The Rev. Bob Conole of Sacred Hearts Parish in Bradford never thought a career in the church would ever lead to a job on the small screen.

But Conole is getting some major face time this week on CatholicTV.

He will appear on the CatholicTV show "Going My Way" hosted by the Rev. Chris Hickey. The show is a modern-day version of "The Merv Griffin Show" and includes musical performances by the guest priest, Hickey, and the Rev. Paul Rouse. It is a rebroadcast of a show Fr. Conole taped a few years ago.

The channel, based in Watertown, was founded over 50 years ago and can be seen all over the the United States and Canada. It is 24 hours a day, seven days a week of family-focused, religious television.

"There's a certain measure of pride for me that the people from the parish can see it and say, 'Gee, Father, you're putting us on the map.'"

The program focuses on the interests, hobbies, childhoods and home life of the priests interviewed.

"They want to paint a picture of who we are as priests," he said. "There's so much mystery and mystique about us, but this makes us real people. It's a wonderful program."

There also is a little playful embarassment involved.

Conole has been working with CatholicTV for about 17 years, performing weekday television Masses.

For the last 15 years, he has done a Sunday Mass broadcast at least once a year. Ten years ago, he did a three-part series on vocations. He also takes part in their telethon each year. He also does work with Haverhill Community Television.

First, it was tough to celebrate Mass with a room of cameras and production staff instead of his usual live audience.

"Usually, I get a live response right away," he said, "but when I'm in the studio, you don't get that right away. Sometimes it's all a matter of your timing. Timing is a big thing in television. At this particular checkpoint, you have to be at this part of the Mass.

"You're a slave to the clock, especially when there are commercials. It's competitive and you have to be a team player that way. You have to comply with their rules."

Then, Conole had to get used to the image of television.

"Television exaggerates everything," he said. "Not to sound vain, but you want to make sure all your buttons are buttoned and your hair doesn't look like you went through a car wash. You don't want your image to take away from things. You don't want your image to call attention to to negative things."

Despite the challeneges and the myriad of things to worry about during a television broadcast, Conole loves the opportunity to reach out to more Catholics in the community.

"It's a lot of fun," he said. "It's a response to the times. Television has grown ever since CatholicTV started 50 years ago, and we've grown with it. Overall, I feel very good about television as part of my ministry over the years. It's just another expression of ministry."

For more information, clips and weekly show times, visit www.catholictv.com. CatholicTV can be seen in Haverhill on Comcast channel 268.