Advent/Christmas CD and Prayer Book: God With Us

New prayer book and CD: God With Us, by OCP composer Dan Schutte, reminds Catholics everywhere that amid the busyness of the Christmas and Advent seasons, God is all around.

“Because of the distractions and hectic pace of Christmas preparations, many of us find it difficult to keep our minds and hearts on the real Christmas story,” says Schutte. “I created God With Us to help people pause and remember that this is the season of hope…to open their hearts to receive God’s love.”

The 84-page prayer book consists of 12 different exercises that contain inspirational images, a reflection, prayers, a scripture passage and lyrics for a corresponding song. Additionally, God With Us includes self-reflection questions and keystone phrases to keep the reader introspective throughout the day.

God With Us is bundled with a companion CD featuring 12 songs (corresponding to the prayer exercises) written and recorded by acclaimed Catholic composer Dan Schutte.

“We’re surrounded every moment by God’s love. And, if people are inspired to do a bit more to nourish their spiritual selves, perhaps this little prayer book—with its music, scripture, images and reflections—can provide some structure and guidance” says Schutte.

The printed book and companion CD are available at ocp.org/GodWithUs. An iBook edition will be available through iTunes in winter of 2012.

Catholics Come Home Launches New Website

Catholics Come Home® announces the complete graphic and functional overhaul of its interactive website, CatholicsComeHome.org, along with new campaigns for Advent and the Year of Faith. The new site is easier to navigate, more appealing in design, and more robust in content, putting it at the forefront of cutting-edge Catholic websites.

The website launch comes as Catholics Come Home® begins its first international airing of evangomercials™ in the Archdiocese of Vancouver this Advent. A Catholics Come Home® campaign is also underway in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, beginning on Dec. 14.

These diocesan campaigns will air in conjunction with the new Catholics Come Home® “mini campaigns” this Advent and January. In response to the Vatican announcing the Year of Faith in October, Catholics Come Home® is offering its original diocesan partners the opportunity to continue their momentum of evangelization by airing TV and radio “mini campaigns” featuring its evangomercials™. A number of dioceses are participating, including the Archdiocese of New Orleans, the Diocese of Colorado Springs, and the Diocese of Venice, Fla., which means more souls will be reached in regions across the U.S.

“We hope that our updated website, Advent campaigns, and Year of Faith mini-campaigns will contribute to a greater revitalization of the Catholic Faith during this year in the Church,” says Tom Peterson, founder and president of Catholics Come Home®.

Featured App: Advent & Christmas Daily Blessings

This Advent keep Christ in Christmas with the Advent and Christmas app from familyrosary.org. A free mobile app, it features meditative music with scripture and reflections. Use it wherever you happen to be, whether standing in line to buy presents, waiting for kids' after-school activities to end, or at the dinner table with family.

Daily Blessings Features:

• Meditative music
• Scripture
• Reflections
• Submit a Prayer Request

Available devices: Android as well as iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch). Check it out today!

A Truce During the War on Christmas

While the "war on Christmas" rears its ugly head once again in our secular culture this Advent, Catholics Come Home® continues to combat the attempts by secular groups to censor and silence the voice of Christians in America. “CatholicsComeHome.org proclaims the good news of Jesus and His Church, by using mainstream media to remind people of the hope that Christianity offers our wounded world,” said Tom Peterson, Founder and President of Catholics Come Home®.

The mainstream media in Cincinnati, site of the latest Catholics Come Home® diocesan partner initiative, appears to be fully embracing this outreach of the New Evangelization.
With over 3,000 evangomercials™ airing in Cincinnati, Dayton, and Lima covering the tri-state area (Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky) this December and January, it will be hard to miss these inviting messages calling families home to Jesus and His Church.

Catholics Come Home® is simultaneously airing its first international campaign in the Archdiocese of Vancouver, B.C., where 41% of the population has no faith, which is reflected in the following media coverage.

(Visit the following link for media clips and images:
http://us1.forward-to-friend.com/forward/preview?u=ce226bda50b601c0b3f0ab41d&id=c4f8fa58b6)

This Advent, some CCH diocesan partners (New Orleans, Colorado Springs, Venice FL) will also air a second media campaign to keep up the momentum of the New Evangelization.

CatholicsComeHome.org evangomercials™ represent a proud and significant voice of hope for Catholics and all Christians in the public square. They are messages for the New Evangelization, aimed at a culture in dire need of faith in God. “Catholics Come Home® is bringing light into the darkness through our evangomercials™ ,” Peterson said. “We will not back away from the public arena. Now, more than ever, Christians are called to live and share their faith in Jesus Christ."

A first-time ever national primetime Catholics Come Home® TV ad campaign aired across the United States in English and Spanish (www.CatolicosRegresen.org) during the 2011 Christmas season. This national campaign reached over 125 million television viewers an average of 9.7 times during the three-week campaign.

To view this press release including images and media clips, visit:
http://us1.forward-to-friend.com/forward/preview?u=ce226bda50b601c0b3f0ab41d&id=c4f8fa58b6