The following is part of an ongoing series by Dr. Norman McCrummen. We’ll be publishing another one of his reasons every week, so stay tuned! Read previous installments: Introduction – First Reason – Second Reason – Third Reason – Fourth Reason – Fifth Reason – Sixth Reason – Seventh Reason
I am Catholic because of EWTN (the Eternal Word Television Network). Over twenty years ago I started watching the network out of curiosity and discovered Mother Angelica speaking wisdom in a very down-to-earth, straightforward way. In those same years of first listening to her, I was in seminary where I had the experience in which everyone, especially men, gingerly danced around certain subjects for fear of incurring the wrath of feminists and liberals and professors who supported the far-left agenda. We learned quickly at seminary that frankness was taboo if frankness conveyed virtually anything orthodox. But if one spoke from the “left” camp, then frankness could sound like a machine gun in the hands of a terrorist and all would remain well in the halls of sacred theology. In contrast to that sophomoric but very dangerous pretension, Mother Angelica was a huge breath of fresh air. I loved her.
When I discovered her full story, how she grew up in a rough neighborhood in a single-parent home (her father having deserted them), my admiration grew exponentially. She matured into a nun whose faith took her from Ohio to Birmingham, Alabama where with nothing but courage and trust in God’s provision she began a monastery whose outreach eventually included the formation of the largest religious network in the world.
Read more on: The Coming Home Network International