Take a virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel

This is very nice!  The level of detail is superb, making it almost as if you were there, inside the room itself where conclaves are held and popes are elected. Check it out.

The most unusual review of one of my books I've ever seen

Lost in Translation:

A remarkable book review of my most recent book, The Godless Delusion: A Catholic Challenge to Modern Atheism (co-authored with Ken Hensley), popped up this morning on my Google Blog Search app.


I think I get the gist of what the reviewer is saying, though I cannot be entirely sure. The review is in English, sort of, though it reads as if it were washed and rinsed through an online translator program. Maybe it was first written in Slovak or Hindi and then translated into Finnish and then translated into English. I can't tell. But I am pretty sure it's an all around positive review, for which I am grateful in any language.


The review is of "Delirium Without God," which I find to be an amusing and entirely apt rendering of what the book's title, "The Godless Delusion," connotes.


Among the many unique and remarkable phrases contained in this review, I have learned some new verbs, such as the picturesque "booty up,"  adjectives such as "abaft," and nouns such as a "blazon of altercation." I quite like that last one. And there is also this complimentary description of me, which I find interesting:

I acquisition this is one of Patrick Madrid's abundant assets. He has become one of my admired apologists for the the Catholic faith. He does not appear out all pumped up, attractive for a fight. He starts with simple honest questions and lets logic, understanding, and animal acquaintance backpack the altercation forward. 

I must confess that it honestly has never occurred to me to implement that old art-of-war tactic of engaging in "animal acquaintance" in order to backpack an altercation forward.  I'm all about backpacking altercations forward, of course, but I just don't think that animal acquaintance should have any role to play in that regard. But then, that's just me.


My thanks to the reviewer for taking the time to booty up the agitation.

Hey! I used to go to school with that guy

Now this is pretty amazing. Dave Beaumont was in my class ('78) when we both attended "Our Lady Queen of Angels" high school seminary in San Fernando, CA. I haven't seen or heard from him since those long ago days, though I did hear from some classmates of ours that he had entered the Capuchin order. 


And just now, I see Dave turn up in, of all places, the Washington Post as Fr. Dave Beaumont, O.F.M., Cap.  I'm not surprised at all to learn that he's a dedicated friar engaged in some wonderful, grueling, sacrificial, and quite dangerous work, ministering to his flock in rural northern Mexico -- right in the heart of where the drug-related violence is raging. I doubt you'll ever see this post, Dave, but you sure can count on my prayers for protection and guidance. May God reward you. Siempre adelante!

You can't always get what you want

My grandson Patrick was not happy today when my daughter Bridget and her husband Al broke the news to him that their new baby on the way is a little girl. As you can see, though, his kid brother Joey wasn't the least bit bothered by the news. And neither were Nancy and I and the rest of the family!

Tom Peterson of "Catholics Come Home" talks with Fr. Benedict Groeschel

Many of you are familiar with the wonderful media outreach to fallen-away Catholics that has been conducted for several years by the good people at Catholics Come Home. Their television commercials, which air around the country on secular television stations and networks, have proven to be quite effective in helping many thousands of  people come into, or back into, the Catholic Church.


Tom Peterson, the president and genius behind Catholics Come Home and Virtue Media was recently the host on Fr. Benedict Groeschel's EWTN television program, "Sunday Night Live," explaining the behind-the-scenes work of the apostolate. It's well worth the watch.

Understatement of the year: "This debate will be followed closely at the Turkish embassy."

As Europe slowly begins to wake up to the serious danger it faces, a gutsy Catholic member of the Austrian parliament, Ewald Stadler, adds a few choice words of his own. Please watch all five minutes of this amazing speech.


Courtesy of Eponymous Flower.

I'm not entirely sure what this means, but it made me chuckle

Their name is Luka

Did NASA Discover Life on One of Saturn's Moons?

Gawker reports:

NASA is holding a press conference on Thursday "to discuss an astrobiology finding." Are they going to announce that they've found evidence of extraterrestrial life?

Blogger Jason Kottke took a look at NASA's press release, which touts "an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life" (astrobiology, besides being a cool word, is "the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe"), and decided to investigate further by looking at the participants' resumes. So who are the participants?

• A geobiologist who's written about "geology and life on Mars";
• an oceanographer who's done extensive work on arsenic-based photosynthesis;
• a biologist examining Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, and its similarities to early Earth;
• and an ecologist investigating the "chemistry of environments where life evolves."

(. . . continue reading)

A Catholic college girl's lament

So, you think it's safe to send your children to (at best) a nominally Catholic college or university? Think again. Meet Emmy Cecilia (her pen name), a young Catholic woman who made the uninformed and greatly regretted decision to enroll in a prestigious, four-year "Catholic" university out West. She explains what it's like for a student who believes what the Church teaches to attend a school where practically no one else does, especially her professors, who seem bent on expunging any traces of Catholic orthodoxy in their students before they graduate. P.S. I should mention that I know this young woman personally, and I can vouch for her credibility, sincerity, and honesty.

