Happy Birthday Mother Angelica

Mother Angelica celebrates her 90th Birthday today!  She is the founder of EWTN a Catholic global television network.  Last weekend at the Little Audrey Santo Conference in Medway MA, Fr. Apostoli who has a regular show on EWTN "Sunday Night Prime" shared the story of how Mother Angelica began EWTN.  It is a beautiful story of faith.

Mother Angelica began with a small television show in Birmingham, AL USA.  The network her program was on began airing some shows she felt were blasphemous so she asked the owner of the network to stop airing such shows.  The owner of the network refused to cancel the shows in question and so Mother Angelica said she would have to stop using his network for her own program.  The owner responded that she needed them more than they needed her.  This was all Mother Angelica needed to hear and so she walked out for good.  She decided she would build her own studio and asked her fellow sisters to begin calling companies that sold satellites as she knew she would need one if she were going to broadcast her show herself.  She found one company and asked for a satellite for her show.  The sales person said that these satellites cost millions of dollars.  She asked about their least expensive model.  He said that one would cost 600,000 dollars.  She told him she would take one.  Now Mother Angelica only had 200 dollars in the bank.  When the satellite arrived the delivery man approached her and asked for payment.  She asked the gentlemen to wait a moment while she went inside.  Mother Angelica went into the chapel and told Jesus that His satellite was here and He needed to pay for it.  Moments later another nun rushed in asking Mother Angelica to come to the phone.  A man was asking for her and he had called several times before.  He was calling from his yacht.  When she took the phone the man on the other end told her that he had heard her speak and that she had made a life changing affect on him and his family.  He wanted to thank her by sending a donation of 600,000.  Mother Angelica asked that the money be wired immediately and that was how EWTN began.

This week I have reflected on this wonderful story of faith and courage many times.  Today the daily Mass I attended had been requested for Mother Angelica in honor of her birthday.  As I stayed after Mass for the rosary several women praying the rosary offered decades in thanksgiving for Mother Angelica and her ministry.  They also had a large picture of Mother Angelica displayed to the side of the altar.  Saying the Rosary this Morning looking at Mother Angelica's face a love seemed to well in my heart for this women to whom I know very little.  Her courage and faith have inspired me and I feel compelled to wish her a Blessed Birthday today and write to her.