“Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet. 3:15).
This verse, often used in apologetic circles, serves both as inspiration and as a reminder that we Catholics belong to a Church that encourages us to learn our Faith and share it with others.
Another way of putting it: always be ready to offer an explanation of what it is that sets you apart and allows you to live joyfully amid the chaos and complexity of life.
At Catholic Answers, we take this passage to heart and see it as a mandate to continue to do what we do so that we may benefit all those striving to be better Catholics.
One of the newest ways we are working to equip our fans and friends is through our Ready Reasons short-form videos.
Ready Reasons are two-minute apologetic videos we produce and upload to our YouTube channel and Facebook page. They are easily shareable across social media and by email. They feature our Catholic Answers apologists giving succinct explanations of different aspects of the Faith. They are a reliable way to bone up on a certain topic or get a quick introduction to a specific issue. They are the perfect, non-threatening way to share the Faith with friends, family, and colleagues.
The first tool that our founder, Karl Keating, used to explain the Faith was a tract, and our Catholic Answers tracts have been a large part of the apostolate’s success. Our president, Christopher Check, likes to say that a short-form video is the modern-day tract. Whereas tracts used to be the means by which one could easily hand information about the Faith to another person, the short-form video is the digital equivalent.
The proliferation of smartphones is staggering, and the use of mobile devices for video consumption continues to rise sharply. We understand that if we are going to continue to be successful in equipping the faithful, we need to offer our content by the cutting-edge means of communication—and that happens to be online.
In the seven months we’ve been releasing our Ready Reasons videos, our views have increased on Facebook and YouTube, and our YouTube channel watch time has nearly doubled year over year (7.2 million minutes halfway through the year to 8.9 million minutes total for 2016).
Our “Ready Reasons” videos can be viewed on our YouTube channel by visiting youtube.com/catholic.com or by using the QR code to the right with your smartphone. And don’t forget to share on Facebook.
— John Vercillo
Director of Video