Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 1382

A reader writes...

I saw a comment on a Facebook feed that puzzled me. Someone has 10,000 guardian angels and he prays to them daily.

I'm a bit puzzled by this, because I thought each person had only ONE special angel assigned to them to guard them throughout their life. I've prayed to Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, the warrior angels, and my guardian angel, but I always thought I had only one guardian angel. I'm perplexed.

I think this is one of those things where you have to remember the all-important AWAK (Anybody With a Keyboard) Rule of the Internet. The proper response to all such claims is that Anybody with a Keyboard can say anything they like on the internet and you have no obligation whatever to believe them since they could be anything from a psychotic to a cat accidently walking across somebody's open laptop. If some complete stranger claims to have 10,000 guardian angels, he's entitled to his opinion. As to the number of guardian angels a person has, as far as I know the Church has no definitive teachings on this, though the Catechism does speak of "an" angel protecting each person. I don't really see the point of more than one, but that's just me. The Church's angelology is fairly fuzzy, teaching the reality of angels and a bit about their mission and encouraging us to cultivate a relationship with them through prayer. But beyond that, there's not a lot of doctrinal detail (though there has been a lot of speculation. My recommendation: read up on what the Catechism has to say about angels and don't sweat what some guy with a keyboard says.

Kevin O'Brien...

...has a few things he wants to get off his chest in a Weddellian-inspired rant. Well, not really Weddellian-inspired, just inspired by the facts Sherry is pointing out in the discussion below.

The good news about what Sherry is pointing out is that it lies within our power to change things because our power is the power of the Holy Spirit. It's good to express dismay when the situation is dismaying. But it's even better to realized that Jesus said "Go and make disciples of all nations". Since he is not in the habit of commanding things and then not giving us the power to do it, that means it can be done.

Get going.

A reader asks...

There's a movie coming out about exorcism entitled "The Rite" on Friday that's based off of a book by Matt Baglio entitled "The Rite" that's listed on the Ignatius Press website, and looks orthodox. Have you heard or seen anything about the film version coming out on Friday and whether or not it's an accurate and reverent portrayal of exorcism or the Church? Please let me know.

No idea. I'd keep an eye out for Steve Greydanus' review at Decent Films. He's a great film critic.

Reader Thomas Tucker...

...whom I had the pleasure of meeting (along with his lovely wife) in our Summer Adventure in Wenatchee writes about his visit to Seattle and our parish on Sunday:

Melanie and I went to church at Blessed Sacrament yesterday.
Wow! What a beautiful, holy, and powerful liturgy. The music was fantastic and the whole experience was the Mass as it should be, including the solid preaching. Looking through the bulletin, I am awed by how many things are going on in the parish. Holy cow, I almost want to move to Seattle so I can go there!
One question- I'm assuming that the interior brick used to be covered. When was that removed and why?
btw, also saw your son and granddaughter leaving after the 10:30 Mass.
That girl is too too cute.

What can I say? He's right. I love our parish and our kids. And the Cuteness is resplendent in cutitude. Life is good, thanks be to God.

Sorry I missed you, Tom. We hit the 9:00 Mass and I had a lovely Sunday nap, followed by lovely Sunday company. Hope you come back!

Re: the brick interior. As far as I know, it's always been that way.

Here's a shot of the interior:



Those interested can take a virtual tour here.

I wish you could have been here for Christmas. Gorgeous!

Tulsa March for Life

Has a good turnout and gets a decent writeup in the local papers! Go team!

Another Apologetics Question

A reader writes:

I was wondering if you could give me any suggestions on apologetics books/articles relating to the Church's position on sexual morality? I have some family members who disagree with the Church but don't really know/understand its teachings, and I'm afraid I'm not explaining adequately.

This area is not my strong suit. I wrote a little piece on the kerfuffle over the Theology of the Body a while back (just in case you've been caught up in that little maelstrom). But beyond that, I haven't spent a lot of time in the area of sexual morality beyond discussions of the basics (i.e., sex is for the sacrament of marriage, between one man and one woman). It does astonish me how the human race can get that simple fact so muddled, but as a happily married man, I haven't had cause to struggle with the Church's teaching here, and so don't have anything particularly insightful to add.

(Wait, you say. Do you mean that all that stuff you write about comes from stuff you've struggled with?) Yeah, pretty much. To quote Lewis, "My heart (I need no other) sheweth me the wickedness of the ungodly." That includes the torture stuff. Consequentialism is as much a temptation for me as for anybody.

As far as other resources go, Jason Evert (google him) has written about sexual purity (I've met him, which is how I know), and there are doubtless others. Maybe Catholic Answers can point you to some good resources. Also, Janet Smith's Why Humanae Vitae was Right is something I've heard people speak well of. Oh! And Dawn Eden's The Thrill of the Chaste is a good reply to a lot of the lies in the culture from somebody who's been there.

Sorry I don't know more.

Caesar to Catholic Hospitals

You cannot serve two masters, so knuckle under cuz I'm your sugar daddy!

I hope the Catholic hospitals deliver a hearty "Go to hell" to Caesar. So far, several of them seem to be lunging for Mammon rather than their Catholic identity.

The sooner Catholics stop sucking the federal teat, the better.

False Courage and True Courage

In which we discuss the curious way that the language of courage tends to be deployed by people attempting to justify grave evil.

If you are a latecomer

The comboxes below on the Sherry Weddell threads are where it's happening today. Check in on the discussion and weigh in yourself (only be sure to read what others have said so you don't wind up saying stuff that's already been addressed).

533 Followers!

My Followers! Hear me!

Today you must learn the this, the greatest speech of all time:



I love this movie. Therefore you will love it too, even if you hate it.

That is all!