Blogging About John Paul 2 High

The Hunger Games - what a world without Jesus would be like (hint: it's not good)

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 15:50:00 +0000

Well, I recently finished reading the Hunger Games books by Susan Collins, and I have some thoughts.
Not thoughts on the characters or the plot, necessarily - although I could go that route, far better writers than me have already done so. No, my thoughts are more on the moral vision of the Hunger Games universe. Is it Christian, or anti-Christian?
I think the answer is: neither. It's pre-Christian. In other words, it's pagan.
To be clear: I'm using the word "pagan" quite literally; in the sense that Socrates or Buddha were pagan. This isn't necessarily a bad thing in itself. I read and enjoyed all three books (at least the first two. MockingJay was pretty awful). But when I was reading them, I kept searching for any trace of Christian morality and found none. Again, this doesn't mean the books are bad. Reading them only made me appreciate Christianity - or, more importantly, Christ- all the more.
In the Hunger Games universe, which purports to take place in some post-apocalyptic future, it's clear that Christianity hasn't died out; Christianity never existed. The Hunger Games universe is a Godless, unbaptized universe; and this is part of the reason why it's such a melancholy one.
For example: the principal plot of the books, as anyone who knows anything about them already knows, is a gladiator combat between kids for entertainment - a form of human sacrifice, if you will.
This particular sin is a uniquely pagan one. The ancient Romans did it.

Pictured: the ORIGINAL hunger games.

But it hasn't been seen since. Any civilization that has been influenced by Christianity simply wouldn't - couldn't - do it.
I'm not claiming that Christian civilizations haven't sinned - they have. And post-Christian civilizations - like Nazi Germany and Communist Russia - have sinned even more spectacularly. But no one since Christ has thought of murdering human beings for entertainment. Why?
It's because Judaism and Christianity view human life as sacred, since human beings are created in the image and likeness of God. (Genesis 1:27). This truth has permeated all of Christian civilization, and still remains even in post-Christian civilization. Think about it: before the Nazis killed the Jews, they tried to dehumanize them - to tell themselves a lie, to claim that Jews "aren't really human". Even the Nazi's couldn't face the idea of murdering other human beings. The same is true for all the great murders that take place - people always deny the humanity of the ones they're killing.

This problem didn't occur to the ancient Romans. The Romans never claimed that Gladiators weren't humans; they just didn't care. And the people of the Capitol never pretend that the Tributes aren't human. They just don't care. They have no problem killing other humans for their own entertainment - because for them, human life isn't sacred. Human beings aren't created in the image of God. Therefore we can have them kill each other for a laugh.
What does this mean? Does it mean Christians shouldn't read the Hunger Games? NO. At least not for this reason. If we're forbidden from reading non-Christian literature, that would rule out a lot of good stuff, like the Iliad, Odyssey for example.
In fact, I think we Christians can learn a lot from the Hunger Games; and we can use them to teach others how great Christianity is. If you ever talk to somebody who says "the world would be better without all these stupid religions and religious people," just ask them if they've ever read the Hunger Games. 'Cause that's what the world would be like without Jesus. That's what it was like.

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? No? Good. Cause, you know, the guy whose head I just chopped off was made in God's image, so we really shouldn't be clapping about it...

So, if you read the Hunger Games, don't forget to thank God for saving us from such a world. The Hunger Games shows what a universe without God is like. If God had not sent His only Son to redeem us from our sins, reveal our own sacred origins to us, and die to pay for our sins... well, we might still be living in Panem.

"Trust me: you don't want to live in Panem."

Regina talks about JP2HS on the Radio!

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:22:00 +0000

Last week Regina Doman was a guest on the Totus Tuus Catholic Hour radio show, and she talked a lot about the JP2 High books. This is really good stuff, plus she mentions ME :)
You can listen to it by clicking here.
The interview with Regina starts about 25 minutes in, so if you're the impatient type, you can download the MP3 file here. and then skip forward to 25:11

JP2 High comes to the Nook!

