Sheavings:
A Wide Ranging and Ever-Growing Collection of Articles on Everything from Soup to Nuts Wherein the Author of This Website Holds Forth on the Great Issues of The Day as well as offering Gallimaufries, Alarums, and Divers Occasions of Merriement and Jollification in Addition to Sundry Discourses on Matters Whimsical, Apologetical, Fictional, Personal, Cultural, Biblical, Evangelical, Ecumenical, Familial, Spiritual, and Philosophical.

Whimsical

A Modest Proposal
The Beginning of the Gospel of Barack Obama, the Son of God, According to Mark Shea
Brother Darwin's Gospel Hour
Chesterton: A Spirit of Vatican II Bibliography
Corkscrew and the Art of Sloth
The Critics Rave!
The Devil in the Digital Domain
Discovering the Classics
England and the UK: A Cross-Cultural Channel Surfing Odyssey
Fisking King David
HellCo's Corporate Propaganda
Into the Heads of Babes and Sucklings
Jesus Christ Celebrates 33rd Anniversary as God Incarnate
Laughing at the Devil
The Lord of the Rings: A Source-Criticism Analysis
My Big Profound Spiritual Revelation
On Holiday
Paranoia is the Serious Business of Heaven
Playtime
Son of Discovering the Classics
Treebeard in Rome
The War on Liquids
Welcome to Corkscrew's Religion Chatroom!
What "Infallibility" Means

Apologetical

Almost Like Being in Love
Angels, Part 1
Angels, Part 2
Angels, Part 3
Apologetics or Apologies?
Are Sacraments Narrow?
Are Saints "New Revelation"?
Asking Questions
Because It's True
Behold the Spam of God!
The Benefits of Belief
Between the Skeptic and the Fundamentalist
Blatchford or Chesterton?: You Choose
Catholic "Officialdom" and Theological Ambiguity
Church of Sinners
Common Sense, Wisdom and Hope: Why Catholics Distinguish Between Mortal and Venial Sin
Communion of Saints, Communion of Sinners
Dake and Unger vs. Jesus
Deceivers for Jesus
Devil Talk
Dialogue with Demas
The Discovery of the Trinity
Disgust is Not Enough
Fear of the Incarnation and Its Discontents
From Juju to the Eucharist
The Gift of Lent
How I Changed My Mind About Mary
How Tradition Gave Us the Bible
If Christ Has Not Been Raised....
The Incoherence of Atheism, Part One
The Incoherence of Atheism, Part Two
The Incoherence of Atheism, Part Three
In Defense of Theology
Indulgences: The World's Most Misunderstood Spiritual Gifts
Infallibility Doesn't Mean Never Having to Say You're Sorry
Intellectual Fisticuffs: Some Thoughts on the Apologetics Subculture
In the Breaking of the Bread
The Ironies of Grace
Is John the Author of his Gospel?
Is the Second Coming Necessary?
Is Sacramental Grace Magic?
It Didn't Go Out with Vatican II
The Latest "Real Jesus"
The Lens in My Eye (excerpted from Chapter 6 of By What Authority?)
Letters!  Oh We Get Letters!
Life Imitates Art
Mariaphobic Response Syndrome: Part 1
Mariaphobic Response Syndrome: Part 2
Mary, Evolution, and Michaelangelo's Chisel
Masculine and Feminine, Evangelical and Catholic
Measuring Doctrine by Poetry
Mere Theism: The Case for God
Monotheism 101
Monotheism 102
The Mother of the Son: The Case for Marian Devotion
Of Hard Heads and Soft Hearts
Of Closed Communion and Japanese Restaurants
The Perspicuity of Scripture and Other Creation Myths
The Pickle of Private Judgment
Pious Fantasy and the Liberty of the Believer
Praying for Atheists
Purgatory? Where's That in the Bible?
The Real Presence and the Development of Doctrine
Rights and Gifts
Saints: Our Unseen Prayer Partners
The Semi-Permeable Membranes of the Various Protestantisms
Stopped Clock Right Twice a Day
Strange Bedfellows
"Too Much" vs. "Just Enough"
The Trinity and Real Life
Truth or Consequences
Two Kinds of Questions
What Has Jesus Changed?
What is Sacred Tradition?
What is Salvation?
Who Do You Say I Am?
Why Marian Dogma Matters So Much
Why Tithe?
What the Church Means by "Merit"
Why Catholics Don't Know What They're Talking About
Why We're Called the Catholic Church
You Can Trust Me, I'm a Psychic

