Commentary by Mark Shea
Jesus Loves You; Caesar and Mammon, Not So Much
It's time Catholics began to try thinking outside the box again.
The Presence(s) of Jesus
We do far better seeing every human person as Jesus Christ in disguise.
We're Out and We're Stout!
"It turns out that we are larger than we realized!"
It's Time You People Confronted Your Obesophobia
"Tolerance is not enough. You must love what I love..."
Hail Lucy, Fair of Face
Her life, like yours and mine, is pure gift.
Noodling the Theology of the Body
A classic example of healthy intellectual ferment in the life of the Church.
Pray for the Living and the Dead
The ancients prayed to the Unknown God; we pray for the Unknown Sinner.
Comfort the Afflicted
Rooted in every celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Forgive Offenses Willingly
A greater miracle than the creation of the universe.
Bear Wrongs Patiently
Unforgiveness does nothing about defeating evil or establishing justice.
Admonish the Sinner
The most thankless and despised of all the works of mercy.
Counsel the Doubtful
Doubt can be a healthy exercise or it can be a soul-shattering crisis.
Instruct the Ignorant
Knowledge puffs up, and knowledge of holy things puffs way up.
Bury the Dead
The last reminder that sin cannot win, that our power is not eternal...
Visit the Sick
The insistence that we see the sick, including those suffering from sin.
Ransom the Captive
How do we live this precept out in this day and age?
Harbor the Harborless
Welcoming the stranger — be he homeless or merely "checking out the parish."
Clothe the Naked
Clothing is not something you can reduce to mere materialism.
Give Drink to the Thirsty
A fitting symbol of the grace of God.
Feed the Hungry
Not simply concerned with feeding the belly.
Introduction to the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy
"Inasmuch as you did it unto the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."
One Hundred Fifty-Three Fish and Related Matters
Sometimes things happen that are just packed with symbolism and significance.
Media Distractions
Can we rely on the MSM for total accuracy and defense of the truth?
Thank You Sir, May I Have Another?
Catholics must not complain about this.
Wielding Our Little Tridents
Just some unsettling Holy Week musings.
Now and at the Hour of Our Death
The fact is, nobody's getting out of here alive.
Pray for Us Sinners
It is the truth that things are connected in Christ and only in Christ.
Holy Mary, Mother of God
She was set apart, as no other mortal has ever been, by the Holy One.
Blessed Is the Fruit of Thy Womb, Jesus
"Friends don't let friends do Mariaphobic exegesis."
Blessed Art Thou among Women
The most fully saved human being who ever lived.
The Lord Is with Thee
Thank God for being with you as He is with Mary.
Full of Grace
A title that is too full of meaning to render accurately in English.
Hail Mary
Where she is, we too will one day be, if we continue in faith in her Son.
Another Pyrrhic Victory for the Pro-Life Movement
Elect pro-aborts — as long as they're also pro-torture.
The Paradox of the Neo-Catholic Traditionalist
So many questions!
In Search of the Sinister and Elusive Neo-Catholic
A term that exists in a state of quantum indeterminacy.
Spike and Hitch
Christians who think he is somehow on "their side" are fooling themselves.
The Inescapability of the Gospel
We simply can't help putting Gospel themes into our stories.
In Praise of Credulity
God shows Himself to the faithful, whom the world routinely sneers at...
Celebrating Advent in a Culture of Fear
The penitential psalms of Advent are God's way of saying there is hope for us.
Through a Veil Darkly
I favor inquiry, even when the inquirers are making mistakes.
Israel and Judah
I am not on anybody's side, because nobody is on my side.
Rush Limbaugh and the Right's Tortured Conscience
Limbaugh has done nothing but cheerlead for torture.
Stopped Clock Right Twice a Day
Three eminently sensible reasons to the existence of Jesus.
See No Evil
A spectacular display of deliberate willed stupidity by media culture.
Our Culture's Sacred Stories
We are tempted to elevate them to the altar and confuse them with Word of God.
Deliver Us from Evil
A prayer to be delivered from sin.
Can Non-Catholics Be Saved?
A look at five views of Unam Sanctam.
Lead Us Not into Temptation
Why on earth are we asking God to not do what He would never do?
Our Crybaby Culture
Every couple of days it seems somebody falls apart due to "insensitivity."
And Forgive Us Our Trespasses
There is no limit or measure to the mercy of God.
Mere Theism - The Case for God
Evidence: The physical world and the human person.
Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread
A prayer asking God to meet our elementary bodily needs.
On Earth as It Is in Heaven
We don't quite know what to make of Heaven.
Thy Will Be Done
We're not at all sure what that actually means on a day-to-day basis.
Thy Kingdom Come
Where the King is, there is the kingdom already present and yet still to come.
Hallowed Be Thy Name
The highest form of prayer that a human being can offer with his lips.
