Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 14

Feast of St. John

There are two ways to read Scripture.  One is to strap on skis and take off over the surface.  It’s a perfectly legitimate approach.  Get the story and learn what happened, because the insistence is that something did indeed happen.  God broke into history and did stuff–as a human being–in places that you can still […]

Seynt Stevene Was a Clerk

SEYNT Stevene was a clerk in kyng Herowdes halle, And servyd him of bred and cloth, as every kyng befalle. Stevyn out of kechoun cam with boris hed on honde, He saw a sterre was fayr and bryõt over Bedlem stonde. He kyst adoun the bores hed, and went into the halle, ” I forsak […]

Christ’s Nativity

Awake, glad heart! get up and sing! It is the birth-day of thy King. Awake! awake! The Sun doth shake Light from his locks, and all the way Breathing perfumes, doth spice the day. Awake, awake! hark how th’ wood rings; Winds whisper, and the busy springs A concert make; Awake! awake! Man is their […]

Ring Out, Wild Bells

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light: The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die… Ring out false pride in place and blood, The civic slander and the spite; Ring in the love of truth and right, Ring in the common […]

Annunciation

‘Hail, space for the uncontained God’ From the Agathistos Hymn, Greece, VIc We know the scene: the room, variously furnished, almost always a lectern, a book; always the tall lily. Arrived on solemn grandeur of great wings, the angelic ambassador, standing or hovering, whom she acknowledges, a guest. But we are told of meek obedience. No one mentions courage. […]

You know, I could have Rick-Rolled You

But instead, I chose to do something even joyous and wonderful on this, the last Saturday before Christmas.  You’re welcome!

Brushes with Fame

I did this over on Facebook and it was fun, so I thought it would be fun to try here too. Here are my brushes with fame. Put your brushes with fame in the comboxes. I once shook hands with Jimmy Carter at a high school mock political convention in 1976. I stood in line […]

The Rise of Cleverdumb

One of the fun things to contemplate is how little more than our ancient ancestors we laypeople know about the science and technology from which we benefit. As Michael Flynn once challenged his readers, prove to me right now, without recourse to books or media resources that the earth is in motion orbiting the sun […]

Magical thinking

Both St. Albert the Great and St. Thomas Aquinas are spinning in their graves: Ohio lawmakers are weighing in on how public schools can teach things like evolution. The Ohio House on Wednesday passed the “Student Religious Liberties Act.” Under the law, students can’t be penalized if their work is scientifically wrong as long as […]

Talking with an atheist friend about justice

So a while back, I read yet another horrifying article about the monstrous–and intensely beloved by MAGA “prolife” Christianists–Trump policies of cruelty to children and I tweeted: "They should obey the law!" say these godless hypocrites about their victims as they cheer for Trump spitting on the Constitution. — Chezami (@chezami) November 1, 2019 When […]