He Leadeth Me: EWTN’s Michelle Johnson Reflects On Her 37-Year Career

Sometimes it’s only in retrospect that we can even begin to see how closely God has guided every step of our lives. Even when we think we see what He has done for us, it is always so much more than we can imagine. Being asked to share highlights from my career in journalism and communications, as well as plans for the future, has been an exercise I recommend to anyone who wants to better see the hand of God in their life. And, for those of us on the far side of our careers, sharing lessons we have learned can hopefully help those at the beginning and middle of their own careers.

I was fortunate to grow up with a mother who was a pillar of the Church, but I also saw her get deeply hurt by the Church she loved so much, and I vowed never to make that same “mistake.” I had no idea what I wanted to do when I graduated from college with a double major in English and psychology, but I never even considered working for the Church. I applied for anything that sounded interesting and ended up taking a job in what was then called Personnel for a Marriott Hotel near National (now Reagan) Airport because they allowed me to start a hotel newsletter! I wasn’t sure this was my life’s work, but I thought I would do my best so I could succeed in something. It worked. After I got married and we moved to California, I worked in a number of jobs, each better than the last. But after 10 years in HR, I knew this wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

When I finally quit my job to get a Master’s in Journalism from Northwestern University in Chicago, it was my career in the corporate world that gave me the courage to take an internship with Investor’s Business Daily (IBD). Having worked in business, I knew how to act, what to ask, and, most importantly, the importance of not prejudging. After graduation, I refused an immediate offer of employment at IBD, and went to work at a suburban Philadelphia newspaper, where I quickly became the Business Editor. That job also allowed me to learn the ropes in just about every job at the newspaper. However, when IBD came knocking at the door again, I decided to go to their New York office for a few years. Finally, I joined a company where I was able to turn a flagging legal publication for corporate bankruptcy lawyers into their number one product and to teach other editors of a plethora of different publications to do the same. Corporate bankruptcy lawyers are very wealthy, and I covered conferences in glamorous venues, like Vail, Colorado, attended parties at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, when they had an exhibition of Princess Diana’s dresses, and a Chicago fundraiser for then-President Bill Clinton at the home of a wealthy venture capitalist. Why would I leave that?

The road to the Catholic press didn’t begin with my journalism career but with a radical conversion. I share this because it’s the key to understanding everything I did afterwards. It was my sister Marian and her husband Mike, who decided to go to a place in Bosnia and Herzegovina called Medjugorje, where the Blessed Mother was said to be appearing to what were then six young children. When they returned, my sister sent me a set of books about the place. I put them aside because I was already in the middle of several other books. But eventually, the day came when I picked one up, and nothing was ever the same. It’s not that I had never heard what I was reading. I grew up with it. But this time it was Our Lady who was saying it, and I believed.

Overnight, I started attending daily Mass. I went to confession weekly, for things that in the past I hadn’t even considered sinful. I cried a lot, but they were tears of joy because – to use a Protestant expression – I knew I was being saved.

My Protestant husband of 20 years, who called himself a “Northern Baptist,” went to church on Christmas and Easter. He and I argued only once over my faith. His mother had died, and I suggested we should pray for her soul. He said, “I know you believe in that Purgatory stuff, but I don’t. My mom suffered a lot [from cancer]. She’s in heaven.” I never broached the subject again. However, as my husband was watching my faith deepen, he surprised me by asking if I wanted to go to Medjugorje. Of course I did. “So we will,” he said. Our Lady would honor this decision, big time.

During that fateful trip in 1999, my husband sat with me in St. James Cathedral, eyes closed, praying for friends who had given us photos of loved ones who needed those prayers. He later said he suddenly felt someone take him by the shoulders, and a jolt of electricity race up and down his arms. He opened his eyes to see who had grabbed him, and at that moment, he was given to know that there was a Purgatory – and his mother was there. To say that he was devastated is an understatement. His mom obviously needed prayers, and she would get them.

My husband made me promise not to tell anyone in our pilgrimage group what happened. He was afraid they would think he was crazy. After several days, he came to me and said the words I never thought I would hear: “If I was wrong about Purgatory, what else have I been wrong about? I want to become a Catholic!” My husband would indeed become Catholic in the Year 2000, and we would return to Medjugorje.

Meanwhile, a man at Church suddenly approached me and asked if I wanted to come to a meeting of Third Order Carmelites. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I decided to go. I went to several meetings, and let’s just say it wasn’t for me.

