The CatholiCity Message
Volume XVIII, Number 4 – March 19, 2014
Dear CatholiCity Citizen,
It is always a small dilemma for me: whether to write to you on the Feast of Saint Patrick or the Feast of Saint Joseph. My longtime readers know I admire Saint Patrick because of the impact he had upon on the world by converting Ireland and thereby changing the destinies of hundreds of millions of people (including me and you) all over the world through the faith of that most dynamic of Catholic peoples. He is truly my hero and I love him and I rely on him.
This year, however, I chose Joseph, yet as a twist and for this Message's finale, and in accord with our goal of providing stuff to transform your life, I'll present you with two extremely powerful prayers. I also promise you will be inspired by this month's Catholic quotations and will agree you've never read any of them before. But first...encouragement.
More Lent Ahead Than Behind
I hope your Lent is off to an excellent start. I've had better starts myself, yet I take solace that God is not a bureaucrat; He loved our weaknesses, limits, and broken nature enough to become one of us. So take heart, my friend, it is never too late for those of us who have struggled to get back on track. There are thirty-two days left to Lent-Up until Easter Sunday! Here are timeless suggestions.
Give alms--send an unplanned donation to your parish or favorite Catholic charity. I know a man who closes his eyes and pulls a bill from his wallet once a week during Lent--and drops whatever it is, $1 or $20, into the basket or poor box. Give whatever amount causes some level of discomfort, which will vary depending on our individual circumstances. Here were Jesus' very words to us on the Feast of Saint Patrick on the benefits of being generous:
Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.
Luke, Chapter 6
Go to Daily Mass--for most (but not all) people, there are plenty of choices for Mass times. Our popes, including Francis, having been encouraging us to receive Jesus in the Eucharist daily for centuries. Do what you need to do: drive farther, go to bed earlier, skip lunch, postpone dinner hour--for 31 days. If this habit is new to you, you will find it helpful to "aim" to go every day and humbly accept that you may only actually make it two, three, or four times on weekdays. Again: God is not a bureaucrat.
Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy--in short, evangelize and help those less fortunate. Be creative. My own default is on reaching those whom Blessed Teresa of Calcutta termed the truly poor: the spiritually impoverished, who are legion amidst the wealth of developed nations. Most of you would not be reading this Message if you were not evangelizing to some greater or lesser degree by distributing our Catholic CDs, booklets, and novels.
Add one new daily habit of Mental Prayer, Eucharistic Adoration, Bible Reading, Examination of Conscience, Praying the Rosary, Angelus, or Morning Offering--nothing changes without Jesus. The answer to all questions for all individuals and societies is: more Jesus. Most of these and the preceding suggestions are listed in Fr. John McCloskey's all-time great booklet, Seven Daily Habits for Faithful Catholics, and each helps us grow closer to Jesus and doing His will by spending more time with Him on a daily basis. I am not recommending (nor does Father John) that it is wise or practical to add all seven habits in one day, but Lent is an opportunity to add one or two.
For instance, if you are not making an Examination of Conscience before going to sleep every night, may I warmly suggest you start there. It takes but a few minutes, is simple, and because it leads to spiritual growth through honest evaluation of behavior, it is gravely underestimated in its power to transform your life and effect those around you for the better.
Pray for Me, Too
Let me add that I am praying for you with all my heart. I really am, every day, when I receive Holy Communion...and I asked Saint Patrick to help you the day before yesterday and I asked Saint Joseph to help you today. They will. My prayers are always answered (eventually!).
