For many years, Gary Zimak of Cinnaminson, NJ attended Sunday Mass, but knew very little about his Catholic faith. Five years ago he felt the need to learn more about what the Church teaches and began exploring the Internet for answers. “What I found was a lot of information, but much of it didn’t represent the true teaching of the Catholic Church. Some websites were radically conservative and some terribly liberal”, says Zimak. He continues, “After much research I was able to discover several websites that accurately stated the Magisterial teaching of the Church. These websites opened the door to Catholic books, magazines, newspapers and radio/tv programs, all of which assisted me in learning more about what the Church teaches”.
This quest inspired him to found the Catholic Truth lay apostolate, a group dedicated to helping Catholics learn about their faith. The mission of the apostolate is carried out over the Internet, using their website (www.thecatholictruth.info) as the main vehicle of evangelization. Contained on their website is a simple 10-step plan that is “guaranteed to bring you closer to Christ”, according to Zimak. These steps involve traditional Church practices such as the Mass, Confession, the Rosary, Catholic reading, prayer and Bible reading. Recommendations are also made for reading material and Internet sites. Additionally a daily blog is provided that features inspirational thoughts and news. All of their services are provided free of charge.
“The techniques that we present are based on methods that have worked in my life and in the lives of other Catholics that I’ve known. It’s a great tragedy that many Catholics are not aware of the great treasure that they have in their Faith. We want to reach out to those folks and let them know that Jesus Christ is still alive in His Church today. Knowing more about your faith will allow you to get closer to Him and bring you greater peace.” says Zimak.
For further information visit the Catholic Truth website (www.thecatholictruth.info) or e-mail them at (thecatholictruth@yahoo.com).
New Audio Bibles Released
Faith Comes By Hearing, the world’s foremost Audio Bible ministry, recently released 12 Audio New Testament recordings.
Audio Bibles in the following languages are now available for ministry efforts around the world and online:
• Arabic, Egyptian Spoken – Egypt
• Burmese – Myanmar (Burma)
• Chin, Cho – Myanmar (Burma)
• Kachin – Myanmar (Burma)
• Karen S’Gaw – Myanmar (Burma)
• Higgi – Nigeria
• Awadhi – India
• Kashmiri – India
• Koreguaje - Colombia
• Kekchí– Guatemala
• Khmer – Cambodia
• Hiligaynon – Philippines
These new offerings, which represent more than 126.4 million people on three continents, bring the total number of Audio New Testaments available to 330 languages.
These recordings wouldn’t be possible without Bible translations, said Morgan Jackson, international director for Faith Comes By Hearing.
“One of the greatest honors and joys for our ministry is working alongside Bible translators,” he said. “We can’t do what we do without the Bible translation organizations.”
“Wycliffe Bible Translators, The Seed Company, and the Bible Societies send translators who dedicate years of their lives to complete a New Testament translation. Then Faith Comes By Hearing sends in a team, equipped with digital audio equipment, and they’ll go into the village areas and turn even a mud hut into a recording studio.”
“The recording teams are all nationals who work with their own people,” said Jackson. “They’ll recruit the voice talent to record the speaking parts for the Audio New Testaments. In about three months, we’ll have all the voices done and begin working on adding the sound effects and music.”
The recordings undergo a thorough quality screening, and before being mastered, the Faith Comes By Hearing audio technology team prepares the recordings for different ministry tools, such as the BibleStick and the Proclaimer. The end result is the same – a heart language Audio Bible in a format people can use and understand.
The Proclaimer is a self-powered audio player that can be used in the most remote and rugged locations. The Proclaimer’s embedded microchip is pre-loaded with the New Testament in the heart languages of the world. Indigenous believers take these Audio Bibles into their own villages and begin Faith Comes By Hearing listening groups. Villagers gather to listen and then discuss what they’ve heard. By interacting with the pure Word of God, people come to know and follow the God of the Bible.
The ministry also produces an MP3 version of the Audio New Testament recordings for web download. From www.FaithComesByHearing.com, visitors can download these new recordings or any of the ministry’s other Audio Bibles.
Faith Comes By Hearing’s goal is to record Audio Bibles in 2,000 languages by 2016, reaching 97 percent of the world’s population.
