By Elizabeth Prata
You young ‘uns won’t remember the old vaudeville-radio-early TV entertainers. There was one named Jimmy Durante. He was born in 1893 (!) and was active in the entertainment industry from 1910–1972.
He was known for his gravelly voice, purposefully mangled words (‘malapropisms) in his distinctive NY accent, and his nose. It was huge. He referred to it humorously as The Schnozzola, a blending of Yiddish for nose with an Italian twist. Durante was beloved and popular. He earned two stars on the walk of fame, one for radio and one for TV. He was in movies also. He did well for a Lower East Side 7th grade dropout.
Jimmy Durante was Roman Catholic serving as an altar boy in his youth, and marrying his first wife Jeanne Olsen in his home church of St. Malachy. They were married from 1921 to 1943, when Jeanne succumbed to her failing heart.
During the early 1940s, Durante had a radio program. He always ended it with his trademark sign-off “Good Night, Mrs. Calabash” and after the first year, Durante added “wherever you are.” He carried that same sign-off into television, saying it at the end of his television shows.
“Good Night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.”
His sign-off phrase sparked a national mystery for over 20 years. Speculations abounded as to exactly who “Mrs. Calabash” was. Durante never divulged who Mrs. Calabash was…until 1966 when on the Monitor program he finally uncovered the mystery. Mrs. Calabash was his private pet name for his wife Jeanne, who he dearly missed. The couple had stopped in Calabash NC, and Jeanne loved the time they spent there and loved the name of the town. Jimmy called her that as a sweet reminder of their pleasant sojourn together.
I remember seeing Durante saying the catchphrase. I’d wonder not who Mrs. Calabash was. I didn’t care. I pondered the “wherever you are.” It was obvious even to me as a child that the person Durante was speaking of had passed away. Where does a person go after death? It was a big mystery, a bigger one to me than who the lady might be.
As a Roman Catholic, we know their dogma doesn’t include a security of heaven. That organization teaches that a person must participate in certain sacraments, do certain practices to earn and then keep salvation. They also teach there is a thing called mortal sin and venial sin. Venial sin are little sins that do not destroy a person’s sanctification. They can do penances to make up for it. If they die not having paid the penance for these venial sins, they are cast into purgatory to ‘purge’ them off the soul and then are flown to heaven. Mortal sin, on the other hand, is finite and launches them directly into hell with no period of time in purgatory to wear them off Bishop Fulton Sheen explained,
If the soul is in mortal sin at death, “dead to divine life, casts itself into hell just as naturally as a stone released from my hand falls to the ground,” he said in The National Catholic Register in 2019.
“Unrepented, it brings eternal death,”as the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) puts it (1874). That’s what makes it “mortal,” or deadly: it cuts us off from God forever, unless it is “redeemed by repentance and God’s forgiveness” (CCC 1861),” says Catholic Answers.
So it is no wonder that Jimmy Durante was forever wondering at the eternal home of his beloved wife. “Wherever you are”. Heaven? Did she DO enough? Pay penance enough? Supply enough Indulgences? Perform enough good works? If not, is she in Purgatory? (This is a made-up location the Bible knows nothing about). Is she in hell, having died of some mortal sin Jimmy knew nothing of? As they say in Maine, ‘hard tellin’, not knowin’ “.
Roman Catholicism is a false religion, as false as Wicca or Buddhism or Islam.
What a praise to our Lord Jesus who gives us assurance! He spells out our lives under His sun in the Bible. He sends the Holy Spirit as the guarantee to seal us into His family as adopted sons and daughters.
For...there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.’ (Acts 4:12).
The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. (1 John 5:12).
As stated above, Jesus is the only Name by which we may be saved. Believing on Him, repenting of our sins to Him, is the only way to heaven. But it is a sure way to heaven.
If we believe in Christ we are made the children of God (John 1:12):
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name,
Do you believe Jesus was THE sacrifice for sin once and for all? That God exhausted His wrath upon Jesus on the cross for all who would believe? if you believe in Jesus’ sacrifice as the payment for your sins and who believe in His resurrection and ascension are going to heaven.
“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18).
Salvation is by grace alone. Not works, penances, indulgences, purgatorial cleanings. And once you have been adopted, you are Jesus’ Bride forever. I think any religion that infuses doubt into the heart of its adherents is evil. Muslims always wonder at the state of their soul. Have I done enough? Is allah going to be angry or merciful to me? Same with the Roman catholic god. Am I in venial sin? How many more Hail Marys must I perform to be sure I am on God’s good side?
Be praising the Lord today for your salvation, your assurance of salvation, your adoption, and your destination. If you are not sure, here are some resources to pray through and check:
Further Resources
How can I be sure of my salvation? 2 simple tests… Grace to You
Is it Real? 11 more in-depth tests. Grace to You
How do I know if I am saved? Ask Ligonier with Sinclair Ferguson
