Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 1248
September 15, 2011
Are you better off than you were...
15 years ago?
Our Ruling Classes and "Wealth Producers" continue to make a dog's breakfast of the middle class.
Our Ruling Classes and "Wealth Producers" continue to make a dog's breakfast of the middle class.
Morbid Fascination...
...with the virginity of a vanishingly small percentage of the human population continues.
That such an incredibly small number of celibate men and women can still utterly perplex and fascinate people who, you'd think, have lots of time on their hands for other things is all the testimony you need to establish the power of the witness of a faithful Catholic priest. It's like an invisible sliver in the souls of worldlings. It drives them crazy.
That such an incredibly small number of celibate men and women can still utterly perplex and fascinate people who, you'd think, have lots of time on their hands for other things is all the testimony you need to establish the power of the witness of a faithful Catholic priest. It's like an invisible sliver in the souls of worldlings. It drives them crazy.
Help support a worthy filmic cause!
A reader writes:
My name is Jeremy Beer. I think you know my business partner Jeff Cain.I don't know who Jeff Cain is (or at least I don't think I do cuz the name doesn't ring a bell). But I like Walker Percy and think the world needs to meet him. So Go Team Percy!
I am writing because I live in Phoenix and am involved with a group called Catholic Phoenix that is hosting a screening of a new Walker Percy documentary down here on October 1. (Have you seen it? It's quite good. The filmmaker isn't Catholic but he's very sympathetic.)
Anyway, if you had a chance to buzz our screening on your blog, I'd certainly be obliged. Of course, if you can't, that's fine too. I know you gotta be selective.
I blog the event here.
The post where folks can learn more and buy tickets is here.
Thanks for the consideration!
Better living through technology!
The guy from Little i Apps writes:
Our new Catholic app is being released later this month, pending approval from Apple and Android. Our newest app is being built with CatholicVote.org - it has some pretty neat features (...my favorite being action alerts and representative contact info being added instantly via GPS). It'll be free for everyone. You can read more about it here.Now you know!
CatholicVote will be making some official announcements later this week, early next week. I'm pretty sure you are on our email list for our press releases, but we'll be sure to let you know when its available.
Ed Peters, Canon Lawyer...
on the Bp. Zurek/Fr. Pavone dispute. He does his usual thorough, balanced, and well-informed job of giving clear facts.
Me: I'm content to wait till Rome weighs in. There are more important things for us laity to be doing than offering our ignorant opinions about and taking sides in a quarrel we know nothing about. God grant that this spat is resolved soon.
Speaking of which, Dr. Gerard Nadal is right, hear him! One of the strange phenomena to emerge on the "conservative" Catholic Right in the past few years has been the automatic assumption that in any dispute between an American bishop and a conservative folk hero, the bishop is always acting as a sinister agent of modernist evil bent on destroying the Faith from within and the folk hero is "under attack" *because* of his orthodoxy and not because there is something worth investigating.
In short, The *default* position among a disturbing percentage of "conservative" American Catholics in the blogosphere is that, whenever a bishop speaks a word about any subject other than abortion, it is a) suspect and b) completely ignorable. When such a bishop actually does something these "conservatives" dislike it is treated with instant contempt and explained as an act of malice by an agent of heresy. As one blogger I know said recently, "I booted two commenters who just came out and accused Zurek of being 'a fag with an agenda' or words to that effect. So ugly."
Yes. Ugly indeed. And deeply un-Catholic. Our bishops are our bishops, people, given to us by Jesus Christ. The good bishop of Amarillo is perfectly within his rights to make the choices he has made. He is not perfect. No bishop is. But he is trying to do what is right. Given the recent spectacle of the new bishop of Corpus Christi trying very hard to rein in the long-ignored financial misdeeds of the rogue priest styling himself "The Black Sheepdog" all while being arraigned as part of a shadowy gay conspiracy by Real Catholic TV, combox warriors should think long and hard before imputing malice, heresy, hostility to orthodoxy (or, disgustingly, homosexuality) to a bishop who is, in fact, trying to do his job. That does not, of course, mean that Fr. Pavone is guilty of any wrongdoing. He is perfectly within his rights to appeal to Rome and I suspect he will come out okay in the end.
But it does mean that we who are out in the peanut gallery should shut our traps before instantly erecting yet another simplistic scenario of Brave Folk Hero vs. Evil Heterodox Bishop. The conservative American Catholic track record for picking folk heros--Maciel, Euteneuer, Corapi--and then declaring their critics to be Enemies of the Faith who are only motivated by hatred of orthodoxy has not covered itself in glory for its awesome powers of discernment and soul-reading. So just let Rome handle this matter and let the chips fall where they may. Personally, I think Fr. Pavone a good man and am confident it will all work out. Chill.
