SUNDAY, 8 p.m.

Nature: Chasing Big Cats

PBS Wildlife filmmakers Owen Newman and Amanda Barrett share film, photos and stories from their 14 years of recording the daily activities of lions, leopards, cheetahs and rare caracals and servals in Africa. A re-air from 2004.

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY, 6 a.m. daily

Classroom: Ellis Island

HISTORY CHANNEL “Where liberty dwells, there is my country” was a chief motivation for the millions who entered the United States, including many Catholics, through the immigration center of Ellis Island in New York Harbor from 1892 to 1954. This three-part series covers Ellis Island’s forerunner, Castle Garden, which operated from 1855 to 1890; voyages, arrivals and processing; and famous immigrants and Ellis Island’s closing. A re-air. Advisory: TV-PG.

TUESDAY, 9 p.m.

Natural World: Hornet Wars

ANIMAL PLANET Every springtime on Honshu Island, Japan, a huge queen hornet begins her summer-long reign over her hive of aggressive subjects. Their only natural opponent, the Japanese honeybee, is much smaller but capable of stalwart defense.

TUESDAYS, 9:30 p.m.

Advanced Catechism Series

FAMILYLAND TV Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, discusses the Catechism.

THURSDAYS, 4:30 p.m.

Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans

FAMILYLAND TV This series was based on the “Leatherstocking” 18th-century frontier novels of James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851). It lasted just one season of 39 episodes in 1957 but featured outdoor sets, authentic locale and accurate detail. John Hart played Hawkeye and Lon Chaney, Jr., was his Mohican friend Chingachgook.

THURSDAY, 8 p.m., live

Life on the Rock

EWTN Tonight’s guests, the Daughters of Mary, Mother of Healing, love and care for abused and neglected children, ages 3 to 12, at the St. Charles Children’s Home in Rochester, N.H. The sisters are pro-life and faithful to the Pope and the magisterium. They have found running in local races to be therapeutic for the children, so in their blue-and-white habits and running shoes they accompany the kids on daily practice jaunts.

SATURDAY, 3:30 p.m., live

Notre Dame Football

NBC The University of Notre Dame football team kicks off its 2007 season by hosting Georgia Tech. The Fighting Irish were 10-3 last year and the Rambling Wreck 8-5.

SATURDAY, 8 p.m.

Love Begins at Home

EWTN “Love begins at home,” Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997) told us countless times. In this show we see her fostering family love, unity and holiness.

Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.