Currently, New Testament recordings are being used in Bible listening programs in over 100 countries. Faith Comes By Hearing’s free Audio Bibles are also being used by many well-known ministries (see list below) for evangelism, discipleship, church planting and leadership development in villages, slums, shanty towns, hospitals, orphanages, house churches and mega-churches.
To learn more about what God is doing through Audio Bible ministry efforts, visit www.FaithComesByHearing.com.
Audio Bibles in the following languages are now available for ministry efforts around the world and online:
• Arabic, Egyptian Spoken – Egypt
• Burmese – Myanmar (Burma)
• Chin, Cho – Myanmar (Burma)
• Kachin – Myanmar (Burma)
• Karen S’Gaw – Myanmar (Burma)
• Higgi – Nigeria
• Awadhi – India
• Kashmiri – India
• Koreguaje - Colombia
• Kekchí– Guatemala
• Khmer – Cambodia
• Hiligaynon – Philippines
These new offerings, which represent more than 126.4 million people on three continents, bring the total number of Audio New Testaments available to 330 languages.
These recordings wouldn’t be possible without Bible translations, said Morgan Jackson, international director for Faith Comes By Hearing.
“One of the greatest honors and joys for our ministry is working alongside Bible translators,” he said. “We can’t do what we do without the Bible translation organizations.”
“Wycliffe Bible Translators, The Seed Company, and the Bible Societies send translators who dedicate years of their lives to complete a New Testament translation. Then Faith Comes By Hearing sends in a team, equipped with digital audio equipment, and they’ll go into the village areas and turn even a mud hut into a recording studio.”
“The recording teams are all nationals who work with their own people,” said Jackson. “They’ll recruit the voice talent to record the speaking parts for the Audio New Testaments. In about three months, we’ll have all the voices done and begin working on adding the sound effects and music.”
The recordings undergo a thorough quality screening, and before being mastered, the Faith Comes By Hearing audio technology team prepares the recordings for different ministry tools, such as the BibleStick and the Proclaimer. The end result is the same – a heart language Audio Bible in a format people can use and understand.
The Proclaimer is a self-powered audio player that can be used in the most remote and rugged locations. The Proclaimer’s embedded microchip is pre-loaded with the New Testament in the heart languages of the world. Indigenous believers take these Audio Bibles into their own villages and begin Faith Comes By Hearing listening groups. Villagers gather to listen and then discuss what they’ve heard. By interacting with the pure Word of God, people come to know and follow the God of the Bible.
The ministry also produces an MP3 version of the Audio New Testament recordings for web download. From www.FaithComesByHearing.com, visitors can download these new recordings or any of the ministry’s other Audio Bibles.
Faith Comes By Hearing’s goal is to record Audio Bibles in 2,000 languages by 2016, reaching 97 percent of the world’s population.
Currently, New Testament recordings are being used in Bible listening programs in over 100 countries. Faith Comes By Hearing’s free Audio Bibles are also being used by many well-known ministries (see list below) for evangelism, discipleship, church planting and leadership development in villages, slums, shanty towns, hospitals, orphanages, house churches and mega-churches.
To learn more about what God is doing through Audio Bible ministry efforts, visit www.FaithComesByHearing.com.
SQPN.com Wins Four Podcast Awards
The Catholic new media network SQPN.com has won four awards in the 2008 People’s Choice Podcast Awards.
Food, music, health and religion
- The video series ‘Grace Before Meals’, hosted by the Catholic priest and chef Fr. Leo Patalinghug won the award in the Food and Drink category.
- George Leite won the award in the Music category for his show ‘Catholic Rockers’.
- Dutch priest Fr. Roderick Vonhogen won the Health/Fitness award for his show ‘Healthy Catholic’, a weekly show about physical and spiritual health.
- Fr. Roderick also won the Religion/Inspiration award for his morning show ‘Daily Breakfast’, a mix of catechesis and popular culture.
The awards will be presented during an international online Awards Ceremony early December.