What I didn’t know then is that the Carmelite order has two branches. There’s the Old Order, which this was, and the Discalced Order. One day, after an hour in an Adoration chapel, I looked up at Jesus and said, “Lord, I know you are calling me deeper, but I have no idea what that means. This Carmelite thing doesn’t feel right, but until you tell me otherwise, I guess I’ll keep going.” At that very moment, a woman in front of me turned around and said, “Are you Third Order?” It turned out that she was a member of the Discalced group, and she invited me to come with her to the next meeting. When I walked in the door, where I knew no one except my new acquaintance, I heard clearly in my head, “You’re home.” And I never questioned it.

I had only just received my Carmelite scapular on Oct. 27, 2001, when a woman at my secular job said to me: “I saw an ad in The Philadelphia Inquirer this weekend that had your name on it?” I looked at her skeptically. “Really? What was it?” She said, “Editor-in-Chief of The Catholic Standard & Times.”

Okay. I had told the Lord that I wanted to work for him, but I really didn’t want to drive into downtown Philadelphia, and I definitely didn’t want to work in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. So I stewed about it for a day or two before saying, “Just in case this is You Lord, I will apply.” But I told myself they probably wouldn’t call me, and, of course, I didn’t have to accept it.

I thought I was in the clear, but after many weeks, the Archdiocese did call. I reluctantly went to that first meeting, but afterwards I discovered I had to have major surgery, so I withdrew my name. I thought I had dodged that bullet. But then they asked me how long I would be out of commission. I told them at least six weeks and then forgot about it. Six weeks later, they called again.

My husband said, “I don’t know why you’re going down there. You’re not going to accept that job.” I said I would only accept it under a ton of conditions. They. Met. Every. Single. One. I sat in the church and prayed, “Lord, don’t You have anyone else?” And the sad truth was, He didn’t. I couldn’t believe it. He also let me know that He would love me no matter what choice I made. That did it. How could I say no?

I started work in March 2002 (and joined what was then called the Catholic Press Association shortly thereafter!) The job would be hard for many reasons. Unbeknownst to me, I was not only the first woman in the position, but I was also the first layperson. That’s right, everyone before me had been a priest. Many considered my hiring an outrageous affront to the institution!

When I heard about the sex abuse crisis during that week between jobs, I laughed that laugh you blurt out when you know things are going to be difficult, but you’re now committed to the path you’ve chosen. It was a time when most Catholics were stunned; some were angry; some left the Church. What to do?

I remember sitting in the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul and saying, “Lord, where do I start?” And hearing the words: “You start with Me.” And to me, that meant the Eucharist. Why would that come to mind? Because people were hurting, and they needed to remember why they were Catholic. As critical as priests are to the life of the Church, they are not the reason someone should be a Catholic. We are Catholic because we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that HE founded our Church, and that He is truly present to us in the Eucharist. Period. But doesn’t everyone know this?

Before accepting the job, in God’s Providence, I had gone to something my Church called “Disciples In Mission.” My group met at the home of a wealthy young couple, where we discussed the Sunday readings. That night, the discussion began to center on the difference between Protestants and Catholics. After hearing everyone mention minor differences, I finally said, “Well, yes, but the main difference is that we believe the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Christ, and they don’t.” It was like a bomb had gone off in the room. One man finally said, “I guess I knew that…but I forgot!”

So I hired Susan Brinkmann, a great writer whom I had met in my Carmelite group, and asked her to start writing articles about the Real Presence. Not just the theology, but stories about the Eucharistic miracles and how the Eucharist has transformed lives. We would soon produce our first special Eucharistic Adoration issue, which became an annual tradition. And every year, we would get thank-you notes saying, “I didn’t know!” I also started a prayer page, even though I was unsure if we would have enough copy to keep it going. I wanted to try because I remembered how blown away I was after reading St. Teresa of Avila’s masterwork “The Interior Castle.” I didn’t know it was possible to get that close to the Lord on earth, and I was pretty sure others didn’t know it either!