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:02:00 +0000

Howdy all ye Nookers out there! All the JP2 High books are now available on the Nook! Check it out! (P.S. all Regina's books are there too!)

Goal: to get Book 5 out by Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:56:00 +0000

Well after the meeting this weekend, the whole team is hard at work. Can't say too much, but suffice to say that some of us are working on book 5, and some are working on book 6. Our goal is to have Book 5 out by Christmas.
Oh, and also...you ain't seen nothing yet.

Google Plus Page!

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:34:00 +0000

Hey guys! John Paul 2 High now has a google plus page! Check it out!

Nice Review of UP on Amazon

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:45:00 +0000

Thanks to Olivia for a great review of Book 4. Check it out here, but be warned, there are some spoilers! Don't read unless you've already read book 4! And if you have...maybe write your own Amazon review? :)

A fan recommends us!

noreply@blogger.com (Christian M. Frank) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:41:00 +0000

Thanks to Alyianna of Alyianna's Reviews for her great review of CR! Check it out!

Nice review of CR

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 20:57:00 +0000

Check it out: http://www.randombuzzers.com/books/reviews/view/9172/
This is a great, intelligent review.

Win a copy of Book IV (CONTEST CLOSED!)

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:03:00 +0000

Greetings readers, here's a few updates.
First off, for those of you wondering about Book 5, the first draft is almost done. Don't get excited yet, it's still a long way from publication, but it IS in the works. More info will come later.
Secondly, have you heard of shelfari? It's this thing owned by Amazon.com, sort of a wikipedia for books.
Anyway, I'm writing up a pages for Book I, II, III and IV. Check them out - it's pretty interesting. And, because this is like wikipedia, anybody can edit the page, so feel free to edit if you like!

Lastly, I must make an appeal to those of you who have read, and love, Books 3 and 4 -- please go to Amazon.com and give them high ratings! Book 3 is here and Book 4 is here. Show dem some love! Book 4 has no reviews yet - I will send a signed copy of Book IV to the first three people who write them!

So here are the rules: Just write a review of any of the books, and I will look it over. If it's good - a good appraisal of the book - I will send you a signed copy of Book IV. But I only have three copies to give out, so first come, first serve! NOTE: I'm not looking for just five star reviews, just honesty!
Just write a review and then email me at christian.m.frank@gmail dot com. Happy Easter!

UPDATE: The contest is closed now! Thanks to the three fans who wrote reviews! Don't worry, there will be more contests in the future!

Amazon Author Page

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:22:00 +0000

Just finished sprucing up Christian Frank's Author Page on Amazon.com. Check it out:

http://amazon.com/author/christianfrank

Facebook it up!

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:49:00 +0000

www.facebook.com/johnpaul2high

Hey, have you checked out the JP2 High Facebook page yet? If not, go and check it out, and 'like' it if you...er...like. Lots of good stuff there - the latest news, photos, quizzes...and there will be more to come, like contests...and prizes! Have fun!

Book IV: Undercover Papist

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:33:00 +0000

Happy St. Joseph day! To celebrate Joseph the worker, I'm happy to announce that we've finally finished working on, and have now published, JP2HS Book IV!!!

Ta-da!!

And it's good. Oooh, it's very good. In all seriousness, I'm more excited about this book than any other.

For those of you who don't know this already, Books 3 and 4 of the series were originally one big book (full explanation here) and so Book 3 kind of ended on a big cliffhanger. So you'll want to read it just for that. But there's more. This book also solves one of the great puzzles in the series...and gives more information on an even greater one. Some mysteries are solved....and some mysteries get even deeper.

I'll say no more. You'll have to read the book to find out!

Happy C&M Day (again)

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:47:00 +0000

Just wanted to re-post this:
http://johnpaul2high.blogspot.com/2011/02/happy-c-day.html

You know, I was intending to do a lot more of these, but life got in the way.

Did I mention Book IV is coming out very soon?

