Sparks and Stubble is a fine blog written by a fine priest

Here he is exhorting us and his fellow clergy to get to work challenging a dark time for the Church in the West.

By the way, I just got back on Saturday from a big archdiocesan conference in Denver and I was very heartened by it. In addition to the fun stuff (i.e. getting to meet Jen Fulwiler, hanging out with Kevin Knight of the New Advent site, and getting to chew the fat with Dr. Mary Healy, Chris Stefanick, and Patrick Coffin) I had the honor of getting to chat with Bp. James Conley, who gave a barn-burner of a homily that confirmed my growing conviction that the American bishops are actually willing to go to jail, if necessary, to defy the God-King’s tyrannical mandate. I had a chance to thank him, and he expressed similar confidence that the bishops are really determined on this matter.

It will be interesting to see how this all turns out. I am persuaded that there is more-than-human evil at work here and I suspect that much rests on the quality of our prayers and repentance. I suck at prayers and repentance, but I’m hoping I will be less lousy at it.

PS. Patrick Coffin, in addition to being the host of Catholic Answers Live, is a professional magician. He entertained Chris Stefanick, Chris’ wife, and me for a couple of hours after the speakers’ dinner on Friday night with a series of card tricks that were dazzling. I don’t think I will ever forgot the “barfing up a deck of cards” prestidigitation. If only he could do it on radio. Amazing stuff. Hire him for your bar mitzvah.