March 21, 2026
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Welcome to the website of Catholic author Mark Shea! Read his recent musings on the blog, or purchase his books from the store.
Recent Posts
The Work of Mercy: Admonish the Sinner, Part 1
Of all the works of mercy, probably the most thankless and despised is admonishing the sinner. Nobody wants to do it (except human toothaches), and
March 20, 2026
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The Work of Mercy: Counsel the Doubtful, Part 2
Doubts can be located in the emotions, intellect, or will. Emotional doubts can be potent, but very often, when you interrogate them, there’s no There
March 19, 2026
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The Work of Mercy: Counsel the Doubtful, Part 1
Doubt can be the emotional equivalent of a brief spring rain or a hurricane. People doubt whether to place two bucks on the Mariners (don’t)
March 18, 2026
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Dive into the Sheavings
The Four Last Things: Judgment
The second of what the Catholic tradition calls the “Four Last Things” is Judgment. Judgment is about as popular a concept as root canals. And yet the desire for judgment never really goes away in the human soul. Every other episode of the still-popular-after-50-years Twilight Zone was a story about judgment. So
Ignoring Just War Teaching
I was a (tentative) supporter of the war in Iraq, because I feared Saddam Hussein might give weapons of mass destruction to a terrorist organization for use on an American city. These fears were stoked by statements from Vice President Dick Cheney: “Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam
On Holiday
My pal, Dave, recently spent a year in Poland. While he was there, he discovered that, at least in the diocese of Poznan, the celebration of Christmas extends from December 25 to February 2, the Presentation of the Lord. For weeks after we earnest Americans had resumed our position of
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About Mark Shea
Greetings! I’m Mark P. Shea, a Catholic author and blogger who’s also done a spot of podcasting and even acting here and there, as well as radio and TV work. My latest book, The Church’s Best-Kept Secret: A Primer on Catholic Social Teaching was published in September 2020 by New City Press. Other works include By What Authority?: An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition (Ignatius), Mary, Mother of the Son, This is My Body: An Evangelical Discovers the Real Presence (Christendom), and Making Senses Out of Scripture: Reading the Bible as the First Christians Did (Basilica), Salt and Light: The Commandments, the Beatitudes, and a Joyful Life (Servant), The Heart of Catholic Prayer: Rediscovering the Our Father and the Hail Mary (Our Sunday Visitor) and The Work of Mercy: Being the Hands and Heart of Christ (Servant).
I can also be found on Facebook (here and here) and Twitter. If you like my work and want to see more of it, please become one of my supporters on Patreon…..
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By What Authority?: An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition (Kindle)
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Making Senses Out of Scripture: Reading the Bible as the First Christians Did (Kindle)
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