Have a holy and blessed Lent, Mark! I lurk on this blog quite a bit, but am coming out of the woodwork to just say hello and let you know that there are many, many people out there who appreciate your work on this blog. More than you know, probably. We're thankful to have you as a source of news and spiritual inspiration.
God bless, and we'll see you in 40!
Yeah, what he (John) said.
-Check out statement about young folks and STDs. Pumped out by Alan Guttmacher Institute. Division of Planned Parenthood. For those of you in St. Blog's we should now hear bells and whistles shrieking uncontrollably. Reads eerily like the earlier prediction that AIDS would be rampant among (cue trumpet) The Heterosexual Community. Well, not quite. Took a sudden left turn and hit the poor urban Black and Latino communities. Hard. Escalating reported cases from this blogger's office. Where about 10 blocks away, a 10-year-old boy murdered by warring drug dealers exactly two weeks ago- at 8:30 A.M., on way to school- was sent up to glory. Since this is Lent, I will not begin venomous rant on how ethics of white affluent liberals have caused incalculable damage to the Black and Latin communities since that magic year of 1965 (The Great Society, Start of Post-Vatican II Destruction.) Can wait for better time. Meanwhile.....
-Y'all better get onto the St. Joseph's Hawks bandwagon quick fast and in a hurry. Jesuit U. with less than 4000 young skulls full of mush and number-two men's b-ball team in U.S. of A. Play with precision, beauty, cohesion. All-American Point Guard Jameer Nelson- out of (heaven help us) Chester High, is the on-court maestro. Excellent soloists- backcourt partner Delonte West, 3-point shooter Pat Carroll (brother of ex-ND b-baller Matt,) supersub Tyrone Barley. Coach Phil Martelli is funniest man in U.S. Big Time Sports. No cheating/dorm fights/DUIs among the lads. Watch their ride this March. (Where Stanford will probably stop them, I fear, but that's then, this is now.....)
-Blessed Lent to all. See y'all in cyberspace.
If your kind endorsement of my blog has shown me anything, it is that you have a *huge* readership. I think several hundred visitors have followed the link to my site in the past 24 hours.
You are one popular dude.
"It said three diseases -- human papillomavirus or genital wart virus, a parasitic infection called trichomoniasis and chlamydia -- accounted for 88 percent of all new cases of STDs in 15- to 24-year-olds. " -- none of which can be prevented by condom use (unless you pull it up to your armpits).
Thanks for everything Mark. Have a blessed and solemn Lent. [Is that the right thing to wish?]
I'll get my contribution in soon this week. It's been busy at home and work.
Mark,
May you and your family have a blessed and fruitful Lent.
Update to a post a week or so ago: The Catholic Businessmens Network of Montgomery County, MD cancelled the breakfast with the abortionist Rep. Van Hollen after recieving heat from locals and readers of this blog.
Good job all.
+J.M.J+
So my alma mater recently hosted the V-Monologues, huh?
Why am I NOT surprised?
Don't let Marymount Manhattan's Catholic name fool you. Though founded by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, it was already calling itself a "secular" school when I attended it over a decade ago. A few sisters still taught there, but they were all quite liberal; of course, I was also kinda liberal myself back then compared to now. Don't know whether any nuns are left on the staff; I haven't visited in a long time.
MMC has also long had a strong feminist bent, since it was originally a woman's college (though it's now coed). That must be why the the V-Monologues thing doesn't surprise me at all.
In Jesu et Maria,
Shameless Plug: I was inspired by Mark to start my own blog in 12/2002 so if you have symptoms of CAEI-withdrawal, a small dose of extremecatholic might help
until April 11. Could it hurt?
Not surprising about JCU. What really needs to be done here is everyone make copies and forward them to Rome. That should take care of the SJ's at JCU!
Patrick,
Sure, I'll check it out. Always in need of some cyber-penance during Lent! 
Have a blessed Lent!
Have a blessed Lent! Will you not be posting at all during this time?
Well, this goes not just to Mark, but also to all his readers who were so quick to help me put things in perspective regarding the Da Vinci Code. Thanks a million guys for your links. And I've learnt one thing - the reason authors and people in general target the catholic beliefs is this: The Catholic Church is the bride of Christ...no wonder everyone else is jealous But hey "the gates of the underworld will never hold out against it" Have a blessed Lent.
Mark,
Have a blessed and fruitful Lent and thank you for posting a link to my own wee blog! I think that there must be a Kevin Bacon-esque rule that says every Catholic blog on the 'Net is within 3 post-promotions of CAEI
THE PASSION WAS THE BEST!!
Lets hope we all emerge from Lent holier and happier people - and leaner as well
God Bless y'all.
Just watched Dianne Sawyer?(is it?) and her interview with Mel Gibson. Real good - Mel had some interesting one-liners, and thought I detected almost a choke and a near tear when he told Dianne not to persue the "Dad" line of questions. Will see the movie this weekend - probably.