More Culture Than a Petri Dish

A Catholic Look at The Truman Show
A Neat, Clean Culture of Death
America, Looking Inward
America's Swedes and Indians
Amusing Ourselves
Atheism, Christianity, and the ET Problem
At the Oscars, Every Film is a Swedish Film
Benedict in America
Be Not Afraid
Between Atheism and the New Age
Blasphemy
Capitalism, Colossians, and the Miller Brewing Company
Cartoon Jihad
Catholic Outreach Spearheads Exciting New Mission to Culture
Celebrating Advent in a Culture of Fear
Connecting with Postmodern Culture
Count the Cost
Courage and Laughter
The Culture of Fear
The Drama of Faith: Theatre Hearts
The Drama of Faith: Catholic Dramedy
The Drama of Faith: Poets, Prophets, and Actors
Discovering John Rhys-Davies
The Dictatorship of Relativism
Down the Memory Hole
Evangelizing the Hiltonized
Freedom from Fear
The Future Isn't What It Used to Be
Harry Potter and the Cardinal Virtues
Harry Potter and the Christian Critics
Herod Would Be Proud
Hope for a Post-Hope Culture
I Can't Imagine a Dumber Song
If You've Seen One, You've Seen 'em All
I'm a Religious Skeptic
The Inescapability of the Gospel
In Praise of Credulity
Insensitivity Training
Israel and Judah
I've Heard That Song Before
The Jessica Lynch Mob
Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie
Join My Cosmic Game of Connect the Dots
Light and Darkness
Lost in Post-Christian Pagan Culture
Love is Not All You Need
Materialist Magic
The Matrix
Maximus, Commodus, and Richard
Monsters from the ID!
Nostalgia Isn't What It Used to Be
Notes from the Generation X Files
Of Baloney and Beef
On Reality TV, Nature Documentaries and Dinosaurs
On Romance
Our Culture's Sacred Stories
Patriotism as a Sacramental
Patriotism as Idolatry
Phillip Pullman's Useful Idiots
Pilgrim's Progress
Pope Fiction: De-Stigmatizing the Papacy
Post-Atheism
The Practice of Patriotism
The Prince of Egypt
Prudence Amid the Fireworks
Puny Humans, Geocentrism, and ET
"Realism" vs. Reality
Reinventing the Hallowheel!
Remember the Flying Monkeys!
Response to A Guide to the Passion Stuns Even its Authors
Rush Limbaugh in the Confessional
Science Fiction/Fantasy and the Areopagus
Sheep Without a Shepherd
Snow Day
SOS! I'm Becoming a Lost Junkie!
The Stupid Prime Directive
Swearing and Vulgarity
Technological Messianism
Tending the Ecosystem of the Faith
Thanksgiving: An Odd Reconciliation
Tolkien and the Sacrament of Nature
The Uncle Walt Fallacy
The Virgin Birth and the Zeitgeist
"We Hold These Truths to be Self Evident"
We See BetterWhen We Don't Squint
We're Hardly Alone in the Universe
What Dreams May Come
What's Wrong with "Western Values"
When Judging is a Virtue
When Harry Met Frodo
Why I Love My Country
The Wonder of a Race of Poets
Would Jesus Salute the Flag?

