FRIENDS IN THE FIELD - TRACY MORAN

He Wants to Mary You
What started off as a "Mission Impossible" has blossomed into a "Mission Unbelievable!"

The Mary Foundation

Dynamic audio tapes promoting the Catholic Faith and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, produced by "The Mary Foundation," have slipped into Saudi Arabia via diplomatic pouches, been shipped into Russia in boxes labeled "machine parts," and distributed by the hundreds of thousands to people worldwide. It's estimated that millions of people have heard tapes produced by the Mary Foundation, a non-profit Catholic evangelism apostolate founded (almost by accident) in 1991 by Bud Macfarlane, Jr., and his wife, Bai.

While helping organize a pro-life conference that fall, the young couple bought a used tape duplicator to make copies of the conference talks. But when the sponsoring organization nixed their plan, the Macfarlanes instead used the duplicator to make cassettes of "Marian Apparitions Explained," a riveting talk given by Bud's father, Bud Macfarlane, Sr., a world-renowned expert on Marian apparitions. They gave away 150 tapes of the talk by the elder Macfarlane and included an address where people could write for more free copies.

"Within days, our post office box started filling with letters from people telling us how this talk changed their lives," says Bud, Jr., an affable 33-year-old, 6'4" bear of a man.

That first year, the Mary Foundation gave 20,000 tapes away. The following year, the number soared to 100,000 and has continued to increase each year.

The tape is not copyrighted, so Macfarlane has no idea how many copies may be floating around, which is fine with him. After all, the Foundation's goal is to "reach every single person in the United States and then the world, with the truth that Jesus and Mary have revealed through their messengers and the Holy Catholic Church." The aim is to promote a vibrant, orthodox Catholicism, focused on Christ. Listeners are exhorted to deepen their faith in and love for Christ and to develop a devotion to Mary.

Certainly an ambitious goal, which Macfarlane acknowledges when he quips, "Once we're done with this project, we can go back to our regular lives." Admittedly, in the beginning people thought they were nuts.

"People were just waiting for that fundraising letter," smiles Macfarlane, a letter that will never arrive, because the Foundation operates on the principles of St. Maximilian Kolbe, including total reliance upon God's providence and Mary's intercession for their needs.

"We are odd," says Macfarlane with a chuckle. "Everything's free. We're zany, but everything we do is modeled after the principles as lived by St. Maximilian Kolbe, who had the world's largest priory, with 800 priests editing, printing, and distributing one million newspapers a day."

The Macfarlanes, who have two sons, are members of the St. Maximilian Kolbe's Militia Immaculatae (Latin: Knights of the Immaculata), a worldwide Catholic movement consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The movement's mission is simple: to convert the world to Christ. Also, like St. Maximilian Kolbe's apostolate, the Mary Foundation uses modern technology to spread the gospel and relies totally on God's providence for financial support. While they were forced by lack of funds to shut down once for a month and a half, Macfarlane says that doesn't seem likely now.

Since its inception, the Mary Foundation's scope of activities has grown tremendously. It now produces and distributes - at no charge - a host of other evangelistic tapes. St. Jude Media, a recently erected division of the Mary Foundation, publishes Catholic fiction, starting with Macfarlane's best-selling apocalyptic novel Pierced by a Sword.

The apostolate keeps up with technology in its efforts to evangelize, and now has a large Internet site (www.catholicity.com) featuring an impressive and ever-expanding array of Catholic materials, articles, information, and links to other good Catholic web sites. Today the Foundation staff includes five full-timers, a handful of part-time workers, six college interns, and, of course, Bud and Bai Macfarlane.

A crucial part of the apostolate's success is the enthusiastic involvement of lay people who come into contact with their work. "We provide tools for lay people to do the real work," says Macfarlane. "They hear our tapes, are helped and encouraged by them, and in turn, they help us in the task of distributing copies to everyone they know. Some distribute thousands of copies! That's why we don't have to advertise. These good people give out the tapes to evangelize their friends and relatives."

When asked if he knows how many listeners to the tapes have converted to Catholicism or returned to the sacraments, Macfarlane replies modestly, "We do hear from many who have been helped, but we know it's all God's grace that's doing it. Only His grace can change hearts."

To get more information or request free audio tapes, contact the Mary Foundation at Box 26101, Fairview Park, OH 44126. A free copy of Pierced by a Sword can be obtained from St. Jude Media at Box 26120, Fairview Park, OH 44126.

Catch a (Short) Wave
WEWN Radio Network

Fifteen years ago, 12 cloistered nuns in Alabama wanted to share the message of God's love with the world - literally. Mother Angelica, the community's superior, had a hundred dollars to work with, so she decided to launch a state-of-the-art international television and radio network: The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN). This powerhouse Catholic network is located in the unlikely setting of the Deep South - Irondale, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham.

Knowing that most would see this as a wildly impossible venture, she put her faith and trust in God and set to work building the network out of thin air. Initially broadcast to 60,000 homes for four hours a day, today the channel is available 24 hours a day and boasts 22 million subscribers.

