Father Joseph Writes It was also wonderful to reunite with our new Superior General, the Most Rev. Joseph Roesch, MIC, and host the Divine Mercy Sunday pre-show on EWTN. It felt like old times! One of the topics we touched upon was how much has changed since our last EWTN broadcast in 2019: mainly, our enormous media efforts online, which I call our “new” evangelization. When COVID struck and churches were closed, many of us worried about the long-term effects of the Catholic faithful being denied the opportunity to gather as a community for Mass and the Sacraments. But almost on cue, we Marians responded online, working to create new opportunities for the faithful to spiritually participate in the prayer, worship, formation, and fellowship of our Marian Family. This was truly the Holy Spirit in action. We had already taken the first steps to livestreaming the daily Mass, Rosary, and Chaplet from the National Shrine, and were producing videos for our Marian Helpers on the web. Here was an even bigger opportunity to respond to the growing need. As usual, God can bring a greater good out of even the worst tragedies. I don’t think anyone could have anticipated the response from viewers around the world. Here’s a number for you: Since January 2020, we have had 83 million visitors to our YouTube channel (Divine Mercy), and even more if you add our pages on Facebook. It’s incredible to think of the number of lives that are touched and inspired by our community life shared online. We receive hundreds of letters, emails, text messages, and online comments daily. People write and say, “Father, after watching your talk, I went to my first Confession in years.” “I have returned to the Church.” “I have decided to pray the Rosary daily.” My Saturday talks, “Explaining the Faith,” have been very popular. “Living Divine Mercy,” our EWTN program airing Wednesdays and later available on YouTube, is produced here at the National Shrine. The global reach of EWTN has enabled us to potentially reach hundreds of millions of souls. Our podcasts are also very popular, especially those created by Fr. Roesch. All of our content is now easily accessible on a brand new website, DivineMercyPlus.org. This digital platform houses a huge library of original Catholic content from the Marians, assembled in one easy to access and navigate place. You know you can always rely on the Marians to tell the truth about our faith. Sadly, we live in a world dominated by cancel culture. If attempts are made to block our efforts online, know that you can find all of our programming on DivineMercyPlus.org. Truly, our “new” evangelization efforts are bearing good fruit. But we don’t do it alone. As Blessed George Matulaitis-Matulewicz once wrote, “Lay men and women could do so much good ... , once they have been instructed and educated in matters of faith and better informed about the needs of the Church.” So together, let us continue to build up the Church, the Body of Christ, one soul at a time! What a joy it was to welcome thousands of pilgrims to the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy on Divine Mercy Weekend, April 15-16. It’s been three long years since we last hosted a fully-open celebration, and as you will see in this issue of Marian Helper, it was a magnificent, grace-filled weekend, months in the planning and flawlessly executed by our hard-working Marian priests and brothers, intrepid employees, and a loyal army of 600 volunteers. OUR ‘NEW’ EVANGELIZATION “Father Joseph, MIC,” is the honorary title of the director of the Association of Marian Helpers. The current director is the Very Rev. Chris Alar, MIC, interim Provincial Superior of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy Province in the United States and Argentina. Marian Helper • Summer 2023 • Marian.org 3
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mw==