A large section of the book starts with her experiences growing up Catholic in New Orleans where the local culture was decidedly Catholic and centered around parish life. She writes about her fascination with the church as a child and her interest in architecture, statues, stained glass windows, and all that made up most Catholic churches of that period. It reminded me of what Pope Benedict said about biblia pauperum . "The bible of the poor",comprised of non-literary works, such as icons, images, hymns, windows, etc. Before she could read she was able to learn about the Church and the lives of the saints to some extent. This interest in sacred architecture and statues was also something she was interested with throughout her life, ever her 38 years as an atheist. It was also something that was a possible anchor that later helped her back into the Church, though certainly not the deciding one. I have read many conversions stories of how these images and the sacramental nature of the Church later had an effect on bringing people back to the Church. She speaks of this time with much love about growing up in this time period where pretty much every person she came in contact with was Catholic. She gives her reflections on the traditional Mass and the Latin hymns she learned to love and gives us an insight into this particular time and place of Catholics in America and her desires at one time to become a nun.

Though all is not idyllic as she enters school which she hates, though she does not hate the nuns who taught her and holds them in very high esteem. Ironically it was reading that made school the most difficult for her and it would take her quite a while to really become a reader. She really pours herself in her writing as she describes her experiences and her family and the good and the bad situations that occurred within her family. Two of her aunts were nuns and her father had gone to seminary and so the Catholic view of life permeated most of her childhood. The Catholic schools she went to were quite good, but like man schools of the time a real introduction to scripture was lacking with much memorization of the Baltimore Catechism. While this type of memorization is a great first step it must be followed up with a greater understanding of theology, scripture and Church teaching.

I must say though that I was quite surprised by what her real first name is and can easily understand why she told the nuns her name was Anne and got her sisters to call her that also. Regardless of the Catholic culture she grew up with, like so many when she left to go to college it was not long until she no longer practiced her faith and then moved onto atheism. The transition from a childhood faith to ownership of that faith is often a difficult transition and a surface understanding of the faith is usually not enough. The intellectual vastness of the faith is something that unfortunately few seem to grasp and the Church gets reduced down to laws and rules.

The thirty eight years of her atheism is not really covered in depth. She takes great care to make this book a spiritual biography and only deals with events that would make her once more think of God and the route along the way that brought her back to the Church. She does deal with her vampire novels to some extent and the worldview they came out of that was directly related to her loss of spiritual life. But this book is not about her and her triumphs as an author, but of her journey. The last section of the book deals with the events that brought her back to the Church and I must say there were often tears in my eyes as I read what she had to write. Her conversion was a real act of humility as she put aside her doubts and to truly put her trust in Christ. At one point she writes "And why should I remain apart from Him just because I couldn't grasp all this? He could grasp it. Of course! It was love that brought me to this awareness, love that brought me into a complete trust in him ..." She also discusses what she felt was her call to write of Christ which have resulted into two novels so far and the intense reading of the Gospels and other books. The famous poem of Francis Thompson the Hound of Heaven plays a part and she describes herself as Christ haunted and felt that she was being pursued by God. Her insights into much of the skeptical biblical scholarship lead her to a quite orthodox Christology that you can see in those two books.

There is much in this book to recommend it and oddly for a conversion story I found it to be a real page turner. As a conversion story it is quite moving and her efforts to follow Christ and her recognition of herself as a baby Christian shows a surprising humility. There were many things she wrote that I as an ex-atheist could readily relate to. Also interesting was an awakening to the world of faith around her that she had really not seen and how Hollywood and others manage to not see it either. That being said I had a few quibbles here and there in what she wrote. It is quite obvious that throughout the book she favors women's ordination. She once wanted to be a priest and when told she couldn't she figured that this would change at some point. A priest told her at some point that at one time theologians debated whether women have souls (which is pretty much mythical). Her son has same-sex attraction and it is evident that she does not understand the Church's teaching since she seems to confuse condemnation of homosexual acts as condemnation of those who have the cross of same-sex attraction. The same goes for her understanding of sexual morality to some extent. She has an excellent understanding of Christology and hopefully she will come to a greater understanding of ecclesiology Though even when touching on these issues there was not a "me against the Church" attitude, but an evident willingness to come to a greater understanding and that following Christ was of the greatest importance.

So despite my quibbles I highly recommend this book because it is also a book on Christian discipleship, on living the faith and letting Christ lead you even into the unknown.

Well racist eugenicist Margaret Sanger changed America just as Stalin changed Russia. That is if you call a massive reduction in population a change. Margaret Sanger did the spade work to lay the foundation for the Culture of Death. So every time you drive by a Planned Parenthood clinic in a minority neighborhood don't forget to honor her for change - at least according to the Smithsonian.

And I might add for the headmistress also that apparently had no problem with a governor who vetoed a partial birth abortion ban. Thank you Bishop John Smith!

In other news Bishop Steinbeck talks about Fr. Farrow who recently came out against the Proposition 8 in California during Mass.

Farrow's comments contradict statements made by the head of the U.S. federal government's genome project, Dr. Francis S. Collins, who points out that studies of identical twins prove that "sexual orientation is genetically influenced but not hardwired by DNA, and that whatever genes are involved represent predispositions, not predeterminations." Identical twins, who share the same DNA, share a homosexual orientation in only 20 percent of cases, according to Collins.

