‘Rise Up Live!’ charts new direction for Catholic ministry

MORRISTOWN  The new online show, “Rise Up Live!,” leaps off smartphone, computer, tablet, and TV screens with the dazzling energy of its title. Produced by Array of Hope, a Catholic multimedia ministry, the hour-long variety program offers family entertainment. It ranges from interviews with prominent Catholics and profiles on local faithful to videos of faith-based songs, like its title track, “Rise Up.”

“Rise up, open your heart. Rise up, now’s the time to start. Rise up, faith is what we need. Rise up, grace will plant the seed,” a group of young musicians, including two from the Paterson Diocese, sing in the chorus of “Rise Up.” The song ends the Feb. 8 debut episode of “Rise Up Live!,” which is helping chart a new direction for Array of Hope.

Mixing live with taped segments, “Rise Up Live!” is available on Array of Hope Channel online, part of the 12-year-old ministry’s new push toward greater “virtual evangelization.” Array of Hope was inspired to be even more creative in the pandemic in 2020, when it developed virtual Confirmation retreats and contemporary ­music concerts — events that it had staged live at parishes before COVID-19. The Array of Hope Chan­nel can be viewed on computers, tablets, TVs, and now smartphones with a new app. Its songs are available on all music streaming services, including Spotify, said Mario Costabile, founder and executive director of Array of Hope.

Although based in Old Tappan in the Newark Archdiocese, Array of Hope includes the talents of several Catholics of the Paterson Diocese. They include David Hajduk, director of theological programs at Array of Hope and mission and ministry director at Delbarton School in Morristown; Jack Garno, the outreach’s production manager who is also a singer, guitarist, bassist, and songwriter, and a parishioner of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Stirling; and Dan Ferrari, music minister at the Evangelization Center at St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison. Both Garno and Ferrari, also a singer, guitarist, and songwriter, helped to co-write “Rise Up” and appear in the video. “COVID propelled us to innovate, after our 40 to 50 live parish events that were scheduled for 2020 had dried up. We discerned, asking, ‘Where is God moving us?’ ” Costabile said. In the pandemic, Array of Hope developed 60 virtual retreats and concerts with music, videos, and witness talks in addition to new elements, such as trivia games and interactive polls, he said. The ministry soon started receiving requests to put on these events in parishes around the United States, Costabile said. “This gave us the confidence to create a dedicated channel — the first of its kind,” he said.

Interested Catholics can sign up for the new channel at watch.arrayofhope.net. It gives viewers free access to Array of Hope’s content, designed to help individuals and families strengthen their relationship with Christ. It includes movies, original series, and shows, such as “Rise Up Live!” and streaming music. Array of Hope also broadcasts live events through its channel. On the Array of Hope website (www.arrayofhope.org), visitors also can sign up to receive the ministry’s podcast, “A Reason to Hope.” There is a $9.95 monthly fee for premium content on the channel, said Costabile.

The debut of “Rise Up Live!” on Feb. 8 serves up a variety of segments focused on the topic of everlasting joy. It includes an interview with Matt Maher, a contemporary Catholic recording artist. In the Faith in Focus section, Hajduk talks about the nature of true happiness. “It is God alone who satisfies,” he says.

The show has a segment that features the Rose family of Rockaway with seven chil­dren — six, when it was taped — who homeschools the kids and infuses faith into their daily routine. They even have a farm on their property where they take turns feeding the animals.

“Religion is part of everything we do. God is saying, ‘Lean on me. You will come out of this [struggle in life] holy,’ ” Michael Rose, the father, says.

Costabile interviews Chris Stefanick, an author and speaker, who now lives in Colorado but got his passion for Catholic ministry while in a youth group at St. Catherine of Bologna Parish in Ringwood. Promoting his latest book, “Living Joy: 9 Rules to Help You Rediscover and Live Joy Every Day,” Stefanick, says, “Invite the Lord into that joy [of your life].

“The Lord didn’t create us to be unhappy. Heaven is a wedding banquet. Hold onto that dream,” Stefanick says in the interview, during “Rise Up Live!”

In another segment, Garno calls joy “a change of mind, heart, and self. We need to change our spiritual attitude so that we can share in everlasting joy. Then, we can spread that joy to everyone around us.”

The next “Rise Up Live!” will air Tuesday, March 15, at 8:30 p.m. Array of Hope plans to air episodes every other Monday starting on April 18.

In an interview with The Beacon, Ferrari called Array of Hope “a great outlet for faith and music.

“It’s a great way to meet the needs of the parishes. During COVID, Array of Hope created a virtual platform for its retreats. Its got a finger on the pulse of what’s needed,” said Ferrari, who appears in live events and has taped talks for broadcast. He also called Array of Hope’s content “entertaining and relatable to today’s Catholic families and individuals, so they can make it understandable to the world.”

While available on music streaming services and its new channel, Array of Hope also can be found on Facebook and Instagram.