Greece Fire

As you know, Greece has been in a state of tumult for the past year as protests against the government’s efforts to curb its profligate spending have convulsed the country, especially in Athens. Personally, I don’t have much sympathy at all for government workers who refuse to face realty and tighten their own belts in the face of unsustainable government budget excesses that literally not only have bankrupted their country but, given that Greece is already a badly limping member of the EU, have seriously strained the general fiscal health of the Union as a whole. When annual expenditures far exceed income, something’s gotta give. The worrisome aspect of this simmering Greek unrest is, in my view, how similar it appears to be to what could easily happen here in the United States if some kind of fiscal sanity and restraint (not to mention a return to grown-up behavior by certain fatuous lawmakers) doesn’t soon re-take control of our governmental brain. The last few days’ worth of budget-related turbulence in Wisconsin has all the earmarks of the beginnings of what you see here in this video. Obviously, we can all hope and pray that it won’t happen here, that significant numbers of agitated American citizens won’t degenerate into the violence currently wracking Greece. But I’m not so sure. As the situation in Greece shows, it doesn’t take much of a spark to ignite a fire. And fires, let’s remember, often get out of control and burn things down very quickly.

Christchurch Quake Map

Yesterday’s big quake in Christchurch, New Zealand, has Kiwis reeling from the destruction, injuries, and deaths it left in its wake. I had always heard that NZ was located on a rather seismologically active zone, though when I visited there years ago, I didn’t feel anything. But until I watched this fascinating and rather startling computer-generated model of just how frequently the Christchurch area is hit by quakes, I really had no idea the extent of the subterranean turmoil at work there. Check it out. It obviously will take a while to cycle through the last 6 months of quake activity, so if you want to see what’s been happening in just the last week leading up to yesterday’s Big Quake, click the beneath the headline in the top center.

P.S. To all my visitors from New Zealand, please know that you all have my promise of prayers for your protection.

Dr. Bernard Nathanson, Rest In Peace

I was only 12 when, in January of 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its hideous  7-2 decision that legal abortion is a “constitutional right” that may not be infringed.  One of the most prolific abortion doctors of that era, one who has estimated that he personally performed in excess of 60,000 abortions, was Dr. Bernard Nathanson.

His thriving abortion practice made him both a wealthy man and a haunted man who was tortured by a guilty conscience which refused to let him rest. Eventually, in 1979, he couldn’t take it any longer. He publicly repented and renounced his “pro-choice” allegiance,  ceased carrying out his ghastly hecatombs, and embraced the pro-life cause. An atheist Jew his whole life, Dr. Nathanson also converted to the Catholic Church and henceforth devoted his life to exposing the evil of abortion. Most likely, you know him from his powerful Pro-Life film, “The Silent Scream.”

His landmark best-selling book, The Hand of God: A Journey From Death to Life by the Abortion Doctor Who Changed His Mind,” had a profoundly invogorating and encouraging effect on Pro-Lifers everywhere. If you haven’t read it, you really need to read it — especially now that Dr. Nathanson has died at the age of 84. May he rest in peace. And may the souls of all the babies he aborted intercede for him, imploring God’s mercy and forgiveness. I myself  join my humble prayers to theirs and to those of countless Pro-Life men and women everywhere who are grateful for this man’s integrity and courage.

Being for the benefit of parishes in Texas

“Having been some days in preparation, a splendid time
is guaranteed for all . . .”

What a wonderful and action-packed several days I had in Texas last week!

My sincere thanks to all of  you who were able to attend my talks in Coppell and San Antonio. We had capacity crowds at each venue, about 500 on Thursday night at St. Ann’s, and about 500 on Friday evening and again on Saturday at Blessed Sacrament Parish in San Antonio. (I really like the adoration chapel there.) On Saturday, Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller joined us in the late morning to greet the people and encourage them to study their Catholic Faith and know how to share it with others. After that, he sat in the back row and listened to the latter half of my talk on the sacraments. What an honor for all of us to have him in our midst.

