Mystery Priest Found

Last updated on: December 29, 2014 at 10:17 pm by Mark Shea

Mystery Priest Found 2014-12-29T22:17:21-07:00 Mark Shea

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Last week, this was a fun little “Twilight Zone” story. I sorta figured the guy would turn up, but I still enjoyed the weirdness of it. What cracked me up was the jittery atheist who came to my blog, full of righteous fundamentalist purpose to make sure that everybody was as humorless as he was about this story and to police people’s responses lest they have Unseemly Thoughts about the possibility of a miracle. Suppose the priest didn’t come forward and just kept quiet in order to encourage belief in a miracle? Or suppose he comes forward? How would us Credulous Christians who so easily leap to the conclusion of Miracles cope with this body blow to our silly supernaturalism?

I tried to suggest he unclench his sphincter a bit and just enjoy the story, but he was too intensely invested in making sure that the Supernatural be kept at bay to do that. Not a lot of fun at a party, I’ll wager.

Anyway, today I’m on the phone with Jeannette DeMelo from the Register and she tells me that the priest showed up in one of the comboxes of the Register. I wonder how often he watches TV?

What I love is that the guy’s name is Fr. Dowling. How perfect is that for a Mystery priest?

Final hilarity: my atheist reader, full of Puritan moral dudgeon that is consistently haunted by the fear that someone somewhere is having a good time, demanded to know why nobody thanked the aid workers (cuz, of course, the whole story was concocted to diss aid workers). First comment Fr. Dowling made: “I thank God and the amazingly competent rescue workers.”

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