Celebrating
the miracle of EWTN
by
Susan Brinkmann
CS&T Correspondent
The waiting is almost over for Philadelphia fans of the Eternal Word Television
Network (EWTN).
The network will soon bring its television and radio hosts to a 25th anniversary
celebration at Temple University’s Liacouras Center on June 24 and
25. Tickets to the 10,000-seat arena have been sold out, although doors
will be open for general admission, subject to the capacity of the facility.
“People don’t need a ticket to come to the event,” said
Michael P. Warsaw, President of the EWTN Global Catholic Network. “They
can just show up,”
After all, Warsaw said, the fans of EWTN are a family, and that is what
the celebration is about. “For 25 years, Mother Angelica has talked
about the network audience as a family,” he said. “When you
have a family and you have a significant event you bring your family together
to celebrate. So when we got together to talk about how to celebrate this
milestone in our history, it was about how we could bring the celebration
to our family.”
The EWTN family is diverse, which is why a number of cities were selected
for celebrations, according to their location. Also considered were places
where EWTN had been part of the television and radio community, and where
there was strong support from the diocesan bishop and the laity.
“We looked at all of those factors, and then determined which cities
we would visit,” Warsaw said. “And Philadelphia was one of
the first citieson our list.” Cardinal Justin Rigali has been a
strong supporter of EWTN, and did a series on Vatican II for the network.
The Cardinal will be celebrating a Mass of Thanksgiving at the Liacouras
Center at 11 a.m. Sunday morning.
Celebrations have already been held in Denver, San Francisco, San Antonio,
and St. Louis. EWTN also plans to add sixth event, to take place in August
in Birmingham.
“We had to do one more,” Warsaw said. “These have been
too much fun.”
The events have proven to be very moving for both EWTN staff and attendees,
he added: “People who come to these events are just on fire by the
time they walk out at the end of each day. They’re just ecstatic
— not about the network, but about their faith.
“This what we really want to achieve — to provide people with
the same things the network provides day-in and day-out on television
— that is, the opportunity to grow in holiness and grow in their
faith,” he said. “We want people to walk out at the end of
the day feeling excited about their faith.”
Warsaw said that just being in an arena full of people who share their
same faith and values is incredibly rejuvenating.
“They leave these arenas feeling supported and encouraged and able
to go on and fight the good fight again,” he said of the events’
audiences.
The same holds true for EWTN staffers, he said: “We sit in our offices
in Birmingham, Alabama, and create programming that is seen around the
world, but we don’t get to meet and see people face-to-face who
have been touched by the programming.
“We walk away from these events feeling energized and recommitted
to what we’re doing. For us, these events are very, very moving,”
he continued. The best part about them is the people, and the stories
those people share, he said.
At the Denver celebration, for instance, an elderly woman came up to Warsaw
and said: “EWTN saved my life.”
She told him that a few years ago, she was suffering from serious health
problems and everything was going wrong in her life. She decided to commit
suicide. Then, by chance, turned the television on to EWTN and ended up
watching for hours.
Warsaw said the woman told him: “‘I knew by what I heard and
what I saw on the network that suicide was not the answer. You saved my
life. But EWTN did something more important for me. It saved my soul,
and I’ll be eternally grateful.’”
By the time she finished telling her story, they were both in tears, he
said.
Then, in San Francisco, a young man told him he came to the event only
because his mother “dragged him,” but by the end of the day,
he realized what he had been missing.
“He told me, ‘I realized that I was not living my faith the
way I needed to. I went to confession this morning for the first time
in over 10 years, and now I’m absolutely committed to living my
faith the way that I need to live it.’”
There are plenty of opportunities to interact with the staff at the events,
and each talk ends with a question-and-answer session. People will be
able to ask questions of presenters such as Warsaw, Father Richard John
Neuhaus, Scott Hahn, and Father Benedict Groeschel C.F.R.
An hour of “family talk” with the audience will be held on
Saturday at 3:15 p.m., and hosted by Deacon Bill Stltemeier, chairman
of EWTN and several Poor Clare sisters.
In addition, the audience will be able to question Raymond Arroyo’s
guests during his live show, “The World Over,” from 6 p.m.
to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. His guests include Peggy Noonan, Natalie MacMaster
and her husband, Donnell Leahy, and Father Neuhaus.
Those who wish to become more involved with spreading the message of EWTN
will have an opportunity to learn more about becoming a “media missionary,”
Warsaw said.
“This is a program that allows individuals to sign up to help spread
the word about EWTN in their parish and in their communities,” he
said. “Our goal is to have one person in every parish in the U.S.
Ultimately, we’re going to roll it out to Canada, Latin America
and then around the world.”
That might sound ambitious, but EWTN has demonstrated in the last 25 years
that with God anything is possible.
“Twenty-five years ago, people didn’t give Mother Angelica
or EWTN much of a chance to survive more than six months, let alone 25
years,” Warsaw said. “The fact that the network is around
25 years later and has not only survived but has grown into this incredible
organization is really miraculous.”