CatholicTV will begin airing a new series entitled “ARISE Together in Christ” (ARISE) starting March 2nd. The show is based on a Catholic program of the same name created by RENEW International. The show features ordinary Catholics discussing their faith and making a commitment each week to put their faith into action. 

ARISE Together in Christ is a parish program which consists of weekly meetings of small groups of parishioners (3-8 normally) to discuss, and grow in their faith. Each meeting is centered around a bible passage and a theme. Every week, participants make plans to put what they have learned in their meeting into action.

The television program is a look into these meetings that take place amongst ARISE members. Although normal ARISE meetings last 90 minutes, the television show on CatholicTV compacts ARISE meetings into a TV-friendly 28 minutes. Each episode consists of a reading from the Bible, a very brief talk about the reading by a clergy member, and finally, the discussion featuring the small group. During this discussion, the group members talk about what the Bible reading means to them. The last portion is called “Invitation to Act” where small group members talk about what action they will take during the upcoming week to live out what they learned from the reading and discussion.

For instance, session 4 for the 2009 Lenten season has the theme “Darkness to Light”. It revolves around the Gospel of John Chapter 3:1-21. After reading the passage and discussing it, participants are then asked to think of a difficult situation in the family, workplace, parish, or neighborhood and to commit to an action that will help to improve the situation. The following week, members discuss what actions they took and what the results were.

The show will air each week at these times (EST) Monday 12:30PM; Friday 11:30PM, and Saturday 10:30AM.

Starting March 2nd, “ARISE Together in Christ” will be viewable on CatholicTV where available and will also be streamed live (simultaneously) at www.CatholicTV.com. CatholicTV is a non-profit corporation.

ARISE Together in Christ is a program that was developed by RENEW International. RENEW International is a canonically-recognized Catholic organization based in Plainfield, NJ, in the Archdiocese of Newark. RENEW International fosters spiritual renewal in the Catholic tradition by empowering individuals and communities to encounter God in everyday life, deepen and share faith, and connect faith with action.

For three decades, RENEW International has revitalized parish life in over 150 dioceses in the United States, touching the lives of 25 million people through its renewal processes. RENEW International also reaches many thousands outside the United States, having served people in 23 countries, across six continents, and in 44 languages. Its website is www.renewintl.org.

 About CatholicTV: