Maureen's Mailbag

As I mentioned earlier, blog posting will be rather light for some time. To help you get by, though, here are a couple of letters from readers who understand what this apostolate is all about and support me and my great work. -- MM


Dear Maureen,

I stumbled across your blog this morning and it just had me laughing out loud. In fact, I was going to post a comment about Chesterton (the patron saint of people who read all the time), but you were already there on that one.

Your post on laypeople at 'Stuff Catholics like' was simply hilarious. I can only imagine that those who suggested you were mean-spirited were a bit tired from the Reiki/Exposition parish Prayer 'n' Pamper marathon they'd been facilitating the night before.

In fact, 'laypeople' reminded me of a woman I met this week who runs a controversial prayer group in our church. She told me she doesn't 'really hear God in the bible' and prefers to use the 'pictures' she has in her head. Although she did say that one woman for whom she had had a 'picture' of a 'forgotten memory' proceeded to leave her husband, become an alcoholic and then moved in with a woman. (I'm not making this up!!). Needless to say, my best friend commented 'I hope you didn't let her pray for you.'

Keep up the good work.

Regards,

HJ in the UK



Maureen,

Your blog is soooooo funny! I haven't laughed this hard in quite a while.

Some of your characters remind me of when I endured an apparently typical RCIA program a few years back. On the death of Betty Friedan, the RCIA director, a former nun, stood in front of the group eulogizing the late feminist. "Oh, she was criticized for exploring Marxist philosophy and, yes, her views on abortion we would consider wrong," she explained. Then she proceeded to tell how reading The Feminine Mystique as a teenager "profoundly impacted my life." And then, with a straight face, she announced to all the women in the group, "Thanks to Betty Friedan, you all can wear pants."

Keep writing and God bless you,

RP in the U.S.A.