Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 1381

Dawn Eden writes...

Many thanks for the plug for The Thrill! FYI, whenever people ask me what to read in order to learn about Catholic teaching on sexuality, I always recommend Fulton J. Sheen's Three to Get Married. I recommend it even before recommending my own book. :-O

So there you are!

This totally sounds like the premise...

of a zombie apocalypse story.

A reader writes:

Please click over to offer your prayers and thanks to this brave and compassionate California mother who is offering assistance to women suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum -- a debilitating pregnancy-related disease which effectively renders the mother allergic to the fetus and often leads to termination if proper treatment is not available. In addition to spreading awareness through her blog, she is distributing free books on the disease through her church and local Catholic organizations to crisis pregnancy centers, doctors, and suffering women. She recently learned that she is expecting her second child, and battling hyperemesis again will be especially challenging as she copes with the needs of the beautiful little girl who entered this world after her first triumph over the illness.

Unleash the Power of the Blog and come to the aid of a woman who mothers others as she suffers to be a mother again.

Our discussion of the Creed continues

As we ponder the words: Begotten, Not Made.

Many Americans treat killing...

...as an aesthetic, not a moral, issue. It's the secret thread uniting P.Z. Myers with a vast number of death penalty advocates. Myers talks about how he's not "afraid" of viewing people as meat, basically stating that because his feelings are numb to the sight of gore in the lab, it is likewise morally acceptable to be immune to the sight of gore in an abortuary (or concentration camp, adds the enthusiastic Dr. Josef Mengele).

Likewise, death penalty supporters chatter about "deterrance" while somehow preserving a system that makes sure our killing happens in a neat, clean, sterile environment where nobody is allow to see a thing, much less be deterred by it.

Reason to Homeschool #38539457389385039043249827432923948733

Cash for Educational Clunkers

Books! Books! Books!

I had the honor of meeting Margaret Realy out in Valley Forge this last summer at the Catholic Writer's Guild shindig. Check out her cool trailer for her new book:



In addition, I've gotten hot new copies of books from some of my favorite people.

F'rinstance, the redoubtable Fr. Dwight Longenecker, alter ego of such characters as Todd Unctuous and Mantilla the Hon, has a new C.S. Lewis flavored book titled (not coincidentally) More Christianity . Acknowledging his debt to Lewis' Mere Christianity, he takes us further and shows us how the fullness of the Faith subsists in the Catholic Church he (yet another convert) calls home.

Also, one of my favorite people, Nancy Carpentier Brown, has released another fun little book of Fr. Brown mystery stories adapted for kids from Chesterton. Following on the success of The Father Brown Reader, The Father Brown Reader II gives an audience of modern kids all the Chestertony goodness in language adapted to their age level. Fun illustrations ice the cake.

Finally, Planned Parenthood's worst nightmare, Abby Johnson's book Unplanned tells the story of how grace changed the heart of one of Murder Inc. clinic bosses, saved her soul and made her a courageous and articulate defender of the unborn. She is one of my heroes.

Oh, and speaking of Margaret Realy, the Catholic Writer's Guild and all things bookish: CWG will be part of a Catholic writer's retreat at St. Francis Retreat Center (where Margaret volunteers). It is scheduled for 10/5-10/9/2011. Don't miss it if you can!

Massive exercise in missing the point

...continues apace in the comboxes on my most recent article at Inside Catholic. I have attempted a course correction in the comboxes. We'll see if people get it or continue on auto-pilot through their pre-programmed Pavlovian responses to the acoustic cues "Hiroshima and Nagasaki".

534 Followers!

Today, my serfs and drooling lackeys, I bid you explain this:

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Warning: The first person to use the phrase "piano bar" will meet swift and merciless death.

Explanations involving aliens, Nicola Tesla, and X Files gladly accepted. Boring explanations involving adolescent pranks will be rejected as boring.

That is all!

Pope Issues Code of Conduct for Facebook, YouTube, and Catholic Blogs

"it wouldn't be incorrect to direct the pope's exhortation to some conservative Catholic blogs, YouTube channels and sites which, with some vehemence, criticize bishops, public officials and policies they consider not Catholic enough".

Bad news for Joe Hargrave, who is currently on a tear about our disappointing Pope and his immoral and imprudent 25th Anniversary of Assisi meeting.

Me: I never saw the big problem with the first one and am not terribly surprised that Benedict didn't either. The bizarre narrative that has been concocted over the past few years among arch-conservatives who see Benedict as rolling back the JPII legacy seems to me to be a complete fantasy. When Benedict fails to stay on script by doing things like this meeting, arch-conservatives react with shock and dismay--and then slide back into the fantasy that Benedict is here to deliver us from John Paul II. Very odd.

By the way, that's not to say that the code of conduct should only apply to conservatives with the itch to play bishop and start excommunicating the Impure. As Dale Price points out, sites like the National Catholic Reporter have their own inquisitor wannabes and are chock full of sturm und drang about how awful the Pope and the Church is and how wrong it is about [insert pet sin or ideological obsession here].