I grew up in the 1960s watching television and becoming “family” with the likes of Captain Kangaroo, Mister Rogers and others! Television was a window that connected the world in a way like no other medium, arguably even more so than radio. As a boy, I remember being drawn to that component of television — namely, the intimacy and relationship formed via electronic broadcasting.

That link created via technology is part of all our lives. Not all of us are producing content for broadcast or online; however, we are all communicators and are called to use the inherent gift we have been given to serve the Gospel. I am sometimes asked in interviews about what I consider integral to my work as a priest. My usual response is the work and, yes, it is work, of the Sunday homily. This is the place where we are asked to communicate the Word and make connections to this Word, even global ones, with the People of God. For all of us, and particularly in these times, it seems communication is key for effective evangelization and connection.

As priests, we are communicators. The Lord has called us to be his servants through Word and sacrament. To do that well in the 21st century we need the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church in one hand and perhaps our electronic devices in the other!

“Proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching,” the Second Letter to Timothy tells us. “For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths. But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry” (4:2-5).

Sound familiar? It could have been written yesterday! Technology is present to help us infiltrate and bring home the lost sheep. We must be bearers of the technological gifts given to preach the Gospel strongly and effectively in every way possible!

I would like to offer five “truths” of the Catholic communicator, especially to the Catholic priest communicator. These truths are the truths of our lives as priests and as proclaimers of the Word!

Be Yourself

First, be yourself! I believe the better communicators I have met over the years have been people of deep prayer who know themselves well. When I meet people who see me on television, they often will say, “You’re just like you are on television!”

My usual response is, “I am a bad actor, I can only be me.”

As a Church, as a parish, as a pastor, we can only be ourselves. In this humanity is revealed the connection with those we are sharing the message with. Catholic bloggers, vloggers and even television and radio “ministers” I have known through the years are most effective because their inspiring faith is present in who they are.

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TUNE IN

You can learn more about the Catholic Faith Network at CFNtv.org or the app store. CFN, and Msgr. Vlaun’s radio show, “Religion and Rock,” is on the Catholic Channel on Sirius XM 129 at SiriusXM.com.

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I would offer Cardinal Timothy Dolan as an example. Our Catholic television network, Catholic Faith Network (CFN), produces a weekly hour-long show simply called “Conversation with Cardinal Dolan.” Cardinal Dolan is among the best contemporary Church communicators I know. He has a style that is truly authentic, homey, funny and truthful. His presence on secular or Catholic television, the internet or radio, or at the pulpit in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York is always the same. He is himself. Radically committed to the Church, to Jesus and to his people, he takes part in building the kingdom of God with the rest of us; it shows! I have come to know him well over the years. He, too, I would consider a “bad actor.” Cardinal Timothy Dolan is truly himself. That spiritual reality takes years in most cases. I find that both inspirational and challenging.

But Not Only Yourself

Second, don’t let it be about yourself. There’s a fine line in Catholic communications between effective communication and “self-promoting evangelizing.” There is one truth we communicate: the Word made flesh.

I love to use stories in my homilies, yet I work hard at not making the homily about me, but rather about a truth that I may illustrate, sometimes using self-deprecating humor of my own life. The U.S. bishops have a great daily reflection offered for the daily readings (usccb.org). I have been the “Monday preacher” for over 15 years. This opportunity is a humbling blessing in my communications ministry. I receive emails from people all over the world.

I remember being asked once to virtually visit a school classroom in the Midwest. So we arranged for a Zoom visit. The children in the classroom were going to ask me questions about faith. I agreed and thought that it would be enjoyable. The first sixth grader held up a sign and asked me to read his name out loud. I did, and the class became hysterical with laughter. Again and again, they wanted to hear my New York accent say their names and short sentences. Hmm, slightly different than expected!

I was misled in my very human mind that they wanted to meet another Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, when, in fact, all they wanted to meet was a priest who speaks “New Yawk.” We often get that gentle and not-so-gentle reminder when we go off course and falsely believe that it is about us. It never is. It is indeed a fine line, but worth the struggle; it keeps us authentic and true to our call to be servants of the Word.

Be Responsible

Third, be responsible with Church teaching. Confusion is so easy. Today, anyone with an iPhone has a network of people to communicate with immediately. In Catholic print media, the imprimatur is the official validation of a book. Due to the simple volume of media, it is impossible to have that validation in social media platforms.

In some ways, communication in a virtual world is like the Wild West. There are very few rules and that is even true in Catholic communications. Our social media presence carries responsibility with it. As much as the gift of communications can build the Church and increase dedication and excitement, it can divide and hurt.

St. Paul tells us, “No foul language should come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for needed edification, that it may impart grace to those who hear” (Eph 4:29). Another fine line: Is it the entire teaching of the Church preached through me, or am I preaching the Church according to me?

Medium Message

Fourth, “The Medium is the Message.” Marshall McLuhan coined this term regarding the importance of the medium(s) used to communicate a message. We must be versed in social media, public speaking and the art of preaching. Content is key, we would all agree, but so is the medium! Both need dedication and constant work to be effective.

Another great communicator is the archbishop of Toronto, Cardinal Thomas Collins (his retirement was accepted by the Vatican in February of this year). He hosted a lectio divina in his cathedral on Sunday nights. It attracted hundreds of young people who gathered to break open the Word and pray in his cathedral, and many more through livestreaming. It was an effective blend of both traditional and modern evangelizing and complimentary “mediums” to enhance the message.

Communications Alive

Fifth, communication is alive, organic and ever-developing. To be effective ministers who use communications, we, too, must be developing constantly. Remember your first cellphone with the battery pack over your shoulder? Your first computer? Floppy discs? If St. Paul were among us today, we could easily surmise he would be utilizing modern technology. As those who have been “sent to the ends of the earth” to proclaim the message, we need a modern toolkit full of today’s mediums for the message. It is always evolving.

Growing up, the church bulletin was the most-read Catholic communications document in the United States. In fact, how many of our parishes had to figure out a way to distribute the bulletin after the Mass because of all the Mass-time reading? Also, the COVID epidemic changed our use of communication in the Church forever. Though an online or broadcast Mass is not “attending” Mass, for those who had nothing it was a lifeline. That connection made virtually was still a connection. That intrigues me once again. Like me watching Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers, there is something about communication that connects and becomes an antidote for separation and isolation.

I had the ironic privilege to meet both of my childhood heroes, Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers. Surprisingly, they were exactly how they were on television. Bad actors indeed! They were, on a unique level, a part of my family. We, too, humbly enjoy that type of link with the people we serve as priestly communicators. May that link always be a source of strength and encouragement. May it challenge us to develop our skills constantly. May we serve the Lord with gladness and know the Word made flesh shining through us in all we do. 

MSGR. JIM VLAUN is the president and CEO of the Catholic Faith Network, the Catholic television station of the Diocese of Rockville Centre.

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Requirements for Good Listening

Marking the 50th World Day of Social Communications in 2016, Pope Francis said: “We must first listen. Communicating means sharing, and sharing demands listening and acceptance.”

But listening “is much more than simply hearing.” He noted, “Listening allows us to get things right, and not simply to be passive onlookers, users or consumers.” Listening, he added, requires “a sort of martyrdom or self-sacrifice,” because it means “paying attention, wanting to understand, to value, to respect and to ponder what the other person says.”

“Knowing how to listen,” he added, “is an immense grace, it is a gift which we need to ask for and then make every effort to practice.”

And, he pointed out, the language of the Church’s pastors should never suggest “prideful and triumphant superiority over an enemy, or demean those whom the world considers lost and easily discarded.”

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