Media Evangelization

Communication. If there is one word that characterizes our contemporary world, surely this is it. Our great-grandparents witnessed the birth and rapid rise of the mass media: press, cinema, radio, television, records. They marveled at the way these technological inventions brought us closer together. They would marvel even more today. Often today we simply take for granted the possibilities for instant communication. We live in an information age. A mere mouse-click or tap of the remote can take us anywhere on the planet... and beyond. Cell phones, pagers, personal computers, cable TV—they are a part and parcel of our lives.
No longer understood only as inventions of technology, communication has exploded into a "culture," a way of living and being in our world today.

What does this have to do with us as Daughters of St. Paul? Quite a lot. The Daughters of St. Paul are called to enter this culture and bring to it Jesus Christ and his message of love and salvation.

At the dawn of the 20th century, an Italian priest pondered the possibility of adopting the instruments of communication as means of evangelization. Father James Alberione responded to God’s call by launching the Pauline mission and entrusting it to those who shared his passion for the Gospel. At first carried out as an "apostolate of the good press," this mission has grown as broad and expansive as the communication field itself. "In your work of evangelization," the Founder instructed, "use the most rapid and effective means progress may provide." As Daughters of St. Paul, we strive to do just that.

The core of our mission is the urgent need to communicate Christ to others. Jesus was consecrated and sent by the Father; so too the Daughter of St. Paul is consecrated and sent today through the Church. Her task is to proclaim to all persons the unfathomable riches of Christ. She does this first of all with the witness of her life, offering her-self as a transparent bearer of a message of redemptive hope and love. She becomes a living announcement of Christ’s good news of salvation. She becomes an apostle after the heart of her dynamic patron, St. Paul.

The Daughter of St. Paul lives in the world of communication. She allows herself to be surrounded by it, that she might better understand how to serve and evangelize within it. She deeply reflects on Pope John Paul II’s invitation to participate in the "new evangelization." And she leaps at his challenge: "Involvement in the mass media is not meant merely to strength-en the preaching of the Gospel. There is a deeper reality involved here. Since the very evangelization of modern culture depends to a great extent on the influence of the media, it is not enough to use the media simply to spread the Christian message and the Church’s authentic teaching. It
is also necessary to integrate that message into the ‘new culture’ created by modern communications."

As Daughters of St. Paul of the United States province, together we live out our unique and vital charism. Communication is our particular way of following and announcing Christ. We concretely express our apostolic passion in a variety of ways and forms: by direct use of the instruments of communication, through media literacy education and formation programs, and with an outreach ministry that serves to inform, inspire and provide guidance in matters of faith and the Spirit.

Boston is the site of our publishing house, Pauline Books & Media, out of which the print, video, music and software divisions of the Daughters of St. Paul operate. It is the home base of our editorial and technical sectors. It is where the Sisters initiate the actual planning and production stages that give the Word of God its "media-form."

In whatever work a Sister performs, she remains aware of the Founder’s reminder: each assignment becomes a "pulpit" from which the Word of God will be preached. As her fingers fly over the keyboard, or her hand maneuvers a mouse in computer design, or adjusts the levels of the sound recording equipment, she can hear the challenge of her Co-foundress: "Let us give wings and feet to the Gospel, that it may travel far and wide."

One area of apostolate is our video division. Since its inception Pauline Video has produced over one hundred titles—recorded within our own studios or shot on location. These videos cover a wide range of themes: from life issues to subjects of religious instruction; marriage and family topics to programs dealing with spirituality and psychology; documentary lives of the saints and animated children’s videos. Thousands of Pauline productions have found their way into homes and classrooms.

Our recording division promotes the message of Jesus through the medium of music and spoken tapes. Our own Daughters of St. Paul Choir has completed several recording projects with its unique, inspiring sound, which is becoming always better known. Among these, Handmaiden of the Lord is nearing the 100,000 mark in distribution.

From the shipping and distribution departments, the diffusion stage begins. Regarded as the "culminating point" of our mission, this is the stage closest to the heart of every Daughter of St. Paul. It is bringing people into personal contact with the living, healing, transforming Word of God.

In the United States and English speaking Canada there are 20 Pauline Book & Media Centers. From these centers the Daughters of St. Paul personally address the needs of people of various backgrounds, cultures, and religious persuasions. They take to heart their Founder’s words that their centers be places of light to instruct, encourage and direct people on their spiritual journeys.

There are Daughters of St. Paul working in a variety of out-reach projects bringing the Gospel message directly to the people. These projects include all types of book fairs and book displays in parishes, schools, conventions; teaching media literacy to students and to teachers; helping teenagers under-stand the many messages in their music and the need to be discerning in the use of the media.

As Daughters of St. Paul we hope to continue to respond in ever more creative and dynamic ways, in fidelity to our charism, to the Spirit’s ongoing invitation to evangelize the future. We are called to be communicators of faith, hope and love in the world of communication. Trusting the Master who leads us, we will always adopt new means—as progress continues to furnish them—so that we might enfold humanity in the loving arms of the Redeemer.

"Love, true love, is inventive. When one has a fire in her heart, she finds many initiatives and many ways
of performing her mission.
True love...makes one think, run, organize."
(Venerable Fr. Alberione)