"Seven Daily Habits" and Other Lenten Tools of Mercy
My deepest thanks to each of you who have ordered and are distributing our CDs, booklets (including Fr. John's Seven Daily Habits) in your parishes and circles of influence during Lent. Don't forget to restock! There is no more effective or affordable way to influence hundreds or even thousands of souls in your own backyard. There is still time to receive Fr. John's Seven Daily Habits and our other life-changing booklets and CDs for these final four weeks of Lent. We'll get 'em to you lickety-split:
https://secure.catholicity.com/order.html
Christ Crucified Art Pins and Prints Still Available
My coworkers tell me we have just under two hundred of this year's beautiful one-of-a-kind "Christ Crucified" lapel pins, fridge magnets, and art-house prints remaining from the Christmas Appeal (take a gander at the images at the link below). Each lapel pin has been blessed by a priest and touched to my Relic of the True Cross, and will never be created again, so if CatholiCity (and our parent organization, the Mary Foundation) is one of the Catholic charities you want to support with alms this Lent, your gift of $25 or more will help keep our doors open. (Everyone gets a fridge magnet, regardless of amount.) Find out how to mail in a donation, become a monthly donor, or donate online here:
http://www.catholicity.com/support/donation.html
To My Google Play Pen Pals
For fans of my novels who Droid, finally, all three books are now available on Google Play (adding to Kindle and Apple) for a pittance. What novels? Google Play? Wha, huh? More here:
http://www.catholicity.com/novels/
Insane Ludicrous Speed Bulk Order CDs
Did you know you can bulk-order Mary Foundation CDs by the case of 100 with free shipping for the ludicrous-speed minimum donation of only 50 spaceballs cents apiece. This insanity exists nowhere else in the Catholic world. Me crazy, you crazy, we crazy. Crazy for souls, brothers and sisters. Crazy. For. Souls. Just click on the "truck" link here:
http://www.catholicity.com/cds/
Catholic Quotations
Remorse is easy enough, but repentance means love, and a soul that has lost her lover has lost her own power of loving.
Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson
Every broken resolution leaves the mark of its teeth on us.
John Ayscough
If you want to hear Jesus, see Jesus, sing Jesus, speak Jesus, speak to Jesus, help Jesus, aid His friends all over the world, convene with His friends and angels in time through eternity, convert others to Jesus, consume Jesus, and love Jesus...go to Mass.
Joseph Wood
Every revelation of truth felt with interior savor and spiritual joy is a secret whispering of God in the ear of a pure soul.
Walter Hilton
Make sickness itself a prayer.
Saint Francis de Sales
Carlyle said that men were mostly fools. Christianity, with its surer and more reverent realism, says that they are all fools. This doctrine is sometimes called the doctrine of original sin. It may also be described as the doctrine of equality of man.
G.K. Chesterton
There are only two sorts of men: the just, who believe themselves sinners; the other, sinners, who believe themselves just.
Blasé Pascal
An Easy Prayer and a Difficult Prayer
As mentioned, we're going to pray two prayers today, both featured in our Powerful Prayers booklet, and the latter comes with a cool story. The first, to Saint Joseph, is reportedly over nineteen hundred years old. Before we begin, imagine yourself as a son or daughter in his Holy Family, and like a child, ask for something big, something miraculous, something impossible. Ready? Let us begin in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...
"O Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires. Assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your divine son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord, so that having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers. I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms. I dare not approach while he reposes near your heart--embrace him in my name and kiss his fine head for me, and ask him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath. O Saint Joseph, hear my prayers and obtain my petitions. Please pray for the intentions of every CatholiCity Citizen participating in this prayer, Amen."
The next prayer, by Saint Ignatius of Loyola, might be the most difficult traditional Catholic prayer to pray sincerely, and its contents make it plain why this is so. If you can pull it off on a daily basis, however, and really mean it, it will change your life. Feel free to pre-read it now before you and I and tens of thousands of your fellow CatholiCity Citizens pray it together. Ignatius' own followers found this prayer so difficult to pray that they came to him and complained about it. Always patient and kind, he suggested they pray for the grace to pray this prayer. Please Jesus, give us all the grace to pray this prayer with all our hearts, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...
"Lord Jesus Christ, take all my freedom, my memory, my understanding, and my will. All that I have and cherish you have given me. I surrender it all to be guided by your will. Your love and your grace are wealth enough for me. Give me these, Lord Jesus, and I ask for nothing more. Amen."
Wow, right? Thanks for being a part of our work and our lives. Let's keep working and praying...
With Saint Joseph,
Bud Macfarlane
