By Jessica Able, Record Staff Writer
Twenty-eight minutes and 56 seconds. That short amount of time each week is vital to homebound Catholics in Central Kentucky, said Father Nicholas Rice.
Mass of the Air, a weekly television production of the Sunday liturgy, airs each Sunday morning in Louisville and some outlying areas.
Father Rice began the television ministry in 1977 in an effort to reach homebound Catholics who yearn for a spiritual experience but are unable to attend Mass at their parish. After nearly 40 years at the helm, the priest is retiring and Mass of the Air will have new leadership.
He’s handing the reigns to Deacon Mark Rougeux, who officially becomes the executive director tomorrow, July 1.
Father Rice first felt the urge to create Mass of the Air after an encounter with his own father. One Sunday, he learned his homebound father was
watching a religious program on TV that wasn’t Catholic.
“I asked, ‘Why isn’t he watching a Catholic program?’ And my mom said, ‘There’s not one on,’ ” Father Rice said he recalled in an interview last week.
Originally, the broadcast ministry was recorded in a studio — first at WLKY and later at WHAS. Now it’s filmed on location at the Ursuline Motherhouse Chapel on Lexington Road.
The program airs on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WHAS-TV in Louisville and at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. on the Faith Channel. It also airs on stations in Campbellsville, Ky., and Bowling Green, Ky.
Father Rice is quick to downplay his role in the television ministry and deflects praise to the dozens of volunteers that he said are instrumental to Mass of the Air production.
“When we started taping, one night a week I would take a van and pick up vestments, candlesticks and hosts from Bellarmine and haul them to the studio and record Mass.
Then I began to recruit a small team of volunteers,” he said.
Now there are four rotating teams, each with a priest, a deacon, a lector, a cantor, a musician, a sign language interpreter and a floor director.
Twice a year — at Christmas and Easter — Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz celebrates the Mass.
The program costs $5,000 per week to produce and air. A large part of that price purchases air time, which ensures the program will be aired consistently at the same time each week for its estimated 35,000 weekly viewers.
Remarkably, Mass of the Air is entirely funded by donations. In 39 years, Father Rice estimated, the ministry has received $12 to $14 million in donations — many through memorial gifts and bequeathals.
“We usually get five to 15 letters per day, many containing donations. They will say things like ‘My bed is my church now’ or ‘I look forward to it every week because it’s my source of strength.’ ” Father Rice said.
While it’s bittersweet to step down as Mass of the Air director, Father Rice said he’s confident the program will flourish under the “quality leadership” of Deacon Rougeux. Father Rice will still serve as a celebrant on the program.
Deacon Rougeux, who serves at St. Patrick Church, was ordained to the permanent diaconate in 2008. He became involved with Mass of the Air nearly 20 years ago.
“My pastor at the time, Father Jack Schindler, asked me to be a lector for Mass of the Air,” he said in a phone interview last week.
Not long after, Deacon Rougeux’s wife, Kim, also began lectoring for Mass of the Air. And, about five years ago at Father Rice’s urging, the two joined the ministry’s steering committee.
Deacon Rougeux is a native of Louisville and graduated from both St. Gabriel and St. Xavier High schools. In 1987, he left his career in commercial real estate development and became involved in church ministry in Washington, D.C.
Upon his return to Louisville, he taught theology at St. Xavier and Bellarmine University. He holds a master’s degree in theology and a doctoral degree in ministry — both from Catholic University of America.
He has been a catechist in the Rite of Christian Initiative for Adults for more than 20 years and is an instructor in the permanent diaconate formation program at St. Meinrad School of Theology. He and his wife have been married for 42 years. The couple have three adult sons and two granddaughters.
For viewers, Deacon Rougeux said, Mass of the Air is a way for Catholics to feel connected to the church.
“For most of them, they grew up in the church. It helps them feel not so isolated. They are still part of a community in some form. There is still a connection to the church,” he said.
Father Rice agreed and said some viewers gather at their nursing homes to watch Mass together.
Mass of the Air, Deacon Rougeux said, is also an important evangelization ministry because not only Catholics tune in on Sundays.
“Anyone can watch it,” he said, noting he often hears from non-Catholics who are regular viewers. “It’s important for us to do Mass of the Air well and faithfully so that even someone who is not Catholic would have a good understanding of our liturgy and what we believe.”
He said the goal is to be inviting so that anyone who may tune in feels welcomed and included.
Deacon Rougeux said Father Rice leaves behind a legacy — one that he hopes to continue.
“His legacy is significant in the lives of thousands and thousands of people who have watched and continue to see Mass of the Air and benefit spiritually from it,” he said.
Father Nick was a close friend of both myself and my wife Mary. One of our more memorable experiences was a fabulous trip in which we met with Nick in Seattle where a led conference for priests and then stopping for a few days in Las Vegas before going home. The Mass of the Air is only one of his most important ministries. All of us are thankful to have been a friend. Blessings to him in his future endeavors