Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 1246

Prayer Request

A reader writes:

Can you spare a few prayers for my stepson?

He's gay. I'm worried sick about the lifestyle he's caught up in. He's had unprotected sex with many men. He hangs out at casual hookup and drug scenes, and I think he's addicted to Oxycontin.

Father, hear our prayer for this precious son of yours, that he would receive the actual graces necessary to repent and leave this toxic life behind, get the treatment he needs for his addictions and disorders, and find the love and support he needs to walk in newness of life in your Son, who loves him and gave himself for him. We ask this through Christ our Lord and we ask the powerful intercession of Our Lady of Good Help. Amen!

Ed Peters...

...thinks Fr. Pavone could stand to re-think his priesthood.  I think he's got a point.

Meanwhile, the Te Deum blog has similar concerns and Judie Brown of the American Life League sez:

"I ask that all pro-lifers show the respect that the office of the bishop deserves and refrain from creating a public spectacle filled with demands, letters of condemnation, demonstrations, or other efforts to create public pressure for a secular solution to what, in the end, is a Church matter.  This is a time for prayer: prayer for the bishop, prayer for the priest, and prayer for the babies. I ask the entire pro-life community to put aside secular action and join me in praying for a speedy and just resolution. A rush to judgment can run in both directions."

One good way to help that along would be for Fr. Pavone to stop issuing public statements. Another good way would be for him to tell CBR, for which he has provided leadership, to call off this crazy "Picket the Parishes of Amarillo with Gory Pictures" campaign. The Catholics of Amarillo are not the enemy. Nor is the bishop. Nothing is more important than Fr. Frank's priestly vocation. Treating it like a nuisance just confirms the concerns expressed by his bishop.

I repeat: I think Fr. Pavone is a good man who has done a lot of good work. But it is possible for even good men to get off track, particularly when the work they do *is* very important. We are inveterate idol-makers and the more good and beautiful something is, the more likely we are to make it the center of our lives. But nothing, not even the extremely good work of saving human lives, can take the place of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as the center. A priest who neglects his priesthood, even for that, is a priest who is neglecting the core of his vows to God. I hope Fr. Pavone will read and heed Ed Peters' insightful remarks. And I remain confident that all of this will be ironed out through the grace of Christ Jesus.

Rest in Peace, Electron Boy

A sweet kid and local hero passes away this morning here in Seattle.  May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  And may God our Father comfort all who loved him through Christ our Lord. Mother Mary, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

For JP Patches fans across the globe

Those of you of a certain age who grew up in Western Washington will feel a twinge of sadness to hear that JP Patches is making his final public appearance tomorrow.  So long you big goofball.  Seattle will always love you!

Fundamentalist Cult Leader Is Angry at Me

...for not being a flat-footed literalist in reading Genesis 1-3.

In this case, he's an atheist fundamentalist cult leader, preaching to a hermetically sealed choir of absolutely uncritical adorers. But sociologically, the dynamic is exactly the same as walking into a small sect of Protestant fundamentalists who believe every word of Genesis to be scientific fact--with the exception that Coyne believes it to be a scientific lie. Coyne is absolutely totally sure of what the author of Genesis is really trying to say and he is absolutely totally sure that what he is trying to say is Bad Science. Genesis said it. Jerry disbelieves it. That settles it. It never occurs to him that Genesis might not be interested in doing science at all.

Alrighty then. No point in having a conversation when I've already been stamped as a liar by the sort of mentality that says a myth, parable or piece of fiction, not being a newspaper account or a science text, is a "lie". I suspect the man's library is a dull affair, full of books of statistics and pictures of grain elevators and stories of fat foreign children doing exercises in model schools.

For those interested in trying to read Genesis (and the rest of Scripture) in the context in which it was actually written and not as a primitive science text, I highly recommend Walking With God by Tim Gray and Jeff Cavins. Genesis 1-3 is actually an extremely sophisticated and profound text. It's just not a science text.

For those interested in a hilarious dissection of Jerry's fundamentalist atheist mode of "thinking" (if such a strong word can be used for reflexive ideological contempt), I highly recommend Ed Feser's hilarious takedown.

The USCCB Urges You to Protest...

...the draconian new Obama regs that try to force virtually all private health plans to include coverage for all FDA-approved prescription contraceptives, sterilization procedures, and related "patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity." These are listed among "preventive services for women" that all health plans will have to include without co-pays or other cost-sharing -- regardless of whether the insurer, the employer or other plan sponsor, or even the woman herself objects to such coverage.
Concerned Americans have until September 30 to send their comments to HHS.

I wonder how many people who are constantly griping about the evil American bishops and their monstrous plots to defeat Catholic teaching on the sanctity of human life will disengage from their lunatic conspiracy theorizing in comboxes long enough to answer this call?