Who Art in Heaven
The source of all the beauty and the ultimate fulfillment of all desire.
Our Father
Not a prayer of petition, but the recognition that He is in heaven
Introduction to the Perfect Prayer
"We do not know how to pray as we ought."
Tribalism Is Unhealthy
What will they do if they get their claws into the health care system?
The Perspicuity of Scripture and Other Creation Myths
The result of theory run amuck and removed entirely from real life.
The Semi-Permeable Membranes of the Various Protestantisms
Protestants rely on parts of Sacred Tradition and usually don't know they do.
Blessed Are Those Persecuted for Christ
Those who do God's will are doing it whether they think they are or not.
Blessed Are Those Who Are Persecuted for Righteousness' Sake
We are graced to pray for those who despitefully use us -- as He did.
Blessed Are the Peacemakers
A sacrificial and therefore priestly act.
Blessed Are the Pure in Heart
Purity -- and impurity -- originate in the heart and soul.
Blessed Are the Merciful, for They Shall Obtain Mercy
Forgive everybody. Always. Forever.
Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness
For transformation into the fullness of His image and likeness.
Blessed Are the Meek
Those who are meek are not weak but almost inconceivably strong.
Cooperating with the Creator - The Church and Birth Control
Obeying the will of the Creator of human life.
Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit
We are not to judge but are simply to assume that the poor we meet are Jesus.
Blessed Are Those Who Mourn
We are called...to look back on goodness and forward in hope.
The Beatitudes
If you want to see God's face, that is where you must look.
Tonight We're Gonna Party Like It's 1984
The broad movement among some conservatives...to excuse the use of torture.
The Mother of the Son - The Case for Marian Devotion
Why do Catholics honor Mary so much?
What Would Jack Bauer Do?
Absolutely no room for debate on the question of whether we should torture.
Christ vs. the Power of Now
Only the truth of Christ can keep us from the power of Now.
The Tenth Commandment
Rely on God, not on envy, to give meaning and value to our lives.
The Ninth Commandment
...just sitting there stewing over his hot wife, his sweet ride, or his good looks...
The Eighth Commandment
"Tell the truth. Then you won't have to remember what you said."
The Seventh Commandment
That wasn't stealing; that was Manifest Destiny.
The Sixth Commandment
A grave and cruel betrayal.
The Fifth Commandment
Now can we start killing?
The Fourth Commandment
...one of those things knowable to anybody with a pulse.
The Third Commandment
For, of course, it was God who invented the weekend.
The Second Commandment
Take God's Name seriously, as He takes you seriously.
The 1.5th Commandment
...then what's up with that Mary statue or that crucifix?
The First Commandment
"...speaks to Israel...in the language of covenant."
On Finding Christ in the Church
The only sure avenue for coming to know Christ.
The Most Heroic Thing I Have Ever Witnessed
"...the meaning of the priesthood so clearly incarnated before my eyes."
Staying Balanced on Israel and Gaza
"They have a right to a homeland as does any civil nation..."
Docility
The smartest thing to do is follow Mother Church's counsel.
Grace Is Dark Matter
Grace conquers the hearts of even his bitterest enemies.
What A Useful Word 'Taboo' Is!
It's about power...Tolerance is not enough.
Why I Wrote 'Charity vs. Dhimmitude'
To keep reaction...from devolving into nonsense.
Charity vs. Dhimmitude
Bishops provide for Muslim students to observe prayer rituals in Catholic schools.
Monsters, Moralists, and Happiness
Only the intervention of the grace of God can lift us into the happy life of the Trinity
Coming to Our Senses - The Anagogical Sense of Scripture
Word and sacrament go together because both point to our destiny in Christ.
Coming to Our Senses - The Moral Sense of Scripture
Scripture communicates ways in which an authentic disciple should live.
Coming to Our Senses - The Allegorical Sense
We should read for both the literal and the spiritual sense of Scripture.
Getting Beyond the Literal Sense of Scripture
"Seek first the kingdom of God..."
Tools for Thinking Sensibly About Scripture
The remarkable thing...is the organic unity of growth one sees in it.
Reading the Bible Like a Grown-Up
Difference between literalistic interpretation and the literal sense of Scripture.
Literalischtick
Interpret the books of Scripture "following the rules of sound interpretation."
Pursuing Virtue, Not Clintonism
"Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you as well."
Caesar and Mammon - Together Forever
Here's what I can make of the latest fraud to emanate from our Ruling Classes.
Got Soap? On Swearing and Vulgarity
"Nobody blasphemes Thor."
How the Enemies of the Normal Are Destroying Obama
Sin does indeed make you stupid.
Palin Hits a Nerve
Obama's worshipers may not be able to help themselves.
The Speech Hillary Longed to Give
"Most noble Hillary! – We'll revenge her campaign."
