This Mark!
Mark P. Shea WAS A NOT SO popular NEO-Catholic writer and speaker. The author of numerous books, his most recent work is The Work of Mercy (Servant) and The Heart of Catholic Prayer (Our Sunday Visitor). Mark contributes numerous articles to many magazines, including his popular column “Connecting the Dots” for the National Catholic Register. NOT ANYMORE! Mark is known nationally for his one minute “Words of Encouragement” on Catholic radio. He also maintains the Catholic and Enjoying It blog. He lives in Washington state with his wife, Janet, and their four sons.
It seems that the National Catholic Register has finally had enough of him and the LifeSiteNews story may have been the final straw.
There is a greater matter here. What is going on at National Catholic Register that would allow these writers to write unedited blog posts? The same thing happened a few weeks ago with John Paul Schimek. The Register has a serious problem that it needs to address.
While it would be wrong to rejoice in somebody's misfortune, having been directly on the receiving end of his hypocrisy, rage and false-mercy, it reminds me of the old phrase, "what comes around, goes around."
Schimek - gone.
Shea - gone.
What neo-Cath will be next?
23 comments:
Bye, bye blackbird! Don't let the door hit your bum on the way out!
Why is it that Catholic websites like NCRegister & Catholics Answers (many others also) are full of non-cradle Catholics? Is it impossible to find generational Catholics whose love of Catholicism is ingrained into their very veins by inherited Tradition? I can only think it is because people with their right foot in other 'religions' & those with perversions come cheap, which doesn't say much for the editorial staff of these sites & let's down those journalists who do have a good grasp of the True Faith but are out done by pc media oligarchs. Maybe if Traditional Catholics stopped visiting these sites they would be required to consider a game change.
Celebrate!
Ana Milan,
I have often wondered the same thing. I think part of the reason is that cradle Catholics do not have the "man bites dog" appeal that publishers are looking for. I grew tired of these individuals who were constantly trying to make money off of their decision to become Catholics. After all, each and every Catholic chooses at some point whether or not to remain in the Church. Also, I see a lot of pridefulness in these writers, as though they think there are run of the mill Catholics (sort of like the entry model car) and then there are the converts (the luxury model). When it comes to living and spreading the Catholic Faith or being pro-life, Mark Shea can't hold a candle to my grandmother. And she did her evangelization while raising a dozen kids and never earned a dime from it.
Ana Milan
I think it's because given the Vatican II orientation to be more Protestant-friendly, who better to be ecumenical with protestants and prop up Vatican II than the few Protestants who did come here through it? Heck these days, actual non-convert Protestants are being hired to fill in spaces both at the Vatican and in Archdioceses and in Catholic Schools.
Actual Traditional Catholics are not so keen on propping up the VII orientation and therefore aren't acceptable. I suspect many Catholics who apply for jobs in the Church or with Catholic organizations who display their Catholicity proudly are eliminated from consideration. Just as they told good men not to enter the priesthood, so too good men & women are turned away from being staff.
The Church is committing suicide. But for some people it's never been better! If all you want are social workers, and fund-raisers, and government funders and environmentalists, then there's indeed no shortage. It's a matter of perspective, you see!
To answer your question, the next one might be Simcha...
ROFL! Vox, that headline was very funny. Mark Thomas you've got many good points ol' chap. God bless. :)
Don says
The Revolution will always devour it`s own.
We can now add Lifesitenews to the list of pc Catholic websites. Two posts to-day in relation to -
"The first step needed to get the Church out of the current crisis"
have been pulled by the moderator. Apparently you cannot properly uphold the One True Faith if there has to be reference to the Protestant Revolt or the Marxist/Masonic/Modernist leadership of the CC which might offend those adhering to the current agenda of NWO religion, or posters of Protestant affiliations. This is not in keeping with true Catholic values & is a form of intimidation to keep in line or else. Rather fits the Delusional Papacy thread here.
Maybe the Register is going to become Catholic again?
A great many self-identified Catholic writers and public commentators have become ever more enemies of the True Faith and objective truth generally since Francis took the Chair of St Peter.
The sacking of Sheass is a well deserved blessing.. He is pathetic,a trouble maker and a two faced bum!Good riddance to bad rubbish!
I think the fear of the local Bishop has a lot to do with it. A well-known UK Catholic newspaper/website was reported to have had great pressure brought to bear when any Traditional Catholic posted. This resulted in the comments box being left open to Atheists & other anti-Catholic trolls & finally to the recent closure of their comments box.
This afternoon I received in my emails a response from a poster to one of the comments that had been previously pulled by LSN, & we have had a good correspondence. Someone had second thoughts obviously (maybe the replacement for the first moderator) & I'm glad to say all have gone through since. It's time for Catholic websites to stop paying lip service to such prelates - Truth will always win! Our effeminate prelates will have to man-up & get used to it.
Ana Milan,
"Why is it that Catholic websites like NCRegister & Catholics Answers (many others also) are full of non-cradle Catholics?"
Converts like St. Paul? St. Augustine?
I am a convert. And I have been on the receiving end of commentary like this on more than one web venue. I, for one, find it divisive and discouraging. Words do have consequences. Apparently there is an undercurrent of resentment against converts; Unlike previous generations of the Church, who were following our Lord's Great Commission; going out, evangelizing, and bringing IN converts by the bushel; converting cities; the entire world. And giving glory to God for all them. They GLORIED in THEIR converts.
