Mother Angelica of EWTN Catholic television has passed away

[shenmue]

EWTN News story here

Rest in peace.

[47of74]

1. Yes

[Kingofalldems]

2. RIP.

My wife is in mourning.

[No Vested Interest]

3. I enjoyed the network in its early years, and certain programs even later,

but seldom turn EWTN on these days, due to conservative bias of its current events programming.

Not sure exactly what happened, but at one time Mother Angelica wore a "modern" habit, then she reverted to the "old-style" habit. Whatever changed that thinking, apparently changed the whole tenor of programming and thinking at EWTN.

Nonetheless, Mother Angelica was a pioneer, and may she have eternal rest in peace.

[47of74]

6. I was struck by this

I saw this article today;

During the first memorial sermon for Mother Angelica on Tuesday, in a chapel at the headquarters of EWTN Global Catholic Network in Irondale, EWTN Chaplain Joseph Wolfe described the last three days of Mother Angelica's life and her death on Easter Sunday.

Wolfe noted that Mother Angelica had instructed her nuns to do everything to keep her alive, no matter how much she suffered, because every day she suffered, she suffered for God.

"Most of us would not think that way," Wolfe said. "We would think, 'Get me out of here...' What's taken out of that picture is the love of God."

Mother Angelica wanted each day to be "one more act of suffering to God," Wolfe said.

I can respect the courage of Mother's convictions but I do have to admit it does bother me a bit. I guess I'm concerned that some Catholics - especially some clergy - will see that as permission to impose Mother Angelica's choice on others regardless of what the individuals want. If someone wants to prolong their lives as long as possible knowing that they may suffer as they approach the end then that's their choice and I support that. At the same time if someone wants to forego desperate measures and just be made comfortable in their final days, that needs to be respected too. My concern is that some of Mother Angelica's most ardent supporters will not respect such choices.

[No Vested Interest]

7. Most priests, especially parish priests, are not of the "suffering" kind.

I say that not unkindly.
Most priests today are in the world and know enough of current culture to realize that those Catholics with whom they interact would not heed the call to prolong suffering of a family member.
I myself am not a "suffering" Catholic; I choose to be a joyful Catholic, looking for the beauty in each day, and trying to make each day "productive", and, when that doesn't work, at try to not be burdensome to those around me.

I personally find the idea of looking to suffer, either for our own sins, or those of others, or even in union with Christ's suffering, rather offputting, but that's just my opinion.

I hope and believe that Mother Angelica has found the Joy and Peace which she has earned.

[47of74]

8. Me too

Yes I believe Mother Angelica has earned joy and peace for all the work she did here on Earth in spreading the Word as far as possible. I am not disputing that at all.

And yes I think most priests will not judge a person or their families for not prolonging suffering, and wouldn't even want prolong such suffering even for themselves.

But there are always those few priests and Bishops here and there who really shouldn't have been priests in the first place who probably would. They're the ones we hear about in the news when they mess up and really tick a person and/or their families off and the diocese or even the Vatican has to step in and do damage control. Those are the ones I worry about.

[No Vested Interest]

9. I understand. Pray for those you worry about.

Worry is usually nonproductive.
Sometimes prayer also appears unproductive, but I believe it's at least better for the person than worrying.

God bless.

[meow2u3]

4. I enjoyed EWTN early on, but was turned off by its subsequent conservative bias

What really turned me off was the way EWTN fawns all over Opus Dei, a movement suspiciously cult-like.

They even had bigots like Pat Buchanan as a frequent guest.

[47of74]

5. I remember one night at a hotel in 2006

I was flipping through the channels because I couldn't sleep. EWTN had that Fr. Pavone on and he was trying to drum up support for the GOP going in to the elections that year and was trying to explain what he thought were workarounds to IRS rules. I could pretty much tell who at least he wanted to see come out on top in the elections that year.