Evangelization
"This is the fourth year in a row that our Catholic shows have won awards in this predominantly secular contest," says Fr. Roderick Vonhogen, CEO of SQPN. "It is a strong sign that our programs reach a broad audience, not just Catholics. And that is exactly why we started SQPN: to reach out and evangelize the world through new media".
SQPN has a unique approach to new evangelization. By looking for connections between the secular culture and the rich tradition and culture of the Catholic Church, the organization builds communities around certain popular themes like cooking, entertainment, music, health and fitness.
"These communities are like online mini-parishes where people share their faith and their lives," says Fr. Vonhogen. "We see a constant stream of new people joining these communities, many of whom are not Catholic".
Impact
Meeting place for these communities is the forum on the SQPN website (www.sqpn.com), where podcast fans share their experiences. "I have been listening since Januari of this year," says Jon, "I am returning to the Church after 22 years."
"I have been a lapsed Catholic for the past 9 or 10 years," says Eliana, "listening to the Daily Breakfast was has really helped me in my decision to return to the Church."
Another listener recently decided to to lose 200 lbs, and 'Healthy Catholic' helps him to keep on track: "I am continuing to work on eating healthy and exercising, and am motivated by the SQPN community and their support and prayers."
Migli writes how the SQPN podcasts broke negative stereotypes: "I found out how much these Catholic people are just like me. It's been a good ride. Hopefully I will officially be one of them someday."
About SQPN:
SQPN, the Star Quest Production Network, is a non-profit Catholic apostolate dedicated to evangelization and formation through the use of new media.
Just as the star of Bethlehem emerged within the foreign culture of the three magi, and invited them to start an adventurous journey to the newborn Savior, the programs of SQPN tap into popular culture to invite people on a journey of discovery towards an encounter with Christ.
SQPN produces on-demand audio and video programs, also known as podcasts, and offers a portal for a select number of affiliated Catholic podcasters that share the vision and media strategy of SQPN.
More information about SQPN and the Podcast Awards on the following websites:
www.sqpn.com
www.podcastawards.com
Food, music, health and religion
- The video series ‘Grace Before Meals’, hosted by the Catholic priest and chef Fr. Leo Patalinghug won the award in the Food and Drink category.
- George Leite won the award in the Music category for his show ‘Catholic Rockers’.
- Dutch priest Fr. Roderick Vonhogen won the Health/Fitness award for his show ‘Healthy Catholic’, a weekly show about physical and spiritual health.
- Fr. Roderick also won the Religion/Inspiration award for his morning show ‘Daily Breakfast’, a mix of catechesis and popular culture.
The awards will be presented during an international online Awards Ceremony early December.
Evangelization
"This is the fourth year in a row that our Catholic shows have won awards in this predominantly secular contest," says Fr. Roderick Vonhogen, CEO of SQPN. "It is a strong sign that our programs reach a broad audience, not just Catholics. And that is exactly why we started SQPN: to reach out and evangelize the world through new media".
SQPN has a unique approach to new evangelization. By looking for connections between the secular culture and the rich tradition and culture of the Catholic Church, the organization builds communities around certain popular themes like cooking, entertainment, music, health and fitness.
"These communities are like online mini-parishes where people share their faith and their lives," says Fr. Vonhogen. "We see a constant stream of new people joining these communities, many of whom are not Catholic".
Impact
Meeting place for these communities is the forum on the SQPN website (www.sqpn.com), where podcast fans share their experiences. "I have been listening since Januari of this year," says Jon, "I am returning to the Church after 22 years."
"I have been a lapsed Catholic for the past 9 or 10 years," says Eliana, "listening to the Daily Breakfast was has really helped me in my decision to return to the Church."
Another listener recently decided to to lose 200 lbs, and 'Healthy Catholic' helps him to keep on track: "I am continuing to work on eating healthy and exercising, and am motivated by the SQPN community and their support and prayers."
Migli writes how the SQPN podcasts broke negative stereotypes: "I found out how much these Catholic people are just like me. It's been a good ride. Hopefully I will officially be one of them someday."
About SQPN:
SQPN, the Star Quest Production Network, is a non-profit Catholic apostolate dedicated to evangelization and formation through the use of new media.
