It’s rare to find a Catholic homily bristling with fire and brimstone.

But a bishop in Illinois evidently gave one a few weeks back:

“In the face of a pagan and utterly corrupt culture, in the face of 35 or 40 years of relentless hostility from a degraded mass media, with the frequent cooperation of legislators and government officials who do not represent us, and worst of all against apostate Catholics, green beer and Saint Patty’s Day Catholics, merely cultural residual Catholic-light Catholics, who have sold out and blended in, and are no more Roman Catholic than I’m a Mormon, the Lord Jesus Christ asks you this morning, ‘Do you also want to leave me?'”

Was it effective? From the sound of it, the good bishop decided a stick was more effective than a carrot (or, if you prefer, a whack with his crossier was better than a pat on the head.) Click on the article for more, and to see what others thought.

UPDATE 6/14: Want to read the whole thing? The diocese has a website with the bishop’s homilies. Scroll down the page for “Men’s March” and you’ll find the pdf for the complete text.