In Madison and Milwaukee this weekend

Tonight I'll be giving the Madison Cathedral Parish Theology on Tap talk on the topic of "Faith in the Ballot Box: Catholic Conscience in the Civic Arena" and then this weekend I will be in Milwaukee to attend the wedding of a close friend. Blogging and email-reading on the road will be sporadic, but not impossible. Regular coverage will resume Monday. Please pray for my speaking appearance and for safe travels. Thank you much!

Theology ... on a stick?!

... has almost no appeal to me. Especially when you read lines like this:

And the food for the soul will likely be more nourishing than the deep-fried Twinkies and Oreos that have been all the rage in fair food in recent years.

Hey - some of us haven't participated in this new food rage yet. Give us a chance!

AmP Speaking Appearance: Madison, WI Theology on Tap

Sharp-eyed readers have noticed that this event is already featured on the AmP sidebar. Today I received a copy of the ad the Cathedral Parish in Madison is running in satirical newspaper (and locally-published) The Onion:

Click here for larger version. If anyone wants to help spread the word, here's the PDF file. More info here.

Mark your calendar and invite your friends, and see you in Madison!

Report: Abp. Donald Wuerl at DC Theology on Tap

Tonight I heard Archbishop of DC Donald Wuerl speak to a local Theology on Tap. The event was very well attended. In fact, I'm sure the fire marshall would not have been pleased. I'm not sure what attracted the audience more - the prospect of hearing their local shepherd speak, the wide selection of beers on tap, or the six tickets to Pope Benedict's Mass in April that they raffled off at the end of the evening. Maybe all three.

The Local Fox News affiliate was on-site rolling film, and also interviewed the Archbishop before his talk. Two ladies sitting next to me were interviewed by a correspondent for the Washington Post. I was interviewed briefly by someone with the Washington Times. I'll be keeping on eye out for their reports, and will link them when they are published.

The talk itself was brief, but very enjoyable. The Archbishop focused on answering the question "Why should we be excited the Pope is coming?" His one-sentence response: "Because he is Peter." Abp. Wuerl also spent a good deal of time answering questions.

I've uploaded a few photos to the AmP Flickr Page.

One question that came up several times was how folks could try to get tickets to see the Pope. It's no secret people have "Papamania" here in DC. I'll be posting an update with recent news on that front later this week.

In the meantime, check out the happy face of one lucky person who secured her ticket to see the Pope in April.

update: Here are the first five minutes of Abp. Wuerl's Theology on Tap speech:

Video 2: Abp. Wuerl answers a question, "Why was Pope Benedict called 'God's Rottweiler' as a Cardinal?"

Two more videos available on the AmP YouTube Channel.