Fr. Ontiveros continues his broadcast ministry

Friday, Mar. 03, 2017

OGDEN —  Father Omar Ontiveros, pastor of Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Ogden, was ordained a priest in 2006 at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City. Since that moment he has taken advantage of the communications media to share the Gospel with everyone; he has been involved in two Spanish-language radio shows, the first called Buena Nueva (Good News) and the second, started in 2008, called Bendiciendo tu Día (Blessing your day). 

Additionally, in 2009, he began a television show called Enciende Tu Luz (Shine Your Light) that is broadcast on an international Catholic channel,  El Sembrador.

All this had required a lot of effort and logistics because in the last 11 years Fr. Ontiveros has been assigned to three different parishes, each in a different city.

First he was the parochial vicar at the Cathedral of the Madeleine, where a small office was set aside as a radio studio. 

Then he was transferred to Saint Peter and Paul Parish in West Valley City, where Fr. Ontiveros rented a small office and adapted it to serve as a television studio as well as a radio one.

Now Fr. Ontiveros is at St. Joseph in Ogden, which required traveling more than 100 miles round trip to be able to use the studio in West Valley City.

“When we arrived at Saint Joseph we set up a new communications studio, so we could continue producing the shows (TV and radio),” said Fr. Ontiveros.

Some modifications had to be made inside the church, too.

“We adapted some equipment so we could continue transmitting the Sunday Mass live,” he said.

All of this has been an ongoing effort because Fr. Ontiveros is expecting to be able to transmit live online the Masses in English and Spanish from Saint Joseph Catholic Church.

The support from the diocese has been pivotal in these efforts, he said.

“Thanks to (this support) we have been able to continue with the Catholic shows in Spanish through the diverse media,” he said. “We have been receiving great feedback from all the people that could not be present at the Masses due to illnesses or because they simply have no transportation. … The shows and broadcasting are a way to spread the Gospel and reach every single one of the Catholics in their houses or even when they are at work or in their cars.” 

For him this media ministry is a mission to follow the invitation that the Holy Father, Pope Francis, has made of being close to the people of God, “and a way to do it is through the communication media,” he said. “With them we can reach so many people in need of a word of hope, a word of encouragement, and what better way to do it than sharing God’s messages, a message of faith for the daily living with themes for the family and married life.”

Fr. Ontiveros is hoping that in the near future, the online Mass in English and Spanish will be accessible through the parish’s web page.

“We also hope that we’ll be able to transmit the TV show through a local channel in Utah,” said Fr. Ontiveros.