Modern Missionaries in Iceland In October, friends of Relevant Radio, Stephen Thordarson and his wife Peggy took a trip to the nordic country of Iceland. Their goal? To visit every Catholic Church and Chapel in the country! In the spirit of the New Evangelization, the couple carried with them a stack of Relevant Radio app cards to share with parishes along the way. Since Icelanders are unable to pick up the Relevant Radio signal via airwaves, the website and mobile app are the perfect vehicles for faith sharing overseas. Although, believe it or not, Relevant Radio did receive one testimonial from one listener in Iceland who picks up programming with a 2000 foot copper arc wire antenna! As they ventured forth, Stephen emailed Relevant Radio updates, including the following message and image:
Status update from Reykjavik, Iceland
Congratulations 2014 to our Christ Brings Hope and Caritas Dei Award Recipients! The Christ Brings Hope Award is an award presented by Relevant Radio® to an American Catholic who has worked with extraordinary dedication to bring the good news and hope of Christ to all souls. This person exemplifies the virtues of charity, generosity, hope, apostolic zeal, and love for the Truth. This year, the award was presented to four outstanding honorees and an additional Caritas Dei Award was presented to Sr. Bridget Haase for her service to Christ and love for humanity.
Twin Cities: Matt Birk
Chicago: Rev. Msgr. Michael M. Boland
Green Bay: The Most Rev. David L. Ricken
Providence: Kevin and Nancy McDevitt
“Relevant Radio has prime placement at Christ the King Basilica!”
(Sample of a Relevant Radio app card on left)
Like the Thordarsons, you can be a modern day missionary too! Simply download the Relevant Radio app to your mobile device and share the faith wherever you go. If you would like to distribute app cards, contact us at info@relevantradio.com.
Caritas Award: Sr. Bridget Haase
“Caritas Dei” means the charity (perfect love) of God. The Caritas Dei Award is presented to a person who brings the love of God and concern for others into their ordinary lives and workplace. May God bless all of our award recipients!
Special Christmas Programming Tune in the
evening of Dec. 23 and the full days of Dec. 24-25 for: • • • • •
Christmas Music An hour of Christmas Music from the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, WI Father Rocky leading a live, interactive Family Christmas Rosary Novena at 8pm CT, Dec. 16 to 24. “Adeste Fidelis” – the story of Christmas in song (courtesy EWTN) The LIVE broadcast of the Christmas Vigil Mass from the Vatican at 2:30pm CST on Dec. 24 (courtesy EWTN) • Christmas Day Mass with Archbishop Listecki of Milwaukee (courtesy Heart of the Nation) • Special episodes of Daybreak with Paul Sadek on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day • A special Christmas episode of Spirit & LifeTM with Father Albert Haase and Sister Bridget Haase
Father Rocky LIVE at St. Thomas Academy! microphone: “Fr. Rocky, would you be willing to sing the Salve Regina today with us?” For the first time ever, listeners heard Fr. Rocky and the young men sing live – in Latin – on Relevant Radio. As Fr. Rocky told the students, “We’ve never done this before.” In answer to one of the final questions, Father commented on sharing one’s faith with family: “At home … be the one who serves the most.” He also gave encouragement: “For your brothers, sisters, parents…pray for them…love them a lot. You’re a sign of hope for them.” As the broadcast ended, Father Rocky thanked everyone – students, faculty, and staff. It was an experience of joy and hope for all!
By: Mary May, Twin Cities Development What do you get when you combine a group of 630 young men, grades 7-12, with a LIVE radio microphone and the always enthusiastic Fr. Rocky? An amazing hour of Go Ask Your FatherTM! St. Thomas Academy, an all-male Catholic college-prep school in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, hosted a live broadcast of Go Ask Your FatherTM on October 30th. The entire student body attended the broadcast, and a group of students who serve as campus ministers posed seventeen sincere questions to Fr. Francis Hoffman – “Fr. Rocky” – during a broadcast that reached thousands of listeners on-air, via online streaming, and on the Relevant Radio mobile app. The students at St. Thomas are a “Corps of Cadets.” They participate in the Army’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program, learning military and leadership skills such as teamwork, respect, responsibility, and strength of character - perfect preparation for young minds and hearts to learn the truth and beauty of the Catholic faith!
Twenty minutes before the broadcast, upper classmen led the students in lively school cheers. Then they all listened attentively as Father Rocky reminded them of the impact this show could have for our wide-ranging audience – people in all walks of life, at work, at home…even those in prison. The broadcast began, and for many, the highlight came during the second half of the program as a young man named Christopher came to the
Did you miss this amazing broadcast? Listen via our audio archives, available online at relevantradio.com. CLICK HERE to listen now!
For call-in information, family schedule, link to video coverage, and audio archives visit relevantradio.com - keyword: “Christmas” or CLICK HERE.
Mission Message Happy Advent to you and your family! We have been praying a Family Christmas Rosary Novena each evening on Relevant Radio®, and we hope that between now and Christmas Eve, you’ll be able to join us! I’ll be in the studio each night (December 16-24) at 8pm CT/9pm ET with a different group of families, praying for your family and taking prayer intentions from listeners who call in. The past few months have been full of blessings and exciting events for Relevant Radio. We have been fortunate to bring you multiple special broadcasts, including the Beatification Mass of Blessed Sister Miriam Teresa
(the first Beatification to ever take place on American soil!), the Beatification of Blessed Alvaro Del Portillo, and the Installation Mass for Archbishop Blase Cupich of the Archdiocese of Chicago. We have celebrated the great success of our Fall Pledge Drive, all thanks to you! Relevant Radio has also honored a few heroic men and women who have excelled in bringing Christ to others in their communities. In October, Relevant Radio Chicago presented the Christ Brings Hope Award to Msgr. Michael Boland of Catholic Charities, and Relevant Radio in Providence, Rhode Island, honored Kevin and Nancy McDevitt at their first Christ Brings Hope Award Dinner in November. What a year it has been! The Relevant Radio family has continued
to grow, and through the expansion of our network in Newark, New York City, Chicago and Milwaukee, our reach has increased by 50%. After a year of tremendous hard work, success and prosperity in our mission for evangelization, we look forward to what 2015 has in store. With prayers and best wishes for a Blessed Christmas for you and yours,
Executive Director of Relevant Radio®