Me: I'm content to wait till Rome weighs in. There are more important things for us laity to be doing than offering our ignorant opinions about and taking sides in a quarrel we know nothing about. God grant that this spat is resolved soon.
Speaking of which, Dr. Gerard Nadal is right, hear him! One of the strange phenomena to emerge on the "conservative" Catholic Right in the past few years has been the automatic assumption that in any dispute between an American bishop and a conservative folk hero, the bishop is always acting as a sinister agent of modernist evil bent on destroying the Faith from within and the folk hero is "under attack" *because* of his orthodoxy and not because there is something worth investigating.
In short, The *default* position among a disturbing percentage of "conservative" American Catholics in the blogosphere is that, whenever a bishop speaks a word about any subject other than abortion, it is a) suspect and b) completely ignorable. When such a bishop actually does something these "conservatives" dislike it is treated with instant contempt and explained as an act of malice by an agent of heresy. As one blogger I know said recently, "I booted two commenters who just came out and accused Zurek of being 'a fag with an agenda' or words to that effect. So ugly."
Yes. Ugly indeed. And deeply un-Catholic. Our bishops are our bishops, people, given to us by Jesus Christ. The good bishop of Amarillo is perfectly within his rights to make the choices he has made. He is not perfect. No bishop is. But he is trying to do what is right. Given the recent spectacle of the new bishop of Corpus Christi trying very hard to rein in the long-ignored financial misdeeds of the rogue priest styling himself "The Black Sheepdog" all while being arraigned as part of a shadowy gay conspiracy by Real Catholic TV, combox warriors should think long and hard before imputing malice, heresy, hostility to orthodoxy (or, disgustingly, homosexuality) to a bishop who is, in fact, trying to do his job. That does not, of course, mean that Fr. Pavone is guilty of any wrongdoing. He is perfectly within his rights to appeal to Rome and I suspect he will come out okay in the end.
But it does mean that we who are out in the peanut gallery should shut our traps before instantly erecting yet another simplistic scenario of Brave Folk Hero vs. Evil Heterodox Bishop. The conservative American Catholic track record for picking folk heros--Maciel, Euteneuer, Corapi--and then declaring their critics to be Enemies of the Faith who are only motivated by hatred of orthodoxy has not covered itself in glory for its awesome powers of discernment and soul-reading. So just let Rome handle this matter and let the chips fall where they may. Personally, I think Fr. Pavone a good man and am confident it will all work out. Chill.
663 Followers!
Today, my minions, I bid you consider this. Someone is raising money to film a scene from Tim Powers' "Last Call" in order to (a) delight the fans, and (b) have a visual aid for pitching a full adaptation to the studios. (A reader was able to contact Mr. Powers, and yes, this is legit.)
The world needs more Tim Powers stories! Go forth, my pretties, conquering and to conquer!
The world needs more Tim Powers stories! Go forth, my pretties, conquering and to conquer!
September 14, 2011
Prayer Request and Praise Report
A reader writes:
First, I would like to thank you again for you and your readers' prayers for my brother Daniel. After he broke his back, we feared he would never walk again. I'm happy to report that he has made a near 100% recovery! Alleluia!Father, thank you for hearing our prayers for Daniel. All praise and glory to you through your Son Jesus Christ! We ask that you would help Richard and Monica through this trial and bring them to a home on earth and ultimately in Heaven through the same Christ our Lord. Mother Mary and St. Joseph, help your servant Richard to find work and grant them and all who love them grace, mercy, peace and strength through Christ our Lord. Amen.
On a more somber note though, I would like to ask you and your readers to pray for our father. He lost his job a while back, and has not had any success in finding another one. This has put a heavy burden on our mother, especially since they lost their home last year to a foreclosure. Please keep my parents, Richard and Monica in your prayers.
Citizen! Report Ungoodthink Attacks on our Dear Leader!
The Obama Campaign wants YOU to rat out your neighbor when he thinks incorrectly about our God King.
Speaking of living in the People's Democratic National Security State of Heaven, here's the fearless Nat Henthoff, noting that Obama didn't so much abolish the Bush torture regime as choose to mute it a bit.
You will now feel safer, or I will report you.
Speaking of living in the People's Democratic National Security State of Heaven, here's the fearless Nat Henthoff, noting that Obama didn't so much abolish the Bush torture regime as choose to mute it a bit.
You will now feel safer, or I will report you.
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