TV Picks 12.20.20

EWTN will televise Christmas celebrations.

The lighting of the Vatican Christmas tree was held Dec. 11.
The lighting of the Vatican Christmas tree was held Dec. 11. (photo: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN)

TV PICKS

Dec. 20-Jan. 2

By DANIEL J. ENGLER

All Times Eastern

 

MONDAY, Dec. 21, 8pm

Come to the Stable

TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES Based on a story by convert Clare Boothe Luce about true events, this dramedy from 1949 stars Loretta Young and Celeste Holm as French Catholic sisters who move to Bethlehem, Connecticut, and begin an improbable quest to build a children’s hospital. 

 

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 23, 8pm 

EWTN Live

EWTN Tonight’s topic is “Polish Christmas Memories.” Re-airs 1am, 9:30am Thursday.

 

THURSDAY, Dec. 24

Christmas Eve

EWTN At 8am, live, the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word will celebrate Daily Mass in Irondale. (Re-airs noon, 7pm.) At 1:30pm will be the Solemn Mass of Christmas Eve from Rome. At 6pm, The EWTN Family Christmas Special presents hymns. At 10pm, live, in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception will be the Choral Meditations on the Nativity followed by midnight Mass.

 

THURSDAY, Dec. 24, 8pm

It’s a Wonderful Life

NBC Catholic director Frank Capra’s life-affirming drama-fantasy from 1946 tells the story of a man (James Stewart) who is tempted to suicide on Christmas Eve until an angel (Henry Travers) shows him the many evils that would ensue. Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore also star. A-II, TV-PG. Advisory: The film’s several distressing scenes might disturb little ones.

 

FRIDAY, Dec. 25

Christmas Day

EWTN At 1am, live, will be the Midnight Mass From the Holy Land. At 6am, live, Pope Francis will deliver his Urbi et Orbi Message and Blessing to the city of Rome and to the world. (Re-airs 3pm, 10pm.) At 8am, live, the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word friars will celebrate the Solemn Mass of Christmas in Irondale. (Re-airs 6:30pm.) At noon, live, will be the Solemn Mass of Christmas Day at the National Shrine. (Re-airs midnight.)

 

FRIDAY, Jan. 1, midnight

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God 

EWTN The Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word Fathers in Irondale will celebrate the Solemn Mass of Reparation in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. (Re-airs 8am, 6:30pm.)

 

Friday, Jan. 1, 11am 

The Rose Parade’s New Year's Celebration

ABC, HALLMARK CHANNEL, NBC, RFD-TV, UNIVISION COVID-19 safety measures have forced cancellation of the 2021 Rose Parade, so this special, aired during the parade’s usual time slot, will present “A look at what makes the iconic Pasadena parade such a national landmark to bring in the new year.” The show will feature musical entertainers, guest celebrities and marching bands taped around our country, plus film clips of great floats from the past. 

 

FRIDAY, Jan. 1, 9pm

Great Performances: From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2021

PBS Hugh Bonneville will host this broadcast, as the Vienna Philharmonic, under guest conductor Riccardo Muti, will play waltzes, polkas and marches by Franz von Suppé, Johann Strauss Jr., Josef Strauss, Carl Zeller, Karl Millöcker, Karl Komzák II and Johann Strauss Sr.

Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.