Now taking pre-orders from Book 3!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 19:16:00 +0000

The day is close at hand! I've just received this email from Chesterton Press:

Toward the end of September, Chesterton Press, publisher of Regina Doman's Fairy Tale Novels, obtained the rights to publish the John Paul 2 High series. We are working like crazy to put new covers on the books and release Book 2: Summer of My Dissent by November 1.
All three books are available for PRE-ORDER at http://www.fairytalenovels.com/RetailOrders.cfm#JP2H
We plan to release Book 4 by Easter 2012.

So there you have it! Told ya Book III would be out soon! Pre-order now!

We're baaack! With now covers and lots of other cool stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:45:00 +0000

Man! It's been a long time since we posted anything here, hasn't it? As usual, we have a good excuse, but as usual, we should have just ditched the excuse and posted more, right? Right. Moving on.

Okay, here's what's going on: Book 3 has a title now: "Summer of My Dissent". And it has a cover:

If you're wondering why this book cover looks so different than the previous two book covers...well....the first two books are getting new covers as well!

And that's not all - we're working on getting E-Book versions of all three books as well - that means you'll be able to get the books on your iPhone or Kindle or whatnot; purchasing right from the iBookstore or Amazon (or whatnot).

So...when is all this cool stuff going to happen?

We're working on it. Night and day. Trust me. We're working really hard to get all three books out to you for Christmas. Book I is already done, and the other two are close behind.

Keep praying for us!

Big News about Book 3!

noreply@blogger.com (Christian M. Frank) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 19:39:00 +0000

Help with our book trailer!

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Wed, 25 May 2011 12:43:00 +0000

Book 3 rewrite is done (phew)!

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Wed, 18 May 2011 13:28:00 +0000

Hey guys,

Sorry about the long dearth of posts. I had a good reason for it though (I ALWAYS have good reasons, don't I?) -- I was undertaking a massive rewrite of Book 3. Which is now...phew...complete.

So what happens next? Well, first the editor of the John Paul 2 High team, Regina Doman, will be reviewing the book and doing a final edit. Then she will submit it to the guys at Sophia Institute Press for final approval. Hopefully, I got it done just in time for a summer release.

I will post more once we have any news on a release date (not to mention a title, a sample first chapter, etc....)

Some Tidbits to hold y'all over: Meet Athan Courchraine

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 21:32:00 +0000

I know what you're all thinking: "You said Book 3 was done! So where is it? What's it gonna be called? What's it about? Can we get the first chapter? Or some more feast day stuff? Or SOMETHING?"

Well...it is done. But we're still working on it! I know you're probably tired of hearing that. Heck, I'm tired of saying it. But it's true. Just be patient a little while longer...darn, I'm tired of saying that too. Oh what the heck, I'll throw you some more stuff your way. You ready?

You're gonna see a lot of new stuff in Book III; more characters, more adventures, more lessons learned. Some mysteries will be solved. Maybe. But new mysteries will arise.
Book III will be from the viewpoints of Allie Weaver and Brian Burke, and you'll learn a lot more about these two. A lot more. Plus, like I said, you'll meet a lot of new brand new characters. Let's just say that the student body of John Paul 2 High is going to get a bit...larger.

So when I can spare time from rewrites, spell checks and editor's meetings, I will attempt to introduce some of the new characters you'll meet. Today we'll focus on a young freshman called Athanasius Courchraine -- or Athan for short.

Athan looks like this:

But this is what he looks like in his own head:

Athan is an artist. He's Byzantine Catholic. Plus he likes football. And bazookas.

One thing he doesn't like is St. Francis. We don't agree with him, of course. Apparently he thinks St. Francis is too wimpy. He'd like him better if he looked like this:

The views of Athan do not reflect the views of the JP2 High team, Sophia Institute Press, or anyone else besides the dancing monkeys inside his own head.

Athan's best friend is Joey Simonelli:

And who is Joey? Why, he's the younger brother of Liz Simonelli, whom you've already met. Oh, by the way...you'll learn some more about her too. You've been warned :)

Learn more about Athan, Joey and a multitude of other things in JP2 High Book III! Coming soon! And not in the biblical sense!

