Herbie was a regular visitor at the racetrack. One day he witnessed something unusual. Right before the first race, a Catholic priest visited one of the horses in the stable and blessed it. Herbie watched the race, and the horse the priest had blessed came in first.
Herbie followed the priest before the next race, and again he went to the stable and blessed another horse. Herbie bet a few dollars on the horse that the priest had blessed, and sure enough, it also came in first.
The priest continued the procedure through the next few races, and Herbie won each time by betting on whichever horse the priest had blessed. The system was working so well that between races Herbie ran to the bank and withdrew $10,000.
He got back just in time for the final race of the day. Once again he followed the priest and noted which horse received the blessing, then he went to the betting window and put his whole bundle on that horse to win.
Then Herbie went to watch the race, but this time the one he’d bet on came in last.
Herbie was crushed. He hunted down the priest and told him he’d been watching him all day, and all the horses he’d blessed had been winners except for the last one.
“What happened to that last horse?” asked Herbie. “Why didn’t it win like the others?”
The priest sighed. “You Protestants,” he said. “You can’t even tell the difference between a blessing and last rites!”
Posted by bluebird of bitterness 
