Father Tim's Homily: Bring light to the darkness

Father Tim Sherwood's homily for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time at St. Raphael Catholic Church in St. Petersburg, Florida, delivered on Sunday, September 27, 2015. Video by T. Allan Smith. Additional video by Niki Smith and Jane Winstead. Audio recording by Jeff Keller. Theme music: Deliberate Thoughts by Kevin MacLeod.

Fr. Kevin is a live-streaming Periscope trendsetter

Some of Fr. Kevin's recent 'Scopes, as seen on Katch.me

Fr. Kevin interviews Kevin Greeno about his Pinellas Hope building project.

Fr. Kevin talks with Jack and Lisa Lyons about the Holy Land.

These days you’re likely to see Fr. Kevin Mackin somewhere around the St. Raphael parish with his smartphone conducting an interview he’s live streaming on Periscope, which means that even if you’re not where Fr. Kevin happens to be at any given moment, you can still tune in to his activities in real time.

Case in point was the second annual Italian ‘Knight” Dinner on Saturday in the St. Raphael Parish Center. The event drew close to 300 parishioners and friends, and provided Fr. Kevin with a rich opportunity to Periscope, which he did more times than he has in any other venue since he began ‘Scoping only a couple of weeks ago.

While some faithful local followers as well as viewers from all over the world watched, Fr. Kevin talked with people about the Diocese of St. Petersburg’s homeless shelter, Pinellas Hope, his upcoming pilgrimage to the Holy Land, digital music education, and the Italian “Knight” Dinner itself. In recent days, Fr. Kevin has done interviews on the Mustard Seed Ministry for the homeless at the St. Vincent De Paul Center of Hope, St. Raphael Bible Studies, and St. Raphael Youth Ministry. He also conducted a tour some of the stained-glass windows in the church.

At this writing, Fr. Kevin has produced 14 ’Scopes that have been saved at Katch.me. Periscope broadcasts are deleted after 24 hours but can be saved at the website Katch. Some of his earliest followers say his beginning broadcasts (when he was learning and becoming familiar with the new medium) were most entertaining but mercifully they are gone forever.

Mark Dufva of Catholic Charities speaks about Pinellas Hope.

Fr. Kevin may be a trendsetter. He may be the only priest in the Diocese of St. Petersburg on Periscope. In fact, there are precious few in Florida. Fr. Casey Jones, who is parochial vicar at San Pedro Perish in North Port (in the Diocese of Venice), is a Periscoper. There may be others but they haven’t appeared in our recent research. As might be expected, some Catholic public figures have discovered the medium, though they don’t always broadcast regularly. Bishop Robert Barron is still shown as Fr. Robert. Jackie Francois Angel is on but has no recent ‘Scopes. nor does Fr. Dave Dwyer, host of the radio program The Busted Halo.

A few Catholic dioceses and orders around the world are on Periscope, including the Diocese of Washington D.C., Archdiocese of Chicago, Diocese of Syracuse, Diocese of Brisbane in Australia, The Capuchins, and Franciscan Friars.

Glenn DuPont talks about the Italian "Knight" Dinner.

Fr. Kevin is identified on Twitter and Periscope as Franciscan Friar. His recent posts have been in preparation for his visit to Washington D.C. on Wednesday for the Canonization Mass of Blessed Junipero Serra, OFM, the Franciscan friar who started the first Catholic mission in what is now San Diego, California. Fr. Kevin intends to post live streaming sessions on Periscope during his visit.

Then, shortly after he returns, Fr. Kevin will be off again on a 10-day tour of the Holy Land with St. Raphael parishioners. He is planning to do live broadcasts from Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Sea of Galilee, and the other stops on the pilgrimage.

You can follow Fr. Kevin on all his live streaming activities on Periscope. Download the free Periscope app to your smartphone. (It's easiest to log in using your Twitter account [also free.]) Inside Periscope, search for Franciscan Friar or @FrKevinOFM. It's as easy as that. You'll receive alerts when Fr. Kevin goes live! Be sure to tap on the screen to send hearts during during the broadcast. You'll see them float up the screen.

You can offer words of encouragement and ask questions during Fr. Kevin’s broadcasts. Just type a text message inside the Periscope app. Fr. Kevin will be happy to hear from you.

2015 Italian "Knight" Dinner in the Parish Center

Hundreds of parishioners turned out on Saturday for the Knights of Columbus fundraising event. Here's a photo album of the festivities.

