From National Basilica

On January, 31^st, CatholicTV will air the Mass of Thanksgiving honoring the recent canonization of St. Damien of Molokai, a priest known for working with lepers in Hawaii. This Mass will take place at The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

This Mass will air on CatholicTV and CatholicTV.com at 3:30PM (Eastern) on January 31st, and will rebroadcast at noon the following day.

CatholicTV recently aired a memorial Mass celebrating the 30^th anniversary of the death of Servant of God Archbishop Fulton Sheen. CatholicTV also aired a thanksgiving Mass in honor of the canonization of St. Jeanne Jugan. Both of these Masses are available in the CatholicTV.com archives at http://www.CatholicTV.com/shows/default.aspx?seriesID=111

St. Damien was a Catholic priest from Belgium and member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a missionary religious order. He won recognition for his ministry to people with leprosy (known as Hansen's disease), who had been placed under a government-sanctioned medical quarantine on the island of Molokai in the Kingdom of Hawaii.

After sixteen years caring for the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of those in the leper colony, he eventually contracted and died of the disease, and is widely considered a "martyr of charity". He is the ninth person recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church to have lived, worked, and died in what is now the United States.

Rebuilding The Church Today and Women’s Conference Will Be Discussed on CatholicTV Talk Show

On February 2^nd, Cassandra Poppe, author, Director of Intercessories Ministry, and homeschooling mother of 5, will be interviewed live on the CatholicTV talk show “This is the Day”. Intercessories Ministry aims to rebuild the domestic church.

“This is the Day” airs at CatholicTV.com and on CatholicTV at 10:30AM ET and is rebroadcast at 8PM.

On “This is the Day”, Cassandra will discuss Lenten Practice for families. She is known for coming up with the idea of making quilts with an image of the Rosary on them, which she uses as a tool to teach the Rosary to her young children. Cassandra has since written a book instructing people how to make their own Rosary quilts.

Cassandra is a Catholic columnist and author. Her writings have appeared in Catholic Digest, diocese newspapers, and in Catholic homeschooling publications such as Heart and Mind and the Keeping it Catholic newsletter. She and her husband, Jay, give talks on parenting, prayer, and their powerful conversion to the Roman Catholic faith.”

On January 29^th, the 2010 Boston Catholic Women’s Conference will be discussed on “This is the Day”. The conference has featured such speakers as Immaculée Ilibagiza, Kerri Caviezel (wife of actor Jim Caviezel), Kimberly Hahn and many others.

Jennifer Schiller, the coordinator for the Women’s conference will make an appearance on the show to talk about the conference. This year’s conference will feature former reality-star and model Leah Darrow, Patti Mansfield- an international Catholic speaker, Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle- a friend of Blessed Mother Teresa’s, and Sister Olga Yaqob of the Eucharist- a religious sister from Iraq, who ministers on the campus of Boston University. The Conference will take place on February 27^th at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. To register, please visit http://catholicboston.com/index.php?content=tickets2010

These episodes of “This is the Day” will be available on the site’s archives starting the same night of the broadcast day. All videos at the website are viewable in full-screen. Paste this URL into your browser in order to access the “This is the Day” video archives. http://www.CatholicTV.com/shows/default.aspx?seriesID=72

CatholicTV Will Air Vespers Service With Pope on Feast of Conversion of St. Paul

On Monday, January 25, CatholicTV will air the Celebration of Vespers presided over by Pope Benedict XVI from the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome.

This Vespers service will air on CatholicTV cable outlets and on CatholicTV.com at 8PM and will be rebroadcast at noon the following day (all times Eastern).

This Vespers service takes place at the conclusion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Each year the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches chooses a theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This year, 2010, the theme is based on the biblical verse of Luke 24:48: You Are Witnesses of These Things. Honoring the Week of Prayer takes place between the feasts of Saints Peter and Paul. The week gives Christians an annual opportunity to continue to work towards unity which is already shared in Christ. It is also a time to gather in praise of the Triune God and to deepen the understanding of the ecumenical movement.

