From EWTN Wings:

By Michelle Laque Johnson

It’s fast-paced! It’s fun! It features all your favorite EWTN Friars!

It’s the all-new “Life on the Rock!” The new half-hour show will focus on how to light the fire of faith in others while increasing your own! In other words, it will take those catch words – The New Evangelization – and help you understand what they mean in practice. (Airs 9 p.m. ET, Sundays, beginning Oct. 1, with encores at 3 a.m. ET and 5 p.m. ET, Thursdays.)

Enjoy interviews in studio and in the field with people who are making a real difference. See the friars connect their faith with the things they love. For example, you might hear Brother John Therese Marie talk about faith and sports, Fr. Joseph talk about faith and gardening, or Brother Leo connect his faith with those hands-on “contraptions” he is so famous for building!

In every episode, you’ll also get to watch a Cool2BCatholic video submitted by a fellow EWTN viewer, and get challenged during the “Into the Vineyard” segment with a practical idea for living your faith in the coming week. Each show ends with a music video that might just help you discover a favorite new artist!

In the premiere episode, Fr. John Paul Mary interviews Will Baumbach, a high school football player and a member of Fraternus, https://www.fraternus.net/, a mentoring organization that helps “sons, brothers, and fathers recover and pass on Catholic masculinity.” However, this is not done by sitting around and listening to a lecture.

Instead, Baumbach, a member of the Birmingham, Alabama chapter, says he and his dad attend a weekly meeting where they say a prayer, eat a delicious meal (usually prepared by some of the Moms), and play a couple games of dodgeball or something similar. Then, after watching a short video prepared by Fraternus International, the group breaks up into “squads,” composed of people their own age, who discuss how they themselves are implementing the virtues they are working on that month – at home, at school, or in the workplace.

“I get to go there and see my dad practically practice his faith, and he sees me doing it too,” Baumbach said. “So we’re pushing each other to do better and, at the same time, I see other dads and other sons doing it as well.”

Twice a year, the Baumbachs join in Fall and Spring “excursions,” where fathers and sons might go camping, fishing, or canoeing or all three! They might also attend an outdoor Mass, go to confession, and maybe process around the campground with the Blessed Sacrament.

“I think we all thought this would be a program to mentor young boys,” says Father John Paul, who is a member of the Birmingham chapter. “But now, in the third year, we’re seeing it is just as much for the men as it is for the boys…seeing how we all need to be brothers to one another.”

In the “Into the Vineyard” segment, Co-Host Father Mark Mary says he was particularly struck by Baumbach’s revelation that Fraternus members are encouraged to eat their weekly meal with someone they don’t know, so that everyone – especially newcomers – feels included.

“Our practical tip this week is really engagement,” said Father Mark. “Look for ways to practically serve. Show up, serve, focus on being present [no cell phones are allowed]. You’ve got to practice charity to love.”

You’ll have to tune in to the premiere to see who the featured music artist will be! Hint: We think you’ll like her!

Fr. Mark says there are tons of great plans for upcoming programs (i.e., you just might get to see Fr. Patrick at, say, Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Md.), so please add this to your playlist. This is one show you won’t want to miss!

2 thoughts on “Life on the Rock Reboot!

  1. Thank God!! Doug ws just not a fit = Father John Paul will speak to the youn and young at heart – and Father Mark is a great communicator.

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