Show thoughts 4.20.11

No drug references on today's 4.20 edition of The Catholic Guy. That's a win if you have younger listeners. Great Holy Wednesday edition of the show today.

• Lou calling today "Holy Hump Day" was fantastic.

• Lino did what he does best today: admitting his own flaws and struggles with the faith. In this case, he was really mad at God for a variety of things he wouldn't say on the air (only admitting that he was frustrated by not seeing The Foo Fighters on Letterman and issues with his book). Lino openly admitted to being angry with God, taking God's name in vain, and going to Confession for it on Monday.

I think when you have a religious figure of great influence like Lino, it's inspiring to hear about their struggles. It's what makes stories of saints so amazing. Hearing about great people of faith struggling with the same things that you and I do each day makes me realize that I can obtain holiness if I really try.

I think Lino has a lot more in common with these great people of faith than each of us realizes.

• Of the listeners who called and weighed in on whether Lino should get his feet washed at a priest-friend's church on Holy Thursday, six were in favor of it, while some lone doofus named Chris told Lino not to do it. Chris said that Lino shouldn't do it because everyone shares the same water basin. Chris, that was ridiculous and you know it.

The overwhelming opinion was that Lino needs more humility (not necessarily true), and should offer to get served by others. Lino, you won't be attracting attention to yourself by doing this. People understand that feet washing is just part of the deal, and won't be taken aback by you up there.

• Maureen's laugh rivals Fr. Dave Dwyer's for best on The Catholic Channel. And congrats on the new iPhone.

• Two guests on the show today. Mark Hart, the Bible Geek, and Scott Korb, author of Life in Year One:What the World Was Like in First Century Palestine, appeared in separate segments of the show, and each of them had great things to say. Mark's always like that, giving you stuff that you didn't know about the Bible, and Korb was just as insightful.

Interesting factoids from Korb and his book: Jerusalem had about 70-80,000 people, Nazareth had 400; Jesus and the disciples would have bathed more frequently as they approached the temple, life expectancy was around 27 or 28, and the Roman Empire, out of slight respect to the Jewish people, did not put faces on the coins (the 30 pieces of silver). Also, one reason that Joseph of Arimethea would have asked for Jesus' body is that wild animals often ate the remains of those crucified on crosses.

Mark Hart also gave new insight to Holy Week, mentioning that Jesus and the disciples probably slept in the Garden because the inns were probably filled up due to Passover. Mark also agreed with Lino that Good Friday should be a day of obligation (as it should be).

Mark also made me realize that it wasn't a revelation to Jesus on Thursday that Judas would betray him and Peter would deny him. He knew these things well in advance. I don't know about you, but knowing this would have made me angry beyond belief.

That's why Jesus is better than me. For many reasons, this being one of them.

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3 Responses to Show thoughts 4.20.11

  1. I wondered something about what Korb said on the show, regarding the pieces of silver not having any images on it. How does that gibe with the story of Jesus asking whose image was on the coin, and when the answer was Caesar, he told them to "render to Caesar that which is Caesar's, and that which is God's to God"?

    Does this mean there was more than one set of currency in effect?

  2. I thought about that too. Without putting too much effort into searching online, a web site called http://www.ancientbiblecoins.com/COINS.HTML said that Judas' 30 pieces of silver were the only currency accepted in the Temple, so I think your assertion that more than one set of currency is correct.

  3. Chris says:

    I didnt think I was being a doofus. It was a legitimate concern from one germophobe to another. ;-)