Some words of encouragement for those who predict the imminent end of the world

“When you wish upon a falling star, your dreams can come true. Unless it's really a meteorite hurtling to the Earth which will destroy all life. Then you're pretty much hosed no matter what you wish for. Unless it's death by meteor.”

— Despair.com

In Praise of Bacon

You know this is true. You know it. Don't lie.

Nihilist thought for the day: Nothing really matress

Even when misspelled, it is still true.

Here's a Bible Verse You'll Never See Cross-stitched on a Pillow

Just when you think you've solved a problem, along comes a bigger one

You know the old saying, "One step forward, three steps backward"? Well, this video is a good example of "one step forward, 1000 steps backward."

One priest per Dublin parish shortly, archbishop warns

Ireland, once a mighty powerhouse of priestly vocations, sent men by the thousands to the United States, Canada, and elsewhere to help build the Church here, over the last 150 years. But the Emerald Isle is now struggling just to ordain enough priests to meet its own ever-dwindling church-going Catholic population.

What has shut off the firehose of Irish vocations to the priesthood in Ireland? My guess is that it is the steadily tightening grip of secularism and indifferentism that have coiled around the Irish so unremittingly in the post-War era, as well as the terrible sex-scandals with men, women, and children involving Irish priests and even bishops which have soured so many in their view of the priesthood. What can be done, short of a miracle, to reverse this trend? I have no idea, but I am praying for a miracle.

The Irish Times reports:

DUBLIN’S CATHOLIC archdiocese will soon have barely enough priests to serve its 199 parishes, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said.“We have 46 priests over 80 and only two less than 35 years of age. In a very short time we will just have the bare number of priests required to have one active priest for each of our 199 parishes,” he said in Dublin’s pro-cathedral at the weekend.

He was speaking at a Mass on Saturday to celebrate the feast of St Lawrence O’Toole, principal patron of the Dublin Catholic archdiocese, of which he was archbishop from 1162 until 1180. Last April Archbishop Martin said there were now 10 times more priests over 70 than under 40 in the archdiocese.

In April also it emerged that the number of priests in Tuam Catholic archdiocese is set to fall by 30 per cent over the next four years, leaving most parishes there with just one resident priest. . . . (continue reading)

A Caller to My "Open Line" Radio Show Asks Me About the "Good Fruits" of Medjugorje

A call came in recently from a woman who wanted to remind me about all the "good fruits" associated with the alleged Marian apparitions at Medjugorje. You know, the thousands of confessions and conversions, rosaries and other prayers prayed, and even numerous priestly vocations which are attributed to men having made a pilgrimage there.

Well . . . I don't deny that there are good "fruits" associated with Medjugorje, but even so, I am strongly disinclined to believe that it is the site of authentic Marian apparitions. And, as I explained to the caller, I personally do not agree that the "good fruit" argument constitutes proof of its authenticity.

The Medjugorje issue comes up from time to time on my "Open Line" show, and the fact that I am skeptical about this alleged apparition seems to perplex and, at times, irritate some of my listeners. I surely do not mean to irritate them! But I feel obliged to give my honest opinion when callers ask me about it. Take a listen.

Bahamian Archbishop Speaks Out on Sexual Sins Within Marriage

Kevin Knowles, at the "Catholicism in the Bahamas" blog, reports:

The Archdiocese of Nassau, Bahamas, has come out in support of legislature to deal with marital rape.

“To the extent that the proposed legislation seeks to address the unfortunate reality of marital rape and in the measure that it seeks to preserve the dignity of every person and to safeguard marriage as a covenant of life and love between a man and woman, the Catholic Church offers its prayerful support”, reads an August 27 statement from Archbishop Patrick Pinder on the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill 2009.

Giving the Church’s perspective, Archbishop Pinder said God created man and woman in such a way that through their bodies “it would be self-evident that they are called to love and give themselves to one another in the gift of marriage”, a sacrament according to the Catholic understanding. “By its nature, then, marriage is an intimate union of life and love.” . . . (continue reading)

Spanish Bishop: Catholic Pols Who Vote for Abortion Excommunicate Themselves

Here's more good and encouraging news from the episcopal front, this time coming from Spain, where the Catholic bishops there are girding for battle with the country's leftist, pro-abortion government.

