The CatholiCity Message
Volume XII, Number 11 – November 25, 2008
We shall end this special Thanksgiving Message with a prayer for our fellow CatholiCity Citizens whose families are dealing with loss of employment or financial stress. Just a couple of thoughts, then a few quotes; then, the prayer.
1. WE MUST REMEMBER THIS
Thanksgiving was first celebrated by Christians who made enormous sacrifices to migrate to America primarily seeking one particular benefit: religious freedom. Religious freedom, which many modern people in the West take for granted today, was one of the great "innovations" of the United States. Hundreds of millions of Christians on our planet, particularly in Communist China, Muslim nations, and in certain African nations, do not have full religious freedom. May you never lose this precious gift!
2. THREE CATHOLIC REASONS TO BE GRATEFUL
The Eucharist. The Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Doctrine of the Existence of Hell. Hell, you ask? Just think of the moral confusion in your own life if you did not believe that a person will be held accountable into eternity for freely-chosen mortal sins for which he or she was unrepentant at the moment of death.
PONDERABLES
"Rational natures are poised between alternatives. God moves the human spirit to good; nevertheless, it could resist. It is God's doing, then, that a man prepares himself to receive grace. If he lacks grace, then the cause of the failure lies in him, not in God."
Saint Thomas Aquinas
"The lottery of honest labor, drawn by time, is the only one whose prizes are worth taking up and carrying home."
Theodore Parker
"I'll tell you what I'm grateful for: everything. Every breath, every bite, every thought, every pain, every friend, every act of love, every sublimely appropriate pleasure, every ocean sound or cornfield view, hungry or full, every stormy and sunny day, and every single thing that has every happened to me, good or bad, remembered or forgotten, in the faithfilled succor of belief, that God made me and has kept me alive to experience the certainties and mysteries of this amazing place, this awesome world, this sweet earth, seen and unseen, as a Catholic man."
Joseph S. Wood
"Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die."
G.K. Chesterton
"What is happiness without gratitude, and where is gratitude without God?"
Coventry Patmore
3. PRAYER FOR THE UNEMPLOYED
There are so many individuals and families who read this message that at any given time a significant number are out of work. In particular during these troubling economic times, in the United States and all over the world, many more have lost income since our last message, often in devastating, life-changing ways. Let us join together, for a few moments, all tens of thousands of us, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, to pray for our fellow CatholiCity Citizens in need:
"Dear Father in Heaven, and all the Saints who are known to help those in most need, especially Saint Joseph, Saint Jude, Saint Anthony, Saint Therese, and Saint Josemaria, we humbly beg you to hear our cries for help to provide work and income for those among us who need just those things, patience and loving trust in your Divine Providence for those who must wait for these things to come, and strength, creativity, inspiration, guidance, and energy for those who must search and struggle to find these things. We trust in Your desire to answer our prayers as quickly as possible; we believe in Your holy promise to provide daily bread, and we ask you to respond mercifully to so many prayers, from so many of us, for our brothers and sisters in need. Thank you. We love you. Amen."
Thank you for being a part of our work. May you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, with safe travel for all.
Yours in Christ,
Your Friends at CatholiCity
