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By digging into their pockets this weekend to contribute to an annual media collection, Catholics can help ensure that those unable to attend Mass can continue to hear the Gospel each week.

In a pulpit letter, Bishop Howard J. Hubbard wrote that the Catholic Communications Campaign has been "the Church's voice in the media: educating, entertaining, inspiring and informing the public about Gospel values."

The collection will be taken up in parishes across the Albany Diocese June 19-20.

Established by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1979, the campaign splits donations between participating dioceses and the national office. In the Albany Diocese, half of the funds raised benefit the public information office, which promotes diocesan and Catholic Charities happenings.

The collection also supports the weekly televised Mass, "Table of the Lord," for homebound Catholics or those who miss Mass. The Diocese pays production and airtime fees to Fox 23, which records the show in its studio and airs it Sundays at 6:30 a.m. Time Warner Cable channel 3 rebroadcasts it at 9 a.m.

The Diocesan spokesman oversees the show's production; another diocesan representative finds priests and congregants; four volunteers help coordinate the shoots. On Christmas and Easter, the Mass is recorded on-site at parishes and celebrated by Bishop Hubbard.

Nationally, the campaign supports a host of projects and services, including:

• "For Your Marriage," a radio, television and web campaign to help people build stronger marriages;

• Radio Soleil Productions, a Haitian station that produces Catholic dramas in the local language;

• daily Bible podcasts and Scripture video reflections;

• movie and television reviews from a Catholic perspective; and

• the websites of the USCCB and Catholic News Service, among other organizations.

The campaign, Bishop Hubbard wrote, "plays an important role in our society. It merits our continued support."

(06/17/10)[[In-content Ad]]

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