When Nancy and I were most recently in Spain, for two weeks in September, I spoke at length with as many Spaniards as I could about what they see happening in the Church over there. In addition to their general pessimism about how apathetic most Spanish Catholics tend to be about the Faith, they also seemed very heartened by the muscular efforts many Spanish bishops, priests, and laypeople have been making recently to publicly speak out in defense of unborn children against the country's pro-abortion laws.

One priest in Valencia, with whom I had two-hour conversation about the state of the Church there, lamented that the vast majority of Spaniards are at best only culturally Catholic. "During the week," he said, "they work to make money so that on the weekend, they can spend their time drinking, having sex, watching sports, and being entertained."

I guess he'd know what he's talking about, because, as one of the canons of the cathedral of Valencia, he hears confessions and observes what's going on around him. He added, though, that the abortion issue and the Spanish Government's efforts to ramrod even more legislation to promote abortion is steadily having a positive effect on a growing number of Spanish Catholics who, even if many of them are still tepid in the practice of their Faith, are beginning to wake up and smell the paella and recognize that they have to start fighting the good fight if they don't want to see their country go completely into spiritual ruin. Viva España!

MADRID, November 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The secretary general of the Spanish bishops' conference, Auxiliary Bishop Juan Antonio Martinez Camino of Madrid, warned that Spanish Catholic legislators who vote in favor of a bill to liberalize abortion which is currently before parliament would publicly place themselves in an "objective state of sin" and therefore may not receive Communion.

"Excommunication is provided in the Code of Canon Law for those who cooperate actively in the practice of abortion," Bishop Martinez Camino stated in an AFP report.

He said Catholics cannot support the legalization of abortion and if they do "they will objectively find themselves in a public state of sin and may not be admitted to Holy Communion."

While "the Church cannot judge their subjectivity," he added, those who "directly collaborate" in or promote abortion incur excommunication.

At the same time, Bishop Martinez Camino said the Church reaches out to women who have had an abortion or who are tempted to abort.

Encouraging those who have aborted to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, he said, "Those who have not gone to confession are encouraged to do so because God wants to offer them a solution and deep peace." . . . (continue reading)

The Groveler in Chief Does it Again

(Dear Leader makes his obeisance to the Emperor of Japan.)

Isn't there some kind of charm school where men who've been elected president should go for at least a few weeks of tutoring in the basic dos and don'ts of being President of the United States? Apparently not, but there certainly should be such mandatory training so that this kind of silliness doesn't happen when the guy gets into office and embarrasses the country, the way Dear Leader has a knack of doing. Doesn't anyone coach him on what to do and not to do as head of state? Anyone? Please?

(And for those who will be quick to point out that in Japan they bow to greet one another, I know that. I've been to Japan many times and am familiar with their customs. But, as I see it, this incident is not one of "when in Rome, do as the Romans.")

(Courtesy of the Drudge Report)

Catholic Radio Is Coming On Strong Across the Country -- Take a Listen . . .

Catholic radio is expanding rapidly across the country, and it's very gratifying to see how many good things are happening — in particular conversions to the Catholic Church — that result when Catholic radio starts up in a given locale. A new station in the Immaculate Heart Radio network has gone live recently in Salt Lake City, blanketing most of the State of Utah, and another large station will go live in December, booming across the metro Phoenix area with 24/7 Catholic programming.

In addition to the many Catholics in Arizona who will be tuning in, you can be sure that there are also certain non-Catholic critics of the Church who will also no doubt be "closely monitoring" the Catholic airwaves once the new station gets up and running. That will make my job as host of the Thursday edition of EWTN's "Open Line" show that much more enjoyable. ("Open Line" airs each Thursday at 3:00 p.m. ET.)

Doug Sherman, president of Immaculate Heart Radio, estimates that upwards of 150 new stations may be going live next year across the U.S.

Yowza.

One of the leading shows, carried on virtually all Catholic stations, is the "Catholic Answers Live" program. I was on it last week, fielding questions for an hour. Among the various topics we covered was a call on whether God loves everyone, something that relates to a central error in the Calvinist religious system. Take a listen . . .

