When Father Francis Joseph Hoffman was asked how he came to be involved with Relevant Radio, he said he was “minding my own business.” Father Hoffman is known to Relevant Radio listeners and to many others as Father Rocky.
Father Rocky said “he met a guy” over coffee on a Saturday morning after Mass who asked if he knew anything about Our Lady of Guadalupe. Father replied that he knew a lot, having spent 15 summers near the shrine in Mexico.
Father Rocky
That guy, John Morales, now a morning show host on Relevant Radio, interviewed Father Rocky about Our Lady of Guadalupe in December 2003. A month later, Father Rocky was asked to be on a morning show. Father Rocky and Morales started a half-hour show on the Chicago station, which he said was very similar to the Practicing Catholic show airing today on Twin Cities stations.
“And I’ve been on Tuesday mornings ever since,” he said. He also serves as Relevant Radio’s executive director and chief executive officer.
Father Rocky recently joined “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley for an episode debuting at 9 p.m. April 29 on 1330 AM to discuss his start at Relevant Radio and its mission.
Relevant Radio’s programming has grown and it signal now reaches a national audience, but it has a very simple mission, Father Rocky said: to bring Christ to the world through the media. Its three guiding principles are key “to what we do,” he said. “We’re faithful to the magisterium and the catechism of the Catholic Church,” he said. “We’re united to the bishops … and we are under the protection of the Blessed Mother.”
Relevant Radio tries to give people solutions, Father Rocky said, and stay out of “fruitless debates.” “And we’re out there to teach people about Jesus Christ, and we teach the Catholic faith,” he said.
It uses media to reach many people, Father Rocky said. “If people aren’t coming to church, well, let’s bring the Church to them,” he said. “Where are they? They’re stuck in traffic jams all over this country, and the best way to get them is on AM/FM radio,” he said, because every car has a radio. Radio is free, easy, it works and reaches tens of millions of people, he said.
Father Rocky asked that listeners say one Hail Mary every day for Relevant Radio “because everything we do at Relevant Radio starts with prayer,” he said. “We really depend on their support, whether it be financial, but above all, the prayer. Our prayer is hugely powerful.”
Relevant Radio’s spring pledge drive is May 2-6. To make a financial pledge, visit relevantradio.com, use the Relevant Radio app or call 877-291-0123 (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday).
During the interview, Father Rocky describes how he acquired the name Father Rocky. To hear that story — and listen to the full interview — tune in to this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which also repeats at 1 p.m. April 30 and 2 p.m. May 1.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Jim Ennis from Catholic Rural Life, who shares ideas about creation care; and Deacon Martin Meyer and Marty Montgomery-Jennings from Grief to Grace MN, who describe an upcoming retreat and how to walk with those who have experienced abuse or trauma.
Listen to their interviews after they have aired:
Recent Comments