Recently, Jonathan Stampf appeared on This is the Day to discuss his new book. The book is entitled "Hear My Voice" it's a children's translation of the Sunday Gospel Readings for the Mass. Its a great resource for adults to use when discussing the readings with children. Each week you can visit their website to get a coloring page http://www.prayerpress.com/images/ColoringPage.gif

Jonathan shared a beatuiful picture of his daughters with their new friends, Miley the Bear and Ashley the Dog!

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This is my first blog entry. I am a novice when it comes to blogging so I am a bit nervous in this first attempt. I will mostly write about happenings at CatholicTV and about my experiences as a father of three children. I hope you enjoy my stories!

Stay tuned,

Jay

MLB Star Mike Sweeney , Former Miss America, and Transformers Actor to Pray the Rosary on Television

CatholicTV will debut a new production which features young adult celebrities praying the Rosary called “Rosary Stars”. The Rosary is a common way to pray for Catholics and usually includes the usage of a special beads called a Rosary to count the prayers.
CatholicTV is a nationally-broadcasted television station headquartered near Boston.

“Rosary Stars: Praying the Gospel” features champion athletes, actors, film directors, TV hosts, recording stars, authors and lecturers who emphasize the power of daily prayer of the Rosary and encourage viewers to live the Mysteries of the Rosary daily.

This past weekend a screening took place at the Pacific Design Center in Hollywood, California. Future screenings of Rosary Stars are scheduled throughout the year.
This uplifting series features such stars as 2006 World Series pitcher Jeff Suppan; five-time Major League All-Star Mike Sweeney; actor Matthew Marsden (Rambo and the upcoming Transformer sequel Revenge of the Fallen; TV host Matt Gallant (Animal Planet’s The Planet’s Funniest Animals); humanitarian, author and Rwandan genocide survivor Immaculée Ilibagiza; and Ali Landry, an actor and former Miss America.

“Rosary Stars” includes personal reflections by all 21 celebrities, teaching tools, and a historical timeline of the Rosary. In addition, the celebrities pray a decade of the Rosary. All the features are designed to promote a better understanding and appreciation of the Rosary and the Mysteries, especially among teenagers, young adults and families.

CatholicTV at Bishops Conference

We had the great opportunity to attend the Bishops Conference in November. During that meeting the Bishops established key objectives and elected a new Secretary and chairs of five committees.

CatholicTV's Kevin Nelson, conducted some wonderful interviews which you will have the chance to see on future episodes of This is the Day. These interviews included:

Archbishop Wuerl of Washington, DC

Bishop Gettelfinger of Indiana

Bishop Sam Jacobs of Houma Thibodaux

Bishop Tobin, Diocese of Providence

Bill Davies, Chairman of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting

Karey Nobles, producer of a documentary on Eucharistic Adoration entitled "Watch With Me" which will air soon on CatholicTV.

Mark Berchem and Christopher Kraker of National Evangelization Team Ministries.

Bishop Tobin, Diocese of Providence

Cardinal Sean

What a blessing to chat with these great people who shepherd our Church and share the Good News! There were so any others that we met and talked with, you can check our our magazine to see the schedule of the interview dates.

Toys That Promote Vocations? Creators of Vocation Dolls To Appear on CatholicTV

On January 5th, the makers of the "Wee Believers" Vocation Dolls, Steve and Joni Abdalla will be featured in a live interview on the CatholicTV Talk Show "This is the Day". Wee Believers is a Catholic toy company which is best known for the toy Mass Kit it produces. Steve and Joni were first inspired by their children to make Catholic toys which would help with the spiritual growth and formation of children.

This episode of “This is the Day” will stream live at www.CatholicTV.com and on CatholicTV where available on January 5th at 10:30AM ET. The show will be rebroadcast at 8PM the same day and will also be added to the website archives the same day.

