Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The influence of Catholic radio


Earlier this year a new radio station began here in Baton Rouge. WPYR 1380 AM is wonderful new station that provides round the clock Catholic programming. I have always listened to music when driving and at work so when it first aired I thought, "Great idea, but I don't do 'talk radio' so if they start playing music maybe I'll listen to it." Then one day there were commercials on all the music stations I listen to so I was looking for anything to listen to other than commercials. I happened back across 1380 AM and I don't remember what was on, but I was hooked. At first I just listened to Catholic Answers because I love apologetics, but then I started listening to the other programming and it is all fantastic. The local morning show is great, although I'll admit I am rarely awake that early. The various shows throughout the day are unique and as I tried out each one I have yet to find one I don't like. I immensely enjoy listening to mass when I go to lunch, especially the fact that much of it is in Latin. The best part is that you don't have to listen to the radio to listen to the radio. I live in Baton Rouge so everywhere I drive is at most 15 minutes away, more if traffic is involved. I don't actually listen to the radio very much, but thanks to the Internet I can listen to WPYR at work and at home through the Listen Live stream. There have been times when I pull into my carport at home, wait for a commercial break then run inside to open up the live stream on my computer. It's that good. Also, most of the shows have podcasts online so I can download them and listen to past shows I missed on my iPod or computer. I have learned so much from listening to Catholic radio and it has changed my life just in the past 6 months. I find that I am more oriented toward God and His will in my everyday life. It helps me to know what it means to live out our Christianity the rest of the week. The efforts in catholic radio here and around the country have changed people hearts and minds. Life-long Catholics have been brought into a closer relationship with Christ and His Church and non-Catholics have come to better understand Church teaching and often have become Catholic. Radio is one of the oldest forms of media other than print, but it is being reborn to proclaim the Gospel in our modern times. Catholic radio is a small portion of the airwaves, but it shows the world what is great and beautiful about our Christian tradition that is often lost in our increasingly secular world.

"Believing Christians should look upon themselves as such a creative minority and help Europe to espouse once again the best of its heritage, thereby being at the service of humankind at large." --Joseph Ratzinger

1 comment:

  1. Erin:
    My brother sent me your blog on our radio station and I just wanted to thank you for sharing this with everybody. Words of encouragement are a blessing to us all at the station and help us feel connected to the Catholic community and keep us going spiritually. You are in our thoughts and prayers daily. I wanted to also invite you to come by and visit Dave, Mike and me any time at the station and have a cup of coffee or just chat - we're at 8230 Summa Avenue near the OLOL hospital. We're also having a big "Radio Days" event at the end of the month and we would love to see you there (check out the website at www.brcatholicradio.com under Events.
    Yours in Christ,
    Johnny Hebert (Wake Up Baton Rouge Morning Show)

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