CREDITS: Drawings by Christian Frank 2.5 (Ryan Corrigan). See more of his stuff here. Photos by Craig Spiering (see his work here). Inane scribbling by me; see more inane scribbling here.

Happy Chair Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 14:55:00 +0000

Hello.

My name is Daryl.

And I am the Chair of St. Peter.

I am here because today, February 22nd, is an ancient and mighty feast day in honor of...me.

Myself.

I, the Chair of St. Peter.

Now I shall recite an epic poem that tells of the heroic deeds of...me.

Ahem.

Oh Great! Oh Glorious Daryl!

So old! So gold! So sterile!

I've endured greatest perils!

Made more jokes than Will Farrell!

Did you know that I write Christmas Carols?

Hold it!

Ah. Larry. I was expecting you.

Really? How?

The Chair knoweth all.

Balderdash! I come by every year! Look, Daryl, I've had enough! I, the Hat of St. Peter, protest!

(Heavy sigh...) Very well. What is the nature of your protest?

I protest the idea of giving a feast day to a moldy, pompous old stool!

What? (Splutter) I'll have you know that I'm a throne, not a-

A stool, I say! A stool with delusions of grandeur!

I shall endure your impudence with patient silence. The chair shall prevail, despite the ravings of one lone article of clothing-

I, the shorts of St. Peter, protest!

And we, the shoes of St. Peter, protest!

...Kevin? Phyllis? Argus? How could you?

I, the shirt of St. Peter, protest!

Oh, Bob. Not you too.

Sorry man. But Larry has a point.

I see. Anyone else?

I, the spatula of St.-

Save it. There's no way I'm going to be lectured by a kitchen utensil. I've been around longer than any of you, and-

Not longer than us! We remember when you were like us, Daryl...just a simple, humble fisherman's stool, willing to serve the master and be content.

And then you started calling yourself a throne...

And writing epic poems about yourself...

You are certainly not sterile!

Okay, fine. Maybe the poems were a bit much. But I am a throne. The master said so.

No! You're no greater than the rest of us!

Hold on. We hear someone coming!

(door opening)

The master!

..so Cunningham's in his own endzone, and then he lobs it 63 yards-

No way! I don't believe it!

EEEEEK!!!!

It's true! Happened in 1990 against the Bills...hey, wait a sec. What is my spatula doing in here...and why is it screaming?

...Um...actually, all of your things are screaming.

HIM! The German!

Run away! Run away!

Um...Hey guys. What's going on?

Master! How could you be associating with HIM!?!

After all the things he said about you!

Um...well, actaully, to be fair, I said those regrettable things about his successors. The men who sit in that chair over there.

Leave me out of this! I got enough on my plate today!

But I was wrong. I didn't understand-

Silence, heretic! Master, shall I smite him for you?

Heh heh. No, that's okay Janet. Why don't you tell us what's going on?

(5 minutes later...)

Okay...I think I understand. Time for a teaching moment.

Actually, Pete, I'd like to take this, It's the least I can do.

I agree, brother. Go ahead.

All right guys. So you're all angry about Daryl here being arrogant, and pushy, and pompous...right?

That's right, heretic. And especially that he calls himself a throne.

But he is a throne. Sorry, but he's right about that.

What? Master...is this true?

Yep. Every word.

Ha! Told you! Who's da man? DARYLL's the man; I mean, the THRONE! Woot! Woot!

Ah, Daryll. I was just getting to you. You DO know that this feast, Feb. 22, the Chair of St. Peter, isn't actually about you, right?

I...whaat??

Ha ha! Nice job, heretic!

That's right, Daryl. It's really about Jesus. Jesus started it all. He put me on that throne when he told me, "You are Rock, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it." And ever since then, my successors have sat on that throne, and Hell hasn't overcome the Church. Not for lack of trying. And that's what this feast is really about.

