Ahava Productions for the New Evangelization

"Among the possibilities offered by digital communication, the most important is the proclamation of the Gospel....the internet must be used to meet often hurting or lost real people and offer them real reasons for hope. The announcement [of the Gospel] requires authentic human relationships and leads along the path to a personal encounter with the Lord.

It is essential to be present, always in an evangelical way, in what, for many, especially young people, has become a sort of living environment; to awaken the irrepressible questions of the heart about the meaning of existence; and to show the way that leads to Him who is the answer, the Divine Mercy made flesh, the Lord Jesus.” ~Pope Francis (Vatican Radio)

While the "official" Year of Faith may be over for the Catholic Church, we can never rest on our laurels and allow ourselves to feel as though we have done enough to promote the faith and to witness to our brothers and sisters about the love of the Lord found within the tenets of the Catholic tradition.

Bishop Donald Hying, the auxiliary bishop of Milwaukee, together with the Archdiocesan Communications Office, had put together a series of videos for the Year of Faith as a means of evangelization. The videos, called C4: Ignite Your Catholic Faith, (C4 stands for Christ and the Catechism of the Catholic Church) were 2-3 minutes in length, and were distributed weekly as a means to share the wisdom of the Church and to evangelize to those on the margins of the faith. The videos were met with huge success and reached a global audience. Those videos can be found here.

And now, in conjuction with the newly formed Ahava Productions, Bishop Hying and Erin Berghouse, the artistically talented founder of Ahava Productions, are working to produce a new series of videos, each approximately 10-15 minutes in length, that will take evangelization to a new and beautiful level. The videos will be produced by Spirit Juice Studios in Chicago and will feature cutting edge technology to enhance the content which will be contributed and overseen by Bishop Hying, that seeks to "reinvent the way we evangelize in modern media and to create films that will change lives."

Ahava, which, according to Erin, means "love in the language that Jesus spoke," has an ambitious mission which follows:

"We are determined to INSPIRE and EDUCATE with extraordinary media productions created for television and all new media communications platforms. We are a Catholic organization PROPELLED by the deep desire to EVANGELIZE in our communities and our parishes. We are on a mission to create films that will reaffirm the DEPTH and BEAUTY of our Catholic faith, reaching the important groups within and outside of the Church, including youth."

Ahava Productions boasts a stellar board including Bishop Donald Hying, Bishop Joseph Perry, an auxiliary in Chicago, Father Anthony Mary Stelten from EWTN in Alabama, as well as several others who are exemplary in their fields and in the faith.

The initial goal of Ahava Productions is to "create, launch, and distribute three films that will include educational inserts and learning plans to be utilized in homes and parishes," and to distribute them through EWTN and Salt + Light Television, as well as making them available for purchase through retail and online stores such as the Apple Store and Google Play.

I encourage you to watch the inspirational fundraising video on the Avaha Productions website, and then consider how you might be willing to support Ahava Productions through a financial gift, the sharing of your time and talent, or by hosting an informational gathering to introduce Ahava Productions to others. And of course, your prayers for the success of Ahava Productions are greatly appreciated!

To contact Ahava Productions about how you can help them to reach their goals, email Erin Berghouse at: admin@ahavaproductions.com or call her at 414-745-7144. For more information visit the Ahava Productions website here.