It was great to be able to meet several of you in person. Thanks for coming up to introduce yourselves, take pictures, etc. And I’d like to say a special “Thank You!” to Cori and Michael Hyland for their help and conviviality while I was in Dallas; to Martha Fernández-Sardina for the same, as well as her hurculean efforts to plan and promote the events in SA, to Dennis Dixon for his taking time to be there while in the midst of a very difficult trial (God bless you, brother), and all the others who in ways seen and unseen, especially by your prayers, assisted and encouraged me in my work on this trip. Thank you!

— Patrick

P.S. If those of you living in various parts of the country would like to arrange for me to speak at a parish in your area, it’s not hard to set up. Go to the “Speaking” section of the nav bar above for details on how to organize an event like this where you live.

Filling in for Patrick Coffin again on “The Catholic Answers Live” radio show

Well, as it happens, Patrick Coffin is still sick with strep throat, so I’ll be filling in for him again this evening as guest host of the “Catholic Answers Live” radio show for the first hour and, for the 2nd hour, I’ll be playing the dual roles of both host and guest. I guess I’ll interview myself. Anyway, if you’re interested in tuning in this evening, it runs from 6-8 ET. I hope you can tune in.

I can totally picture my grandson, Blaise, doing this

And for that matter, I can totally picture my son, Jon (Blaise’s dad), doing his part, like the dad in this commercial.

Behold how much the world has changed in just 15 years

“What is the Internet, anyway?” a clueless Bryant Gumbel asks his equally clueless co-hosts on the “Today” show, way back in 1994. I can’t blame him, though. When I first heard of the Internet, about that same time, I couldn’t make sense out of it either. Karl Keating had been reading up on it in some BBS-related techie magazine he subscribed to and was trying to explain it to me over lunch one day.

I remember him saying that he thought the Internet could potentially become a big thing, as long as enough people started using it. In fact, he had the foresight to be the first to register the domain name (“what’s that?” I remember asking him) catholic.com. That was back in late 1993 or early 1994. You know, back in the days when very few people could decipher what @ stood for in a mysterious term such as violence@nbc.ge.com.

I gotta git me one of these

I am so putting this on myAmazon wish list. Anyone?

“Beat him out of recognizable shape.”

Here’s a list of actual English subtitles from actual Hong Kong Kung Fu Movies, sent to me the other day by an e-mail pal.* These are the results of the original Chinese dialogue being rendered — or rather, beaten out of recognizable shape — into English:

1. “I am damn unsatisfied to be killed in this way.”

2. “Fatty, you with your thick face have hurt my instep.”

3. “Gun wounds again?”

4. “Same old rules: no eyes, no groin.”

5. “A normal person wouldn’t steal pituitaries.”

6. “I’ll burn you into a barbecue chicken!”

7. “Who gave you the nerve to get killed here?”

8. “Quiet or I’ll blow your throat up.”

9. “You always use violence. I should’ve ordered glutinous rice chicken!”

10. “I’ll fire aimlessly if you don’t come out!”

11. “You daring lousy guy!”

12. “I got knife scars more than the number of your leg’s hair!”

13. “Beware! Your bones are going to be disconnected.”

14. “How can you use my intestines as a gift?”

15. “The bullets inside are very hot. Why do I feel so cold?”

16. “Beat him out of recognizable shape.”

* I received that e-mail in October, 1997, and ran this list in the issue of Envoy Magazine that was just going to print shortly afterward. Anyway, I ran across it again just now and, even a dozen years later, it still evoked a chortle.

Join me in San Antonio, February 18th & 19th

If you’re anywhere near San Antonio, Texas, next month, I hope you’ll be able to attend the Archdiocesan-sponsored seminar series I will be presenting there at Blessed Sacrament Parish on Oblate Drive. This flyer has more details, and you can also call 210-734-1990 for directions.

I’ll be speaking on the following topics:

• Answers to Lies Society Tells You
• The Godless Delusion: How to Respond to Atheist’s Claims
• The Bible and the Catholic Church: A Marriage Made in Heaven
• The Case for Christ: His Existence, Resurrection, and Divinity
• How to Explain the Sacraments to Someone Who Doesn’t Believe in Them
• Stump the Apologist: An Open-Forum Q&A Workshop

Bring your friends! I’d love to meet you in person. See you there.

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