Coach Lou Holtz, who led Notre Dame to the National Title in 1988, stars in the spot. He delivers a pep-talk to viewers, encouraging them to keep their eyes on the goal of life: heaven. The commercial is part of an "evangomercial" effort by Catholics Come Home, a non-profit media apostolate dedicated to producing and airing Catholic evangelism television ads on local, national and international television networks. Catholics Come Home estimates the ad is reaching 70 million households during the college bowl season.
While some people are skeptical of advertising the faith in such a way, this has potential to be a powerful way to reach people, especially when so many Catholics are not attending Mass regularly, much less fully engaging in their Catholic faith. As Pope John Paul II noted in his apostolic letter, the Rapid Development:
Communication permeates the essential dimensions of the Church which is called to announce to all the joyful message of salvation. For this reason, the Church takes advantage of the opportunities offered by the communications media as pathways providentially given by God to intensify communion and to render more penetrating the proclamation of His word. ...
We give thanks to God for the presence of these powerful media which, if used by believers with the genius of faith and in docility to the light of the Holy Spirit, can facilitate the communication of the Gospel and render the bonds of communion among ecclesial communities more effective. (No. 6)I will be very interested to see how successful this effort is. I applaud their efforts and wish them every success. To learn more about the ministry, visit www.catholicscomehome.org.
Go Irish!
