Diocesan Digital Media Manager Wins Ascension Press’ ‘Truth and Beauty’ Award

It is commonly believed that “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was created as a catechetical tool to teach children about the Catholic faith. Drawing from this rich tradition, Nicole Jones, digital media manager for the Diocese of Baton Rouge, created a short video for the 2023 Christmas season that would share the truths of the Catholic faith in an engaging way. In recognition of her work, Ascension Press named Jones and her video a winner in its 2025 Truth and Beauty Awards.

Ascension Press established the Truth and Beauty Awards in 2024 to mark 100 million subscribers to its YouTube channel. 

“We wanted to ‘share the mic’ with up-and-coming Catholic video creators,” explains Lauren Joyce, PR and Communications Manager for Ascension. “So many passionate and talented evangelists have partnered with us over the years to build our own faith-based platform, so we wanted to honor the talent and creativity of the Catholic online community as we celebrated this important milestone.”

Jones saw information about the award when it was announced and was immediately interested in applying.

“I didn’t necessarily think I could apply because the award was targeted toward individual content creators, and although I am an individual content creator, all of my work is created on behalf of the diocese,” said Jones.

She later received an email from the Catholic Media Association encouraging anyone who works in an office by themselves to apply for the award.

“After reading the email, I felt like the Lord was nudging me to apply,” said Jones.
She entered two videos for consideration: “The Twelve Days of Christmas – Catholic Catechesis Edition”, a short-form video, and “To Our Priests…,” a long-form video. 
Jones worked with Kathleen Higgins and Trey Weaver in the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries on the winning video back in 2023. 

“The initial idea was simple, ‘What if I could make a lighthearted video that showcased the Catholic meaning behind the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’,” said Jones. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to work alone, and Kathleen and Trey were very willing to participate.”
Jones, Higgins, and Weaver recorded portions of the video at St. Joseph Cathedral, Our Lady of Mercy Church in Baton Rouge, St. John the Evangelist Church in Prairieville, and the Catholic Life Center. Jones made the props for the video, which is approximately 30 seconds.

The production of the video was fairly simple, according to Jones.

“The biggest thing I had to focus on was getting all of the clips synced with the music because the cuts are incredibly quick,” said Jones.

The video was shared on both the Red Stick Catholics and Diocesan social media accounts.

The response to the video was surprising, says Jones.

“The amount of people who were engaging with the video in those first few days was like nothing I had ever seen before,” Jones noted. “Every day, our follower count continued to grow. I still see people liking it over a year later.”

Since it was published, the video has been seen by more than 158,000 people.
When Jones received the notification that she was selected as a winner in the short-form division and a finalist in the long-form division, she was surprised.

“When I first read the email, I couldn’t believe it. I know the caliber of creators who apply for awards like this. The fact that something I made for our Diocese was going to be recognized was an honor.”

Jones received prizes, including $500 to invest in digital media equipment, a commemorative plaque, and the honor of having her video viewed by the Ascension Press team and Father Mike Schmitz, speaker, author, and podcaster.

Jones acknowledged that while many focus on the negatives of social media, it would be a disservice not to use these platforms as tools for evangelization. She emphasized that “although evangelizing the person standing next to you is important, there is also a generation of people who spend most of their time online—and they, too, need to have the Gospel proclaimed to them.” 

“I think it’s important that we reach people where they are,” said Jones. 
When she thinks of the Catholic faith, Jones calls to mind St. Irenaeus’ quote, “The glory of God is man fully alive.”

“Oftentimes, the Catholic faith is portrayed as a solemn, somber faith. Don’t get me wrong, I love and appreciate the reverence we are called to, but I also love the aspects of our faith that bring joy – the Gospel, the sacraments, our priests...”

“I think that if people only see the somber parts of the Catholic faith, they are not getting the full picture, which is why I love creating videos like ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ to remind people that practicing one’s faith can be, and should be, joyful.”

Referring to the title of the award, “Truth and Beauty,” Jones said that there is beauty in sharing the faith in a fun and hopefully engaging way that inspires people to want to learn more.

“Being able to highlight the beauty of our Church in a way that emphasizes the Truth is important,” Jones said. “I try to infuse that in all the work I do.”

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