Each Wee Believers product is accompanied by a companion booklet, written to compliment the particular toy with relevant and educational material. The vocations dolls "Sr. Mary Clara" and "Fr. Juan Pablo" dolls, are accompanied by a booklet featuring the real-life vocation stories of five priests and five religious Sisters.

“Our hope is that by playing with the Vocation Dolls™, children will grow in virtue with a deeper understanding of their Catholic faith,” says Steve Abdalla. “We pray that the Holy Spirit will use these dolls to call more men and women to the consecrated religious life..”

The Most Reverend Raymond L Burke, Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura said of the Mass Kit, “When I was in first grade, I used to like to play Mass with the participation of my siblings and the neighboring children. My parents bought for me a Mass Kit for children, which was available at the time. It has a plastic chasuble and stole and little dishes and candles, much like this kit... I can tell you that that little Mass kit played its part in fostering my vocation to the priesthood.”

During the month of January, "This is the Day" will feature several guests who will discuss vocations including the Director of Vocations for the New England Province of the Jesuits, The Vocation Director of the Fathers of Mercy, and the co-founders of Family Vocation Ministries. Each week, CatholicTV airs a special programing block entitled “The Call” devoted to promoting vocations. More information is available at http://www.catholictv.com/shows/default.aspx?seriesID=145&videoID=847

Christmas is here...the Lord Jesus is near!

“While they were there, she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger…”

Do you think that St. Luke had any clue as to the significance of these words? Do you think he had any idea it would come to this…I mean, this Christmas thing we do?

This birth was honored first by Mary, Joseph and a few smelly shepherds. The next year it was remembered in a stone and straw hut at Nazareth…a hundred years later in an underground community enduring persecution…a thousand years later in a more enlightened society that thought the world was flat. Here we are in 2007 doing what has been done by an ever-increasing number of people for more than two millennia.

For all this time, people have been considering the birth of this one person, this little child, to be an event so significant to them personally and to the entire human family, that we have found cause, year after year, to celebrate.

Let’s not over-decorate this happening in Bethlehem. There was no snow; there were no lights…just the unfortunate circumstance of a newly married couple about to have a baby with no place to stay. They found shelter in a stable used by men to corral their sheep. And this was a young, probably teenage girl giving birth with only the help of her embarrassed and confused husband. She gave birth to a son conceived at the message of a strange visitor from the heavens. She placed the baby in an animal feeder and they named him “Jesus” meaning “One who saves”.

That is what really happened. For thousand years and another thousand years, this seemingly insignificant event has been remembered and celebrated…because, deep down, we know, along with millions around the world, countless millions who have preceded us, along with all the angels of heaven…we know, that this simple birth is, in fact, the turning point of all human history.

We honor, not so much a moment in time, but rather a person, the person of Jesus…Jesus who is the very essence of God wrapped in the fullness of our humanity. What an amazing, awesome thing…our God has come to live and walk among us…and two thousand years later He still lives, mysteriously in our presence. I do believe that each of us seeks Him; we wish to touch and to know the mystery of God made human, the eternal Word made flesh. It is this search that motivates and fuels our work a CatholicTV.

For more than two thousand years peoples lives have been changed profoundly by this One person. For all this time people like us have come to Christ Jesus for hope and forgiveness and inner peace. He personally invites you with these words: “Come to me, all you who labor and find life sometimes a burden and I will refresh you.”

All praise and glory to Jesus Christ…He is with us.

Merry Christmas!

Words remembered from retreat...

Last week I had the privilege of a few days away from CatholicTV to be quiet and pray a bit more than usual. On the feast of St. Lucy, the Office of Readings gave me words that never hit me in past years, words that now I will always remember...

St Ambrose wrote: "When you are in your room, then, at night, think always on Christ, and wait for his coming at every moment. Embrace him, the one you have sought; follow carefully the path God tells you to take, for he is swift in his passing. Whoever seeks Christ in this way, whoever prays to Christ in this way, is not abandoned by him; on the contrary, Christ comes again and again to visit such a person, for he is with us until the end of the world."