Ha ha! You see, Daryll! You're just a piece of furniture after all, you pompous, motheaten...

Hang on there, Larry. You got to show Daryll a little respect. Don't do what I did.

Oh yeah? And what did you do, heretic?

Glad you asked. Well, I had to deal with some pretty pompous popes back in my day. Worse than pompous, actually. Corrupt.

Sigh... that's right.

And that's what started me off on the wrong road. I was so angry at the corruption and the lack of focus on Jesus that I went too far. I didn't stop with condemning the corruption; I condemned the papacy itself...and then the Mass...and that lead me more and more into error. I grew more anti-semitic, for example; a horrible sin. And I incited violence and wars. In the end, my actions led to a permanent split in the Church, a century or more of wars all over Europe, religious persecutions on both sides, and suffering and violence...all because I didn't respect the Chair of St. Peter.

So what are you doing up here, heretic? Why aren't you down in the other place?

Because he loved Jesus, of course! As did his followers...and all of the separated brethren! So stop calling him heretic!

Well...let's be honest, Pete. I was a heretic.

Well...that's all in the past. And your followers are not. We're all part of the Body of Christ. And we need to work together; now more than ever.

Amen to that, brother. So all of you need to get along. Daryll, stop being such a jerk. And the rest of you...no matter how big of a jerk he is, respect his office. Okay?

Sigh....okay.

...can I still make poems about myself?

Not unless you want to get smitten.

Happy Chair of St. Peter Day!

(Editor's note: Sorry this was so late. I was sick. That's why).

Happy C&M day!

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:48:00 +0000

Hi there! I'm Methodius!

Um...and I'm his brother Cyril.

And today is-

Also known as Cyril the lesser.

Um...what? I never heard of that title...

Oh, yeah. They call me that all the time. Also "Cyril the Shorter," or "Cyril the Sicklier", or "Cyril the one who died first-"

Speaking of which, today, February 14, is the date of my brother Cyril's death, and thus, our feast day!

It should have been your death day. You're more important.

Um...well...the Church thinks we're both important. You see, my brother and I lived in the 9th century. Back then, most of Eastern Europe was still barbarian; they didn't even have a written language! So that's why me and Cyril invented...Cyril? Where you going?

Just need to visit the little monks room.

What? We're dead! We don't have bodies! And why are you acting like this? Making up nasty titles for yourself, pulling your hood over your face, trying to sneak off-

Argh! Because of what you're about to mention!

What? The Cyrillic Alphabet?

Exactly! Cyrillic! CYRIL! I'm tired of being in the spotlight! It's not fair to you!

Dude! I don't care!

Well I do! Why is it always "Cyril and Methodius?" Why did they name the alphabet after me? Why did-

Cyril!

........

Calm down. They probably named it after you because you got a cooler name. But if it really bothers you, I'll do most of the talking. But you got to stop acting weird. Okay?

Okay. Sorry.

Anyway, you're freaking out for no reason. I bet that most people reading this don't know what the Cyrillic alphabet is.

What? That's terrible! I mean...not that I care for my sake.

I know you don't brother. Listen up kids. You ever see something written in Russian, or in Polish? Like this:

Or this:

Ever wonder where those weird letters came from? Well, you can thank Cyril and me. Here's what happened: Cyril and I were asked by the Pope to go and preach the Gospel to the Slavs - the people in Eastern Europe. The Slavs were not only pagan - they were poor and downtrodden - in fact, the word "slav" comes from the german word for "slave" - because other people enslaved them so much. The Slavs didn't even have a written language, which was kind of important for our mission, since preaching the Gospel means reading the Gospel, and the rest of the Bible.

That's right! That's the only method we knew.

Er...yes. So Cyril and I decided to sit down and make an alphabet that the Slavs could use. And this is what we came up with:

And here's the crazy part: our little alphabet is still used today in all of Russia, and Poland, and Slovakia...

...and Bulgaria and Croatia and Macedonia...

Yep. So a pretty big deal. So Cyril, you want to tell the kids how we invented the Cyr- Um..I mean, our alphabet?