During the same feast in 2009, the Pope spoke of conversion in his homily saying, “one recognizes that this new journey cannot come from oneself. It consists in letting oneself be conquered by Christ. As St Paul says: "I am racing to grasp the prize if possible, since I have been grasped by Christ [Jesus]" (Phil 3: 12). Conversion demands our "yes", my "racing"; ultimately it is not my action, but a gift in letting myself be formed by Christ.”

CatholicTV regularly airs Papal and Vatican events: More information can be found at http://www.CatholicTV.com/shows/default.aspx?seriesID=57

Support the Church in Latin America

The proceeds of the Collection for the Church in Latin America are distributed to dioceses, parishes and other Catholic institutions throughout Latin America and the Caribbean to provide assistance for the many pastoral needs of the region.

55-Year-Old CatholicTV Now Has 5000 Twitter Followers and 3000 Facebook Fans

As of January 19th, CatholicTV, which turned 55 on January 1st, 2010 has 5084 Twitter followers and 3015 Facebook fans. Both the 5000 and 3000 marks were crossed during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.

CatholicTV started using Twitter and Facebook in 2009 and many employees have submitted “tweets”. The tweets keep fans of CatholicTV up to date on the daily happenings at CatholicTV and can range from simple events like “Father Reed is getting ready for Mass” to “CatholicTV just launched an iPhone app!”.

CatholicTV also uses Facebook, not only to announce news and events to “fans” but also to communicate and even receive ideas from fans. For instance, on January 18, 2010 one fan, Jeff Ferguson said “I would love to see this [a CatholicTV application] available for Android phones!”

Fr. Robert Reed, Director of CatholicTV sees CatholicTV and its viewers as a family. He recently said, “The CatholicTV Network is a unique family that stretches across the United States and among many viewers internationally at CatholicTV.com. The CatholicTV family is strengthened and informed by our elaborate and always fresh Facebook page and our very active Twitter account. We really like to keep people informed about what's coming up on CatholicTV.”

CatholicTV’s Twitter account can be found at http://twitter.com/CatholicTV

CatholicTV’s Facebook account can be found at www.Facebook.com/CatholicTV

The Eucharist Allows Kids to Hold God’s Hand? Children’s Author to Discuss on CatholicTV Talk Show

On January 22^nd, Carol Bannon, author of “Handshake From Heaven”, a children’s book about the Eucharist will appear on the CatholicTV talk show “This is the Day”.

On January 26th, the guest for This is the Day will be Janet Eisner, the President of Emmanuel College, a private Catholic college in Boston, Masschusetts.

These live episodes of This is the Day will air at 10:30AM (Eastern) at CatholicTV.com and on CatholicTV. These episodes will rebroadcast on the same day at 8PM.

In Carol Bannon’s book Handshake From Heaven, Bannon begins with the questions “can we touch God? Can we reach out and hold him close?” Sr. Dominica Brennan, OP, from the Archdiocese of St. Paul, Minnesota called the book a “lovely faith-filled book parents can use to share their faith with their children.”

Sister Janet Eisner, SND is President of Emmanuel College in Boston, having served in this position since 1979. She is a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur.

Sister Janet Eisner is a graduate of Emmanuel College and holds a Master of Arts degree from Boston College and her Ph.D. in English from the University of Michigan.

During her career, Sister Janet has influenced educational and public policy in Massachusetts and nationally. She has served on several national commissions for the American Council on Education, the Association of Governing Boards and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and on the Massachusetts Board of Regents of Higher Education. She has also chaired the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts

Sister Janet With Cardinal Sean O'Malley

These episodes will be available on the website’s archives starting the same night of the broadcast day. All videos at the website are viewable in full-screen. Paste this URL into your browser in order to access the “This is the Day” video archives. http://www.CatholicTV.com/shows/default.aspx?seriesID=72