Fr. Kevin interviews Kaitlin Berger on Periscope about Youth Ministry

Fr. Kevin used Periscope live streaming on Tuesday to interview Kaitlin Berger, the head of our St. Raphael Youth Ministry. You can follow Fr. Kevin on Periscope and see all of his broadcasts as they happen. Download the free Periscope app to your smartphone. (It's easiest to log in using your Twitter account [also free.]) Inside Periscope, search for Franciscan Friar or @FrKevinOFM. It's as easy as that. You'll receive alerts when Fr. Kevin goes live! Be sure to tap on the screen to send hearts during during the broadcast. You'll see them float up the screen. Also, you can send Fr. Kevin text messages inside of Periscope. Ask questions or offer words of encouragement. Show your support for Fr. Kevin's new Periscope ministry.

Join Fr. Kevin on Periscope as he sends live streaming broadcasts

Fr. Kevin did a series of five broadcasts today discussing the stained glass windows in the church. The broadcasts were really practice session as Fr. Kevin becomes more familiar with the new live streaming platform Periscope, which he plans to use on in his upcoming trips to Washington, D.C., and the Holy Land.

Fr. Kevin will go to Washington for the Canonization Mass of Blessed Junipero Serra, OFM, the Franciscan friar who started the first Catholic mission in what is now San Diego, California. Blessed Junipero will be canonized when Pope Francis visits the United States later this month.

Fr. Kevin is leading a group of parishioners and others on a 10-day tour of the Holy Land in October. The pilgrimage will take travelers to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jericho, Qumran, Caesarea, Haifa, Mount Carmel, Cana, Jordan River, Nazareth, Capernaum, and the Sea of Galilee.

Fr. Kevin is planning to live stream his broadcasts on Periscope during those trips. You can follow Fr. Kevin on Periscope and Twitter @FrKevinOFM. You can watch replays of Fr. Kevin's live broadcasts on Katch.me

Fr. Kevin broadcasts live on Periscope ahead of Pope visit

You can watch Fr. Kevin's Periscope broadcast until about lunchtime on Friday. After that, it'll be gone.  

Fr. Kevin Mackin broadcast live Thursday from St. Vincent de Paul Society's Center of Hope in downtown St Petersburg in preparation for live streaming he plans to do during Pope Francis' visit in Washington, D.C. this month.

Today, Fr. Kevin spoke with Maria Smetena, coordinator of volunteers and administrative affairs at the St. Vincent de Paul district office, who was at the center to help with the distribution of lunch to center clients.

Fr. Kevin, who is a frequent visitor to the Center of Hope, was practicing with the new live streaming Internet platform Periscope, which can be used to broadcast from any location where there is a good wifi connection.

Periscope is an app that can be downloaded free for Apple and Android mobile devices. The app makes it feasible for anyone to broadcast about their activities to friends or a group of followers. Periscope users receive alerts on their phones or tablets about an upcoming broadcast. The app allows users to respond to the broadcast by sending text messages, which scroll up the screen and can be read by the broadcaster. Users also can tap on the screen during a broadcast to create a stream of hearts to indicate approval of the broadcast.

The app was introduced publicly in March and within a month had a million subscribers. Less than six months later, there are an estimated 10 million subscribers worldwide, and Periscope use continues to grow.

Fr. Kevin is believed to be one of the first clergy in the Diocese of St. Petersburg to start using the Periscope platform. He is doing a series of 'Scopes on his daily activities to become more familiar with this new communication tool.

You can follow Fr. Kevin on Periscope. After downloading the app to your device and establishing an account, search for Franciscan Friar or @FrKevinOFM. It is easier to establish an account using your Twitter account. Twitter owns Periscope and the two apps are tightly integrated. Twitter accounts and apps also are free. If you plan to follow Fr. Kevin, do so soon and help him become familiar with Periscope by giving him plenty of response, and of course, a steady stream of hearts.

Pope Francis arrives in Washington late in the afternoon on Tuesday, September 22 as part of his six-day visit to the United States. He will meet with President Obama in the morning on Wednesday, September 23, and later in the day will celebrate the Canonization Mass of Junipero Serra Ferrer, OFM, an 18th century Spanish Franciscan friar who established a a mission in what is now San Diego in 1769. Fr. Kevin will participate in that Mass, which is scheduled to begin at 4:15 p.m.

Pope Francis also will address a joint session of Congress and will visit New York and Philadelphia during his trip.

Father Tim's Homily: Spiritually deaf and mute

Father Tim Sherwood's homily for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time at St. Raphael Catholic Church in St. Petersburg, Florida, delivered on Sunday, September 6, 2015. Video by T. Allan Smith. Additional video by Jane Winstead. Audio recording by Ted Scarpino. Theme music: Deliberate Thoughts by Kevin MacLeod.