Hmm. Well, it wasn't easy. We had to be very careful. Very methodical.

Er...yes.

Sometimes we even had to use math.

....well, not really...

And even though it was hard, we just trusted in God and kept plugging along. We didn't resort to any chemical stimulants. Like Caffeine, or coke, or Chrystal Meth.

What's Chrystal Meth?

I'll tell you later. Also, we often eased the tension by cracking jokes. Sometimes Methane-related.

What?

Because let me tell you, it's a good thing Methodius here doesn't have a body anymore, 'cause he would rip some mighty-

Well, that's all the time we have for today! Praise God in all things, and wish your Polish and Russian friends a happy Cyril and Methodius day!

A happy Methodius and Cyril day!

Whatever. See ya!

(Click here to learn more about Cyril and Methodius!)

Happy St. Scholastica day!

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 21:52:00 +0000

Today is the feast of St. Scholastica, and I think we should celebrate it, for three reasons:

She's got the coolest name ever. I mean, you know she was smart if that's what her mom and dad named her.

We don't know much about her, aside from her famous twin brother. She needs a little more love.

Because of this story:

Her brother was accustomed to visit her every year, for "she could not be sated or wearied with the words of grace which flowed from his lips." On his last visit, after a day passed in spiritual converse, the Saint, knowing that her end was near, said, "My brother, leave me not, I pray you, this night, but discourse with me till dawn on the bliss of those who see God in heaven." St. Benedict would not break his rule at the bidding of natural affection; and then the Saint bowed her head on her hands and prayed; and there arose a storm so violent that St. Benedict could not return to his monastery, and they passed the night in heavenly conversation.

I just think it's kind of cool. And I wonder how it played out…

St. Brother, I am at the brink of death. Will you keep me company?

Sorry. Gonna be late for Vespers.

Vespers!?! I'm gonna be singing Vespers in heaven, for Pete's sake! Speaking of Pete, I'm going to tell him you said that when I meet him. Later tonight.

Um…well, see, St. Sis, I wrote this rule. And…the rule says I got to be back for Vespers.

To heaven with the rule! I'm dying here, Benny!

But Schola, they named it after me! The Benedictine Rule! I mean, St. Benedict can't break the Benedictine rule! It would cause some kinda rift in the space-time continuum!

….........

Fine. Have fun at Vespers.

Thanks! See ya! (leaves with cheery wave)

(Folds hands, starts praying.)

BOOM!

Aaaah!! Rift! Rift!

Happy Scholastica day!

More website updates: Memes!

noreply@blogger.com (Christian M. Frank) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 21:04:00 +0000

Even more updates to the character webpages! Now each of the students has a little quote about them from the books. More intriguing, though, is this: each character has a meme! Check them out here. These memes were originally written by our very own Ryan Corrigan, the co-author of Book 2, and posted on this very blog last year - so this isn't exactly a new update, but it makes it much easier to find them.

For more of Ryan's...unique...brand of humor, check out here...or here...or especially here.

New Character Pics! Check them out!

noreply@blogger.com (Christian M. Frank) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:56:00 +0000

Hey guys, since we're done book 3 we have time to give the website a much-overdue makeover! Lots of new stuff will be added.. but for now, check out the character pages! There's several new pics of each of the students at JP2High, along with some...interesting...commentary by the students themselves! My personal favorite is James.

You can see all the rest here.
Stay tuned for more!

So the Book is done...

noreply@blogger.com (Normie) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 22:06:00 +0000

...so what now? Well, lots. First of all, this book is awesome. That's what everyone who has read it tells me. However, there's still a lot of post-production work to be done. Editing...cutting...thinking of a cool title (NOT "Protestant for the Summer") and promotion and such. So it looks like y'all have to wait just a little bit longer for the final product. All of this delay is just standard for publishing, by the way. But rest assured that all of us on the team are working as quick as we can to get the book out to you.

Location:Alan Wood Rd,Plymouth,United States