A few moments with Sir Anthony Hopkins ...

Talking to Catholic students at one of the "most beautiful places" he had ever seen

Greetings from Wichita, Kansas, where I am in town — as I frequently am — to visit family and to be tempted into buying stacks of books (and icons) at the amazing Eighth Day Books (see this 2015 New York Times feature).

This time around, I am one of the speakers at the 10th annual Inklings Festival at the Eighth Day Institute. The title of my talk: “The Scariest Five Chapters in the Work of C. S. Lewis.” Anyone want to guess which five chapters I will be discussing? Yes, they are five chapters in the same book.

If you happen to be cruising across the High Plains, please drop by. The Inklings pub crawl is worth the effort, all by itself.

Anyway, down to business. I am still thinking about that post earlier this week: “Hollywood Christians: A large congregation?”

That made me think about an interesting encounter that students at a traditional Catholic college had a dozen years ago with a famous actor who dropped by the campus one day.

Imagine that you are doing whatever work you are supposed to be doing at the Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel at the small Thomas Aquinas College in Southern California. Then a man — who was cruising past on California Highway 150 — quietly enters and begins asking questions.

The chapel’s lofty bell tower and dome, he explains, were one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen and he wanted to know if he could look around. What was this college all about?

Now, this man didn’t say any obvious words that would have revealed his identity, such as “chianti,” “fava beans” or “Clarice.”