[Editor: This story is exclusive to the DwM blog. Thank you John]
MOTHER ANGELICA STILL PROVING ‘RIDICULOUS LETS GOD DO MIRACULOUS’.
by John Lillis
BIRMINGHAM, AL — EWTN’s Global Catholic Radio Network is all grown-up. Sporting radio veterans, newcomers and over 100 attendees from around the world, the Catholic Radio Association (CRA) and EWTN rolled-out a spectacular radio conference October 19th through the 22nd. Featuring Christ as the rightful centerpiece of both the conference and how to get started-in and grow existing Catholic Radio apostolates, the Holy Spirit was alive and well in the house of the Crimson Tide.
Held at Birmingham’s notable Winfry Hotel, conference attendees began on the 19th by sharing testimonies and working out how to make their apostolates grow, make stations more effective and praying for proposed stations to become reality — all on the first evening! The next morning, Thursday the 20th, attendees traveled away from the Winfry to one of the worlds most resplendent shrines — the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.
Below the main Church at the Shrine is a traditional crypt church and this is where Archbishop Elden Francis Curtiss, Shepherd of Omaha, Nebraska and Episcopal Chair of the CRA, electrified radio aficionados and newbies alike with his address on uncompromising faith and an unwavering commitment to loving one’s enemies through Christ. Appropriately, the theme of the 2005 Global Catholic Radio Conference was “Ut Unum Sint” — that we may all be one! Immediately following his uber-convicting talk on unity, the Sacrament of Penance was available and a short time later the Archbishop presided over Mass at the Shrine which is home to the world’s second largest Monstrance — an incredible 8 feet tall — where Mother Angelica and her nuns spend 24-hours per day in adoration of the Christ.
Bishop Baker of Charleston, South Carolina who was there for the conference and is co-chair of the CRA’s Episcopal Advisory Committee, delivered an excellent Mass and homily on the morning of the 21st at the EWTN Chapel, located at the network’s headquarters in Irondale, AL. After the Mass, all were whisked-back to the Winfry for a day of talks and “how-to” seminars. If you haven’t guessed it already, the staff of EWTN was extremely busy being gracious hosts and chauffeurs for the attendees as they worked there way back and forth, miles and miles to and from the humble Christendom that is EWTN.
From the network television headquarters in Irondale featuring the world’s largest religious cable network center, to EWTN’s Radio Mountain that sports the world’s second largest shortwave array ever assembled — to the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament some 40 minutes in another direction, God is still using Mother Angelica to prove that walking in complete faith, the “ridiculous” in the eyes of the world, allows God do the miraculous both in the lives of those who create Catholic television and radio as well as those which the end product touches around the globe.
Boasting a cooperation never before seen in Catholic Radio and featuring programming partnerships ranging from Catholic Answers Live produced in San Diego, California to Kresta in the Afternoon produced at the Ave Maria Radio Network in Ann Arbor, Michigan — EWTN used the conference opportunity to roll-out its 2006 radio line-up. There are now more live shows than ever before available on Catholic Radio and additional content is produced by a number of apostolates and even more programs are in the line-up from the Ave Maria network. Many conference attendees were pleasantly surprised by the new spirit of synergy found within the apostolates and between the networks.
Archbishops, Bishops, Priests and layman made up the bulk of attendees at this years conference that underscored the need for Christ as the heart of the apostolate and saw the passing of the “baton” in leadership from the Chairman of the CRA, Gene Zurlow, to the newly appointed Doug Sherman. Mr. Sherman has been at the forefront of Catholic Radio since the 90’s, starting a station in Reno, NV about 10 years ago and now operating 10 stations in the West, including Albuquerque, New Mexico which came online last month.
Most Catholic Radio Stations are started in the United States by faith filled Catholics who know nothing about radio and have no money. This fact reinforces Mother Angelica’s call to do the ridiculous in order to let God do the miraculous. According to a Monsignor close to Catholic Radio in America: “God rarely calls the equipped, but in fact, he equips those he calls.”
Catholic Radio has grown in the United States from a handful of stations in 1999 — about 9 in the entire United States, including Alaska — to 125 stations on the air today. Thanks to Mother Angelica and EWTN making programming absolutely free to affiliates in the 1990’s and thanks also to Catholic Answers, Ave Maria and the several other apostolates who have provided content for the radio stations that pepper the landscape from Reno, Nevada to Brooklyn, New York.
The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament is actually an amalgamation of wonders made up of a Temple of the Lord, a piazza larger than an acre, a monastery and a castle both featuring 13th Century architecture and includes 300 acres of farm land, guest houses and converted barn Friary. For more information on this definite Catholic “must-see,” log on to: www.olamshrine.com
For more information on Catholic Radio, log onto www.ewtn.com or www.catholicradioassociation.org. Please pray a Chaplet of Divine Mercy on Fridays at three o’clock in the afternoon for the Global apostolate of Catholic Radio.
—
John Lillis is Executive Director of NEI Radio, a non-profit radio service organization that assists in the operational start-up of Catholic Radio around the world. More information on NEI Radio is on the web at www.neiradio.com
[Editor: John is also a member of Disciples with Microphones]
Tags: Catholic Media, Expo/Conference, Terrestrial Radio, DwM, CRA, EWTN, NEI | No Comments »
Subscribe to feed