VARIOUS

Why Be Catholic?

EWTN At 10 p.m. Sunday, 2 p.m. Tuesday and 4 a.m. Friday, this show gives us solid Catholic truth that we can use to help win converts and defend the faith.

SUNDAY, 7:30 a.m.

HistoryCenter

HISTORY CHANNEL As author Kevin Hymel shows, the personal photographs that Gen. George Patton took during World War II reveal his empathetic side. Author Hal Buell tells us all about the famed photo Joe Rosenthal took of valiant U.S. Marines’ mid-combat flag-raising atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, Feb. 23, 1945.

MONDAY, 8 p.m., live

The Journey Home

EWTN Host Marcus Grodi’s guest is Deacon Joseph Pasquella, a former Eastern Orthodox deacon.

MONDAYS, THURSDAYS

The Gospel of St. Luke

FAMILYLAND TV At 9 p.m. on Mondays and 10 a.m. on Thursdays, this “Peace of Heart Forum Classic” series takes us through the 24 chapters of this Gospel.

TUESDAY, 9 p.m.

Ancient Discoveries: Machines II

HISTORY CHANNEL Just how advanced were certain ancient inventions? A Roman flour mill unearthed at Barbegal in southern France had 16 waterwheels. A centuries-old jar in the National Museum of Baghdad resembles an ancient battery. And could it really be true that at the Battle of Syracuse in 212 B.C., Archimedes used polished mirrors to set on fire the sails of attacking Roman ships? Advisory: TV-PG.

THURSDAY, 6 a.m.

Classroom: The King’s Highway

HISTORY CHANNEL Each colony in the Spanish empire had its Camino Real, or “royal road.” Alta (Upper) California’s was the wagon trail along which Blessed Padre Junipero Serra (1713-1784), Padre Fermin Lasuen (1736-1803) and their fellow Franciscan missionaries, as well as soldiers and settlers, traveled between towns, forts and the missions, which eventually numbered 21.

THURSDAY, 8 p.m.

Lincoln Center Special: A Gala Night at Alice Tully Hall

PBS This 90-minute show features the Juilliard Orchestra under David Robertson, with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, vocalist Audra McDonald, composer-pianist Philip Glass, performance artist Laurie Anderson and Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society.

SATURDAY, 4:30 p.m.

Kentucky Derby

NBC Curlin, Circular Quay and Nobiz Like Shobiz were some of the contenders, as of our press time, for this year’s 133rd running of this greatest of U.S. horse races, at famed Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Owner H.P. McGrath’s Kentucky-bred steed Aristides, with Oliver Lewis aboard, won the first Kentucky Derby in 1875.

Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.