My retreat is over and I am back at my desk at CatholicTV. These unique days of Advent will pass quickly as well. We should take the advice of St. Ambrose to heart, at every moment waiting for His coming, always thinking on Christ.

As Christmas draws near, wait on the Lord and tune in for great Advent and Christmas specials right here on CatholicTV.

The cause of our Joy

On CatholicTV and in our parishes we sing in these familiar words: “Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to you…” On Christmas morning we will sing: “Joy to the World, the Lord is come…”

Joy…that is the word of the day…Rejoice. Traditionally this weekend has been referred to as Gaudete Sunday or the Sunday of Joy. It is the weekend we begin to light the rose-colored candle on the Advent wreath and the vestments at Mass might be rose colored.

We rejoice because the coming of our God is close at hand…like the precious yield of the soil for which the farmer waits.

What does it mean to be joyful? Happy…well, yes. But many things make us happy. Christmas cards and lights for example, or finding the right gift; the sight of Santa Claus, an easy day at school or at work; good health, new clothes, going out to supper or the movies; here in Boston, celebrating a World Series win or watching the Patriots win again and again!

However, there is a little, no a lot more to being joyful than just feeling happy. There are so many things which make us unhappy…the threat of terrorism, for one; a war that drags on and on with the weekly report of young soldiers killed in their prime; crime in our city streets; the sickness of a family member or perhaps our own struggling condition; the way that the celebration of Christmas gets grosser and stranger every year; perhaps some dream or goal that remains unrealized; a death in the family and grief that we just cannot get past. We have much to be sad about but, I would daresay that though we might be saddened, at the same time, be able to rejoice!

I think of the great work being done in parishes all over the place. I think of the hard work that groups such as the St. Vincent de Paul Society or the Salvation Army or the Globe Santa do for struggling families. I think of the ongoing work of our Religious Education Programs and RCIA teams who share the fullness of the Faith with young and old. I think of the real spirit of this season which is precisely the presence of our God among us…He Who came as a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in an animal feeder.

These things are the cause of great joy. Despite the many difficulties and controversy that swirl around us, the Church is very much alive…right here! Jesus Christ is among us and He is alive! How fortunate we are to have such an instrument as CatholicTV to bring the true joy of the Gospel message to you, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Had Jesus Christ not come among us in Bethlehem some two millennia ago, what good would life be to us? We will listen to those words sung next Easter at the Great Vigil: "What good would life have been to us had Christ not come as our Redeemer.”

This is the cause of our joy: the coming of our God among us – to renew His friendship with us, to bring us hope and to show us true love. In this Eucharist the words of the prophet Isaiah ring true: Be strong, fear not: here is your God.

Rejoice, rejoice…to you shall come Emmanuel. Jesus is the One for whom we look; He is the object of our deepest desire! This Christmas, what we await is more than something to simply make us happy…it is Jesus, the cause of our joy.

The Bicentennial in full swing!

Catholics of the Archdiocese of Boston began their observance of the 200th anniversary of the archdiocese with a special Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on the first Sunday of Advent. It was very well-attended, with many priests, deacons, religious and faithful representing the parishes of this local Church. The choirs represented the diversity of our archdiocese with the Cathedral Brass Ensemble, the Cathedral Hispanic Choir, the Cathedral Festival Choir and different parish choirs representing the Brazilian, Haitian, Kenyan, Korean and Vietnamese communities.

If you still haven’t had a chance to watch the Mass, you can watch see it on demand at the CatholicTV web site by clicking here. If you would like to simply hear Cardinal Sean’s homily to open this year of celebration, simply click here.

During this bicentennial year, there will be a number of events. One very important initiative is “Arise: Together in Christ,” a program prepared by Renew International that is the cornerstone of our celebration. A new Archdiocesan web page will be launched in the upcoming year, and there is already a site for the bicentennial at http://www.boston200.org/.