Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 1291

Prayer Request

A fellow convert (and fellow blogger / -Athos) is in the last days of his battle with cancer. I would like to ask you, and your many readers, to keep him and his family in prayer.

Here is my hero Jeff on the Journey Home

many thanks and God bless,
michael/D'artagnan

Father, through the Passion of Christ Crucified, we ask that you would grant your son Jeff the grace of a happy death and that by his Resurrection, you will grant him a share in the Kingdom of Light, awaiting the Day when the dead shall be raised in glory to be with him in the New Heaven and Earth. Grant grace, peace, consolation, and strength to all who love him and light to see hope in this darkness. Mother Mary and St. Peregrine, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Gone Today

Back on Monday. Please don't put no beans up your noses. By the way, I've decided, after more prayer to take down my initial post about Fr. Corapi. I didn't do that after my apology for my anger because, though I regretted (and apologized for) the anger behind it, I didn't regret the substance of it. However, since then I have written a couple of more posts that dealt more with the details of why I think Fr. Corapi's claims are full of holes, but without the anger of my initial response. Since the goal is to get at accuracy and not simply to vent, I decided those other posts do the job and don't queer the pitch with a bunch of unhelpful anger. So I'm taking that first post down.

Anyway, I'm gone till Monday. Please be nice to each other and let us pray for each other. And, once again, comments are closed on this entry since I have no time to monitor the insanity of the Corapi-related traffic. Down below, there is a lovely video from Jesse Romero, praying for Fr. Corapi. Lots of people have been writing to tell me my reaction to his abandonment of his vows sucked I could really stand to imitate them. No argument from me. This hasn't been fun for me and if I could persuade myself to trust Fr. Corapi I would. But I can't. Too many holes in the tales he tells. So instead I pray for him in union with Jesse and Co. Hope you will too, and will pray for me too. I realize a lot of you guys are angry at me. I can't help that, but I hope you can forgive me and hand me and the rest of us skeptics about Fr. Corapi's honesty over to God. Eventually the truth will come to light, whatever is true. If it turns out I have been unjust then that will come to light and I will apologize. If it turns out Fr. Corapi is in the wrong, then that will come to light too. Either way, the Light is Christ and he is merciful, so may Fr. Corapi and all us skeptics of his tales and critics of his treatment of his bishop and of his office find grace and mercy before God our Father through Christ our Lord.

Ciao. Back Monday.

Prayer request

A reader writes:

A good friend of mine who I went to college with has joined the SSPX because he believes their arguments that Vatican II promulgated theological error.

Father, grant that your son, born again in baptism, would return to the unity of your Holy Church and submission to the Magisterium through Christ our Lord. Mother Mary, pray for him! Amen!

A reader writes...

Currently I am deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom; at home remain my wife, 6 and 3 year old daughters, and four month old son. If you could keep them in your prayers, especially my 6 year old who is having the hardest time with my absence, it would be appreciated more than you know.

Father, thank you for your brave servant and his courageous family. Please see them through this difficult time and reward them for their honor and fidelity. In particular, bless and strengthen that young girl and help her to find her strength and consolation in you while her earthly father is away. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Mother Mary and Father Joseph, pray for this family. Amen.

Nine Types of Catholic Commenters

Max Lindenman is some kind of genius. It's funny cuz it's true.

Prayer for Flood Victims

A reader writes:

Mark, my hometown of Minot, North Dakota is flooding severely; the river is turning the valley into a lake, and about 11,000 people are displaced as of now, with more to come. I evacuated my mother on Monday, and her house is now almost submerged. Nobody's been killed yet. Bismarck, ND, two hours south, is fighting its own flood battle, as are other communities all up and down the Souris and Missouri rivers. I'd ask people to pray, and if anyone is inclined to donate, Catholic Charities of ND has a fund (online link as well as snail mail address at the bottom of the site). Of course, the Minot Red Cross is an option, as is the Salvation Army. Best information is through KX News Minot on Facebook, which has a link to their live coverage on their Ustream channel.

I'd like to add a prayer request for my next door neighbor, whose house in Minot she inherited from her recently deceased mother is also, most like, now submerged.

Father, hear our prayer for the victims of this flooding. Preserve every person from harm, strengthen and console them in this trial, and help them to rebuild through Christ our Lord. Amen. Mother Mary, pray for them.

Sherry Weddell has a great story

...about a Seattle Catholic psychotherapist...

who was transformed by encountering God while kneeling in front of the Blessed Sacrament and has gone on to pioneer the world's first effective treatment for borderline personality - for people like herself.

Imagine what might happen if our parishes were centers of intercessory prayer where the Blessed Sacrament was routinely exposed for anyone to encounter and where priests and trained healing prayer team members with charisms of healing were available on a regular basis. So much pain, so much hope.

Sigh

Now people are asking me what I think of Michael Voris' latest contribution to the fray. If I don't reply, I'm "dodging the TRVTH". If I do, I'm "obsessing over this issue." Since I'm obviously one of the people being addressed in his video, I'll give a fair answer to issues fairly raised.

He is, God bless him, entitled to his opinion. It would be good, however, if less attention were paid by "fans" to regurgitating Fr. Corapi's highly edited version of reality, and more attention were paid to the fact that he is, as he betrays his fatherly vows, also demanding we credit--on his word alone--

his claim that his bishop is a blackmailer and libeller,

his promise of "complete cooperation" (while in fact stymying the investigation with his lawsuit and destroying it by betraying his vocation and leaving the priesthood) and

his claim that certain people in authority "wanted me gone" when in fact we now know that his superior labored to persuade him to stay in the priesthood.

The automatic credulity given this man has to give way to some skepticism in the face of these lies and baseless accusations. The disturbing lack of evidence for other Big Fish Tales he has told about his supposed Special Forces Training just confirms the pattern. But the Big Fish tale is nothing compared to the lie he is making of his fatherly vows as a priest by walking away from the priesthood.

Have people learned nothing from the Maciel scandal about extending infinite credulity to a clever man whose story does not add up--particularly when he is abandoning his vows and attacking his bishop?

Now please. I really do want to give it a rest. Unless the Pope releases a video saying, "Mark Shea! Never doubt Fr. Corapi when he calls his bishop a blackmailer and a libeller!" can we please move on?

And yes. Comments will again be closed. I don't have time for all the craziness.

Prayer request

A reader writes:

Steve, my friend Frances' ex-husband (they had remained relatively good friends), is dying of cancer and has just a few more days to live (or might just have died, I have not heard from her yesterday). Fran is a practising Catholic, but Steve has been a lapsed Anglican for many years. Please pray for his salvation, and for comfort for the youngest of their 4 adult children, Trevor, who is taking it very badly.

Father, hear our prayer for this man, that he be given the grace of a happy death, and for his family, especially Trevor, that you be supernaturally close and palpable to him in this dark hour. Let all issue to your glory and their happiness through Christ our Lord. Mother Mary, pray for Steve and all us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

The Inescapability of the Gospel...

in which we talk about how the gospel is, oh, you know, inescapable.