St. Louis Archbishop Carlson Now Under Media Attack

I'll tell you what. I am stoked to see the new wave of American bishops taking courageous, articulate, and effective public stands against evil in its many forms. This is exactly what the Heavenly Doctor ordered (John 10:11-15), and it's something I haven't seen, at least not like this, not in such numbers, in my nearly 50 years of being Catholic. Thank God Almighty that more and more of our bishops are standing up like men to fight the good fight. May the Lord strengthen them!

Those thoughts were prompted by an article I saw just now at the St. Louis Catholic Blog which details how the media has now turned its guns on Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis because of his efforts to rally resistance to uphold and defend the traditional understanding of marriage (i.e., one man and one woman).

Archbishop Robert J. Carlson [is under attack] for donating to the effort to uphold traditional marriage in Maine. This successful effort defeated a ballot initiative that would have allowed couples to pretend that living in a sodomitical relationship is the same as marriage, with all of the attendant legal rights and obligations thereof.

Tim Townsend has the story at STLToday. He attempts to paint the Church in a bad light by juxtaposing this donation against the layoffs this summer at Catholic Charities:

_____________________

The St. Louis Archdiocese released the following statement to the Post-Dispatch:

In June of this year, Archbishop Richard Malone of Portland, Maine sent a letter to all U.S. bishops asking for financial support for issues the church considers to be moral issues. Archbishop Robert J. Carlson approved a donation for $10,000 which was charged to the special needs fund. This fund has traditionally been the archbishop’s for discretionary spending, not for formal operations, and is funded by private gifts. These funds were already available when Archbishop Carlson arrived in St. Louis. Archbishops of St. Louis have made donations in the past to help other dioceses around the world for various causes ranging from disaster relief, to pro-life issues.

Carlson was installed on June 10. The contribution from the St. Louis Archdiocese was received by the Portland diocese on July 16.

Less than a month earlier, on June 22, the archdiocese eliminated four positions at Catholic Charities, the largest private provider of social services in Missouri. Catholic Charities president, Monsignor Mark Ullrich said at the time that the job cuts were “due to our need to economically downsize.”

The archdiocese has been stung by the struggling economy. In January, it eliminated 25 part-time and full-time positions - representing 6 percent of the jobs within its administrative and educational offices, not including Catholic Charities. Last November, the archdiocese said its revenue had dropped 37 percent because of decreases in investment income and contributions.

________________________

See, the insinuation here is that the Archdiocese is either lying about the reasons for the layoffs, or else is willing to spend money to discriminate against homosexuals but won't spend money to help the poor. A pretty lame effort, even for the Post-Dispatch.

Please Pray for My Little Grandson, Killian Patrick

Many of you have been following the saga of Killian's premature birth almost a month ago. He was born three months early, but he's been improving, little by little, ever since. There is, however, a major new setback the little man has to face: surgery today, starting at 2:00 p.m. ET. In other words, he is in surgery right now, as I post this.

My son Timothy has posted updates on Killian on his blog with an explanation of what this surgery entails.

Everyone in the Madrid family would be profoundly grateful to any of you who would stop what you are doing right now and say some fervent prayers for Killian. Thank you.

London Calling

The clash between what the Mormon Church teaches and what some Mormons think it teaches can be a curious thing to observe. Case in point: "Richard from London" called my Open Line radio show last week to berate me for my critical comments on an earlier show regarding Mormon theology.

Richard identified himself as a former Catholic who converted to the Mormon Church, largely, he said, due to the many "disturbing" chapters in Catholic history. I pointed out that, whatever good or bad things Catholics have done over the centuries (and, to be sure, there are innumerable examples of Catholics doing both), none of it is at all relevant to the truth claims made by the Mormon Church.

Once of those claims which the Mormon Church has made (one which, understandably, Richard denied), through the teachings of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, as well as official LDS scripture, is that God "cursed" certain people by changing their skin color from white to black and, in some cases, brown — an issue I had discussed with a different caller on an earlier show. Take a listen and see what you think.

