I have a bizzaro evening planned.
Tonight is the 7th season premier of Smallville.
I was introduced to this series by a Canadian priest in Rome some years ago and have been hooked ever since.
Fr. Z’s Podcasts RSS Feed
About this blog…
“This blog is like a fusion of the Baroque ‘salon’ with its well-tuned harpsichord around which polite society gathered for entertainment and edification and, on the other hand, a Wild West “saloon” with its out-of-tune piano and swinging doors, where everyone has a gun and something to say. Nevertheless, we try to point our discussions back to what it is to be Catholic in this increasingly difficult age, to love God, and how to get to heaven.” – Fr. Z
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
YOUR RECENT COMMENTS
- on ROME 24/4– Day 31 (-10): The Parish™…. what’s next?: “Just Some Guy: Perhaps others will get back to you before twilight’s last gleaming.”
- on ROME 24/4– Day 31 (-10): The Parish™…. what’s next?: ““This beautiful sunny yet cool Roman day started by the sun’s rising at 06:19 and it will end at 19:59.”…”
- on Your Sunday Sermon Notes: 3rd Sunday after Easter (N.O. 4th of Easter) 2024: “We are in the process of moving to the Lehigh Valley so this Sunday after the closing on our new…”
- on Your Sunday Sermon Notes: 3rd Sunday after Easter (N.O. 4th of Easter) 2024: “So, I usually attend a TLM at an FSSP parish at home. I was traveling this weekend, however, and opted…”
- on ROME 24/4– Day 32 (-9): Happy Birthday Rome!: “acard: That’s fettucine alla bolognese. And they were good with a Lazio Syrah. The addition of the rosemary was a…”
- on ASK FATHER: Kissing the priest’s hand in the Latin Mass v. the liturgical spirit of Judas. Wherein Fr. Z rants.: “It seems more likely that medieval court rituals were based on the Mass, rather than the other way around. That…”
- on ASK FATHER: Kissing the priest’s hand in the Latin Mass v. the liturgical spirit of Judas. Wherein Fr. Z rants.: “Excellent overview Fr. Z! For those who are interested in a defense of the royalism or courtliness of the TLM,…”
- on ROME 24/4– Day 32 (-9): Happy Birthday Rome!: “That pasta dish looks yummy! What is the name of that and ingredients?”
- on Faith practice declining far and wide…. except…: “Charivari Rob – Unfortunately I have been forced to switch computers twice recently and have lost the reference. The numbers…”
- on Your Sunday Sermon Notes: 3rd Sunday after Easter (N.O. 4th of Easter) 2024: “Our independent Traditional Catholic priest’s sermon was on the 11th and 12th articles of the Apostle’s Creed. He expounded on…”
- on ASK FATHER: Kissing the priest’s hand in the Latin Mass v. the liturgical spirit of Judas. Wherein Fr. Z rants.: “A very thoughtful and inspiring article. Thank you for it. One of the many aspects of the Vetus Ordo that…”
- on ROME 24/4– Day 31 (-10): The Parish™…. what’s next?: “I am so enjoying “our” time in Rome with you Fr Z. Thank you for the pics, videos and continuing…”
- on WDTPRS: 4th Sunday of Easter (Novus Ordo) – Mighty humble Shepherd, humble mighty flock: “These mosaics helped Thomas Merton become a Catholic. See: The Seven Storey Mountain.”
ABORTION PILL RESCUE NETWORK
Everyone, work to get this into your parish bulletins and diocesan papers.
Federated Computer… your safe and private alternative to big biz corporations that hate us while taking our money and mining our data. Have an online presence large or small? Catholic DIOCESE? Cottage industry? See what Federated has to offer. Save money and gain peace of mind.
Polls
Loading ...Use FATHERZ10 at checkout for 10% off
Donate using VENMO
GREAT BEER from Traditional Benedictine Monks in Italy
CLICK and say your daily offerings!
A Daily Prayer for Priests
NEW OPPORTUNITY – 10% off with code: FATHERZ10
Fr. Z’s VOICEMAIL
Nota bene: I do not answer these numbers or this Skype address. You won't get me "live". I check for messages regularly.
WDTPRS
020 8133 4535
651-447-6265
This REALLY helps! And it’s great coffee (and tea)
I use this when I travel both in these USA and abroad. Very useful. Fast enough for Zoom. I connect my DMR (ham radio) through it. If you use my link, they give me more data. A GREAT back up.
This blog has to earn its keep!
PLEASE subscribe via PayPal if it is useful. Zelle and Wise are better, but PayPal is convenient.
A monthly subscription donation means I have steady income I can plan on. I put you my list of benefactors for whom I pray and for whom I often say Holy Mass.
In view of the rapidly changing challenges I now face, I would like to add more $10/month subscribers. Will you please help?
