Are Priests Being Replaced by Ninja Assassins?

First, Fr. Shane Tharp (or somebody claiming to be him) shows up in my comboxes after a long absence, though recent reports strongly indicate that the Fr. Shane I know has been replaced by a body double so ineptly chosen by KAOS that he looks nothing like the original I met, more like some trained ninja assassin with sleek lines and catlike reflexes. However, I’ll play along and say “Howdy, ‘Father Shane’! Glad the ‘weight loss and exercise program’ is moving along well! I totally believe that’s you in those photos and not a trained Dark Lord Slayer who is biding his time until my Imperial Guard is down.”

Then, lo and behold, out of the blue and almost at the same time “Fr. Rob Johansen” returns out of the deep mists of memory to write:

I hope all is well with you and the family. I’m sorry to have been out of touch for so long. But as you’ll see, I’ve not been idle!

It’s taken me a bit longer than I hoped to make this announcement, but here it is!

This fall, I began studies towards the Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) in Sacramental Theology and Liturgy at the Liturgical Institute in Chicago. I’m very happy with the program, and very happy to be here.

I have finally begun blogging again after a summer hiatus, and have finally made the public announcement regarding my beginning here at the Institute. I have put up a post about this at my blog, Thrown Back, with more information.

I’d be very grateful if you could share this news with your readers at CAEI. I hope, by means of the education I receive here, to contribute even more to the work of faithful liturgical renewal. I think your readers will find this of interest, and I hope that you and they will find some encouragement in this news. I’ll be posting more frequently from now on, with updates regarding my studies, events at the Institute, and other doings as I come across them.

This one was more believable, until I remembered one thing: does “Fr. Johansen” really expect me to believe he’s going to be able to endure who knows how many months in Chicago studying liturgy without any chance at all to shoot skeet in the back 40 of his quiet Michigan parish? I think NOT!.

Nice try, Ninja Assassin Dude. But what have you done with the *real* Fr. Rob?