Yes, I converted. I gave up a lot to do so. Willingly. Joyfully. On my OWN. Because no one evangelized me into the Church. I discovered Her and gave up father and mother and friends for Jesus' sake. And it was converts like Scott Hahn who showed me the way. No Catholc missionary, no "Trad", came searching my neighborhood for lost sheep. And that's FINE. But please, stop insulting us converts as if we are some sort of a blight upon the Church that needs to be contained and moderated and cleansed.
We are Catholics; no matter how, when or why Jesus found us. "For by Grace are you saved, through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph 2:8,9)
BTW, my previous TLM Parish was approximately half converts. It seemed like all new additional members were converts. And a more motivated, good-hearted bunch you will never find anywhere.
good point Brian. I was born in a Catholic family that had little interest in religion, so I converted only after a long pilgrimage.
After which, many of the Catholics I've met had little or no personal experience in the life of the Spirit. They repeated what they had learnt, their faith is belief-based instead of knowledge-based and they don't understand what St John says in most of his Gospel. They call it mysticism, uncomprehensible, illuminated, etc, but they simply don't get it. It was very painful to discover that they're not real Catholics, they just carry that name as some sort of last name, inherited from past generations, but without any content.
So rest assured, Christ will not let us go, we're His now.
For a moment, after reading the header, my heart was uplifted - but not for too long! Then I saw the pic of the well-fed human being and thought
maybe next time!
I too am "well-fed."
Brian and Anonymous:
This is exactly the attitude that we are talking about:
"After which, many of the Catholics I've met had little or no personal experience in the life of the Spirit. They repeated what they had learnt, their faith is belief-based instead of knowledge-based and they don't understand what St John says in most of his Gospel."
It is the sweeping generalization that cradle Catholics don't know anything about their Faith, or that somehow they have just had it handed to them. I doubt you have the ability to read souls, and it just comes across as pharisaical. Every single Catholic decides whether to remain Catholic and how deep into the Faith they will/can go. It's ridiculous that you would think belief-based Catholicism is somehow lacking in comparison to "knowledge-based," as well as being unscriptural.
Before you get too high and mighty there, you would do well to remember that it was generations of peasants that kept the Church going through the attacks of heretics and scholars. Those believers built the cathedrals and raised up little Catholics.
The bragging about what you gave up to join the Church needs to be ditched. (It wasn't too easy to stay Catholic during the years of the sex abuse scandal either.) We are not saying that converts need to be "contained, moderated, or cleansed." I am married to a convert who has the good sense to realize that, being new to something perhaps the best course of action is to 1) realize you don't know everything, 2) take a long time to observe and learn, and 3) act and speak with charity and humility. Otherwise you come across as the newlywed giving advice to the couple who has been married 25 years or more.
Not to mention that the Protestant understanding of "the life in the Spirit" some converts has its own minefield.
The difference in converts is whether they convert to a Traditional Catholic understanding of the Faith, which we need, or a "spirit of post VII" understanding of the Faith, which we don't.
Anonymous,
Ok. Fine.
I just spent an afternoon with my FSSP Priest. Had a marvelous time. Enjoyed each others' company. Uplifted each other, had fun and strengthened each others' faith. It was a good day!
Then I came back and read this from you and somehow I feel like we are enemies. And I'm all bummed out. Why? If we were to meet, I'm sure we'd have a grand time. You'd see I'm not so bad. You'd see how serious I am; how much I love the Lord and everything about His Church. I'm no Pharisee. Try not to be.
We're on the same team! Stop trying to find points of difference and weakness to exploit to score internet points. My point about Ana Milan, and now you Anonymous, is that we need to stop segmenting into Catholic "tribes"; tranches of ideology and experience. I converted and am fully Catholic. I am no less in God's eyes than you or any "Cradle Catholic, regardless of your tenure in the Faith compared to mine. All that is good is from God, not man. It is Grace that saves ultimately. And God does not delight in division. He delights in ONE THING above all else: LOVE.
And if you wish to win souls for the Church, discouragement is not a very effective evangelistic tool. Pretty sure we're intended to build each other UP, and not being each other down.
BTW, the "bragging" you refer to is a scriptural reference: Matt 10:37. To follow Christ is to give up everything and to be willing to give up everything, including father and mother. That's just a fact of the Faith. It's true of every Christian. It's especially true of a Protestant convert whose family hates the Catholic Church, the Pope and its theological path to salvation. It's probably not true of "Cradle Catholics", who have other stories to tell and trials to endure. Mine is different; not less.
Reduce my story down to bragging if you wish. You missed the whole point, though, if you do.
Anonymous at 2:16 pm, August 22, 2016
I appreaciate your advice and will keep it in mind. But I'm not generalizing, I said "many of the Catholics I've met", I was talking about the Catholics I personally met and not even all of them.
I'm not an ace at reading souls, but it wasn't difficult to discern there, since they practice yoga, transcendental meditation and reiki, among other new age practices, they support homosexuality and they absolutely adore Bergoglio, Kasper and Co. There are several that married more than once or are married to divorcees, they don't go to confession since they say they deals things directy with Christ, they receive Communion and praise Amoris Laetitia.
It was a shocking and painful experience. I was attacked for defending faith and Tradition because they are CVII lovers that say the Scriptures are just a guide to live by and nothing more. I deeply longed for my grandmother's Catholicism, the Church I knew in my childhood...
Brian, thank you for commenting here. You are always welcome!
Vox
Anonymous,
I get it. Thanks.
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