Pope Francis Visits Turkey

EWTN In Istanbul on the final day of his visit to Turkey, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass privately, pray the Divine Liturgy at the Patriarchal Church of St. George, join in an ecumenical blessing, sign a joint declaration with Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, lunch with the patriarch and leave for Rome. Check EWTN.com for times.
 

Advent Reflections

EWTN In this series, English priests offer meditations for each Sunday of Advent on personal conversion, putting Christ in Christmas, preparing our hearts like Mary and hope in Jesus, the Word made flesh. Re-airings at 5pm Thursdays, Dec. 4, 11 and 18 and 5pm Sunday, Dec. 21.
 

A Charlie Brown Christmas

ABC In this 1965 “Peanuts” animated special, little Linus cheers up Charlie Brown by reciting St. Luke’s account of the first Christmas. Re-airs 8pm Tuesday, Dec. 16.
 

Nature: Best of Birds

PBS Premiering tonight, this special selects excerpts from 16 earlier Nature specials about birds to highlight the secrets, intelligence, behavior and talents of hummingbirds, ducks, turkeys, penguins, ospreys, gannets and other feathered friends.
 

EWTN on Location: Napa Institute 2014 Conference

EWTN At the fourth annual Napa Institute conference this past July, Jesuit Father Robert Spitzer and physicist Stephen Barr spoke on “A Conversation on Modern Astrophysics and God.”
 

The Little Drummer Boy

ABC Family Actress Greer Garson narrates this Rankin-Bass 1968 stop-motion animated story about little Aaron, an orphan who brings his severely injured pet lamb Babba to Bethlehem with the Three Wise Men. When Aaron plays his drum for Baby Jesus, Babba is miraculously cured. The Vienna Boys Choir sings the title song. Re-airs 1pm Sunday, Dec. 21, and 7:30pm on Christmas Day. Advisory: Several very sad scenes.
 

I Love Lucy Christmas Special

CBS This feature offers two episodes from the 1951-1957 TV comedy series. The episodes, now colorized, are the series’ famed “Christmas Episode” and “Job Switching,” also called “The Chocolate Factory.”
 

Homage to the Immaculate

EWTN On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pope Francis will go to Rome’s Spanish Steps and lead the traditional papal prayers that invoke the intercession of the Mother of Christ.
 

Mass in Honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe

EWTN The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles hosts Mass for Our Lady on her feast day. She visited St. Juan Diego near Mexico City in 1531 and left her image on his cloak as a sign of her love for the people of Mexico and all the Americas.

Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.