Being at a CINO (Catholic in Name Only) college is hard and getting harder. I'm beginning to see certain assignments marked down. The tension between professors and certain students (myself included) is beginning to increase. My anxiety's also beginning to get a lot worse. . . .

On Friday I was talking to another faithful Catholic and she was talking about leaving the school as soon as the semester was over... and she's not the only one. Many of us who do not agree with the "teachings" that happen at that school are considering transferring elsewhere, even if it means losing this semester. I had the good fortune of meeting a former student and she said she left after a year because she went through the same that I went through with the professors . . . and she had the same professors, years ago, that I have now.

You can just imagine how bad things are. I don't 100% regret going there only because it's taught me a valuable lesson, but I wish I would've really looked at the school before even applying. I knew things were bad but I didn't know the extent of it until I actually got there. I think I can withstand the abuse (and I feel like it is a form of abuse) for another semester or even until I graduate but I am not 100% sure. As I said, my anxiety is getting worse (so much worse) so I am really thinking about what to do. . . . (continue reading)

Heavenly Eye Candy: The latest images from the Hubble Telescope

These are simply ineffable. Whenever I see this kind picture of the heavenly bodies, I think of the biblical exclamation of awe and wonder:


“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is thy name in all the earth! Thou whose glory above the heavens is chanted by the mouth of babes and infants, thou hast founded a bulwark because of thy foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast established; what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou dost care for him? Yet thou hast made him little less than God, and dost crown him with glory and honor. Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet.”


(click here for more images, or click the stardust above)

Happy Thanksgiving! (and a bit of wise advice)

For all your TSA humor needs: new bumper stickers

Inspiring New Advent Meditations That Will Help You "Prepare The Way of the Lord"

This is really impressive, friends. Please check this out.
We can expand and nourish our minds through the power of words inspired by the Word, such as the meditations contained in Belmont Abbey College theology professor Dr. Ron Thomas’ new booklet and companion CD, Prepare the Way: Daily Meditations for Advent. It's being offered, along with the companion CD of the meditations read by Dr. Thomas.
Please click here to sample the powerful words and beautiful images that await you when you receive your booklet.
Last year, Dr. Ron Thomas wrote a booklet and recorded a companion CD entitled Meditations on the Stations of the Cross, which was ordered by thousands of people all across America to enrich their Lent. In fact, EWTN found Dr. Thomas’ recorded Meditations on the Stations of the Cross to be so powerful and inspiring, they played his meditations on their worldwide radio network every day during Holy Week of 2010.
Imagine beginning each day during Advent by taking some quiet time and meditating on words that will bring you “the peace that surpasses all understanding,” and help you prepare your heart and mind like never before for the coming of Christ. That's how powerful this new Advent meditation booklet is. (And with your new companion CD, you could also do this in your car, helping you maintain peace and calm, even in the midst of rush-hour traffic.)
To sample the audio of one of the daily meditations, CLICK HERE. (File will open in QuickTime.)
To get all the info on this excellent new book of Advent meditations, please click here or click the image above. You're all in my prayers in a very special way for a peaceful and blessed Advent.

"How I Solved the Catholic Problem" -- Confessions of a Protestant missionary to Guatemala

Guatemala is at a turning point. Historically it's been a 100% Catholic country — but that's changing — rapidly. Demographers predict that early in this century Guatemala will become the first mostly-Protestant Latin American country. This story shows a different side of that trend: How two Evangelical Protestant missionaries went there to convert Catholics and discovered something amazing and life-changing.

By Kristine L. Franklin
The jet made a careful descent between the three volcanoes that ring the sprawl of Guatemala City. It was April 19th, 1992. My husband, Marty, and I had reached the end of eight years of preparation to be Evangelical Protestant missionaries.

We were finally here, excited and eager to settle in Guatemala. We knew our faith would be challenged and stretched, but we were more than ready for it because above all else, we desired to serve God with everything we could offer. Our new life as missionaries had just begun.

I didn't feel even a twinge of regret over what we'd left behind in the States: family, friends, a familiar language and culture, and amenities like clean water and good roads we Americans so often take for granted. In spite of the unknowns ahead, I knew we were being obedient, regardless of the cost. We were living smack in the middle of God's will, and it gave us a great feeling of security. We had given ourselves fully to bringing Christ's light to the darkness of this impoverished, Catholic country.

As the jet touched down onto the bumpy runway, tears welled in my eyes. "Thank you, Jesus," I whispered as I reached over to squeeze my husband's hand. Marty and I had come to the end of a long journey, but we were also beginning a new one. "Some day, Lord," I prayed silently, "I hope this foreign place will feel like home."

I was elated as we walked down the exit ramp from the plane and began the long-awaited adventure of being Protestant missionaries - missionaries sent to "rescue" Catholics from the darkness of their religion's superstition and man-made traditions and bring them into the light of Protestantism.

There's no way I could have known that three years later, almost to the day, my husband and my two children and I would stand holding hands again, elated again, waiting to be received into the Catholic Church. Let me explain what happened that led me, a staunch Evangelical, to become Catholic. . . . (continue reading)