Of course, the sex abuse crisis was the elephant in the room. Someday, I may tell the story of being inside a major Archdiocese when the sex abuse scandal broke, but it is a complicated and sad story that would probably take a book. For now, I’ll just say that I was allowed to print one article about it per week. While I would have liked to tackle it upfront, with one big issue, it worked out okay. I came to that realization after being asked to speak at a parish Communion breakfast, which was held after Sunday Mass. A woman approached me after Mass in great distress and said, “I’m so sorry to miss your talk. I wanted to hear you, but I just can’t bear to hear anything more about the sex abuse scandal.” I touched her shoulder and said, “Ma’am. I’m not going to talk about that?” She looked at me wide-eyed. “You’re not?”

So what did I talk about? I talked about how God had changed my life and that of my husband. And people were spellbound, not because of me, but because of what God had done in our lives and in what I was assuring them He would do in their lives if they just asked!

During this time, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and the whole concept of Divine Mercy, was just being introduced in the United States, thanks to the work of Poland’s Saint Faustina, the Apostle of Divine Mercy. In a suburb of Philadelphia, there is a gorgeous recreation of Our Lady of Czestochowa Shrine in Poland. My husband and I had gone to their gift shop months before, and he was captivated by the Divine Mercy image, which was largely unknown in the U.S. We purchased it, although I have to admit I didn’t understand why it had writing across the bottom of the picture! Of course, we all know why that is now.

I was honored to introduce the chaplet and the whole Divine Mercy message to Philadelphia Catholics. We offered free prayer cards with the chaplet on the back for all who called into the newspaper, and our office was flooded with calls. We went through one box of 500 cards and had to order another, and maybe more! Each year, we also had a special issue about Divine Mercy and the difference Our Lord’s Mercy made in the lives of people in Philadelphia and around the world.

One of my favorite stories concerns our annual pro-life issue, which is something most dioceses have. Ours usually centered around abortion, but my fellow Carmelite reporter, who often did these special issues, called me before this one was due, and said she kept getting in prayer that we needed to focus on end-of-life issues. We were surprised, but who were we to question the Lord? Guess what story broke just before that issue came out? Terry Schiavo! For those who don’t know, she was the young Philadelphia woman who had allegedly fallen and was on life support, which her husband wanted to withdraw. This would become a national story because her parents wanted to take their daughter home, and her husband wouldn’t let them.

We looked like geniuses as the issue hit the street, with everything people needed to know about Catholic teaching on this issue. In addition to the family, we had inside medical sources who told us that Terri was responsive, but media backlash against the family – and against us for writing and publishing the story -- was tremendous. We didn’t care! At one point, a local newspaper came out with a headline that read: “Michelle Johnson and Susan Brinkmann: Never Say Die.” I actually thought it was kind of cool! But not everyone in the Archdiocese was happy. I had one more blowout issue planned, but I was told no. So be it.

Do some of you remember seeing a photo back in the day of a surgeon doing prenatal surgery when a little hand reached up and grabbed the surgeon’s finger? I stunned a lot of people by putting a large photo of that on the front page in living color! My Managing Editor at the time said she brought that issue home, and her then-boyfriend, who was “pro-choice,” sat on her couch for a long time just staring at the photo. He finally looked at her and said, “Maybe I’m not pro-choice.” Amen!

And, of course, during that time, I had the privilege of covering the death of the great Saint John Paul II. At the time, The Catholic Standard & Times was one of the few diocesan newspapers that was self-supporting, which means we relied on ads and subscribers to stay alive. When a death occurs, there is no time to sell ads, unless you put a story in the current issue and do a testimonial issue in the coming months. In my opinion, this event was too important to do that. The Pope died on the day we normally went to press. Nevertheless, I tore up the existing issue and, God bless the staff, we went crazy. In addition to all the stories, we not only featured full-page four-color photos on the inside and outside of the front and back pages, but a four-color centerspread and numerous four-color one-page photo spreads of the Pope’s life in various stages. The printer allowed us to get the issue to them whenever we finished. We were there all night.

But what an issue – and it arrived on subscribers’ doorsteps as close to the Pope’s death as it was possible to be! I had printed extra copies for those who might want the issue, and they sold out! Unbelievably, the staff was scheduled to meet Philadelphia’s new Cardinal that very morning. We met him, and then everyone went home for some well-deserved rest!

Despite needing all-hands-on-deck during this time, I allowed a young staffer, who had lived in Rome for much of JPII’s papacy, to go to the funeral. I should have insisted she stay because God knows we needed her. But she begged me to go because he was so important to her. When she returned, she wrote a story about the Pope that was so heartfelt and stunningly insightful that I put it on the front page. Sometimes, we do things that don’t make sense until they do!