Politics and Other Social Ills

The Acoustic Candidate
Against the Grain
Another Pyrrhic Victory for the Prolife Movement
Big Brother vs. Jihad
Blaming the Cure
Big Laws, Small Laws
Caesar and Mammon
Crabs vs. Humans
Cursed are the Peacemakers
The Dangers of Being Right
How the Enemies of the Normal are Destroying Obama
If Killing You is Wrong, I Don't Wanna Be Right
Ignoring Just War Teaching
Intellectual Pride Makes You Stupid
Iraq and the Clash of Civilizations
Jesus and Big Think
Keeping a Balance About Israel and Gaza
Lefty and Righty Secular Messianism
Let's Get Realistic About Torture
Message Received
Never in a Million Years
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Palin Hits a Nerve
The Post-Christian Party
Problem Picture
Richard Rich Lives
The Rubber Hose Right's Tortured Conscience
Should the Bible be Taught in Public Schools?
The Speech Hillary Longed to Give
Spike and Hitch
Some Advice to Moderate Muslims
Take Seriously Our Royal Baptism
Tonight We're Gonna Party Like It's 1984
Tortured Morality
Toying With Evil:  May a Catholic Advocate Torture?
The Traditions of Men
Tribalism is Unhealthy
War Comes Home: A Catholic Reflection
What Should Jack Bauer Do?
Why We Must Fight
Worlds in Collision
"You Can't Legislate Morality"
You Meet Subsidiarity in the Oddest Places

Against Talking Hairdos, Media Ninnies, and the Spirit of the Age

AmChurch and Stockholm Syndrome
At the Core of Reality is Joy
Back to the Tradition!
Benedict is About Relationship, Not Rules
Catholic Approaches to Paganism
Catholic Church Says Same Thing as Ever: Millions Shocked
Common Knowledge
Concerning Eucharistic Desecration
The Day the Free Press Committed Suicide
Catholics and the Cult of Fun
The Coming of the Obamessiah
Compensating Cowards
Cooperating with the Creator
Dark Hour
Dispatches from Post-Christian America
Divine Hatred, Divine Love
Divine Judgment
Easter vs. Niceness
Ends and Means
Equality: It's Medicine, Not Food
Eternity and the Future
Faith and "Religion"
Faith in Science
Fantasy Courage and Real Cowardice
Fetal Stem Cell Research: Don't Do it For the Gipper
Freedom is Scary
The Glory and Peril of Music
The Gospel According to Ann
How Sin Takes Over
How Will We be Remembered?
Human Beings are Not for Using
Ideas Have Consequences
If I Comprehend All Knowledge...
It's Personal
Lay Catholics and Stockholm Syndrome
Materialist Dogmatism
Maying
Memo to the American Media: Get a Grip
The Mystery of Evil
My MSM Rules of Thumb
Not So Bright
Of the Glory of Kings and the Killing of Cats
One More Time: It's All About the Eucharist
On Finding Christ in the Church
Padding the Case for the New Atheism
The Pope as Flag
Pope Found to Be Catholic--Again
Pork Roasts, Shadow Traditions and the New Year
Pseudo-Knowledge and the Al Gore Effect
Pursuing Virtue, Not Clintonism
Reporting from the Trenches: The New Catholic Media
The Return to Paganism
Rubbing Salt in the Wound
Rubbish
Saved by Christ, Not by Rules
See No Evil
Shea's Iron Law of Media-Reported Benedictine Growth
Shea's Iron Law of New York Times Science Coverage
Shoplifting from Supernaturalism
Sin Weakens Us
The Sole Criterion of the Good
Squaring the Circle
Stuff Worth Knowing
That 70s Show
Through a Veil Darkly
Truth Cancer and the Redemption of Rebellion
Unleash the Power of the Lay Alum
Vatican Cracks Down on Devout Catholic Bus Plunges
"We Now Know"
What a Useful Word "Taboo" Is!
What is a Pagan?
What NBC Did for Mammon
Who is Really Pro-Choice?

Biblical

The Allegorical Sense of Scripture
The Ambition of the Sons of Thunder
The Anagogical Sense of Scripture
Apocalypse Now
Appalling Mercy
A Tale of Two Covenants, Part One
A Tale of Two Covenants, Part Two
A Tale of Two Covenants, Part Three
A Tale of Two Covenants, Part Four
Beyond the Literal Sense of Scripture
Cheating the Oracle
Chosen for the Sake of the Unchosen
Christ the King
Coming to Our Senses: The Allegorical Sense
Coming to Our Senses: The Moral Sense
Coming to Our Senses: The Anagogical Sense
Comfort and Affliction
Costly Grace
Discrepancies in the Gospels
End Game
Five Myths About Seven Books
The Gospel According to Steve Martin
The Gospels Ain't Fiction
The Gigantic Secret
Hearing Scripture on Its Own Terms
Hidden and Revealed
Humility
If God Can't Take It, Who Can?
Indulgences: The Spiritual Gift Nobody Understands
The Inner Ring
The Intolerable Compliment
Jonah and God's Call to Mercy
Latest Real Jesus Destroys Christianity--Again!
Lazarus and the Rich Man
Literalischtick
The Literal Sense of Scripture
The Many Sided Gospel
Mercy
Mercy in Scripture
The Moral Sense of Scripture
The Parable of the Dishonest Steward
Paul the Convert
The Point of the Law
Prudence
Purgatory: Our Next Stop?
Reading the Bible Like a Grownup
The Resurrection and the Life
The Sign Called Bartimaeus
The Star Out of Jacob
Striking the Rock
Strong Enough for Hope
The Temptation of Christ
Ten Commandments: The First Commandment
Ten Commandments: The 1.5 Commandment
Ten Commandments: The Second Commandment
Ten Commandments: The Third Commandment
Ten Commandments: The Fourth Commandment
Ten Commandments: The Fifth Commandment
Ten Commandments: The Sixth Commandment
Ten Commandments: The Seventh Commandment
Ten Commandments: The Eighth Commandment
Ten Commandments: The Ninth Commandment
Ten Commandments: The Tenth Commandment
Thank God for the Magisterium
Three Guidelines for Reading Scripture
Through Water to Light
To Make Dreams Come True...
Tools for Thinking Sensibly About Scripture
The True Meaning of the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes
Walk, Don't Run
Where the Bible Came From
Who Were the Magi?
The Wisdom and Folly of Solomon
The Wisdom Books: Sound Advice for the Third Millennium
The Wisdom of Wisdom 1 and 2
"Wives, Be Subject"?
The Woman Taken in Adultery

Familial

All in the Family
An Examination of Conscience for Parents
A Poem as Much as a Story
A Slightly Unseasonal Easter Tale
Beyond Tribal Faith
Big Truths for Little Kids, Part 1
Big Truths for Little Kids, Part 2
Bilbo, Frodo, and Relics
Catholic Social Teaching and the Icon of the Family
Co-Creators with Christ
Converts and Cradles
The Divine Mess of the Family
The Family as the Icon of the Holy Trinity
Family, Culture, Holidays
Green Christmas
How to No Your Kids Better
Honoring our Fathers and Mothers
In Search of the Sinister and Elusive Neo-Catholic
Lent for Newbies
Little Kids with Big Questions
The Opposite of Cancer
The Paradox of the Neo-Catholic Traditionalist
Remembering How Kids Think
The Risk of Love
The Seven Deadly Sins for Parents
The Seven Virtues for Parents
Teach Your Children Well
Teaching the Theology of the Body
Unfolding the Mystery
We Could Be Living!

Ecumenical

Apollos, Priscilla, Aquila and the Glory of Eupocrisy
A Ramble Through My "New Catholic" Wish List
Discovering Wales
Eupocrisy
Evangelicalese 101
Catholics and the "F" Word
Christians in a Hostile World
Just Exactly Where Is the Church?
Letting Our Loves Meet: Ecumenism for Us Plain Old Laypeople
Masculine and Feminine in the Great Regathering
Pleading the Blood
Satan's Ecumenism
Some of You May Remember the Reformation
What's Right With This Picture?