The enthusiastic viewer response revealed a hunger for quality Catholic programming. Recognizing this, in 1992, Mother Angelica launched Worldwide Eternal Word Network (WEWN), a sophisticated short-wave radio network. More recently, EWTN expanded its media apostolate to include on-line services, a news service, and AM/FM radio.

Both the AM/FM and short-wave radio programming are under the umbrella of Global Catholic Radio. But unlike AM/FM radio, which can only be heard in a limited area, short-wave radio broadcasts have a much broader reach. In fact, WEWN, by combining its four gigantic 500,000 watt transmitters with antennas that send signals in specific directions, can be tuned in just about anywhere in the world.

"There are 700 million short-wave radios around the world," says Scott Hults, director of marketing and program development for Global Catholic Radio. "We can virtually reach all of them."

WEWN, the largest privately owned short-wave radio station in the world, broadcasts 24 hours a day in English and Spanish. To hear WEWN, listeners must have a short-wave radio, which typically costs between $50 and $250. But the investment is well worth the payoff in the wealth of programming, which includes live daily Mass, the rosary, Stations of the Cross, and popular speakers such as Fr. Mitch Pacwa, Fr. Benedict Groeschel, Doug Bushman, and, of course, Mother Angelica herself. Besides the daily Mass, the network's flagship show, Mother Angelica Live! and special events such as papal visits, EWTN's programming is not simulcast on WEWN. Hults explains that the network produces a good deal of its programs at its studios in Vandiver, 20 miles from Irondale.

Ironically, in the U.S., where WEWN originates, there are only 2 million short-wave radios, but there are 585 million AM/FM radios. That's why Global Catholic Radio is busy promoting its AM/FM programming to stations in North and South America.

"We've sent our short-wave programming (deleting references to short-wave) to all of Mother Angelica's satellites and offered it, free of charge, to all radio stations in North and South America," Hults says.

Any station that wants to can download and re-broadcast the programming, anywhere from one-half hour weekly, to 24 hours a day. They may also insert two minutes of commercials in each half-hour. Several stations are currently doing so, including ones in Portland, Tampa, Miami, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Evangelizing the whole world is a massive task, and as Mother Angelica recently noted, "It takes more than money, equipment, manpower, ideas, and electricity to reach the entire world through the media of television and radio - it takes the power of the Holy Spirit."

You can contact WEWN at PO Box 100234, Birmingham, AL 35210-0234.

"Radical, not Fanatical"
Radix

It's okay to have sex before marriage if you use a condom, right? At least that's the message one sixth grader got from TV. It's that type of distorted thinking that the media bombards youth with that Doug Barry and his performance group Radix do their best to counteract.

Based in Lincoln, Nebraska, Radix was formed in 1992 by 31-year-old Doug and his wife, Denise. It grew out of their catechetical work with junior high and high school students.

The group consists of about seven people, ages 18 to 35, who sing, play instruments, and perform morality-based skits for audiences of young people. The focus of the group's efforts is to reach young people - Catholic and non-Catholic - with Christ's message of love and forgiveness, the sacraments, and a challenge to make a radical, personal commitment (or re-commitment) to love and obey Christ and become active apostles in His Church.

"Any talent God gives us we'll use for His glory," says Barry, a father of three.

Radix, Latin for "root" and the basis for the English word "radical," describes this apostolate's mission perfectly. "'Radical' means going to the root of the situation," Barry explains, "going to the furthest extreme of what you're dealing with. When it comes to Christ, this attitude of wholehearted commitment is often knocked as being 'fanatical.' But it isn't fanatical; it's radical."

While the troupe of performers has a good time and uses humor to make a point, "We're never irreverent, and we're not a 'warm-fluff' group," Barry explains.

"There are too many 'Jesus loves you, have a nice day' groups out there," he says. "But Jesus says, 'Accept my commands, pick up your cross, deny yourself.' The daily sacrifice is something we need to strive for more deeply in our lives, through Mass, the Rosary, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and being faithful to Rome. That's got to be professed and proclaimed. That's what we have to be rooted in."

A dramatic presentation on Jesus' Passion is the most powerful tool God gave Radix, Barry says.

"We talk in detail about a Roman crucifixion," he explains. "There are no props, no costumes, it's very simple. For the audience, there's a lot of movement of the heart, lots of tears. They realize how Christ suffered for them."

Typically Radix gives this presentation in a church, followed by the sacrament of reconciliation. The group, which has given presentations in 27 states and Canada, is funded through donations and the sale of its tapes and T-shirts.

Three members recently retired from Radix. The reasons for their departure are a powerful testimony to the deep apostolic zeal and love for Christ fostered within the group: One member left to enter the seminary and study for the priesthood, another to join a convent, and the third to discern more deeply whether God is calling him to the priesthood.

As for the audience of young people, "Ninety-five percent of the time, the response is overwhelmingly positive, because we're speaking the truth," Barry says. "It's not a judgmental thing. I'm not saying 'I'm more righteous than you,' because I'm not. The message is, 'We're in this together. Only the grace of Christ and His truth will set us free.'"

For information on Radix, contact Doug Barry at PO Box 29612, Lincoln, NE 68529, (402) 464-5705.