By Irene Lagan
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 8/28/03)

Modern media plays a powerful role in shaping culture. Movies and videos are meant to entertain, and the news to inform. Beyond the time we spend watching television and movies, listening to music, surfing the internet or reading the news, what we take in forms the basis of many of our conversations and often influences behavior and attitudes.

For instance, angry fans recently rioted when the Lebanese semifinalist in "Superstar," the Arab version of the popular television show "American Idol," was eliminated. According to news reports, angry fans "pelted each other with chairs and anything else they could find." (AP report, Monday Aug. 18)

While critics often complain about the media’s negative impact on culture, Catholics are becoming more attuned to the evangelical opportunities presented by mass media. According to Art Bennett and Phil Halpin, informing and shaping culture is at the heart of the Christian message, and mass media is a powerful tool for communicating the Gospel message.

Bennett and Halpin produce a local radio program called "Healthy Minds, Healthy Souls," which targets commuters and others around the dinner hour and typically features guests who share their expertise on some aspect of culture from a Catholic or Christian viewpoint. The 24-minute program is divided into four segments, with the first two centered on discussion about a particular issue and the last two on practical suggestions for addressing related concerns.

Bennett and Halpin are both natives of California whose work brought them to Northern Virginia. Bennett, a marriage and family therapist and director of the Alpha Omega Clinics in Vienna and Bethesda, Md., said the goal of the program is to bring the reality of Christ’s message into the problems and challenges of daily life.

"We all have a vision of how we should be, how we can be happy and fulfilled. This show tries to integrate the fullness of the Gospel message into the issues and challenges of daily life," Bennett said.

While Bennett focuses on scheduling guests, Halpin, who works as the manager of media services at U.S. Inspect, Inc., focuses on the technical side, often devoting weekend hours to perfecting sound.

Typical topics range from disciplining children and other parenting issues to ethics in the work place, cultivating virtue, nutrition, communication, depression, alcoholism and other cultural or life issues.

Among the show’s recent guests were author, attorney and mother of seven Mary Hasson. She shared the findings of her latest research on parents of large families. Families with more than the average cultural quota of two children are often stereotyped as being strained and unhappy, she said. The prevailing cultural attitudes seem to suggest that mothers of many are burdened by motherhood and that their children are hampered by having to share parental time and resources with siblings.

Hasson said her research has yielded different results. Overwhelmingly, she said, parents of large families have a profound sense of generosity and choose freely to have more children. Hasson said that women and men who have large families nowadays generally have strong marriages, are open to change and share equally the duties of childrearing. Contrary to the negative stereotype that women are enslaved by their children, women are not resentful toward their children or choice of vocation, and learn to become better managers of time, money and personal resources. While fatigue and practical difficulties pose greater challenges for large families, Hasson said that large families who work cooperatively tend to flourish and that parents "grow in material and spiritual resources with the job."

Hasson’s second show centered on women’s identity, freedom and fulfillment in light of cultural cues and strong messages that are often contrary to true happiness. For instance, she said that while women enjoy greater confidence, freedom and opportunity in the workplace, there is often a disconnect between career and personal life that leaves women feeling unfulfilled and fragmented. Hasson, who has managed to maintain a career as an author and speaker, shared her views and tips on integrating career and home life.

Other recent guests have included popular speaker and author Mary Beth Bonacci, Professors William May and Janet Smith, psychologists Lisa Klewicki and Patrick DeVietri, nutrition consultant Kathy O’Brien, Franciscan Father Benedict Groeschel, Father Marcus Pollard, Father Paul de Ladurantaye and Father Francis Peffley.

According to Bennett and Halpin, the show has received mostly positive feedback from listeners in the greater metro area. They hope to expand programming in the future, and to reach an even wider audience. "Healthy Minds, Healthy Souls" is sponsored by the Center for Family Development in Bethesda, Md. Listeners can tune in to the program at www.wust1120.com, or on the WUST AM 1120 from 6-6:30 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday.