A Lenten Apology

Dear Readers,



Since it is Lent, I thought it would be a good time to post a public apology to the writer Gabriel Garnica. Some of you may remember my "Ashes Favorite Sacrament, According to ABC/Washington Post Poll." The purpose of the article was to underscore the fact that many Catholics do not know what the Sacraments are. I attempted to do this by filling my article with "quotes" by invented characters, including clueless parishioners and a questionable priest. Folks who read this blog on a regular basis were pretty used to this. Using clueless sources to help me make a point has always been very enjoyable to me, and somewhat cathartic.



However, the "Ashes" article was read and picked up by more than my usual 10 readers. It ended up on various blogs and sites, including the Remnant and Spirit Daily. Unfortunately, the post was presented as an actual news story and many readers believed the article was true. One of those readers was Gabriel Garnica, a writer and lawyer, who obviously loves the Church a great deal. He was so infuriated by the article that he responded to it in an article of his own. In a decision that lacked charity, maturity, and good judgment, but demonstrated a whole lot of pride on my part, I not only posted his column on my blog, but I made fun of it, and mocked Mr. Garnica. As a result, Mr. Garnica was publicly embarrassed on my blog, and his reputation was damaged. Mr. Garnica is clearly a person who feels the same way as I do about some of the abuses going on in the Church. Instead of making fun of him, I should have privately explained the situation via email.



Although Mr. Garnica has graciously accepted my apology in private, I wanted to apologize to him in public, since that is where all the damage occured.



Happy Easter!
Maureen Martin

Update

Hello dear readers,

I apologize for being away from the blog and my other 38 apostolates for so long. Just to let you know, the baby and I are doing fine. William weighed 9 lbs 14 oz.

In our moments of mother and baby bonding, I have been reading the portions of the Summa Theologica to William. His cooing tells me he really gets it. Anyway, my husband and I believe our children may be the keys to saving this fallen world. I'm sure you will agree.

I hope to get back to bringing you cutting-edge news stories soon. Until then, please send me your news tips and ideas at maureenscoolblogatgmaildotcom.

God bless, Maureen

Quick note

This Wednesday (July 2) in the a.m. I am scheduled to deliver son No.2. While the first son definitely gave me "Pope vibes," this one is feeling a little more like a future Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in Literature. Please keep me and the little bundle in your prayers on Wednesday.

God bless,
MM & William Walker Martin

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.

My stuff is up at Inside Catholic today

Three of my stories are up today at Inside Catholic. They will be familiar to regular readers of this blog.

As I mentioned before, you should add Inside Catholic to your blogroll, too, so you can keep up with their cover stories, as well as the goings-on at the Inside blog everyday.

For my part, blogging will be light for quite awhile. If you add me to your Google or Yahoo! homepage, however, you will always be up-to-date on what is going on with this blog and my apostolate.

God bless, Maureen

Woman Who Left Catholic Church Over Sex Scandal Actually Just Wanted to Sleep In

Photo courtesy of quickandsimple.com
Neighbors are becoming disenchanted with Sandy Shaw's activism against the Catholic Church.

BOISE, IDAHO – Neighbors who hailed an area woman for leaving the Catholic Church over the sex abuse scandal are coming to grips with the fact that she just wanted more time to sleep and run errands.

Sandy Shaw, a data entry technician for Global Technologies, Inc. in Boise, impressed her friends and neighbors when she announced last year that she had “had enough of the sex abuse scandal” and was “leaving the Catholic Church” as a result.

“She was indignant,” said Marla Davies, her next door neighbor. “She said she had had enough of the Church and didn’t want to bring her children up in it. I was proud of her and invited her to my church. She seemed excited at first, but every Sunday morning when I would walk over to see if she, her husband, and the girls wanted to go to church, one of the girls would answer the door, saying her mom was asleep,” said Davies.

