AFTER SUPER BOWL AD, CATHOLIC PRAYER APP HALLOW SEES BIGGEST SPIKE IN HISTORY

The Vatican announced today that on Sunday, April 28, Pope Francis will go to Venice to visit the Holy See Pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. He will also go to the Giudecca Women’s Prison, and meet the Ecclesial Community of the Patriarchate of Venice. Program  details to come soon.

The following story is such a wonderful, happy piece of news! Have had a smile on my face all day! It would have been fun to follow people’s reaction in the stadium when they saw this commercial!  The title of the story tells us everything, I think: it tells us what people want, tells us what people believe they need.  A dream come true, as a Hallow co-founder said!

AFTER SUPER BOWL AD, CATHOLIC PRAYER APP HALLOW SEES BIGGEST SPIKE IN HISTORY

The Catholic prayer app Hallow aired its first-ever commercial during Super Bowl LVIII, which saw the Kansas City Chiefs win their second consecutive championship on Feb. 11. Immediately following the airing of the ad, Hallow saw the biggest spike in downloads in its history, according to Alex Jones, CEO of Hallow.

“It was the most downloads in a single minute we’d ever seen,” Jones told CNA. “We’re already ranking ahead of Netflix on the App Store charts and Lent hasn’t even started yet. Glory to God.”

The 30-second ad was shown in 15 markets across the country.

The commercial began with Catholic actor Mark Wahlberg, who recently starred in “Father Stu,” blessing himself with holy water as he enters a church.

“We take this moment to give you thanks. We thank you for this time to come together as a family, as friends, and as a country. Help us Lord, especially this Lent, to grow closer to you. Amen,” Wahlberg’s voice said as images of a family at the dinner table, friends at a football game, a group of soldiers, and Catholic actor Jonathan Roumie receiving ashes on his forehead were shown.

The commercial ended with Wahlberg encouraging viewers to join Hallow in prayer this Lenten season. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=23&v=0-U1TyEr4IE&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicnewsagency.com%2F&embeds_referring_origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicnewsagency.com&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY&feature=emb_logo

“It was a phenomenal night. A dream come true. For the first time ever during the Super Bowl, we all got to take 30 seconds to give thanks to God,” Jones, who is also co-founder of Hallow, told CNA in an interview.

“We’ve been blown away by the responses to the spot,” he said. “We’ve heard from many who were inspired to join us and give prayer a try for the first time in a long time this Lent.”

Jones shared that they were “humbled” to see the response from people, receiving thousands of emails, tweets, and text messages from people sharing their thoughts.

“It was a huge bet for us,” he said. “When we were producing the spot we decided really to just focus on making it all about Jesus — just on spending time in prayer with God. It was amazing to see how the spot resonated with so many. It was an honor to get to pray together and we’re thrilled to continue to pray together with everyone this Lent.”Another faith-based ad aired during the Super Bowl was created by a nondenominational group with the intention of sharing Jesus’ love to all audiences. “He Gets Us” also aired two commercials during last year’s Super Bowl, which were met with mixed reactions.

This year, the minute-long commercial was titled “Foot Washing” and showed several still images of individuals having their feet washed, including a woman outside of a family planning clinic.

The ad ends with the words “Jesus didn’t teach hate. He washed feet.”

According to the group’s website, this year’s theme was chosen to “focus on the thematic inverse of last year’s commercial — one built on the premise of love and unity. And with an upcoming election year that will be filled with division and derision, we decided to focus on one of the most important directives given by Jesus — love your neighbor.”

(Also this: Internet Reacts to Super Bowl’s Catholic Hallow App Ad with Mark Wahlberg & Jonathan Roumie)

 

A LITTLE BIT OF THIS AND A LITTLE BIT OF THAT…

A LITTLE BIT OF THIS AND A LITTLE BIT OF THAT…

TUNE IN TODAY TO EWTN’s “At Home with Jim and Joy” when, in the last 6 or so minutes of the show, I talk about how important the date February 11 is in the Vatican and also explain the “firsts” of yesterday’s canonization ceremony! Show starts at 1:30 pm (ET). If you miss it, you can always see the replay on Youtube.

YOU PROBABLY DID NOT MISS THE SUPER BOWL (or at least part of it) but, in case you did, you might have missed the following commercial, a great plug for prayer and the app Hallow! https://nypost.com/2024/02/11/entertainment/mark-wahlberg-encourages-prayer-in-super-bowl-2024-commercial-for-catholic-app-hallow/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

JUST SOME “LIGHT READING”? This is my great-nephew Sammy who, as you can see, is engrossed in an important book! I so loved this that I actually tweeted (x’ed?) it to Pope Francis! I hope he “likes” it! Sammy has 2 older brothers, Harry and Danny, and a younger sister, Evie.

DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT RELIGIOUS LIFE?
Sisters of Life Answer the Top Questions People Ask About Nuns in Viral Video: https://www.churchpop.com/sisters-of-life-answer-the-top-questions-people-ask-about-nuns-in-viral-video/

POPE FRANCIS’ PRAYER INTENTION FOR FEBRUARY: SAY “NO” TO CORRUPTION – SUPER PRELATES MAKE A WINNING BET

IN BRIEF: According to the Vatican paper, L’Osservatore Romano, for the first time ever, the CIO – International Olymic Committee – has formally invited a delegation of the Holy See to participate in the inauguration of the Winter Games in Pyeonchang, Korea on February 9. Led by under-secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Msgr. Melchior Sanchez de Toca, the delegation will also be able to attend an Olympic session as an observer from February 5 to 7. This meeting is a kind of general assembly of CIO members as they discuss great themes of the world’s sport agenda.

