"The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star" is the twenty-first and the last episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 15, 2005. Originally supposed to air April 10, the episode was dropped from the week's schedule due to the

death of Pope John Paul II Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

, since this episode revolved around

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. This episode is also the 350th episode in production order (in broadcast order, "

Future-Drama "Future-Drama" is the fifteenth episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. The 350th episode overall, it originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 17, 2005. In the episode, ...

" is the 350th episode).

Plot

After Bart is expelled from school after being blamed for Groundskeeper Willie's prank unleashing hundreds of

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' ( pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

s during the school's

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

festival,

Marge Marge is a feminine given name, a shortened form of Marjorie, Margot or Margaret (name), Margaret. Notable Marges include: People *Marge (cartoonist) (1904–1993), pen name of Marjorie Henderson Buell, American cartoonist *Marge Anderson (1932� ...

enrolls him in St. Jerome's

Catholic School Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

, where Bart's rebel attitude is frowned upon. Bart meets a sympathetic Father Sean, who gives him a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

about

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

s, and he is drawn into it. Marge becomes concerned over Bart's interest in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, due to the Catholic ban on birth control.

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

goes to the school to confront Sean, but decides to convert to Catholicism as well for easy absolution of his

sin In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...

s. With Bart and Homer considering joining the Church, Marge seeks help from Rev. Lovejoy and Ned Flanders, who agree to get them back. On the road, Marge, Ned and Lovejoy try to bring Bart back to the "one true faith" –

The Western Branch of American Reform Presbylutheranism Religion is one of many recurring themes on the United States, American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. Much of the series' religious humor satirizes aspects of Christianity and religion in general. However, some episodes, such as "Bar ...

– by taking him to a Protestant Youth Festival where Marge bribes him with

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

and paintball. Alerted by

Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...

, who agrees with Homer and Bart's desire to join a new faith, Homer and Sean arrive there with a motorcycle, and engage in a

Mexican standoff A Mexican standoff is a confrontation in which no strategy exists that allows any party to achieve victory. Any party initiating aggression might trigger its own demise. At the same time, the parties are unable to extricate themselves from the sit ...

with Ned and Lovejoy. Bart mocks the feuds between the different forms of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, explaining that the topics they disagree on are nothing compared to the topics they agree on. The two groups agree to fight monogamist gays and

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...

s, taking Bart's idea to heart. The episode then jumps 1,000 years into the future, when Bart is believed to be the last Prophet of God. Mankind is waging war over whether Bart's teachings were about love and tolerance, or understanding and peace (and whether he was betrayed by

Milhouse Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a recurring character in the Fox animated television series ''The Simpsons'' voiced by Pamela Hayden and created by Matt Groening. Milhouse is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class ...

). Engaging in a bloody battle, one side cries Bart's catchphrase "Eat my shorts", the other cries "

Cowabunga {{Short pages monitor