Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 1275

Prayer Requests

A reader writes:

Members of my parish, Lee and Tanya, need prayers today. Their son, Sam, became very sick with appendicitis and he is having surgery at 8am. Lee and Tanya are very scared, and would appreciate as many prayers as possible.

Father, hear our prayer that the surgery went well and that Sam makes a full recovery. Grant skill to his doctors and peace, strength and consolation to Lee and Tanya and all who love him through Christ our Lord. Mother Mary and St. Luke, pray for him.

Another reader writes:

Could you all please pray to St Joseph and St Faustina to intercede on the behalf of my methodist Grandmother who is dying, could you please pray that she converts and that there is a Priest ready to recieve her into the Church and give her the last Sacraments.

Father, through the intercession of St. Joseph and St. Faustina, we ask for the grace of a happy death for this person's grandmother and that you would hear grandson's prayer for her, through Christ our Lord. Mother Mary, pray for her and for all who love her.

Two piece for the Register

Rhyme Time and Rhyming History: In which we begin a little series that looks at how revelation rhymes. Stay tuned.

After a brief hiccup of about a century or so

...caused by things like the Christian tradition's insistence on rights for the worker, the universal destination of goods for the purpose of the common good, and other such ideas threatening to the basic capitalist ideology of concentrating more and more wealth in fewer and fewer hands, Mammon and Caesar have put aside their quarrel and are laboring (with help of an increasingly pagan and anti-Christian culture) to continue the project of reducing the population of a servile state to slavery while concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a few.

Consider—in 1979 "Wal-Mart employed 21,000 workers", "General Motors employed 618,000", and "the average CEO…was paid 35.2 times what an average worker was paid". Flash forward to 2008 (and draw your own conclusions): "Wal-Mart employed 1.4 million", "General Motors employed 92,053", and "the average CEO…was paid 275.4 times what an average worker was paid…"

What's brilliant about it is that the alliance of state, corporation and media (which everybody sees is at perpetual war with the family and the Church when they are selling you porn or shoving abortion and gay marriage and perpetual war down your throats) is staunchly defended by conservative Catholics the moment the subject turns to the growing disparity noted above. Any suggestion that this is unhealthy or unjust is waved away as socialism or Marxism, even when G.K. Chesterton or Pope Leo XIII are pointing out the problem. For those who might be inclined to no longer live this insane contradiction, may I suggest the Distributist Review? Here's an interesting place to start. There are Catholic alternatives to the present madness that is about to implode.

Happy News!

A reader writes:

I think you blogged about the autistic man in England who was taken away from his father.
Here´s the update: he´s back at home!

Now if they can only sue the State and deliver such a stinging blow that they never attempt this again!

Prayer Request

A reader writes:

I am taking the California Bar Exam this week and would, as I imagine would the thousands of others taking Bar exams across the country, greatly appreciate prayers for strength, peace, and success. The legal market is very tough as it is, and failing the Bar would be a financial disaster, what with tens of thousands of loans to pay off and no means to do so outside of having a law license.

Father, grant rest, peace, recollection, wisdom and the gifts of understanding and knowledge to your servant so that he will pass the Bar with flying colors and embark on a successful career doing justice and pay off his bills quickly. Mother Mary and St. Thomas More, pray for him. We ask this through Christ our Lord, amen!

The Mystery of Laurie Goodstein

Is her crappy reporting on the Catholic Church due to the fact that the NY Times *wants* crappy reporting on the Church, is incapable of telling that it is crappy reporting on the Church, or just doesn't care that it's crappy reporting on the Church?

To be sure, some are born crappy, some achieve crappiness, and some have crappiness thrust upon them. I get the sense that with Goodstein, it's an achievement.

A reader observes:

It strikes me that the same people who
a) criticize Harry Potter for "lying for a good cause" are generally the same people who praise Lila Rose for "lying for a good cause".
b) criticize Harry Potter for his disobedience to authority are generally the same people who support Fr. Corapi's disobedience to authority.
c) say that condemnations of Harry Potter by Fr. Amorth and Fr. Euteneuer are dogmatic because "they're exorcists," but if you tell the same people that Bishop Andrea Gemma, who used to teach Exorcism at Pontifical Gregorian, says Medjugorje is Satanic and a door to the occult, they'll tell you he's not an authority and he's just an evil Satanist himself, trying to undermine the Church.

Yes, it is striking the amount of gnat-straining and camel swallowing that goes on in accordance with the Ox Gore Principle.

A reader writes

I read Matthew Henry's Commentary on James 2:14-26 and it may have been the best "defense" of Catholic Doctrine on Justification I have ever read. I am stunned this a product of a renowned Calvinist minister. Am I or my Reformed friends missing something here?

Beats me. I've never read it. Any one?

Always bear in mind there's no such thing as Protestantism. There are millions of Protestantisms, as many as there are Protestants. It's quite possible that a given Protestant can wind up holding a profoundly Catholic position on a given subject.

Fascinating split

Mary Kochan writes:

Well this is the first time this has ever happened: I managed to write an article, reaction to which seems to split right along the lines of converts vs cradle Catholics, with the converts saying I'm right and the life-long Catholics saying I'm wrong. So, what do you think?

I'd be interested in hearing from readers on this, particularly with respect to two questions

A) Why does it "feel unCatholic" to so many readers to talk about Jesus?
B) Where, in the Church's actual teaching, is this perception verified (if anywhere)? No proof texting. Substantial arguments.

Interesting Interview with Marshall McLuhan

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