March 21, 2008. Los Angeles, CA. Hombre Nuevo (New Man) and Guadalupe Radio are two connected media apostolates that use radio and television to reach Spanish-speaking audiences with the Gospel message.

The idea is to preach the fullness of the Gospel message in an attractive, relevant way so that it truly changes the lives of those who listen. Accordingly, the characteristic style is substantial in content and practical in application, with plenty of real-life stories and a good dose of humor.

Among the thousands of testimonies that pour in from listeners across the US and Latin America, there are stories of Jehovah’s Witness Elders returning to the Catholic faith, missionary priests using the programs to reach their flocks in the Andes, people that were in the very act of committing suicide and happened to tune in, women who changed their mind about aborting their children…

God has a lot to say to his children, and he is using the Catholic media to do so.

Starting from Zero… with Creativity and Courage

Founding a radio apostolate is never easy. Hombre Nuevo has had its fair share of struggles, but somehow Our Lady of Guadalupe always came through, pulling the project from

	Fr Juan Rivas, LC, founder of Hombre Nuevo

paper into reality, and from the red into the black.

Father Juan Rivas, LC originally started a small television program with a team of lay people in 1983. It ran for a few years, until economic problems forced them to shut it down and start again from zero.

After knocking on door after door looking for sponsorship, Fr Rivas happened to visit Our Lady of Guadalupe parish in El Monte, where he found the support he needed to get the apostolate off the ground again in August of 1987. The new radio program, dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, had three main segments: letter-answering on the air, Christian music, and the topic of the day.

Running a radio program is expensive, so it wasn’t long before debts forced the team to start thinking creatively about how to make the radio program self-financing. Their solution was to hold large events as a way of expanding their audience and gathering economic support.

A “Radioactive” Audience: Off the Air and on the Ground

By a twist of providence, it just so happened that these successful events, which gather anywhere from 1,000 to 15,000 people, also turned Hombre Nuevo’s audience into “radioactive” apostles who are

	A child receives toys and food in the latest Hombre Nuevo mission in Baja California.

committed to the New Evangelization.  The media provide the broadest net for fishing, but the Gospel has to be spread person to person in our own parishes, homes, and schools.

One of the most courageous person-to-person evangelization efforts made by Hombre Nuevo’s “radioactive” audience was the 1998 mission door-to-door mission in Cuba. Listeners from all over the United States and parts of Mexico gathered bibles, rosaries, and other religious articles for a group of Hombre Nuevo missionaries, who gave them out to the Cuban people while teaching them the basics of the Catholic faith.

A more recent humanitarian mission took place this past January 6th, when Hombre Nuevo volunteers distributed toys, food, blankets, new clothing, and food items to 52 poor neighborhoods, orphanages, and parishes in Tijuana, Mexicali, Rosario, Ensenada, and Tecate.

Father Mariano de Blas, L.C. celebrated Mass for the missionaries at dawn in the Hombre Nuevo-Guadalupe Radio facilities and Father Juan Rivas, LC gave them the missionary blessing as they set out with a total of 17,300 toys, 5,190 blankets, 4,152 food items, and 1,038 pieces of new clothing—all of which had been donated by Hombre Nuevo listeners.

Another major event took place this past January 27, as over 10,000 women gathered for a Women of Faith Congress held in the Los Angeles Sports Arena and organized by Hombre Nuevo – Guadalupe Radio. Legionary priests Father Antonio Rivero and Father Juan Rivas were featured speakers, along with several other diocesan priests and Maruca Serrano, a well-known speaker and family counselor

	An audience of 10,000 at the Women of Faith Congress in the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

from Mexico. Over 300 Hombre Nuevo volunteers helped organize the event with its various speakers, musical entertainment, prayer, Mass, and opportunities for confession and spiritual guidance.

As one volunteer commented, such support from Hombre Nuevo’s “radioactive” audience allows grace to flow through the microphones and into peoples’ lives.

Milestones with Mary

The “rest of the story” of Hombre Nuevo’s growth is marked by the quiet but effective presence of Our Lady, sometimes in a dramatic way.

On May 13, 2000, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, Hombre Nuevo’s first television program came out on channel 62. This step had been entailed two years of preparation: in 1998, they built their first television studio, and in 1999, they began creating new programs to be aired.

In 2002, the radio program also expanded to all of America and Spain, thanks to an arrangement with EWTN. And in 2005, Guadalupe Radio appeared on the scene. Hombre Nuevo is the principal lease-payer among a group of several Hispanic Catholic groups that joined forces to launch a 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week radio program broadcast on 87.7 FM. The station’s programming can be viewed at this link.

Setting up the station was a vivid experience of Our Lady of Guadalupe’s intercession. The Hombre Nuevo team was poised to enter a rental agreement with the station in December of 2005 when the negotiations and finances fell through. But suddenly, everything turned around on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8. On December 9, the feast of St Juan Diego, they

	Reaching another milestone: Father Juan Rivas, LC celebrated his 25th anniversary of priesthood this past December 24th.

signed the contract. And on December 12, Our Lady of Guadalupe’s feast day, they sealed the contract with the first payment. To read more about Guadalupe Radio and its potential impact, click here.

Since then, Hombre Nuevo has continued expanding, and Our Lady of Guadalupe has been an integral part of the radio ministry’s various endeavors. All of their projects are consecrated to her, and many key dates and events have taken place on her feast days.

Looking to the Future

Many steps lie ahead for the Hombre Nuevo team. One of their next goals is to purchase a radio station in the Los Angeles area and to launch into satellite television so as to reach more people with the message of the Gospel.

As the United States population becomes increasingly Hispanic, the ministry will become even more important not only for the future of individuals and families, but also for American society as a whole. What will the many new Hispanic families in the US bring to the table as they become integrated into the American social fabric? What values will they live and promote in their private, professional, and political lives?

Hombre Nuevo and Guadalupe Radio are there to make sure that a coherent, profound, and mature faith and strong, healthy family values form the bedrock of their lives.