Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 57

Clearing up a pious mistake

You will often see inspirational posters of a verdant mountain scene with the words of Psalm 121 overlaid on the picture saying: I will lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help. It has a lovely Old Testamenty kind of lilt to it, coming as it does from the King James […]

A reader offers some kindly words of disagreement

He writes: Mark, I really do get where you’re coming from.  There’s a lot that needs to be said in what has become of the pro-life movement and our Catholic faith in America.  Consistency is sorely lacking, and remembering that ideologies must be subordinate to our treatment of the human person instead of the other […]

A reader offers a summary of Kavanaugh’s lies

Christine Blasey Ford told the truth about Donald’s Trump’s Supreme Court judge nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Everything was credible about her testimony. Everyone believed everything about her testimony, except the discredited notion that she ID’d the wrong guy. Which has been discredited if you keep reading. Judge Kavanaugh lied and lied. Not only should he be […]

SMBC Comics on the Modern Epic

I sometimes suspect the entire postmodern project consists of rich people trying to convince the rest of us that this is just fine: Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a […]

Steve Greydanus tries to reason with Kavanaugh partisans

A few questions for defenders: 1. Kavanaugh admits he drank quite a bit in high school and college. He further admits that his yearbook reference to “Beach Week Ralph Club” was a reference to vomiting. However, he claims this merely meant only that he had a weak stomach. So…his weak stomach acted up particularly during […]

St. Augustine on Shepherds

They are straying across the mountains and the high hills, they have been scattered over all the face of the earth. What does this mean, scattered over all the face of the earth? That they attach themselves to earthly things, the things that glitter on the face of the earth: they love and desire them. They do not […]

Sacramental Letters

My friend and fellow parishioner Nina Butorac has published a new book called Sacramental Letters: Themes in Catholic Literature. Sacramental Letters is a spirited exploration of the sacramental themes that underlie some of our more profound literature. While it is a serious literary study, it is also a religious journey into the meaning of the sacraments […]

A reader has a question about Arius

He writes: Mr. Shea, I have a question for you if you’re willing to oblige. In Thomas More’s “Dialogue Concerning Heresies” 1.24, he speaks of how the faith of the church is needed to properly understand Scripture, and offers the example of what could happen if a child was not first instructed in the faith […]

Boston! I’ll be there on September 25!

I look forward to meeting all y’all!

Julius Goat is Some Kind of Comic Genius