Re Sex Education for kids.
Here the govt. has been promoting the use of condoms, and providing sex education in schools for years now. Yet still the SDT rates of infection still rise, teenage pregnancy and abortion is on the rise - because promoting condom use is promoting promiscuity and no self-discipline. If it feels good, do it!!
Mark,
Have a prayerful and holy lent! May the Lord bless you this season with many graces!
Comment on Andrew Sullivan's take on The Passion:
( http://www.andrewsullivan.com/
in...777885354905430 )
Has anybody else noticed that the people who hate it for its violence seem to be the same people who refuse to offer up their sin to Christ, but instead want to sanctify their sin in themselves? Or am I just blowing smoke?
What I mean is: to such as these Christ's suffering -- all suffering -- is pointless.
Ladies and gents, I am happy to announce that A Guide to the Passion, co-written/edited by Our Esteemed Webmaster In Absentia, has now sold;
2 0 0 0 0 0 copies.
In 3 short weeks.
Along with estimated first-day revenues of TPOTC:
$ 2 0, 0 0 0, 0 0 0.
Is it cool to be part of a religious and cultural phenomenon or both? Take a bow, O Esteemed Webmaster. Whomever you are.
Mark,
Have a blessed Lent. Thank you for your endorsement of my site; it has been a thrill for me.
I will miss reading the insightful commentary from you through Lent, but you have my prayers that your journey will be as spiritually successful as you hope it to be.
God bless,
Colin Regan
P.S. I’m sure your archives will keep me going for a while
Make that 200,001 copies . . . 
Could it hurt?
Patrick Sweeney | Email | Homepage | 02.25.04 - 1:15 pm | #
Having checked out this blog and having concluded that its author sits somewhere far to the right of Attilla the Hun, we can only conclude that yes, it could hurt.
BTW, shouldn't y'all be demanding that the FMA ban divorce, too?
Be gone, Troll!
So, our good Italian friend Alessandro thinks that Mark is "far to the right of Attila the Hun".Perhaps he hasn't read history. He certainly wasn't around when Attlia was
Attila hated Rome, and tradition. Couldn't imagine a better liberal... j/k
No, he didn't say that Mark is to Attila's right - Mark just sits to his right. As anyone can guess, this refers to the old system of seating students according to their class grade. Mark and Attila were in the same classroom, and as one might expect, Mark was the better student. So, clearly, Alessandro was really complimenting Mark.
Mark,
Let me join everybody in wishing you a blessed Lent. But I hope you will break your blogging fast to share with us your thoughts on Mel Gibson's Passion, since you were the last person in Christendom to see it.
My liberal friend regularly tells me that I'm to the right of Attila the Hun. I take it as a compliment.
By the way, what did the wife of Attila the Hun say to him when he came home after a day of plundering and pillaging?
"Hi, Hun."
I thought Alessandro meant it was Patrick Sweeney who sits far to the right of A the H (who, though sharing a middle name with S the B, had profoundly dissimilar political convictions and indeed never actually met the good icon for forest fire prevention), since he seems to be referring back to Sweeney's comment flogging his own blog. Perhaps Alessandro could clear that up for us. (Perhaps Alessandro has left in disgust never to be heard from again).
I wasn't sure, but I didn't expect Alessandro was going to come back to clarify the point. Apologies, Patrick, if he meant you were the better student...
Love extremecatholic and extreme Catholics!
It's pretty clear to me that Alessandro meant Patrick, the way he quoted him and all before the Hun remark. I'm with John...the more extreme the Catholic, the better. Go, Patrick!
I saw The Passion yesterday...what a gift!
Mark Shea, my prayers are with you for a good and holy Lent...and for you guys, too.
How can anybody be so sure WHO killed Jesus, when they don't even know IF they killed him?
That?s the real problem with all the blame-throwing about who killed Jesus - we don't really know if anybody killed him at all.
Scholars have written thoroughly researched books trying to prove that Jesus actually survived the crucifixion.
For instance "Jesus Lived in India", "Saving the Savior: Did Christ Survive the Crucifixion?" and "Jesus in Heaven on Earth."
There is a list of some books like this at www.jesuslived.com.
John, The Church knows Christ died, she knows He rose from the dead, and she knows He will come again. She knew all this before the books of the Bible were agreed upon, that was how She decided which were accurate and which were not.
She doesn't need scholars to prove anything, though their confirmation can help her in her mission, because as I said before she was an eye witness to the first two events and heard the promise Christ.
I find it incredible that anyone can doubt her testimony, and put their faith in 19th century and later 'scholars', who write almost two millenia after the events.
If we were discussing an event in my family's history, say a hundred years ago, what would you put more faith in: the word of my great-grandfather (if he were still alive) present at the said event; or my research?