Get Tunes, Save Lives

Today we're launching a unique music + charity campaign with Portland singer-songwriter Stephanie Schneiderman at YAWMA and we'd love for you to check it out.  Stephanie is using our new platform called FanIt to offer fans some great music and really exciting opportunities, all with 40% of donations going to Mercy Corps, Horn of Africa Relief.  For 7 days only, she is offering digital downloads of her new album Rubber Teardrop, recently featured on USAToday and called 'human experience in the greatest musical sense imaginable' on CIMBlog, along with  an exclusive unreleased Live DVD for Pay What You Want.  The tour video shows Stephanie and her band on-stage and off, behind the scenes, offering an intimate portrait of her as an artist and the touring experience.  The sale is an effort to support the horn of Africa, where 12.5 million people are affected by the drought that Mercy Corp is helping support.  Stephanie has set a goal of $1,000, and if we reach it, everyone who participates gets an exclusive cover song from Stephanie, chosen by our vote! The #1 top donor gets a private skype concert performance. 


View the video and promotion here for more details. 

Leroy Huizenga...

has a nifty little piece on Hildegard of Bingen over at First Things.

Prayer Requests

A reader writes:

Please pray for my son who is in Okinawa serving with the U.S. Marine Corps. Please pray that he will be able to return on leave to be present when his first born child is born. I am asking in particular, the intercession of Servant of God, Father Vincent Capodanno, the Grunt Padre. Thank you, Mark ... from this mom who has not seen her son in 19 months but was hoping to be with him next week for the birth of his child.

Father, thank you for your servant who is sacrificing so much for his people. We ask that you would grant this prayer in the name of your Son Jesus and through the intercession of Fr. Capodanno. Grant him a healthy, happy baby and his wife a safe delivery. Mother Mary, pray for him, his wife and family and for the child about to be born.

Another reader writes:

Would your readers pray for a job I may get? It would mean a decent living wage for someone without a college degree. On the other hand, my conscience won't let me not mention the guy whose job I would be taking as he and his girlfriend have a kid on the way. So prayers for him too and that in any case God's will be done.

Father, we ask that your servant get this job, and that all things work to the good for all concerned, through Christ our Lord. Mother Mary and St. Joseph, pray for them!

Various Pavonish links

Ed Peters offers a roundup of his typically balanced and nuanced perspective regarding the canonical aspects of the situation.

Joan Frawley Desmond does her usual sterling job of reporting on it, while the comboxes are... unedifying.

Dr. Gerard Nadal brings joy to my heart in various ways. First, he offers a sane reply to some crazy new site called "Free Fr. Pavone", by pointing out that Fr. Pavone is not imprisoned, that the priesthood is not a prison, and that lashing out at bishops with baseless invective, loony conspiracy theories and nasty accusations (on one site, I was seeing paranoids who were pretty certain that EWTN is conspiring with them damned librul bishops to destroy conservative folk hero priests in order to clear the field for the re-election of Obama) does not help Fr. Pavone, to put it mildly. So, for instance, this foolish display of the Catholic conservative circular firing squad is ill-advised to stop its prolife activity in order to start picketing Catholic parishes in Amarillo. Ed Peters puts it succinctly, "This is plain nuttiness." Update: Peters reports: "It appears that Fr. Pavone is, after all, connected to CBR. Pavone sits (sat?) on CBR's Board of Directors. It is now incumbent on him (or better, his counsel) to separate himself from CBR's plans."
I was also greatly heartened to hear that I am apparently so beyond the pale that paranoid conspiracy theorists have written me off because I was not included in the spam announcing the birth of "Free Fr. Pavone". This fills me with unspeakable joy. Since I know no more about the facts of the case then I did yesterday--a truth which applies to every fanatical partisan on both sides of the question--I continue to do what every sensible Catholic should do: defer to the bishop's rightful authority, let the facts emerge from the investigation (and the appeal to Rome) and let the chips fall where they may. The reflexive, kneejerk tendency of alleged "faithful" Catholic to perpetually assume that every American bishop is a fifth columnist working to destroy the Church is foreign to the mind of Christ.

Finally, the good cop/bad cop scenario being concocted by some of Fr. Pavone's crazier defenders in order to pit former bishop Yanta against current bishop Zurek is not rooted in reality. Yes, Good Bishop Yanta welcomed Fr. Pavone to Amarillo and supported his ministry. So has Good Bishop Zurek. However, there is a testimony from a former PFL worker from 2006 that bears reading. It gives some insight into the kind of pastoral issues that both Bishop Yanta, and Bishop Zurek are concerned about. The former PFL worker compares and contrasts the work of the Helpers of God's Precious Infants under Msgr. Reilly to what was experienced at PFL. This doesn't mean that Fr. Frank is involved with anything immoral, but merely reveals the possibility that Bp Zurek has legitimate pastoral concerns.

And, yes - I said that his challenges began under Bishop Yanta. The very man who welcomed him and permitted him to initially erect the MEV some years ago, is the same bishop who put the kabosh to the fledgling religious community. It was challenged all the way up to the Signatura, which upheld Bishop Yanta's position. Now, people blame Bishop Zurek, even for that.

As I told a reader, I think when things shake out it will be the case that both sides on this controversy are partly right and partly wrong. Meanwhile, we pray and let the competent authorities do their jobs.