“The last Sunday I approached her, she just waved me off, saying she had to get her nails done,” said Davies. “That’s when I lost all respect for her. She’s no activist. She’s just tired and vain.”

Other neighbors said they were also impressed with Shaw’s stand at first. “It was kind of like a David and Goliath story, except, you know, with a woman,” said Phillip Turner, who lives across the street from Shaw. “Here was this mother of two, taking on the Vatican of all places, by deciding she wasn’t going to church anymore. She was going to show them that she wasn’t going to stand for the abuse.”

“I thought it was all really cool, until I started seeing her out in her robe, watering her gardenias on Sunday morning,” said Turner. “What she was doing didn’t seem any more heroic than me drinking beer on my porch for hours, which is what I do every Sunday. I guess I was kind of hoping for a neighborhood Erin Brockovich, but what I got were some old reruns of that show Alice. It sort of shattered the whole activist image for me.”

Cassie Donovan said she really felt for Shaw and the hurt she had experienced over the Church sex abuse scandal. “She said she was so upset about the scandal that it played a part in her getting her tubes tied. Sandy said she didn’t know of any priest personally who was implicated or involved in the scandal, but it really made her angry."

"She didn’t want to bring any more kids into the world and risk having them abused -- she said that, and that the two kids she had were about to drive her mental and she didn’t want anymore,” said Donovan. “Not long after that, she quit the Church.”

“At the time, I really admired her strength,” said Donovan. “It was like she was thumbing her nose at the Church and everything it stood for. But then after awhile, I realized she was just thumbing her nose at the Church and everything it stood for.”

Welcome, Creative Minority Report readers!

Gay Marriage Threat to Those Traditionally Married, Multiple Times

Photo courtesy of engagement rings of London

Gay marriage will wreak havoc on traditional marriage, say those who have been married and divorced.

COLUMBIA, SC. – The California Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn the ban on gay marriage is a threat to traditional marriage, say those who have been married multiple times.

Miles Stewart, a Columbia attorney who is preparing to take his third trip down the aisle next week, said the California Supreme Court’s ruling bothers him a great deal. “Marriage is something I take very seriously. It’s between a man and a woman, and it’s a sacrament, even if it doesn’t take the first two or three times,” he said. “But with this ruling, though, marriage is becoming utterly meaningless.”

Many are saying the ruling will further erode the dignity of marriage, and accelerate the disintegration of society in general. “What’s next? Polygamy?” asked Walter Andrews, a stock broker with Brooks & Wise in Philadelphia. “At least I took the time to divorce each of my wives in between marriages. With polygamy, you’re all just thrown in there together, doing gosh knows what. Not that that idea isn’t tempting, but you know what I’m saying.”

Marnie Reid, a Winston-Salem mother of two, who was just granted a divorce from her first husband, agrees that the ruling is bad for society. “These gay couples are going to have children through surrogates, and then get gay divorces later on, only to get remarried later, so their kids will have gay stepmothers and stepfathers,” she said. “What a confusing mess. What kind of society lets that happen?”

Pastor Bob Jackson, of Abundantly and Eternally Blessed Life in Christ Church in downtown Columbia, agreed. “I do a lot of pre-marriage counseling and this new ruling has alarmed some of my people. Some of these folks are gun shy to give marriage a second or third try. They are saying to me, ‘Pastor Bob, why should I even bother getting a marriage license? It’s all become a joke. I have to say I agree with them.”

Jackson added, “I am not going to condemn or throw stones at the gay elites, though. However, the Bible says a lot about this kind of thing and I’m sure God would like to throw all of them in a Lake of Fire right now.”

Welcome readers from the Anchoress!

Light blogging

Hello, dear readers...
Between being almost eight-months-pregnant and heavily involved in church work, I won't be posting a whole lot over the next few days. (I have a lot of work to do around here involving Dreft.)

You have my permission, though, to read other blogs for news during this time.

God bless,Maureen
P.S. The nuns say, 'hello!'