Evangelical

All Information Superhighways Lead to Rome
Answering the Call of God
Charity vs. Dhimmitude
Evangelizing Like Paul
Listening Evangelism: Proclaiming the Good News with Your Ears
Siena Institute Pioneers Collaboration in the New Evangelization
UNIX for the Kingdom of God
Why I Wrote "Charity vs. Dhimmitude"
Worshiping and Witnessing Side by Side

Spiritual

A Christian Approach to Purity
A Christmas Tip for Antichrist Hunters
Almsgiving
Apocalyptic Fooferah
The Beatitudes
The Beatitudes: Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit
The Beatitudes: Blessed Are Those Who Mourn
The Beatitudes: Blessed Are the Meek
The Beatitudes: Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness
The Beatitudes: Blessed Are the Merciful
The Beatitudes: Blessed Are the Pure in Heart
The Beatitudes: Blessed Are the Peacemakers
The Beatitudes: Blessed Are Those Who Are Persecuted for Righteousness' Sake
The Beatitudes: Blessed Are Those Persecuted for Christ
Benedict and the Scandal
Benedict and the Scandal Redux
Called and Chosen
Cats and Dogs
Cautionary Tales
Clericalism
Christ vs. the Power of Now
Concupiscence and the Battle of the Spirit
Conspiracy Theory
Credulity and Skepticism
The Creed: Why Creeds?
The Creed: One God and Father
The Creed: One Lord
The Creed: Begotten, Not Made
The Creed: He Came Down from Heaven
The Creed: Crucified, Dead, Risen
The Creed: Ascended into Heaven
The Creed: Judge and King
The Creed: The Holy Spirit
The Creed: One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic
The Creed: One Baptism
The Creed: The Life of the World to Come
The Darkened Intellect Serves the Fallen Will
Death and Laughter
The Delusion of the Familiar
Disappointment with Christians
Docility
Doing Something About the Weather
Don't Bind God to Contracts He Never Signed
Easter and the Liberty of the Icon
Forgiveness: What's Left When the Excuses Run Out
The Four Last Things: Death
The Four Last Things: Judgment
The Four Last Things: Hell
The Four Last Things: Heaven
Getting Back to Basics
Getting Past Clericalism
Give Death its Due
God's Laughter
Grace is Dark Matter
Hail Mary: Hail Mary
Hail Mary: Full of Grace
Hail Mary: The Lord is with Thee
Hail Mary: Blessed Art Thou Amongst Women
Hail Mary: Blessed is the Fruit of Thy Womb, Jesus
Hail Mary: Holy Mary, Mother of God
Hail Mary: Now and at the Hour of Our Death
Hamlet, Threepio, and Us
The Hard Hope of Christmas
Holiness Therapy for the Not So Holy
How to Prepare for the End of the World
The Immaculata vs. the Philosophies of Pride
In All Things Charity
In Doubtful Things Liberty
In Essential Things Unity
In Praise of Parrot Prayer
The Interior Life of Atheism
Jesus Commands us To Forgive Unconditionally
Jesus Names Us, Not Sin
Minimum Daily Adult Requirement Christianity
Monsters, Moralists and Happiness
More Than Our Father
The Need to Forgive
No Excuse for Not Forgiving
No Harm Will Befall You
On Mediocre Liturgy
On "Personal" Faith
Our Father: Introduction to the Perfect Prayer
Our Father: Our Father
Our Father: Who Art in Heaven
Our Father: Hallowed Be Thy Name
Our Father: Thy Kingdom Come
Our Father: Thy Will Be Done
Our Father: On Earth As It Is in Heaven
Our Father: Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread
Our Father: And Forgive Us Our Trespasses
Our Father: Lead Us Not into Temptation
Our Father: Deliver Us from Evil
Overcoming Clericalism
The Pharisaic Approach to Purity
The Poetry of October
Praise
Prayer, Part I
Prayer, Part II
Priests Are Not Theological Vending Machines
Questioning in Faith
Reality vs. Ideology
The Right Tools for the Job
Sacraments: Introduction, Part 1
Sacraments: Introduction, Part 2
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Baptism, Part 1
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Baptism, Part 2
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Baptism, Part 3
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Baptism, Part 4
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Baptism, Part 5