How much more sense does it make to trust the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church to tell you the Truth about the Death and Resurrection of her Founder, who also happens to the living Head of the same Church.
You often hear of people "quitting" to blog because they feel they "could be praying or helping the poor" instead. Is there a tension between technology and prayer life? To quit blogging during Lent, unless done to simply to take a break, would seem to suggest that a rigorous devotional life cannot coexist easily, at least, with a "blog life".
What about blogging as a religious duty? Blogging in a way is a kind of "sanctification" of the internet in Christ, by creating Catholic pages that people can find on search engines.
My review of "The Passion of the Christ" is now up on a friend's blog (I don't have a blog yet):
http://www.targetblank.org/artic...228&
mode=thread
There is one bizarre typo I failed to catch (hopefully it'll be corrected by the time anyone reads the review): I was vacillating between "Jews" and "the Jewish people" and ended up with "Jews people". There is no significance to it other than my own poor proofreading.
Brian . . . That's precisely why I link so many Catholic sites on my blog.
"The biggest temptation is giving up on our ideals and taking the easy way out" That's what the homily today brought out. And I thought of sharing it here. Coz so often we give up or compromise on our dreams when the goin gets tough. Jesus had the toughest life and he NEVER gave up, though he was equally tempted. Why should we?
was he? or did he have the advantage of not having concupscience and no original sin
+J.M.J+
As for Jesus surviving the Crucifixion and going to live in India, I've heard all this stuff before and it doesn't ring true.
For one thing, there's no way someone could have survived crucifixion. If there's one thing Roman soldiers were experts at, it was killing people. They conquered most of the known world at the time, and they didn't do it by being gentle pacifists! They knew Jesus was dead by just looking at Him, and stabbed His Heart with a spear anyway.
I saw TPOTC on Friday, and the degree of violence portrayed in the movie is pretty accurate, based on everything I've ever read about Our Lord's suffering. He really was scourged that severely before being nailed to the Cross. No one could survive such a horrific ordeal.
Second, the tomb in India claimed by an Islamic sect to be Christ's is really that of an Islamic holy man. It's only about four centuries old, and was never claimed to be Jesus' tomb until the late 19th century or so. First century East Indians did not build tombs, they cremated people on the Ganges. If Jesus had died in India He would have been cremated, not entombed.
As for Jesus being tempted: "For we have not a high priest who cannot have compassion on our infirmities: but one tempted in all things like as we are, without sin." (Hebrews 4:15)
"Wherefore, it behoved (Jesus) in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest before God, that he might be a propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that wherein he himself hath suffered and been tempted he is able to succour them also that are tempted." (Hebrews 2:17-1
In Jesu et Maria,
A petulant New Zealander says, "The darn Australians even beat us at Cardinals!!"
Update for Gerard E. and anyone else who's counting:
Well here it is Sunday afternoon, and Fox News is reporting that TPOTC has already grossed over $76.2 million, which they note is "more than the next twelve films combined."
(That's over 76. Million. Dollars. The first 5 days alone.)
HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE!
Well here it is Sunday afternoon, and Fox News is reporting that TPOTC has already grossed over $76.2 million, which they note is "more than the next twelve films combined."
This just goes to show again that if you want a film, book, etc. to be wildly successful, attack it vigorously. That way everyone will want to see what all the fuss is about.
Actually, it has grossed 117 million. The 76 million figure is for Fri,Sat, and Sun. I saw it last night. It was like everyone has said before, stunned silence after the lights come on. Amazing.
If you visit the Vatican, tell them the Priests in the US have busy hands.
+J.M.J+
Only about 4% have had hands busy where they shouldn't have been; the anointed hands of the rest have been busy consecrating the Blessed Sacrament and absolving sinners.
In Jesu et Maria,
I thought it was 4% accused not 4% guilty. I'd be just as surprised to learn all 4% were guilty as I would be if I found out they were all innocent. I bet it's more like 2% and the other half of the accusations are from your lovely jump-on-the-victimhood-bandwagon-if-this-don't-
work-we'll-get-rich-suing-the-lawyers-next modern Americans. I believe the false accusers do nearly as much harm as the those of the cover-it-up culture.
+J.M.J+
Actually, on studying further it's probably not even 4% accused!
You see, the number cited in the report includes nuns and religious brothers accused of abuse, not just priests. People took that number and, assuming it was just priests, compared it to the number of priests who've served the Church in the US over the past 50 years. That's how they came up with the 4% figure.
But since the number includes accusations against nuns and monks, the number of priests accused of abuse is actually lower than the number given. And as you said, accusation and guilt are two different things. So the real number of abusive priests could be very low, and the 2% figure you give is consistent with past estimates.
In Jesu et Maria,
Wow, Rosemarie! Can you answer a computer question for me now?
+J.M.J+
Probably not .
In Jesu et Maria,
Are any of your articles from the National Catholic Register available online?
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