Just as the star of Bethlehem emerged within the foreign culture of the three magi, and invited them to start an adventurous journey to the newborn Savior, the programs of SQPN tap into popular culture to invite people on a journey of discovery towards an encounter with Christ.
SQPN produces on-demand audio and video programs, also known as podcasts, and offers a portal for a select number of affiliated Catholic podcasters that share the vision and media strategy of SQPN.
More information about SQPN and the Podcast Awards on the following websites:
www.sqpn.com
www.podcastawards.com
Bishops Bring Concerns about Same-Sex Unions to YouTube
WASHINGTON—The U.S. bishops have taken their concerns about same-sex unions to YouTube, the popular video-sharing Web site.
Both videos are available on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh_81zsW6U8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwCAXQhqd-Q
http://www.usccb.org/bishops/marriagedefense.shtml
The English-language video features Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage. Archbishop José Gomez of San Antonio, chair of the bishops' Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church, speaks on the Spanish-language video.
The USCCB seeks "to promote and protect marriage for the gift that it is and for the blessings that only it can bring to the world. For this reason," the bishops state, "we come forward in defense of marriage."
"Certain groups and individuals are trying to make same-sex unions the equivalent of marriage," they state also. "This is a false idea being proposed and, in some cases, imposed by a minority. This is nothing less than the radical redefinition marriage -- denying the truth that it is exclusively the union of a man and a woman."
The bishops warn that if successful, "this effort of redefining marriage to include same-sex unions will bring confusion to what marriage actually means. This confusion could spread and have enormous legal consequences for the rearing of children, public education, employment, and religious freedom. Children would be forced to learn that marriage is merely one kind of loving relationship among many. Churches would be prevented from witnessing to and teaching about the necessary and singular role of love between a man and a woman."
"Same-sex unions and marriage are completely different realities," they state also. "Reaffirming the traditional understanding of marriage is neither discrimination nor the denial of rights. Like all people, homosexual persons have the right to be treated with respect and to live in peace with the support of their loved ones. But it is to the benefit of all members of society that the institution of marriage be preserved as the relationship of a man and a woman that serves the common good in a distinct way. Society needs marriage in order to establish and sustain that basic unit of society in which men and women love each other and transmit life to their children who are the fruit of that love."
The video is the latest in a series of activities to emerge from the Defense of Marriage Ad Hoc Committee. The Committee assists the bishops and State Catholic Conferences in education, catechesis, public policy advocacy and communications strategies and their implications for society and the culture.
Both videos are available on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh_81zsW6U8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwCAXQhqd-Q
http://www.usccb.org/bishops/marriagedefense.shtml
The English-language video features Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage. Archbishop José Gomez of San Antonio, chair of the bishops' Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church, speaks on the Spanish-language video.
The USCCB seeks "to promote and protect marriage for the gift that it is and for the blessings that only it can bring to the world. For this reason," the bishops state, "we come forward in defense of marriage."
"Certain groups and individuals are trying to make same-sex unions the equivalent of marriage," they state also. "This is a false idea being proposed and, in some cases, imposed by a minority. This is nothing less than the radical redefinition marriage -- denying the truth that it is exclusively the union of a man and a woman."
The bishops warn that if successful, "this effort of redefining marriage to include same-sex unions will bring confusion to what marriage actually means. This confusion could spread and have enormous legal consequences for the rearing of children, public education, employment, and religious freedom. Children would be forced to learn that marriage is merely one kind of loving relationship among many. Churches would be prevented from witnessing to and teaching about the necessary and singular role of love between a man and a woman."
"Same-sex unions and marriage are completely different realities," they state also. "Reaffirming the traditional understanding of marriage is neither discrimination nor the denial of rights. Like all people, homosexual persons have the right to be treated with respect and to live in peace with the support of their loved ones. But it is to the benefit of all members of society that the institution of marriage be preserved as the relationship of a man and a woman that serves the common good in a distinct way. Society needs marriage in order to establish and sustain that basic unit of society in which men and women love each other and transmit life to their children who are the fruit of that love."
The video is the latest in a series of activities to emerge from the Defense of Marriage Ad Hoc Committee. The Committee assists the bishops and State Catholic Conferences in education, catechesis, public policy advocacy and communications strategies and their implications for society and the culture.
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