Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 1409

Praise Report

The reader who wrote the other day to ask for prayer writes back:

Baby Jude didn't have meningitis--thanks be to Heaven--and is now back to normal. His grandmother thanks readers for their prayers.

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

One millllllion dollars!

That's my ransom demand or I post more tomorrow!

A Republican Argument for the DREAM act

Jack Smith keeps bringing the truth.  So does good bishop Thomas Wenski.

This seems to me to be simple justice.  Sure, secure the borders.  Do what you can to stop more illegal immigration.  Fine by me.  But, in the meantime, while "failure to fill out paperwork" is certainly a problem, depriving workers of their wages is a sin that cries out to heaven for vengeance in our tradition.  Since  we have long ago agreed to integrate these people into our nation in order to exploit them, we owe it in justice to, at the very least, not screw their kids. One might even hope that a time will come that we won't screw the parents either.

One of the Cuteness

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She's getting less babyish and more girlish.

But still majorly cute!

If Okinawans Don't Want us There

why are we there?

Being 13 trillion in debt and all, wouldn't a good start to cutting spending include not playing cop for countries that can take care of themselves, like Japan, Germany, and S. Korea?

Heartwarming conclusion

...to the latest war on Christmas story.

I'm really not much on these "War on Christmas" stories mostly because they primarily seem to be tales of bureaucratic cowards jumping at their own shadow, not montrous conspiracies by evil enemies of Christ. Correlatively, I'm leery of the sorts of blowhards (O'Reilly, Hannity et al) who gin up hysterics about such stories, since they seem to me to be quite obviously people who are playing on the fears of sincere Christians in order to sell beer and shampoo, while cynically dissing the Church whenever it inconveniences their phone sex, contraception and warmongering. I dislike cynics who play Christians as much, if not more, than I dislike timid bureaucrats who scrap Christmas out of fear of a lawsuit.

That said, kudos to the guy who ended the sillies in Philly.

A belated farewell to the great Leslie Neilsen

Any actor who can star in the greatest science fiction film of the Golden Age:



and then go on to deliver comedic work like this:



should be properly mourned when he passes. Leslie Neilsen, may God welcome you into eternal light through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Speaking of Charities...

Charities Wish for "Regifting" this Christmas


More than 1,000 charities join The Giving Effect seeking your unwanted gifts.

Bears on Patrol, a Carrollton, GA nonprofit, collects stuffed animals for police officers to give to children in crisis situations. They are one of more than 1,000 cause-based organizations registered on The Giving Effect that are hoping to connect with new donors this holiday season.

Blake Raab, Executive Director of Bears on Patrol, says "We are very excited about working with The Giving Effect. We have already received several shipments of teddy bears and stuffed animals, all of which get distributed to local police departments for use in domestic incidents involving kids."

In addition to stuffed animals, donors use The Giving Effect to connect with charities that need pretty much everything you can spare, from clothes, food, books and shoes, to cleaning supplies, cars, fencing and lumber.

"We are working to create a greater awareness of people in need, which is especially urgent during the holidays," says Mitchell Silverman, co-founder of The Giving Effect. "Each donation on our site becomes a living story that can be shared on Facebook or Twitter to spread the holiday spirit, encouraging friends to follow your lead."

Organizations registered on The Giving Effect include The American Cancer Society Discovery Shop, in Napa, California, Baltimore Theatre Project in Maryland, and Pibbles & More Animal Rescue in Queens, New York.

Donating is easy—browse the site by needs, location, and categories to find causes you'd like to connect with. Then, complete a simple form to arrange a pickup, drop off, or shipment. Tax receipts are issued via email when the items are received.


About The Giving Effect


The Giving Effect (www.thegivingeffect.com) uses social media to help donors discover and connect with organizations that need items such as clothes, shoes, and food. It's the first website to create stories around each in-kind donation that can be easily shared online to inspire others to give. The goal is to create a national movement to get food, gently-used items, and more to people in need. The Giving Effect is headquartered in Brooklyn, NY.


About Bears on Patrol


Bears on Patrol provides free teddy bears for police officers to use in any situation where small children are involved. Psychological studies have proven that stuffed animals have a significant calming effect on children in stressful or traumatic circumstances. Bears on Patrol currently supports 11 police departments in seven states, and is quickly growing to include more.

A reader writes:

Hi my name is Robert. I am 44 years old and I live in Albuquerque,New Mexico,USA. I wish for my last name to remain private. A few years ago I put something on my face that was homemade and supposed to be good for the skin. It actually caused a small tiny bit of damage back then but over the years the skin on my face has gotten worser and worser. Now I have some scars,many deep skin craters,blemishes,imperfections,uneven skin layers. No job or insurance at this time. I am crushed by this. Please pray for a miracle on the skin on my face. Pray for God to take away the scars,deep skin craters,blemishes,imperfections,uneven skin layers, off the skin on my face and to make them vanish and disappear in Jesus name. Pray for all the damage done to be undone and for the skin on my face to become complete and whole again like in the past. I feel very sad and depressed over this and I dont know how much longer I can hold on. Please pray for me and send to others to pray for me. Thanks, I appreciate it.

Father, hear our prayer for Robert's complete healing in body, soul, and spirit through our Lord Jesus Christ. Mother Mary, pray for him!

A nifty thing to do for Christmas

If you have some spare change burning a hole in you pocket and you want to do something a little different this year, may I suggest you go to the Mercy Corps and buy a gift.

The way it works is you donate money to buy, say, an acre of rice ($29 measly bucks feeds a whole bunch of people for a long time) or an emergency ration or help a woman in the third world start a business (there's a ton of other gifts too)--and then you can send a note to a friend saying, "I just gave a donation to Mercy Corps in your name. Thanks for being a good friend and Merry Christmas!" or whatever you feel like saying.

Highly recommended.