The CatholiCity Message
Volume III, Number 30 – November 12, 1999
PART ONE: Special Edition on Y2K
Dear CatholiCity Citizen,
Instead of giving our opinion on the Y2K computer problem, we've asked Catholic friends to make contributions. Some are well-known to CatholiCity Citizens. All have spent many hours researching, pondering, and praying about this subject. Due to the length of the contributions, today's message, Part One, is being sent out on Friday, November 12th. Part Two will be sent on Monday, November 15th. Let's begin with a prayer and a related item...
1. THE LIGHT OF GOD
Please pray with me and our 17,000 CatholiCity Citizens. "Come Holy Spirit! Enlighten the hearts of Your faithful, and enkindle in us the fire of Your Love. Amen."
2. SPEND THE NEW YEAR WITH...
Jesus, of course. There is a wonderful grass-roots movement happening all over the world. We know from your emails that many of you are planning to spend your New Year in front of the Blessed Sacrament, or at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, or both. If your parish does not plan to have a "Midnight Mass" or Adoration, we encourage you to ask your pastor to schedule one. If you can, approach him with friends and fellow parishioners.
3. BLAST FROM THE PAST
Before we begin with our first blue-ribbon panel of Y2K contributors, we would like to summarize what the Mary Foundation and CatholiCity have done to help Catholics deal with this complex issue.
MAY 1998: RAISING AWARENESS
We began professional research in early 1998, when a longtime benefactor who owns a large computer company encouraged us to investigate something called "Why-Two-Kay" because he felt it might have an economic impact on the mission of our apostolate. By April, we had completed hundreds of hours of research, and of course, because much of what we do relies on computers, started making technical upgrades to our software. We started developing a network of experts. Keep in mind that at this stage, few people even knew what Y2K was. In early May of 1998, we advised benefactors in a newsletter to do three things: take this secular problem seriously, do research, and take prudent action according to individual circumstances. We believe that we were the first major Catholic apostolate to tell people about Y2K in any significant way. We also started raising awareness in this CatholiCity Message. We did all of this without making definitive predictions, recommending specific material preparations, or descending into "doom-saying." At the Mary Foundation, our motto has always been: Get the Facts. Decide for Yourself. With Y2K, we've lived by that motto.
JUNE 1999: SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Just five months ago, Saint Jude Media published its third novel, House of Gold. After contemplating Y2K for year, the author concluded that an evangelical tool was needed to help Christians prepare for suffering, whether the suffering was caused by Y2K, a personal problem, or other social calamity. (Please note: the phrase "Y2K" is never used in House of Gold, in the text or on the cover.) Almost 80,000 copies have been distributed so far, and based on reactions from thousands of readers, it's obvious to us this novel was on the mark as a spiritual preparation.
NOVEMBER 1999: END GAME
In summary, we've done everything we reasonably could to raise awareness, provide resources, encourage independent research, encourage prudent individual preparation, and provide a detached Catholic perspective. It's clear to us that at this late date, most of you have made up your minds about Y2K, one way or another (even if that means you have concluded that you can't figure it out). It's too late for all but a handful to make any kind of large-scale material preparations. It's the "end game." The final stretch. It's time to take stock. It's time to draw spiritual lessons, although some of our contributors will make recommendations. Let's begin with Marcus Grodi, who needs no introduction for CatholiCity Citizens...
MARCUS GRODI ON Y2K
What do I think is going to happen? You got me hanging. Here I am the co-author of a book on Y2K (Millennium Insurance) and the host of a one and a half hour Y2K Special on EWTN; I read at least a dozen emails every day from good-hearted and God-fearing Y2K geeks, and with about eight weeks to go, I don't feel any closer to knowing what is actually going to happen next year than I did two years ago when I first became concerned about the problem. There are just too many mixed messages from informed sources and too many interconnected permutations. No one can say with any sense of certainty that nothing will happen or that this will all lead to a devastating upheaval in our culture or world. With all the potential cause-and-effects out there, I still hold that every scenario (except the mere speed-bump hype) is possible. It could be the worst of times; it could be the best.
Even when I try to stick my neck out for some kind of prophetic guess, I am mentally hobbled by a host of combating scenarios...recession, technological "saviors," foreign economies collapsing, increased governmental and banking restrictions, high prices, shortage of goods, hype upon hype, lots of people saying "I told you so" (both that it would be bad or that it would be no big deal), and few people admitting mistakes or the purveying of misinformation.
As I was considering how I would address this issue, I was in the middle of morning devotions, and just "happened" to read the following in "Friends of God" by Josemaria Escriva:
"Don't be frightened; don't fear any harm, even though the circumstances in which you work are terrible, worse even than those of Daniel in the pit with all those ferocious beasts. God's hand is as powerful as ever and, if necessary, he will work miracles. Be faithful! With a loving, responsible, and cheerful faithfulness to the teaching of Christ. Be convinced that our times are no worse than those of other centuries, and that our Lord is always the same....Let me remind you that if you are sincere, if you show yourselves as you really are, if you acquire that "true godliness" by being humble and not proud, then you and I will be safe in any environment." (page 152-153)
Amen! Blessed Josemaria.