I remember being stunned one day to see the front page of The Philadelphia Inquirer and the front page of the weekly CS&T had the same stories, written from completely different perspectives! Despite the very Catholic and devotional content, I was honored and amazed that our paper won First Place for “Overall Weekly Coverage” by the Philadelphia Press Association (2006) for the first time in its history.

So how did I get to EWTN? Well, during the Dallas conference at the USCCB, I was sitting in a room with long rows of chairs awaiting a press conference that had been postponed. Because my hotel was offsite, I stayed where I was. I was organizing my notes when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a tall, thin man walking down that long row of chairs. He finally sat down with one seat between us. We were the only ones in the room. I looked up and said, “Hello.” He said, “Hi, I’m Deacon Bill from EWTN.” We talked for quite a while. At the end, I said, “What made you come over and talk to me?” He said, “You just looked like someone I should know!”

I added Deacon Bill to the distribution list for my paper. Years later, I was at a Catholic Leadership Conference in, I believe, Charlotte, and he surprised me again by saying, “We’ve got to get you down to EWTN.” True to his word, I had a call the next week setting up an interview. I didn’t know that I wanted to move to Alabama, but I was curious, so I went, and every time I walked into the EWTN chapel, the Holy Spirit hit me like a ton of bricks. I may not have known what to do, but God did!

Obviously, I got the job, and I have been here for almost 18 years. EWTN didn’t have much of a Communications Department when I arrived; there was no online press room, which I quickly remedied, and corporate America was just beginning to become aware of social media. I remember going to a secular conference with other television providers, and all the talk was about a Comcast technician who had fallen asleep in a customer’s home. The resulting video ended up going viral on social media. It appeared to me that social media was the future, so I started teaching myself by watching online videos during my lunch hour. I figured if a high school kid could do it, I could do it. CMA’s Rob DeFrancesco remembers coming to one of my Catholic Press Association seminars on Twitter, and I remember helping a Mississippi editor figure out how to make it work on her diocese’s website. I also did a number of presentations on social media at other meetings, including a Southern Regional CPA meeting in Little Rock, Arkansas, and one in Savannah.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of being a Communications Director is all the events we get to plan.

One year, I bid for and got the honor of hosting a CPA Southern Regional Meeting! For that event, EWTN bused everyone from the conference hotel to our studio, where we gave them a tour, a sit-down dinner, and the opportunity to be in the studio audience where some of the participants appeared on camera asking questions.

One of my favorite press events occurred after Alabama was hit by a devastating tornado. EWTN Chairman & CEO Michael Warsaw gave EWTN employees the opportunity to volunteer in the cleanup effort for several days with pay, and many took advantage of it. Then-Birmingham Bishop Baker complained that Catholics were doing a lot of the cleanup, but no one had noticed, so Michael lent me to the diocese where I was able to put my journalism hat back on.

I called every church in the area in search of a newsworthy event and finally hit paydirt when one of the men I spoke with said, “Hmmm. We do have a warehouse full of clothes that we got from Men’s Wearhouse a few years ago.” BINGO! That’s when I learned to utilize the wonderful Knights of Columbus, who moved the clothes to the school from which all the tornado work was being coordinated.

We held a press event where Michael and the Bishop handed out clothes to the needy. This received lots of same-day press coverage. We took plenty of photos and video, which I sent with a press release. That way, media who couldn’t attend the event could appear as if they did. In addition, I had the man I considered to be EWTN’s best videographer film EWTN employees in their burgundy EWTN shirts doing cleanup. I then asked the Irish Catholic Singer Dana if she would lend her song, “This is My Body,” to the video. We put that together, and the Bishop used that video to raise more than $1 million for the tornado victims and other charitable endeavors.

There was also a big to-do when the City of Irondale, which is where EWTN’s headquarters is located, honored us by naming the road in front of EWTN “Mother Angelica Way.” That shindig included surprise testimony from a woman who lived in a home across from EWTN at the time. She had moved there as a little girl. While her dad was away, her mother had died. Guess who marched over there and took care of those little girls? Mother Angelica, of course. And those girls spent a good part of their childhood being cared for by the nuns. When we wanted to put up the sign in front of her property announcing the street was called “Mother Angelica Way,” she said, “If it’s for Mother Angelica, you can do anything you want!”

