The CatholiCity Message
Volume XV, Number 11 – December 1, 2011
Dear CatholiCity Citizen,
We extend a warm welcome and advice for our newest readers: keep skimming until you find something interesting. But please, do not skip the prayer at the end, because praying with tens of thousands of people cyberspacially is, well, truly unique, worthy of your effort, and a source of powerful grace in the Mystical Body of Christ we form.
OUR FAVORITE CHANGE
We are enjoying learning the new wording at Mass. Makes us feel like first-graders, in a good way. Here is our favorite change:
"Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me."
We invite you to ponder the difference between "for all" and "for many," which is what the rest of the Catholic world has been hearing at the consecration, well, since the first Christian priests celebrated the first Masses. At the link below at the USCCB website, you can click on the "Sample Texts" link (third from left on the top horizontal menu) and scroll down to "Order of the Mass, Annotated" for a PDF of a brief but thorough walk-through of the entire new
translation.
http://old.usccb.org/romanmissal/samples-priest-intro.shtml
HOW TO SAVE HUNDREDS ON BLACK FRIDAY
We saved a lot of money on Black Friday...by not buying anything at all. We did not do this to save money, per se, but because we are male, are traditional, and therefore have put off shopping until the last minute. We understand that if you are on an extremely tight budget, taking advantage of the many discounts to purchase Christmas gifts that would otherwise cost much more can be quite prudent.
CHRISTIANITY AND SCIENCE
From the article in First Things magazine, October 2011, "Modern Science's Christian Sources," by James Hannam, which factually and historically debunks the popular (and fundamentally atheist) myth that Christianity caused the "dark ages" after the fall of the Roman Empire because it supposedly suppressed scientific inquiry:
"Given the advantages Christianity provided, is it hardly surprising that modern science developed only in the West, within a Christian civilization. Although other religious traditions could have provided similarly fertile metaphysical grounds for the study of nature, none actually did so. Christianity was a crucial cause of a unique development of Western science, the only science that has consistently produced true theories of nature."
ARE THESE TRUE?
Coca-Cola was originally green.
Only animal besides humans that gets sunburn: pig.
Polar bears are left-handed.
A hummingbird weighs less than a penny.
You blink 84,000,000 times a year.
You are born with 300 bones, but as an adult, you have only 206.
Ants sleep.
FEAST DAYS IN DECEMBER
We have the greatest evangelizer ever, Saint Francis Xavier, on December 3, and of course, our favorite, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, on December 8.
December 12, Our Lady of Guadalupe (this year's featured fridge magnet, lapel pin, and art-house print for our Annual Christmas Appeal, coming up in less than two weeks).
Saint Lucy, early virgin and martyr, on December 13. There are female names that refer to "light" attributes of God, and Lucy or Lucille, regarding His lucidity, is one. Others include Clare for clarity, Grace for grace, and Ellen/Helen for illumination. Naming your daughter any of these names is tantamount to naming her after the Holy Trinity.
Saint John of the Cross, one of the great mystics and writers on prayer, on December 14. And boom, right after Christmas, in order, first martyr Saint Stephen, Saint John the Apostle (how would you like to be known throughout history as Jesus' best friend?), Holy Innocents, Saint Thomas Beckett, and the Feast of the Holy Family, on December 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30, respectively.
AT THE FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND'S FATHER
My close friend's elderly father died last month, and I attended the funeral in Maryland. As pallbearer, I learned that coffins are traditionally carried into the church feet first and are then carried out feet first. Thus, when the funeral Mass ends, this requires a physical turning of the coffin so the body of the deceased literally makes a sign of the cross before leaving for burial.
My friend converted to Catholicism while at law school years ago, and his brilliant father followed his son into the Church just a few days before he passed away. I have never attended a more joyful funeral, which reflected the personality of John Sonne himself, who spent much his free time seeking good clean fun. Dr. Sonne, a renowned psychologist, was well-known for his ground-breaking work regarding the negative effects of abortion on society as a whole, provided a devastating critique and insight into the literally worldwide Culture of Death, in particular in his 1997 paper, "Social Regression and the Global Prevalence of Abortion." Here is a summary of the quite technical scientific and psychological work:
"This paper advances the thesis that the high but little commented on global prevalence of abortion which amounts to 25% of the unborn being aborted world-wide, is mobilizing an almost universally denied and repressed dread of being aborted which is present to varying degrees in the unconscious of most humans, and that this dread and the defenses against facing it are transferentially acted out in the form of quiet or conspicuous individual and social regression. Evidence for social denial of this dread is seen in the under-reporting of the prevalence of abortion, in contrast to the strong focus on the prevalence of other forms of social regression. Although statistics are presented in this paper on the prevalence of both social regression and abortion, the import of both of these phenomena is best understood if they are looked at dynamically as intensive properties of society rather than as extensive properties measured in terms of numeric body count. The too many people in the world argument for abortion is examined in terms of abortion dynamics, and the relation of abortion to trust in human relations is emphasized."
