The CatholiCity Message
Volume XV, Number 6 – July 1, 2011
Dear CatholiCity Citizen,
Happy Birthday, United States of America! We love our country. In 1846, eight years before Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, our bishops formally chose the Blessed Virgin Mary, Conceived Without Sin, as the Patroness of the United States.
SECOND MOST INFLUENTIAL MAN IN HISTORY?
Even from a secular viewpoint, the most influential person in history was Jesus. Second most influential? Perhaps George Washington. Without him, there would be no United States, the most influential country in modern history. That he was a decent, humble, brave, and virtuous man is beyond debate. There are some indications that he converted to Catholicism just before his death. Washington attended Mass at the Baltimore cathedral later in life. Jesuits lived across the river from Mount Vernon, and Washington apparently met privately with a priest on the night before he died. "Everything has been taken care of," is what the priest is reported to have said when asked about his deathbed meeting with Washington.
QUOTE #1
"For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name, He writes--not that you won or lost--but how you played the Game."
Grantland Rice
FR. JOHN MCCLOSKEY'S DATING RULES
Adapted from one of his most recent articles:
1. Never be alone in a closed room or parked car with a person of the opposite sex.
2. Any actions that cause sexual arousal are forbidden, including forms of close dancing.
3. Quick kisses (mouths closed), brief hugs, and holding hands are permissible. "Do not do anything you would not do with your father or brother (if you are a woman) or with your mother or sister (if you are a man)."
4. Do not kid yourself. You are no different from anyone else.
5. Your soul and perhaps a chaste marriage and possible vocation is at stake.
6. Follow these rules and make sure your date/companion does also and the search for a spouse and courtship can be a joy. Otherwise you may become accomplices in deadly sin and treating another person as an object of pleasure.
7. Because the purpose of dating is to find a spouse, one should not date until he or she is mature enough and in a practical position to enter marriage. Therefore: in our society, that means no exclusive dating during high school.
8. Do not reside in co-ed dorms during college.
QUOTE #2
"Those who have least power in the decline of a State are priests, soldiers, the mothers of many children, the lovers of one woman, and saints."
Hilaire Belloc
TERROR OF DEMONS (FROM THE CATHOLICITY MESSAGE, 2003):
We promised last time to tell you about Saint Joseph, Terror of Demons. We were prompted to ponder this title while visiting the Oratory of Saint Joseph in Montreal, Quebec. A fresco (a carved stone tablet) there portrays Joseph holding his hand up, a family behind him, as he keeps a cowering, ugly, simpering, petrified group of demons at bay. "Why is Joseph so calm? Why are the demons terrified?" we wondered prayerfully.
Our first clue is Mary. In Genesis 3:15, Yahweh promises to put enmity (total separation) between mother of the promised messiah and the serpent. This separation is complete because of Mary's Immaculate Conception--she is not subject to original sin in any way. Joseph is her husband, her beloved groom, and their marital union and his virtue places him apart from demonic influence. It is part of Catholic tradition that Joseph, although born into original sin, led a sinless life.
But evil shrinks from Joseph for a related reason. He is pure. Joseph is pure of body. Pure of heart. Pure of intention. Pure because he battled original sin successfully. This is just our armchair theologicial speculation (as usual) but we are coming to believe that demons cannot "see" a man who is pure. All demons know is force, lies, degradation, and filth. That is their world, and they want to make our lives just as ugly. Their sin blinds them, just as sin blinds us mortals.
We are afraid not of the dark itself, but rather the dangers which the darkness does not allow us to see. Perhaps the demons cannot "see" Joseph because he is pure. Purity makes him invisible, just as pure water is perfectly clear. Evil spirits do not know when, how, or from which direction Joseph is going to hammer them. Joseph's job, when Christ was a child and up to this very day, is to protect the Holy Family, and through our baptisms, we are part of his family. So Joseph protects us. He will calmly raise his hand and keep the demons away, if you but ask him.
So let us, all 70,000 of us, together...
"Dear Saint Joseph, just as you brought Jesus and Mary to safety in Egypt, please shepherd the souls our departed relatives and friends to heaven. Just as you taught Mary's son, Jesus, please teach us as husbands, wives, sons, and daughters, during our trials in this life. Just as you provided for your family, please provide for our families. Just as you protected Mary and Jesus from evil through your courageous purity, ask the Holy Trinity to give us the grace needed to make contrite Confessions for our impure and immoral actions--and then embrace meaningful penances. Hold up your hand, Brave Joseph! Serenely stand athwart our demons, literal or figurative, as we grow to maturity in the Catholic Faith. Ask your beloved bride, Mary, to hold our souls in her motherly embrace. Amen."
COMING SOON: FREE CATHOLIC BOOKLETS
Happily delayed only a bit by the healthy birth of a daughter for one of our key workers, we are putting the final touches on our first all-new free Catholic booklet. We hope to announce the release within a month.
QUOTES #3 and #4
"The most profound truths are often simple, but people make the mistake of assuming that simple truths are easy to grasp."
Fr. John O'Connor
"Many Catholics are aware of Pope Benedict's diagnosis of the problem of the dictatorship of relativism to which many in society have surrendered their freedom, but few have noticed the remedy he has prescribed and even fewer have been following it. As we prepare for the celebration of Corpus Christi on Sunday, it's important that all of us reflect anew on this antidote for these secularist social ills: true adoration of God. Adoration, he stresses, is not a luxury but a priority, because when people cease to adore God, they begin to worship themselves through exalting pleasure, power, and material goods."
Fr. Roger Landry
RETURN TO THE ROSARY
Have you never prayed the Rosary regularly? Did you pray it in the past but have fallen out of practice? We know that Our Lady has knack for answering the prayers of those who are just beginning to pray the Rosary or returning after a long hiatus, often in powerful and miraculous ways. We cheerfully invite you to jump back in. Need help? We would love to send you a free Rosary CD:
https://secure.catholicity.com
Thank you for being a part of our work. We remain...
With Jesus,
Your Friends at CatholiCity