Fresno's Bishop John T. Steinbock responded to Farrow's statements in a press release stating, "Proposition 8 is not about gay or lesbian orientation, or their legal rights. Proposition 8 is a reaffirmation of the nature of marriage. Proposition 8 reaffirms the dignity of the special covenant between one man and one woman which has been the building block of the church and of society since time immemorial."

Bishop Steinbock also defended the Church's right to speak out on political issues. "Some say that the Church has no place in American politics. That is absolutely untrue. The Church never involves itself in telling people to vote for a political candidate or party. But it does have the moral responsibility to speak out strongly on moral issues when these relate to propositions on our ballot," he said.

He added, "The Church has a right and obligation to speak out on issues of faith and morals. This means speaking out on important issues affecting family life and the common good."

In an interview before the mass at which he intended to announce his dissent, Farrow was directly asked by Fresno's ABC affiliate if he was "gay," to which he responded "It's a secondary issue. But yes, I am."

Farrow had apparently cleared out his office in anticipation of the event, and disappeared following the mass. As of Monday, Bishop Steinbeck still had not spoken to Farrow, but asked for prayers for him and all of the diocese's priests, as well as for priestly vocations. [article]

Well I guess he has a thorough understanding of Church teaching as he has on what she has said about homosexuality. That is a lousy understanding. The Church has made no statements about homosexuality being innate. This is a scientific question and one the Church will never weigh in on. The consistent teaching of the Church is that homosexual acts are intrinsically evil.

We sat down with Father Geoff before mass, and he answered the question many are probably wondering... Is he gay? "It's a secondary issue. But yes, I am. And when I was a boy I asked God please make me normal and the prayer never got answered and I realized why. Because God would've made somebody else he wouldn't have made me."

What a surprise that once again a priest who stands up at Mass and talks about homosexuality being acceptable themselves have same-sex attraction. Funny how we never hear an alcoholic priest give a homily about how alcoholism is okay. But this is what happens when society calls a sin acceptable and it makes it harder for those suffering to acknowledge the truth.

Sunday mass ended with about half the congregation giving a standing ovation. Outside parishioners had mixed reaction about the priest's remarks.

Bishop John Steinbock has not yet talked to Father Geoff, but surely that will come soon.

Hat Tip Fr. James Martin S.J.

In addition Another Theology Blog is also on the air.

Fr. Francis Mary Stone left EWTN and his ministry last year, explaining that he needed time to discern his life direction and vocation. There was a woman in the picture, a widow he had counseled and her family. I suppose, the truth be said, he had already burned his bridges behind him, but that is for him to say (or not) in the days ahead. RIGHT NOW, it appears that he is having to face the cold reality that husbands and fathers have to provide for their families. Continue to pray for him and all involved.

Here is his site and it certainly looks authentic. While it is always sad when a priest falls it is even sadder when they do so and promote organic nutritional drinks "Zrii, the nutritional supplement of those Living Life on the Rock!"

Well that is good news, though they should never have contracted with them in the first place. Previously they had sent paid staff to "Family Builders by adoption" whose goal was "Increasing the number of children adopted by Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) adults." What is sad is how the homosexual lobby has pushed Catholics out of providing adoptions in California and Massachusetts. The goal of the homosexual lobby is not about tolerance but forced acceptance and the Catholic faith has to be pushed into the closet.

Hat tip to Fr. John Malloy, SDB who has been on the forefront with coverage on this for the last couple years.

Hat Tip Insight Scoop

Back in July Obama said "The first thing I'd do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act," So we know where his real priorities are. No working towards reducing abortion, but working towards reducing people. The decline in abortion has been largely because of laws like parental notification and without those restrictions, once again abortion would be on the increase. Remember also that the Democratic platform eliminated references to making abortion rare, but in fact strengthened their support of it. But facts are no deterrent to Obama Catholics. I certainly believe there are valid reasons not to vote for Sen. McCain, but I can't think of any to vote for Sen. Obama.

If you couldn't tell, this is classic Fr. Andrew Greeley.

He is from my state, city, far left side of the political divide, and we shared a pulpit! Of course I hope he wins. Never mind that his positions are intrinsically evil - we shared a pulpit doncha know. You must be racist if you can't get past his support of abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, cloning, ESCR, and homosexual marriage. Yes presidential affirmative action - vote for him even if you think he is a moral disaster. Otherwise not only will we throw the race card at you we make it a presidential race card.

"Go after him," I screamed.

"He's just being a gentlemen," my friend insisted.

"Nice guys," I shouted, citing a one-time manager of the Cubbies, "finish last!"

Naturally I couldn't sleep that night. At 3 a.m., I crawled out of bed and turned on a cursed machine to read the data from the instant surveys.

Please breath in and breath out Fr. "I don't have a candidate" Greeley. Yes Sen. Obama was really being a gentleman by calling Sen. McCain "John" repeatedly.

Now you might rightly ask why are you even paying attention to a Fr. Greeley article in the first place? Maybe I am like a dissident paleontologists. Even though these progressive dinosaurs are on the way out, they are still fascinating creatures. The contradictions between their faith and what they advocate is an interesting case study. Though looking at the history of the Church the DIssentosaurus never quite goes extinct.

Hat Tip Matthew K.