For a one time donation...
To donate monthly I prefer Zelle because it doesn't extract fees. Use
frz AT wdtprs DOT comBe a “Zed-Head”!
PLEASE RESPOND. Pretty pleeeease?
Loading ...This is really useful when travelling… and also when you aren’t and you need backup internet NOW! I use this for my DMR “Zednet” hotspot when I’m mobile. It’s a ham radio thing.
If you travel internationally, this is a super useful gizmo for your mobile internet data. I use one. If you get one through my link, I get data rewards.
WDTPRS POLL
Loading ...Fr. Z’s stuff is everywhere
Help support Fr. Z’s Gospel of Life work at no cost to you. Do you need a Real Estate Agent? Calling these people is the FIRST thing you should do!
They find you a pro-life agent in your area who commits to giving a portion of the fee to a pro-life group!
GREAT causes to support
Help Monks in Wyoming (coffee – UPDATED LINK) and Norcia (beer) and the wonderful "Soap Sisters" of Summit, NJ!
Please follow me on Twitter!
Loading ...
So there is more to that ‘kryptonite’ coffee than we would first believe. Father, how could you succumb to such a trifling thing. Eh, I suppose it is like me and the Sopranos.
Now you tell me your a Smallville fan?… if you are ever in Chicago I’d like to buy you a beer….
jeffrey: Yes, indeed. This is something known already to the long time readers of WDTPRS.
Wow! I didn’t know you liked this show either, Father–guess I don’t read here often enough.
My husband and I started watching during season six, and liked the show quite a bit. We bought season five to help us catch up on the story line. Are the earlier seasons worth buying or renting as well, Father? Also, aside from the obvious problem that this show like nearly all t.v. shows treats sexual immorality as a given among most of the characters, would you say that the show in general sets up the classic good vs. evil struggle in an uplifting way? I find myself liking the moral lines drawn (apart from the issue already mentioned) and wondered if the earlier seasons were similar in terms of showing good and evil as the result of choices, acts of the will.
Anon: I do NOT like Anon or Anonymous as handles. Really don’t.
The earlier seasons of Smallville are also good, but you have to adjust your expectations having seen later seasons first. The last couple seasons are more dramatic and darker. The earlier are characterized by some of the things kids go through in high school. It is a matter of turning down the expectations knob in your head. We must remember too that this is very much Smallville for the 21st century, so moral lines are adjusted accordingly. Still, it remains a pretty clean show with good being good and evil being evil.
Father, thank you for your reply! I appreciate it.
Sorry about the “Anon;” the space pre-filled with my usual internet “handle” and I panicked and replaced it as it is known to others who also know and read your column, but who would definitely condemn me out of hand for watching a secular television program such as Smallville. Perhaps that’s cowardice, but sometimes we do pick our battles, and this sort of thing doesn’t seem worth fighting over–especially since I know ahead of time I might be tempting others to the sin of rash judgment.
I have watched Smallville from the beginning and I have to say I remember the first couple of season as being very family friendly and moral (more so than some of the later seasons b/c of the sexual immorality issue). When Clark’s father was around he was a strong and moral “father figure” that helped Clark in his journey of “growing up”. I agree that having seen the later seasons first, you may find the earlier seasons a little slower, but definitely worth watching. They really set-up the Lex/Clark relationship very well.
Tonight, in preparation for the premier, I had some little sesame rice crackers with garlic humus. The main course involved a stupendous NY strip, Black Angus steak with a claret, A&Z. Now I am watching the premier of a new show about a kid whose soul was sold to the Devil.
…. !?
…. ?!
Lot’s of moral relativism.
It’s funny, but …
… what a contrast to Smallville.
Faust repackaged with Grimm’s fariy tales.
I think they are making fun of shows like, Buffy, Supernatural, Blade… etc.
Reaper? I was not entirely impressed with the premiere, but I do think the show has some potential. There are a number of ways they could go with it – buddy flick, supernatural aspect, X-files, fugitive, or ideally, a combination of all that. Kevin Smith is talented and has his finger on the pulse of contemporary culture. My prediction is that the show will do fairly well until he inevitably turns his gaze and makes fun of the Catholic Church (demon possessed bishop? evil abortion clinic protester?) at which point it will jump the shark and turn into a “cult classic.” The kid who plays Sam and the guy who plays the devil have good screen presence though (if the kid becomes capable of some emotion other than mild annoyance and open-mouthed surprise, that is).
Would it be wrong to mention who the Canadian priest was?
(I write from the great white North.)
Dear Father Z,
This is way, way off topic, sorry for that. Do you ever get back to MN. I know you used to be at St. Agnes and participate in Christmas (?) and Easter. I haven’t seen you since Fr. Walzbacher left. Do you go to his parish? Just wondering.
Karen: I do those things, yes.