BRIDGEPORT—It’s Friday morning and we all know what that means. It’s time for another segment of Faith Friday with Fr. Sam Kachuba!
Only this video, sponsored by the Communications Office of the Diocese of Bridgeport, will be special: it will commemorate the one-year anniversary of the beginning of Faith Friday.
This wildly popular segment began in an effort to inject even more faith and spirituality into the Diocesan social media accounts. It was rolled out along with a number of initiatives including: BPT Reflections, Scripture Sunday, Wisdom Wednesday, and The Illustrated Word. Faith Friday came about in an effort to answer questions about the faith, especially about aspects of the Church’s tradition and teaching that are not well known. Over the past year, topics have included: God as a loving Father; clerical attire; the beauty of nature; Confession from the priest’s perspective; how to pray; the Immaculate Conception; homily preparation; and what a Diocese of Bridgeport priest does through the day.
For Fr. Sam Kachuba, the host of Faith Friday, the experience is enjoyable as well as important for evangelization. Fr. Sam commented: “I have a good time with it. Talking about aspects of the faith and the spiritual life are things that come fairly naturally to me, and I hope the videos help people dive a bit deeper into their faith. Fortunately, the Diocese will send me topic ideas or questions so I don’t have to come up with them all by myself. I’ve learned exactly how long two to three minutes on camera can be—it’s a lot longer than you think!” Additionally, Faith Friday is broadening Fr. Sam’s horizons; he commented: “Faith Friday gave me the opportunity for one of the more embarrassing purchases of my life: a selfie stick. I try to make all the videos inside or out of view because I’m still a little shy about being seen using a selfie stick.”
The reception to these videos, a few minutes in length, has been overwhelmingly positive. Each video receives over a thousand views, if not a couple thousand, and a number of likes, comments, and shares. John Grosso, the Director of Digital Media, commented on Faith Friday’s popularity, saying: “Over the last year, Faith Friday has been one of our most popular segments. I can’t tell you how many people have shared with me how much they love the weekly videos! I’m stopped at nearly every event I’m covering.”
Fr. Sam noticed a similar trend: “In general, the reaction has been very positive. Many of my parishioners are aware of the project and like to share the videos with friends and family. Every so often I meet someone who has seen the videos.” For Fr. Sam, though, the spiritual element is key: “Really though, I just hope that whoever sees the videos can take another step in their spiritual life and will grow in holiness and God’s grace. Even if I never hear about it, that’s OK. Closer to Jesus is much more important.” In fact, Fr. Sam commented on Faith Friday’s importance in bringing people closer to Jesus, saying: “The mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel to all the world, to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are to proclaim Christ in season and out of season, whether it is convenient or inconvenient. So anything we can do to make the name of Jesus known in our world is something good. My hope is that Faith Friday in some way can bring the Gospel to a place it may not always be found (social media), or help make the Gospel more accessible to people in the midst of a very hectic world.”
As the one-year anniversary approaches, the Diocese of Bridgeport is excited to celebrate such an effective evangelization tool. Commenting on Faith Friday’s unique character as an evangelization tool, Mr. Grosso said: “I think the most important thing is that Faith Friday helps those who view it come to a deeper understanding of their Catholic Faith. Every episode helps us come to understand the Church, appreciate the deep mysteries of our faith, and fall ever more deeply in love with the person who is Jesus Christ.” He continued: “I also find Faith Friday to be a breath of fresh air on social media. For 2-3 minutes a week, we’re saying ‘take a break from all those awful things on your timeline, and spend some time with your diocesan family learning about your faith.’ That is sorely needed in today’s world!”
To celebrate the anniversary of this segment, which is so effective in evangelization and catechesis, the Diocese of Bridgeport sponsored Faith Friday LIVE on Friday, June 1, 2018 at 9:15 am. It was our hope that this upcoming Faith Friday event continues and build upon the efforts of evangelization and catechesis begun last year. Fr. Sam Kachuba and the Diocese are very excited for this upcoming segment!
All were encouraged to come up with questions and to tune in on the Diocesan Facebook page on the morning of Friday, June 1 to participate.
Click here to be directed to Facebook to see the Faith Friday Live video.