Atheism, Christianity and the E.T. Problem
"Will We Lose God in Outer Space?"
Those Angry Traditionalists
"Not really being a good witness to the faith."
On Mediocre Liturgy
There are a few things I find vile, loathsome, and dreadful in contemporary liturgy.
Stealing from Supernaturalism
Atheism is an acid that inevitably corrodes the human person.
Concerning Eucharistic Desecration
Show them, by your actions... The world is watching.
The Latest Historical Attack on Jesus Falls Flat
Jesus was Jewish? Golly, my Christian world is toppling!
Down the Memory Hole
Those who don't know bogus history are doomed to repeat it.
Secular Messianism, On the Left and Right
But a Messiah is what we have, thanks be to God.
The Darkened Intellect Serves the Fallen Will
Fervent prayer to the Holy Spirit, who alone can change the heart.
Behold the Spam of God!
You wonder what is going through the minds of people who write such stuff.
The Coming of the Obamessiah
In the beginning was Obama...
The Delusion of the Familiar
Seeing something often makes it something other than strange and wonderful.
Getting Past Clericalism
Clericalism continues to poison and distort the way we think.
Post-Atheism
Atheistic fads tend to wane and latch on to some form of "spirituality."
Fear of the Incarnation and Its Discontents
Great hope for the future of the Catholic faith among Evangelicals.
"Vatican Cracks Down as Devout Catholic Bus Plunges!"
Is everybody (or at least every Catholic) devout?
Benedict and the Scandal Redux
We're simply arguing with a phantom pope about phantom motivations.
Benedict and the Scandal
I much prefer a Church that is about mercy.
Evangelizing the Hiltonized
My prayer is that Benedict will wake us up.
Not So Bright
Not every atheist is a humorless geek out of touch with elementary social skills.
Science Fiction and the Areopagus
Science fiction and fantasy are absolutely awash in theological speculation.
God's Laughter
Easter commemorates the ultimate practical joke.
Easter and the Liberty of the Icon
We live in liberty as icons of the Risen Christ!
Saved by Christ, Not by Rules
Nobody really knows why one rule is more important than another.
The Stupid Prime Directive
Why is this stupid rule at the heart of the New Secular Jerusalem?
Dispatches from Post-Christian America
Believing a person's innermost being is knowable from his or her physical features.
The Gospel of Barack Obama
For lo, all that was written by the pundits must be fulfilled...
Why Not You?
If God himself has to suffer, what makes me think I'm so special as to get a pass?
Fisking King David
How the blogosphere would respond to Psalm 51 if David lived today…
Padding the Case for the New Atheism
All find what they truly seek.
Compensating Cowards
Cowards don't like the knowledge that they are cowards.
Divine Hatred, Divine Love
Some acts are so depraved and inhuman...
Technological Messianism
The single most influential member of the New Media.
The War On Liquids
For if we do not fear Everything, then Terror will already have won.
Sin Weakens Us
Evil confuses us and leaves us more vulnerable than ever to our enemies.
The Culture of Fear
The signs of it are everywhere.
Conspiracy Theory
I believe in almost no conspiracies except the Cosmic One.
Philip Pullman's Useful Idiots
The task of the bishop is to teach, govern, and sanctify, not review movies.
The Acoustic Candidate
A Christian who consciously flaunts his faith should really have some clue...
The New York Times' Latest Double Standard
While Christians impose their religion, scientists have no agenda at all.
Lying About the Loaves and Fish
Just like He's God or something.
From Juju to the Eucharist
"Who do you say that I am?"
Disgust Is Not Enough
Catholics are far closer to Muslims than we are to secular postmodernists.
Some Advice for Moderate Muslims
"We must deal with the violence in our tradition, or it will destroy us."
The Traditions of Men
This is when things got weird.
The Future Isn't What It Used to Be
Only the Church progresses, because only the Church is going somewhere.
The Gospel of Ann Coulter
Ann, Ann, Ann. Stick to politics.
Rudy's Tricks
"The only thing we have to offer is… fear itself!"
Capitalism, Colossians, and the Miller Brewing Company
Seek first the earth and you lose not just Heaven but earthly things as well.
You May Remember the Reformation
One of the great ironies of history.
The Media and Pope Benedict XVI's "Growth"
Constantly astounded to find that their caricature of him is not true.
Clericalism
The bad idea that only the ordained and religious are fully Catholic.
Is the Gospel of John Anti-Semitic?
Mere ethnicity cannot save, and that baptism...frees us from sin.
Don't Bind God To Contracts He Didn't Sign
"Nothing particularly forbidding the Church from making lay women cardinals."
Evangelicalese 101
"Isn't he implying that Catholics are not Christian?"
If Christ Had Not Been Raised - The Evidence for the Resurrection
The Resurrection is the factual cornerstone of Christian faith.