The entire paper can be ordered online at
http://www.refdoc.fr/Detailnotice?cpsidt=3054986&traduire=en
CORNUCOPIA OF CATHOLIC COMMENTATORS
Check out the sheer number of writers who have articles archived at our website. Seriously, you will be stunned:
http://www.catholicity.com/commentary/authors.html
A GIFT
Regardless of politics, we take Newt Gingrich's conversion to Catholicism at face value. Last night during an extended interview on Fox News, he spoke beautifully and with refreshing unabashedness about "the power of the Eucharist" and how he found peace and forgiveness through Catholicism.
YOU'VE READ THE BOOKLET, NOW WATCH THE...
...dozens of short videos by the ever prolific Fr. John McCloskey, author of our new free booklet, "Seven Daily Habits for Faithful Catholics," here:
http://www.catholicity.com/mccloskey/videos.html
QUOTES, QUOTES, AND MORE QUOTES
"But now the necessity of [a bad] habit is sweet to me, and against this sweetness must I fight, lest I be enthralled by it. Thus I carry on a daily war by fasting, constantly bringing my body into subjection."
Saint Augustine
"The old may be out-run, but not out-reasoned."
Chaucer
"Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be consoled."
Jesus
"Agnosticism leads inevitably to moral indifference. It denies us all power to esteem or to understand moral values, because it severs our spiritual contact with God who alone is the source of all morality and who alone can punish the violation of moral laws with a sanction worthy of our attention."
Thomas Merton
"Nature has some perfections, to show that she is the image of God; and some defects, to show that she is only His image."
Blase Pascal
"Many refuse to consider Christianity because they prefer to take sexual pleasure, with others or not, whenever they want, or, whenever they can, without the responsibilities or the sublime pleasures and rewards, on earth and in heaven, attached thereto."
Joseph Wood
"Most Americans are born drunk. They have a sort of permanent intoxication from within, a sort of invisible champagne. Americans do not need to drink to inspire them to do anything."
G.K. Chesterton
"There are three distinct comings of the Lord of which I know: His coming to men, His coming into men, and His coming against men."
Saint Bernard, Third Sermon on Advent
"As a white candle in a holy place, so is the beauty of an aged face."
Joseph Campbell
TENS OF THOUSANDS PRAYING TOGETHER
Composed eight hundred years ago by Saint Thomas Aquinas, what follows is one of the most popular prayers ever for after receiving Communion, and is worth memorizing. Except for those of us waiting to convert to Catholicism, we have all received the Eucharist recently, and in that spirit, let us begin, tens of thousands of us together, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...
"Lord, Father all-powerful and ever-living God, I thank you, for even though I am a sinner, your unprofitable servant, not because of my worth but in the kindness of your mercy, you have fed me with the precious Body and Blood of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that this Holy Communion may not bring me condemnation and punishment but forgiveness and salvation. May it be a helmet of faith and a shield of good will. May it purify me from evil ways and put an end to my evil passions. May it bring me charity and patience, humility and obedience, and growth in the power to do good. May it be my strong defense against all my enemies, visible and invisible, and the perfect calming of all my evil impulses, bodily and spiritual. May it unite me more closely to you, the one true God, and lead me safely through death to everlasting happiness with you. And I pray that you will lead me, a sinner, to the banquet where you, with your Son and Holy Spirit, are true and perfect light, total fulfillment, everlasting joy, gladness without end, and perfect happiness to your saints. Amen."
Thanks for reading along and praying with us. Remember, in a little more than a week, we start our annual Christmas Appeal to Stay in Existence, so please keep your eye on your in-box and please be generous. Until next time, we remain...
With Immaculate Mary,
Bud Macfarlane, Founder
And All Your Friends at CatholiCity