How should we prepare? Certainly not out of fear. To buy, hoard and hole up out of fear is not a fruit of the Spirit, but a sign that we truly do not understand that God is truly in control, no matter how bad things might get. Our family has certainly made preparations, but in our specific case only a few things in an accelerated mode, different than we might be doing otherwise. You see, we live on a small developing farm with the intent of living more simply. Marilyn and I discovered that we were both interested in "returning to the land" when she inherited ten acres from her grandfather. Y2K merely speeded up some of our plans, because we wondered whether we would have a problem getting the livestock and farm implements we needed if supplies became limited. Yesterday I used a hand-turned broadcast seeder to plant an acre of winter wheat. I then wrestled with three of our nine sheep to give them penicillin to fight against hoof rot, and shoved chicken poop out of our hen's posh condominium onto the compost pile. All while I am also finishing up a novel I hope to have published early next year, while I administrate the work of the Coming Home Network, with twenty-year admittedly ambitious goals of bringing back all of our separated brethren before the 500th anniversary of Luther's posting of his Ninety-Five Thesis in 2017!
I think the oft-repeated preparation advice, as enumerated by the Red Cross–three days of everything–is a minimum. Given the many things that can disrupt our lives, apart from Y2K, I believe Catholics should look at how to simplify their lives for the long haul–how to become increasingly detached from their dependence on technology. Technology is certainly not "evil," but I think our love of it and dependence upon it is. I enjoy using my computer, watching EWTN or an occasional Seinfeld, flying on jets, hosting a television program, and driving my car to Dairy Queen, but if for some reason I have to give up all of these things, my family and I will survive, and I hope we can do so with joy.
In JMJ4Y2K, Marcus Grodi
PAUL THIGPEN ON Y2K
After 18 months of watching Y2K developments closely, here are my current conclusions. What will happen?
At the very least, expect a major economic recession or even depression, since much of the world, especially the oil-producing nations, will have serious problems. The global economy is like a sensitive, complex machine; the Y2K bug will be like a bucket of sand poured into its inner workings. Foul-ups in the extremely vulnerable oil industry alone will be enough to cause major trouble.
The worst potential scenario is still the failure of the power grid, which of course would be catastrophic. Government and industry assurances notwithstanding, we have no reliable guarantees that such an event is impossible. Even if the power grid as a whole stays up, we still face the possibility that the cumulative, mutually-intensifying effects of countless problems across the board could lead eventually (over a period of months) to economic, social and political chaos. This would result in shortages of clean water, food, gas, heating oil, medicines and other essentials; extensive bankruptcies; widespread unemployment; disruptions in commercial supply and distribution lines; nuclear or chemical accidents; a stock market crash; collapse of the banking system; scattered and chronic local failures of utilities; civil disorder; skyrocketing crime; and, in response to the last two, oppressive martial law–if the government itself holds together. The happy-face accounts of Y2K "readiness" (rather than compliance) in the mainstream media, which seem to rule out such dire possibilities, are largely self-reported, unverified, and therefore unreliable. In fact, a number of these glowing reports have already been proven at best premature and at worst outright lies. Meanwhile, the federal and state governments are quietly making their own preparations for these possibilities, even as they insist publicly that individual citizens need not worry.
Aside from the direct results of computer failures, we must also be aware that according to federal intelligence agencies, the enemies of our nation and society–both domestic and international–recognize that the date rollover would offer an unprecedented opportunity for acts of terrorism or military attack. Cyber-attacks on our infrastructure, biochemical, and even nuclear attacks on cities and military installations, are all within the realm of possibility.
Finally, keep in mind that the current administration in the White House has demonstrated repeatedly that it cannot be trusted to restrain itself in the use of power. I fear that any widespread disruptions would provide an excuse for political misbehavior under the guise of martial law or enactment of presidential executive orders intended for emergencies.
How to prepare? At the very least, every family should immediately store up enough food, water, fuel, medicines, and cash to last a month–even in a moderate scenario, chronic shortages of these essential items, combined with rolling utility failures, could plague us off and on for the entire year, and a household's breadwinners could be laid off as well. (Do this now–panic buying could erupt toward the end of the year.) I wouldn't trust the stock market or the bank with my resources. If possible, those who live in an urban setting should have some rural retreat, perhaps the home of a friend, in case life in the city should become dangerous.
Spiritual preparations are even more important: Stay close to Jesus and Mary; brace yourself for the possibility of real hardship; prepare to help your neighbors; and expect that your faith in Our Lord will be challenged and stretched as it has never been before. God is in control–but He has not guaranteed that He will preserve our current comfortable way of life. It may even be in our best spiritual interests for Him to take it from us.
(Dr. Paul Thigpen is a fellow in theology at The College of Saint Thomas More in Faint Worth, TX, and the author or editor of more than 20 books.)
END OF PART ONE: CATHOLICITY SPECIAL EDITION ON Y2K
On Monday we'll send out Part Two of this Special Report, with contributions from Matt Pinto, David Palm, Chris Ryland, Bud Macfarlane, and maybe a few Surprise Contributors. Have a great weekend!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"The devil invented gambling."
Saint Augustine, City of God
Yours in Christ,
Your Friends at CatholiCity
