TV Picks 10.18.2009

SUNDAY, 11 a.m., live

One World Praying:

Worldwide Fatima Sanctity

of Life Day

EWTN “Jesus wants you to make me known and loved,” Mary told Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco in 1917. “My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way leading you to God.” This World Apostolate of Fatima pro-life event at the National Blue Army Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Washington, N.J., consists of a welcome and Rosary (11 a.m.); Mass (noon); hymns by Tony Melendez (1:30 p.m.); talks by Father Andrew Apostoli (2:15 p.m.), Michael La Corte (3 p.m.) and Father Clement Machado (4 p.m.); and a Rosary-in-song procession (4:45 p.m.).


Monday, midnight

Making Sense Out of

Bioethics

CATHOLICTV In “Test Tube Babies,” this series’ first episode, neuroscientist and ethicist Father Tad Pacholczyk, Ph.D., of the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia shows that in vitro fertilization (IVF) is evil and we must respect God’s design for bringing babies into the world through the marital embrace. Re-airs Tuesday 2 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. and Friday 10:30 p.m.


MONDAY-FRIDAY, 3 a.m., 6:30 p.m.

Theology of the Body

EWTN In this series of daily half-hour episodes, five this week and three the next, Father Roger Landry of the Diocese of Fall River, Mass., examines the view of the human person that Pope John Paul II presented in his weekly audiences from 1979 to 1984. This week’s topics: an overview, Adam and Eve before the fall, love vs. lust, achieving purity of heart, and the eternal vocation of man and woman.


WEDNESDAY, 8 a.m.

Lost Ships of the

Mediterranean

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL In this documentary from 2000, explorer Robert Ballard leads a probe of two ships from Phoenicia that sank off the Holy Land about 1000 B.C. The ships’ wine jars and the crews’ pots and implements are intact.


WEDNESDAY, 8 p.m.

Great Performances: The Los Angeles Philharmonic

Opening Gala

PBS In this two-hour show, the orchestra, under its new conductor, Venezuela-born Gustavo Dudamel, performs Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D Major (“Titan”) and the world premiere of John Adams’ “City Noir “symphony. TV-G.


SATURDAY, 8 a.m.

The Universe: Light Speed

HISTORY Some scientists think traveling faster than the speed of light — 186,000 miles per second — could be possible. Advisory: TV-PG.


SATURDAY, 12:30 p.m.

The Victory Garden: Edible Gardens

PBS In this new episode, Paul Epsom provides New York Botanical Garden tips on seed saving, Jamie Durie shares Cornerstone Festival of Gardens’ cultivation ideas, and chef Michel Nischan tells how to grow and cook potatoes at home.

Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.

In a Jam in Jerusalem

The lack of housing is a major problem for Holy Land Christians, and there’s been some suggestion of double standards in the granting of building permits in Jerusalem.