Pray for Stephen Colbert today

Just a quick note to encourage you all to send up a shout to Jesus on behalf of Stephen Colbert, host of "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central.

He's discovered that he's today's pick in the 2007 list of Praying for the Worlds 365 Most Influential People: 5 Minutes a Day to Change Your World, published by Harvest House. On his show this week, he's been calling up other people listed in the book to ask if anything's happened to them as a result of being prayed for. Check out this clip of him talking to Candice Bergen...



For those of you who aren't familiar with his schtick, "The Colbert Report" is a fake news show on which Colbert does a send-up of the blustery pundit and interview style of Bill O'Reilly. The unique things about Colbert are:

1) He's a cradle Catholic and admits in interviews to being a true believer in the Church, though he doesn't support the Magisterium on the usual pelvic issues - par for the course for an American cradle Catholic, I suppose.

2) He retains some respect for God and the Church in his act. He was the host of the "God Stuff" segment on "The Daily Show" for a time and kept well clear of the line between ridiculing those who practice the faith in strange ways and the actual content of the faith.

3) He's amazingly fearless in his satire of the political scene. When I watched his speech to the national press in front of President Bush about a year ago, and watched the broad, open smile on the president's face fade as Bush realized he was being poked fun at, I thought the next scene we would see was Colbert's head rolling down the front steps of the White House. It was unbelievable - and though I didn't agree with all his points, I thought it was brilliant.

4) He's blisteringly funny.

In the Candice Bergen segment, he seems terrified of what's going to happen to him today. But that's a good thing, I think - it shows how much he believes in his heart that something will happen.

So, pray for him and his family today. Let's see what happens!