Regarding the larger question of whether or not the Mormon Church did/does, in fact, officially teach the doctrine that God has cursed certain people by making them black or brown, I wrote an article addressing this issue in This Rock magazine, back in 1991, in response to a similar line of argumentation from another Mormon who was very squeamish about this issue being brought up. I wrote:

As for the question about racism in the doctrines and practices of the Mormon Church, your indignant comments fly in the face of the facts. For the last century and a half the Mormon Church has preached a message of racial inequality based on the theory that God has "cursed" certain people with dark skin. As you well know, this curse applies both to blacks and those of "Lamanite" descent, although for different reasons. To make my point I'll focus just on the Lamanites.

THE BOOK of Mormon says God "cursed" the Lamanites (whom Joseph Smith alleged were originally white-skinned Palestinian Jews from the family of Laman, son of Lehi, who settled in the New World around the year 600 B.C.) in retaliation for their sins by turning them into Indians with dark skin and hair (1 Nephi 12:23; 2 Nephi 5:21-24; Jacob 3:3-5; Alma 3:6; Mormon 5:15).

The Mormon Church teaches that the Lamanites were the forerunners of North American Indians as well as of Mexicans and other Latin Americans. These are described in the Book of Mormon in unflattering terms: "dark," "filthy," "abominable," "loathsome," "idle," "wicked," "sorely cursed with skins of darkness," and "beyond the description of that which hath ever been amongst us."

If this weren't enough to demonstrate that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints teaches that certain races are inferior because of the color of their skin (isn't that the definition of racism?), please recall that the Book of Mormon repeatedly emphasizes the notion that white skin is "pure and delightsome" and that brown skin is "filthy and loathsome."

TO BE FAIR, I should mention that the Mormon Church does hold out hope to Indians, Mexicans, and all those who have been tainted by the Lamanite curse. The Book of Mormon explains that "Lamanitish" people who accept the Mormon gospel can hope to have their skins turned white.

In Jacob 3:8 the white-skinned Nephites are warned about the wages of sin: "O my brethren, I fear that unless ye shall repent of your sins that their [the Lamanites'] skins will be whiter than yours, when ye shall be brought with them before the throne of God." If you need more convincing about this issue see also 3 Nephi 2:15, 2 Nephi 30:6, and Alma 23:18.

Notice that I quote from the Book of Mormon--I'm not sneaking in "obscure comments," although I could have quoted zillions of 'em, and you know it, from "obscure" Mormon leaders such as the prophets Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, plus Bruce R. McConkie and Mark E. Peterson, both former members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Truth or consequences, Robert. Do you believe God "cursed" people by giving them dark skin, or don't you? The ramifications of your answer seem agonizingly clear: If you don't believe it, you deny an explicit teaching of the Book of Mormon and over 150 years of official Mormon doctrine promulgated by prophets, apostles, and general authorities. If you do believe God curses some people with dark skin, you'll have a hard time convincing people Mormon theology isn't racist. . . . (continue reading)

"Why Do Catholic Apologists Need to Lie?"

That's only one of several provocative questions raised, presumably by an Evangelical Protestant, on this new 3-minute video clip. If nothing else, it illustrates the kind of dense — don't bother me with the facts! — kind of mentality we "Catholic Apologists" (and you know who you are, Steve Ray, Scott Hahn, Tim Staples, Jim Burnham, Mark Shea, John Salza, Father Mitch Pacwa, and the rest of you) have to deal with, from time to time. I won't bother to try rebutting these claims. It's enough to see them leveled with a presumably straight face in public and to know the sad truth, exemplified in this video, of our Lord's words in Matthew 13:15.

Some of the other charges laid are:

Catholic apologists don't represent "real" Catholicism.

The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches are the "same" and "believe the same things."

The Catholic Church has oral traditions that came before the Bible and are authoritative.

I like the part where he claims that "We [Protestants] have no canon other than the Bible itself . . . No one has produced any transcript or recording of any definitive 'oral tradition.'" [NB: That is particularly interesting because the canon of Scripture is itself a Tradition and is not explicitly mentioned by Scripture.]

[Catholic apologists'] hate-filled rhetoric comes at a time when Evangelicals are most willing to discuss issues."

"Catholic apologist = hate-filled liar. That's just the sad fact."