Recognizing the promptings of the Holy Spirit is the first step in discerning how to live our faith out in the world. Responding to these spiritual inspirations is how we apply sanctifying grace in our lives. There are so many stories of the work begun under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and their power to move our hearts to hope is unfailing. The work of my fellow parishioners, David and Maggie Britt, is a case in point.
The Britts have a young family of four children, six years and under. Like many faith-filled Catholic families, they longed to immerse their children in our rich culture of faith through wholesome entertainment. While paging through different Catholic resources, they found many DVDs from which to choose; alas, the cost of purchasing everything desired was prohibitive. The Holy Spirit, in His Infinite Wisdom, sparked their desire and transformed it into a faith-based family business: Piusmedia, a source of online DVD rentals, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Netflix and Blockbuster pioneered the establishment of online DVD rentals delivered to your door. Take that concept, combine it with plenty of family-friendly entertainment and Catholic subjects, and you’ve got www.piusmedia.com. The website is loaded with wholesome old TV series, children’s movies, lives of the saints, powerful conversion stories, apologetics and religious education training, and Christian-friendly Hollywood movies. Piusmedia’s introductory web page displays an illustration of our Blessed Mother with the apropos motto “Entertainment your Mother Approves!” The criteria for placement on the website is exceedingly evident in the title of the business: Pius, in Latin, meaning “dutiful, godly, holy, upright, kind, honest, affectionate”.
When you click on “Home” at www.piusmedia.com, you are shown the current month’s newest DVD additions. Several informative selection processes are featured on Piusmedia’s website. There is a category listing, where you can access desired material by interest type, sacrament, Church season, and age level, among other categories. Two topics of great interest are the “Family Movie Night” selections and the “Vatican Top 45”. Both categories are explained under the “Information” heading. A monthly calendar of saints’ feast days connects you to the movies celebrating their lives. What a great way to teach children about our spiritual legacies! If you want a particular company’s selections, you can utilize the “Distributor” listing to find DVDs from Big Idea, Disney, EWTN, Ignatius Press, Saint Joseph Communications, and others.
With a current list of almost 1500 DVD titles, Piusmedia has plenty of interesting selections to suit everyone in the family, and parents can allow their children to peruse the website without the fear of inappropriate titles, pictures, or subject matter. Starting at just $8.50 a month, the simplest subscription allows you to have unlimited DVDs each month, checked out one at a time. The next selection in your rental queue is mailed to you once the previous one is returned.
One of the truly noble aspirations of the Britts’ family business is to support pro-life causes. In light of that, Piusmedia is supporting the national organization “Priests for Life” as well as “Women’s Help Center,” a crisis pregnancy center in Jacksonville, FL, where Piusmedia is based.
Living our faith in the secular world is our call as Catholic Christians, and the Britt family business is a wonderful example of putting that faith into action. Through listening to the Holy Spirit’s direction and acting upon it, all baptized believers can bring hope and sanctifying grace into the world.