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Confirmation, Part 1
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Confirmation, Part 2
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Confirmation, Part 3
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Confirmation, Part 4
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Confirmation, Part 5
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Confirmation, Part 6
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Confirmation, Part 7
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Confirmation, Part 8
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Confirmation, Part 9
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Confirmation, Part 10
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Confirmation, Part 11
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Confirmation, Part 12
Sacraments: The Sacrament of the Eucharist, Part 1
Sacraments: The Sacrament of the Eucharist, Part 2
Sacraments: The Sacrament of the Eucharist, Part 3
Sacraments: The Sacrament of the Eucharist, Part 4
Sacraments: The Sacrament of the Eucharist, Part 5
Sacraments: The Sacrament of the Eucharist, Part 6
Sacraments: The Sacrament of the Eucharist, Part 7
Sacraments: The Sacrament of the Eucharist, Part 8
Sacraments: The Sacrament of the Eucharist, Part 9
Sacraments: The Sacrament of the Eucharist, Part 10
Sacraments: The Sacrament of the Eucharist, Part 11
Sacraments: The Sacrament of the Eucharist, Part 12
Sacraments: The Sacrament of the Eucharist, Part 13
Sacraments: The Sacrament of the Eucharist, Part 14
Sacraments: The Sacrament of the Eucharist, Part 15
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Reconciliation, Part 1
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Reconciliation, Part 2
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Reconciliation, Part 3
Sacraments: The Sacrament of Reconciliation, Part 4
The Scandal of Healing
The Season of Poverty
Self Control: The Unpopular Fruit of the Spirit
The Shadow Tradition
Sin and Repentance
Singing with the Fifth Voice: A Look at Communal Prayer
Some Obstacles to Unconditional Forgiveness
Sons of This World
Spiritual Pollution, Part 1
Spiritual Pollution, Part 2
Spiritual Warfare
Spiritual Warfare, Part I
Spiritual Warfare, Part II
Spiritual Warfare, Part III
Spiritual Warfare, Part IV
Sterility and Fruitfulness
St. Therese and the Little Way
St. Thomas More
Temptation and Accusation
Those Angry Traditionalists
Unity, Liberty, Charity
What in the World is Faith Anyway?
Why Not You?
What Sort of Story Do We Live In?
Works of Mercy: Introduction to the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy
Works of Mercy: Feed the Hungry
Works of Mercy: Give Drink to the Thirsty
Works of Mercy: Clothe the Naked
Works of Mercy: Harbor the Harborless
Works of Mercy: Visit the Sick
Works of Mercy: Ransom the Captive
Works of Mercy: Bury the Dead
Works of Mercy: Instruct the Ignorant
Works of Mercy: Counsel the Doubtful
Works of Mercy: Admonish the Sinner
Works of Mercy: Bear Wrongs Patiently
Works of Mercy: Forgive Sins Willingly
Works of Mercy: Comfort the Afflicted
Works of Mercy: Pray for the Living and the Dead
Yes Virginia, There Is Clericalism

Personal

The Adventures of Parrot Man
A Washington Thanksgiving
Dale Ahlquist Interviews Mark Shea for Gilbert Magazine
Dissecting The Da Vinci Code: Interview With Apologist Mark Shea
How the Real Presence Became Real for a Convert: Mark Shea on His Evolving Belief in the Eucharist
Grace
Mark Shea Makes Senses Out of Scripture (and GKC)
Meditation on a Home Movie
The Most Heroic Thing I Have Ever Witnessed
The Napoleon of Queen Anne Hill
October, Stick Bugs, and Eternity
Playing Games
Putting Down Roots
Sadie Hawkins and Lent
Some Thoughts on Motu Proprio Mania
Unto Us a Child is Born
Vacation!
What Easter Means to Me
What I Learned on a Walk
ZENIT Interview with Mark Shea about Mary, Mother of the Son

Copyright 2010 - Mark P. Shea