TV Picks 08.20.17

A Servant of God Father Vincent Capodanno film is a highlight.

Servant of God Father Vincent R. Capodanno
Servant of God Father Vincent R. Capodanno (photo: Public domain)

MONDAY, Aug. 21

Total Eclipse of the Sun

MANY NETWORKS Between 1:20pm and 2:50pm today, a total eclipse of the sun will cross the United States in a narrow path from Oregon to South Carolina. Most news networks will have live coverage, 1pm-3pm. At 9pm, scientists will recap the day — on PBS, in Nova: Eclipse Over America, and on the Science Channel, in The Great American Eclipse. Warning: Do not look directly at the eclipse in person, outside, without eye-protecting certified eclipse glasses.

 

MONDAY, Aug. 21, 8pm, live

The Journey Home

EWTN Marie Joseph, author of Faith on Fire: Your 30-Day Spiritual Cleanse, returns to the show. Re-airs 1am and Friday at 1pm.

 

MONDAY-FRIDAY, Aug. 21-25, 6:30pm, 2:30am

The Philosopher’s Bench

EWTN Topics in this five-part series from Jesuit Father Ronald Tacelli and Peter Kreeft are: emotional atheism; suffering and the cross; moral relativism vs. absolute truth; the culture of death and the culture of life; and splendor in the ordinary — God’s existence in all of everyday life.

 

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 23, 9pm

The Farthest: Voyager in Space

PBS This two-hour documentary celebrates the 40th anniversary of the 1977 launches of the U.S. space probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, which studied Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune and their moons and are now exploring interstellar space.

 

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 23, 11pm

Catholic View for Women

EWTN In this episode, “Being Pro-Life Helps Draw Converts to Catholicism,” Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, says knowing Catholic pro-lifers helped lead her to the Church. Re-airs 10:30am Friday. Advisory: TV-PG.

 

THURSDAY, Aug. 24, 9am

God Is My Co-Pilot

TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES Based on a 1943 autobiography of the same name, this 1945 World War II drama relates the combat experiences of Maj. Robert Lee Scott Jr. in the American Volunteer Group (the Flying Tigers) and the U.S. Army Air Force in the China-Burma-India theater. Dennis Morgan is Scott and Alan Hale Sr. is Father “Big Mike” Harrigan.

 

SUNDAY, Aug. 27, 10pm

Across the Divide

EWTN A Catholic co-educational institution founded in the West Bank in 1973, Bethlehem University exists in the midst of conflict. Re-airs 5am Thursday.

 

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 30

Called and Chosen: Father Vincent R. Capodanno

EWTN At 8pm on EWTN Live, James Kelty, George Philips and Mary Preece describe their new film biography of Navy chaplain Father Vincent Capodanno (1929-1967), whose cause for canonization is underway. Father Capodanno received a posthumous Medal of Honor for giving his life while ministering to wounded Marines under fire in South Vietnam on Sept. 4, 1967. The film bio, Called and Chosen: Father Vincent R. Capodanno, will air at 10pm and Saturday at 3pm. It will also re-air Sept. 4 at 3pm.

Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.

Servant of God Father Vincent Capodanno died shielding a fellow Marine. He died from 27 bullet wounds.

Sainthood Cause for Father Vincent Capodanno Sees Setback

The ‘Grunt Padre’ died on a Vietnam battlefield as a military chaplain to U.S. Marines. Theological consultants recently voted to recommend to Vatican dicastery that the cause be suspended. But supporters remain hopeful that an appeal will resume the efforts.