American diva Whitney Houston loses battle

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
2/13/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Singer found dead in hotel room at the age of 48

For some the question was not "how and why did she die?" but rather "How did she manage to live as long as she did?" America's preeminent Woman of Song Whitney Houston apparently lost her ongoing battle with substance abuse and was discovered dead in as Beverly Hills hotel room. She was 48.

Dogged by substance abuse problems in the final years of her life, this photo was taken less than two days before Whitney Houston's death.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Toxicology reports are pending, but there seems little doubt that Houston's death was drug related. According to the Daily Mail in the United Kingdom --

-- Houston's 18-year-old daughter Bobbi Kristina has been hospitalized twice since her mother's death.

-- Houston's bodyguard "found her drowned in bath in her hotel room."

-- Houston was found under water after mixing a cocktail of prescription drugs with alcohol, it is claimed.

-- The "I Will Always Love You" singer "partied heavily" in the hotel bar's on Friday, according to reports.

-- Houston last appeared in public on Thursday where she looked disheveled and "smelled of alcohol."

-- The Award-winning star was on "brink of bankruptcy" having "frittered away pop fortune on crack cocaine."

-- The hotel guest on floor below complained night before that "water was pouring from Miss Houston's bathroom."

"There were no visible signs of trauma, and foul play is not suspected at this time," Assistant Chief Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County Coroner's office said.

At the church where Houston grew up, the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, members gathered to honor her. As a young girl, Houston grew sang solos in the choir at the church. Her mother served as director of sacred music at the church for 54 years and is still a member there.

Born in Newark in 1963 and was soloing in the junior choir by age 11,"Whitney's mother and cousins nurtured her passion for gospel music since birth," according to Houston's official Web site. Her cousins include singers Dee Dee Warwick and Dionne Warwick, and her godmother was Aretha Franklin.

Houston achieved mega-stardom in the late Eighties with such songs as "I Will Always Love You." She parlayed her musical success in film roles such as "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale."

Houston's life took a sudden downturn after she married bad boy singer Bobby Brown, who she later divorced in 2007. Her addictions to drug and alcohol provided continual fodder for supermarket tabloids, who eagerly snapped photos of the once beautiful and vivacious singer reduced to a skeletal, haggard remnant of her former self.

Drugs and alcohol robbed Houston of her dignity and fortune, as well as her art - in recent years, she was unable to hit the high notes she was once famed for, her voice reduced to a rasp.

"I did really get the sense that she was really trying to make a comeback," church pastor T.D. Jakes, executive producer of Houston's upcoming movie "Sparkle," said this past weekend.

"And I think that the reason that so many people are devastated is because it is not just her music, but it is her misery that attached itself to the hearts of Americans, and we watched her struggle to regain her footing after a tumultuous relationship and bouts with abuse and substance abuse.

"I think the believability of her human struggle made her song and her acting that much more powerful because we recognize that often it is the caged bird that sings," he said.

� 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Whitney Houston, substance abuse, death, Bobby Brown, music

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1 - 3 of 3 Comments

Alisha Ruiss
1 year ago
I completely agree with the comment of "surprized". I'm disappointed in Catholic Online. I was hoping to find a Catholic voice on the tragic passing of this incredibly gifted singer and instead I basically found a regurgitation of the Daily Mail and TMZ. More importantly, I feel this lacked charity given that a lot of what is written here is unverified.

As for the comment of Ms Kim Lilley: your spiritual pride is appalling. You blame Hollywood for a lot of problems. However, if Hollywood is the way it is, it's because we as Christians have not been present there, have not worked there in a way compelling enough to make a difference? What have YOU done to help artists grow in holiness? I'm a Catholic and an artist and I can tell you that my biggest challenge is not the pressures of the entertainment world, but getting Catholics to recognize that they are failing to contribute to the support of artists morally or otherwise.
It's incredibly uncharitable to say the things you did of Ms Houston who struggled against her addiction to drugs, an abusive husband etc etc. Moreover, she had made sincere efforts to remain connected to Christ throughout all of her battles. Consider that perhaps your preference NOT to pray for people like Ms Houston (and the preference of many Christians who see Hollywood as Sodom and Gomorrah rather than what it is - a mission field) is one of the things that contributed to her failures. Perhaps it is something you will be held accountable for when you face the Lord: she is, after all, a fellow Christian, and therefore your SISTER.

For my part, I was genuinely inspired and uplifted by Whitney Houston as a person and an artist. Hearing her sing gospel music was one of the most moving things I've ever experienced. Given that you won't find the name of Jesus on the lips of many celebrities in any way other than a curse word, I am grateful for her willingness, despite everything, to be an unashamed witness even in the face of great obstacles. When asked by Oprah who she loved, she responded, without hesitation: The Lord. I do. I'm so humbled and so thankful. By his grace, his goodness. And for never giving up on me.
surprized
1 year ago
I am quite surprized that Catholic Online published an article with this content. I expect this from the secular media. Catholics need not to be spreading rumors or making someone look bad. We do not know for sure how she died. Really this was written more for People Magazine, than for Catholic Online. Imprudent, tasteless and unnecessary.
Kim Lilley
1 year ago
We all have God given talents. We can all grow them and use them to their fullest or we can take advantage of them, abuse or mis-use them. The people who generally use them to their fullest potential are not being honored or beheld as a celebrity . . . they are out there in this world anonymously trying to make the world better in God's name. I would venture to say, the majority of these celebrities are held in this glorified position and then abuse the gift of the platform they are given. Instead, the temptations to do wrong are too great. It's not just the drugs and alcohol, its the greed and money. How does a celebrity seriously work the phones at a telethon begging the little people who are struggling through this economy for their money when their own pockets seem to be bottom-less. They donate $100,000 here or even $1,000,000 there but, sincerely, their $1,000,000 check compared to what they have is probably a $10 bill to you and I. They have the ability to change the world for the good but they are too pulled by the glamour, greed, pampering to truly open their hearts and give. In the meantime, they are influencing the people who wrongly objectify them and glorify them because they are pretty or skinny or dress well or because of who they are dating or a movie they made. Every day normal human beings let these selfish people influence how we vote and what we find acceptable in society. Because of Hollywood - alcohol, drugs, promiscuity, homosexuality, abortion, etc. etc. - -- its all normal?? Acceptable??? Humanity scares me. I know God made us so much wiser than people are choosing to be. I know all the information is there for us to seek and truly find God and yet, for some reason, people are letting the tug of temptation be the stronger pull. I am Catholic. I've faltered. I get back up and try harder and commit myself to seeking bigger - STRONGER. I commit to living this life FOR GOD. I have moments of real clarity and I have moments when I stumble. Stumble. Smash my face on the ground!!! This world would be - could be - such a different place if people just truly believed and TRIED. Each individual's life could be richer and better and they wouldn't need the drugs and alcohol if they just believed and TRIED. If they truly were here to serve others instead of themselves. If everyone considered what's best for the whole instead of what's best for ME! But instead - they choose the dark side and are glorified. They choose self and selfishness. They prioritize looks over inner beauty. They pine over what they are entitled to instead of making their thoughts and actions be about what can I give or do for someone else? So - after all my ranting, I think I prefer to say a little prayer for all those people who truly tried while they were on this planet - who passed on the same day as poor Ms. Houston - and who will not get the glory she got on this planet but will absolutely get the reward due them in the next life - the REAL life.

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