POPE FRANCIS’ PRAYER INTENTION FOR FEBRUARY: SAY “NO” TO CORRUPTION

Pope Francis has released a video message accompanying his monthly prayer intention for February 2018.

http://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-02/pope-francis-prayer-intention-february-corruption.html#play

This month’s intention – “Say ‘No’ to Corruption” – is that those who have material, political or spiritual power may resist any lure of corruption.

The text of the video message reads: “What is at the root of slavery, unemployment, and disregard for nature and goods held in common? Corruption, a process of death that feeds the culture of death. Because the thirst for power and possessions knows no limits.

“Corruption is not countered with silence. We must speak about it, denounce its evils, and try to understand it so as to show our resolve to make mercy reign over meanness, beauty over nothingness. Let us pray that those who have material, political or spiritual power may resist any lure of corruption.”

The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network of the Apostleship of Prayer developed the “Pope Video” initiative to assist in the worldwide dissemination of monthly intentions of the Holy Father in relation to the challenges facing humanity.

SUPER PRELATES MAKE A WINNING BET

Minneapolis, Minn., Jan 31, 2018 / 05:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- On Sunday, the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles will go head-to-head in Super Bowl LII, facing off to claim the Lombardi Trophy at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The archbishops of Boston and Philadelphia have already placed wagers on the game.

The archbishops jointly announced a bet Wednesday: Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia said he would donate $100 to Catholic Charities Boston if the Patriots prevail, while Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston said he would donate $100 to St. John’s Hospice in Philadelphia if the Eagles win.

Catholic Charities Boston offers social services to thousands of individuals and families in the Massachusetts area. St. John’s Hospice is an emergency service provider to the homeless in Philadelphia and also helps the homeless to find stable residences.

To raise the stakes, Archbishop Chaput and Cardinal O’Malley, who are both Capuchin Franciscans and friends from their seminary days, also said they would add Philadelphia cheesesteaks and Boston lobsters to the wager.

“Each year the Super Bowl is viewed by millions of people throughout the world,” read a Jan. 31 statement.

“In the spirit of friendly competition, we have issued our wager because we have confidence in our teams and, more importantly, based on our admiration for the commitment of the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots to assist their local communities and respond to the needs of the less fortunate,” the statement continued.

Archbishop Chaput and Cardinal O’Malley also made predictions for the Super Bowl outcome. The Philadelphia shepherd is counting on an Eagle’s victory, 24-20, while the Boston shepherd believes the Patriots will claim the trophy, 34-21.

No matter the outcome, they both pray for a safe sporting event for everyone involved.

HOW MUCH DID POPE FRANCIS’ SUPER BOWL MESSAGE COST?

I never really thought of the cost of this video (which I posted last Friday), although that would have been a reasonable query. Here’s the answer from ChurchPOP:

HOW MUCH DID POPE FRANCIS’ SUPER BOWL MESSAGE COST?
A lot of people have been asking: How much did that Pope Francis video message to the Super Bowl cost the Vatican? Did they spend millions of dollars??

First, to clear up some confusion: ChurchPOP regrettably erroneously reported that the Pope’s video message would be shown on TV during the game. That was not true. The video was instead shown on the jumbotrons within the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas to the more than 70,000 people in attendance. So it was not like a normal Super Bowl commercial.

But companies would still normally pay for a video to be shown during the Super Bowl, even if only in the stadium. So how much did the Vatican pay for that?

Zero.

“The message did not cost the Vatican anything,” Director of the Holy See Press Office Greg Burke confirmed to ChurchPOP. “Most people are happy to have a message from the Pope, and the Super Bowl is no exception.”

So if you were concerned that the Vatican spent millions of dollars on the video that could have gone somewhere else, don’t worry!

Here’s the historic video in case you missed it:

https://youtu.be/q5ATeiWsZiU

Here’s what Pope Francis said:

“Great sporting events like today’s Super Bowl are highly symbolic, showing that it is possible to build a culture of encounter and a world of peace.

“By participating in sport, we are able to go beyond our own self interest – and in a healthy way – we learn to sacrifice, to grow in fidelity and respect the rules.

“May this year’s Super Bowl be a sign of peace, friendship and solidarity to the world.

“Thank you!”

POPE FRANCIS TAPES VIDEO MESSAGE FOR SUPER BOWL PLAYERS, FANS AND VIEWERS

POPE FRANCIS TAPES VIDEO MESSAGE FOR SUPER BOWL PLAYERS, FANS AND VIEWERS

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday reached out to Americans urging them to make this year’s Super Bowl a sign of peace, friendship and solidarity to the world.

In a specially recorded video message for the event, which will hold the attention of much of the nation and command a television audience larger than for any other event of the year, the Pope points out that great sporting events like the championship game of the National Football League are highly symbolic, and show that it is possible to build a culture of encounter and a world of peace.

https://youtu.be/KIjJ4BTNzUQ

“By participating in sport, we are able to go beyond our own self-interest – and in a healthy way – we learn to sacrifice, to grow in fidelity and respect the rules. May this year’s Super Bowl be a sign of peace, friendship and solidarity to the world” he said.

The 2017 Super Bowl takes place in Houston and features the final NFL showdown between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons.

Vice President Mike Pence, who is scheduled to attend, will be the fourth sitting vice president to see the game in person.