Podcast connects Christ’s message to teens’ world

By Ambria Hammel, The Catholic Sun
October 19, 2006

The daily lives of priests and teens could not be more different, yet both meet every weekend for the celebration of a common faith at Mass.

That’s also when priests face the daunting challenge of ministering to youth. Life Teen, an international Catholic movement for teenagers, has been helping priests meet that challenge through popular culture and technology awareness since 1985.

Last month, Life Teen introduced “Sunday Sunday Sunday,” a free podcast for techno-savvy Catholics. These five-minute Bible studies center on the upcoming Sunday readings and serve as another way to make an abstract Bible message relevant to youth.

“This is the power of the Internet for the good,” said Mark Hart, Life Teen’s “Bible Geek” and podcast host.

Podcasts are Internet-based radio programs that listeners can play on a computer. Users can also download the show to a portable audio device such as the popular iPod.

“I’ll probably plug into it,” said Fr. Richard Felt, pastor at Holy Cross Parish in Mesa. He instituted the Life Teen program at his parish Oct. 1.

The world of podcasting is still foreign to Fr. Felt and many other priests, but he believes in the concept. He said it gives teens a chance to read and think about Scripture before they arrive at Mass.

“This is really a gentle nudging to get Catholics to read the Scripture during the week,” Hart explained.

Catholics of all ages are reportedly feeling the nudge. Hart said Life Teen’s show was the number one Christian podcast its first day of release and number three in the “Religion and Spirituality” category.

Listeners — including teens, a stationed soldier and an 80-year-old monsignor — have e-mailed Hart praising the podcast’s benefits.

Fr. David Kelash will encourage the teens at Immaculate Conception in Cottonwood to put the podcast on their favorites list for easier access.

Podcasting is just one example of how the Life Teen program is reaching out to today’s techno-savvy youth.

Life Teen also offers liturgical planning guides to make the Mass more vibrant. Priests could use the homily to connect the message from the podcast and readings to a teen’s life.

“You try to pick examples that appeal more to teens,” Fr. Felt said about writing a sermon for a Life Teen liturgy.

“When you hold up an iPod at Mass…the teen goes: ‘They understand my world,’” Life Teen president Randy Raus told priests at an international conference in Phoenix last month. Life Teen hosted the annual event.

Raus presented the workshop “Are our liturgies relevant to teens?” He advised reaching out to youth by using props and addressing them directly during the homily.

Fr. Felt is considering taking another step toward reaching the teens at his parish. He may come down from the pulpit to physically address the teens on their level.

“He’s very attuned to realizing that they’re challenged,” said Cindy Benzing, co-director of youth ministry at Holy Cross. “We have to help them feel welcome. They’re a vital part of our parish ministry.”

“The impact and the help that you give them now will be with them on a foundational level for so long,” said Fr. Robert Capone, a priest in the Diocese of Orange County.

Fr. Capone began working at a Life Teen parish this summer. He identified himself as contemplative during Mass, but knows youth often prefer more bodily movement.

“For the sake of getting the Gospel to them, I need to learn their language,” he admitted. “Teens are a culture.”