I was also honored to cover the death of Deacon Bill, and to make a large scrapbook with the resulting publicity for his widow. And of course, I was responsible for communications during Mother Angelica’s death and funeral. As an organization, we had plans for prayer services, Masses, and the funeral and burial. But no one can really prepare you for the tens of thousands of calls from media worldwide, and the many celebrities, like Jim Caviezel, who attended.

Believe it or not, I was the sole person in Communications. After the initial press release announcing her death, I sent out a release every single day with updates on what was happening. The funeral was held at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, about an hour and 15 minutes north of EWTN. I had a media room set up in the “castle,” which is located across from the Shrine, and I had wi-fi and other phone hookups enabled, tables and chairs for the media, fact sheets with our story and answers to common questions, as well as lots of snacks and drinks. I also hired a photographer who had contacts at the Associated Press to whom we sent a barrage of photos, and employees who supported me with video for our social media. It was one of those events that was exhausting and emotional, but also exhilarating as we bid a beautiful and well-deserved farewell to our beloved foundress, who did so much for the Church in the United States and the world!

Even as I was handling events like these, my husband of 35 years was going through three bouts of cancer, had his leg amputated up to the hip, and became a quadriplegic. Fortunately, EWTN has a cancer rider on its health insurance, which was a Godsend, and I had the support of EWTN’s friars and many employees. I also lost my sister to endometrial cancer, and my Mom to a fall with the resulting dementia after surgery.

In addition to being blessed by the support of EWTN management and staff, there were other benefits to being at the Network, which is at the crossroads of Catholicism. My husband was prayed over by Sister Briege McKenna and Deacon Jack Sullivan, whose healing was the first miracle attributed to Cardinal John Henry Newman. He invited us to Maine, where he lives, and prayed over Stu with his relic. My husband wasn’t healed, but the experience was one to remember.

As some of you may know, I wrote a book about caring for my husband called “Walking the Way of the Cross for Caregivers: How to Cope Practically, Emotionally, and Spiritually When a Loved One Has a Serious Illness.” That book won three CMA Book Awards in 2023, but what made the work of writing it so rewarding were the stories from readers who said the book changed how they viewed caregiving and what they thought was possible.

One lady said that she and her husband had declined an invitation to attend a birthday party that a relative was hosting at a winery. She felt her husband was too sick. But when the two of them read the story of my husband and me going to a Wisconsin dude ranch, even though he was very sick, they went to that birthday party, and they were able to build the same kind of lasting memories we did.

This leads me to what I believe will be the final chapter of my career, although, with God, who knows! I was able to get that first book done thanks to COVID, which kept all of us working from home. But I know the Lord is calling me to write several more books, and despite my best efforts, I have been unable to do it while working. It has taken me a while to decide to retire, but as my good friend Debbie Georgianni, one of EWTN’s most popular radio hosts, pointed out, chances are, I won’t be in good health forever, so I need to take advantage of my good health while I still have it.

I submitted a letter on Sept. 8, the Blessed Mother's birthday, stating that I intended to retire on Dec. 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which is spiritually important to me. Shortly thereafter, Debbie told me that she and her husband were revamping their popular website to feature communities where people who are hurting can come and get advice and speak with others in the same boat.

Debbie and Dr. David Anders, another popular EWTN TV and radio host, will be hosting Family Matters, which will focus on estrangements, no contact, and parental alienation. I have been asked to handle a community for caregivers, and I may also decide to do one for those who have lost a spouse. Communities are springing up based on current news in today’s challenging culture.

Each community will have its own site, where we can offer webinars, podcasts, blogs, and Q&As, and generally provide emotional support and practical advice to those who join our community. That sounds like heaven to me! Even as the site is being redesigned, we are signing people up. If you are finding caregiving challenging, and who doesn’t, I hope you will join and encourage others to do the same. And if you have caregiving experience and would like to be interviewed on a podcast or webinar, please send me an email at catholiceditor@protonmail.com. You will also be able to find me at StandTallToday.com, where there is a waiting list for those who want to be contacted when the site relaunches!

I’m not sure if I will attend this year’s CMC conference, but if God wills it, I may very well see you at the 2027 conference.

God bless, and many blessings to all of you who remain in the trenches. As I will confirm for you at the end of a long career, the fight for souls is worth everything! As Our Lord promises us, “[we] can do all things through Him who strengthens [us].” I will be praying for you!