The CatholiCity Message
Volume XIX, Number 7 – August 25, 2015
Dear CatholiCity Citizen,
First, thank you to the many thousands who read my article on the diabolical, social, legal, and historical foundations of the same-sex marriage ruling.
For years I have squirreled away ideas that never made it into the CatholiCity Message for various mundane reasons. Over the next few days, in multiple editions, I'm going to share the most helpful, strangest, light-hearted and (hopefully) insightful with you. In the great tradition of the CatholiCity Message, the headlines will be odd or obscure. For a change of pace our always jarring Catholic Quotes are interlaced between every item. Let us begin with...
Two Dudes Walking Away From Each Other During a Duel
A wise friend of mine observed that a few decades ago the Catholic Church in America was undeniably more liberal while the secular culture was more conservative. Thus a more liberal Church and a less liberal culture were closer and in less moral conflict. After decades of holy popes and more faithful bishops we find the Church more orthodox while the American ruling elite is much more liberal, and so today both are growing apart. At some point duelers stop walking away and turn to face each other. One could even make the case Culture has turned and begun shooting the Church in the back.
The fact is this: the modern world, with its modern movements, is living on its Catholic capital. It is using, and using up, the truths that remain to it out of the treasury of Christendom.
– G.K. Chesterton
Gold in the Backyard Creek
Months ago in a buddy's garage I came across a forgotten stash of the best CD ever made on Natural Family Planning, "Planning Your Family God's Way." It is comprised of three short talks; one is the powerful story of how and why a drug-abusing, fallen-away Catholic husband stopped using contraception and transformed his marriage. The second talk explains the fascinating Scriptural foundations of the Church's profound teaching. In the final talk a medical doctor explains modern NFP in a clear, winning way. This talk works! For years the recording has only been available online and you can still listen to it at the following link:
https://www.giftfoundation.org/products_family.cfm
Our stash consists of just 9 boxes of 100 CDs (perfect for parish use or distributing at large events) and I believe the Holy Spirit is calling several of you to give these CDs away. The result will be transformed families and an unknown number of human beings walking around our planet who otherwise never would have been born! Because this CD is not part of our ordering system, you can only receive them in two ways:
1. Until we run out I'll send 100 of these CDs to the first nine CatholiCity Citizens who make a minimum online donation of $30 to cover shipping costs. Please type "100 NFP CDs" in the Comments field on the donation page.
2. I'll ship one free CD to every CatholiCity Citizen who makes an online donation in any amount through midnight PST on Friday, August 28th.
So you are timid about sharing your faith with others? Is your reason that you are not holy enough or smart enough? Then please consider that the most essential thing required for helping others receive the graces God has reserved for them in the sacraments is not talent but courageous action. Accept that apathy and fear of rejection are the real enemies of your evangelization efforts. The evil one succeeds and souls are lost when you give up before you begin. You cannot wipe the dust off your sandals while you are sitting at home watching television. Pray first, then try and succeed, or, try and fail. Leave the results up to God.
– Gordon K. MacBrien
Free Flame of Love Book
In Communist Hungary during the early 1960s Jesus and Mary began speaking to a poor widow named Elizabeth Kindelmann in what became known as the Flame of Love messages; these were faithfully recorded in her diary by the same name, which received an Imprimatur in 2009. You can order the book completely free-of-charge here.
Pray with perseverance, trust, and a serene and calm mind. Pray, hope, and don't worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer. Prayer is the best weapon we have; it is the key that opens God's heart.
– Saint Padre Pio
Bugs of God, See His Holy Word
Atheists should humble themselves before the implications of deity that are fireflies (lightning bug was my youthful New Jersey synonym). Consider how they come out on warm summer evenings just after suppertime but before bedtime. Consider how they hover just highly enough and slowly enough (unlike just about every flying bug) to present a perfectly calibrated challenge for any child to snatch. Once caught, consider they are absolutely harmless. Oh yeah, consider the kicker:
These tiny natural miracles throw off magical yellow beams of bright light!
Of all the man-made toys fashioned for our little ones in history, none is more perfectly suited to the entertainment of children than the lightning bug. On behalf of boys and girls everywhere, thank you God. The Creator is supremely creative.
We can be sure there is no such thing as superfluous or useless prayers; no prayer is wasted. And prayers are answered even if the answer is sometimes mysterious, for God is Love and infinite Mercy. Often when confronting evil we have the feeling that we are powerless, but our prayers themselves are the first and most effective response we can give...God's might makes our weakness fruitful.
– Pope Benedict XVI
Truth Be Told
Virtually all current styles of formfitting spandex (yoga) pants, now the basis of a multibillion dollar industry and commonly worn outdoors in the western world, are immodest and are often scandalously indecent. No Christian female should wear them in public unless beneath some sort of acceptable shorts or skirt. No parent should allow a daughter to wear them as sole leggings. Ladies, if you wear them, please repent and desist. Gentlemen, take responsibility. I welcome comments.
When Christian marriage is deprecated man sinks into the slavery of his vicious nature and vile passions. [Nothing] has such power to lay waste to families and destroy the mainstay of kingdoms as the corruption of morals.
– Pope Leo XIII
Tools on Stage
As a guy I am into tools (as I should be, as a guy), which is why I invented the kitchen tooltub fifteen years ago. The tooltub is a small open container that fits into a kitchen cabinet or drawer containing most of the tools needed for most household tasks because most tasks take place in or near the kitchen or in the driveway or garage (which are usually nearby the kitchen). After your tooltub is set up, simply store your larger tools, socket sets, odd-use fasteners, and larger power tools wherever you find best.
Check out the photo of my very own tooltub next to my son Clete's enormous size 14 foot. Although the $2 Sterilite container you see is only 6.5" x 9.5" (x 4" deep), all of the items listed below fit into it! If you are tool-deprived, department and hardware stores typically sell affordable sets of most of the basic tools listed below, which you can transfer into your small tub.
Various Basics
Hammer, Wood Handle "Sawed Off" down to 10"
8" Level
Metal File
Wood Chipper
Allen Wrench Set, 12 Piece
Carpenter Pencil
Measuring Tape, 10 or 24 feet
3-prong to 2-prong Electrical Plug Adapter
Electrical Circuit Tester (w/small screwdriver)
Screwdrivers
Philips Screwdriver
Straight Edge Screwdriver
Universal Socket Screwdriver with Hex, Star, Straight, Philips, Allen inserts
5-Piece Mini Precision Screwdriver Set (great for toys, remotes)
Tapes and Glues
Electrical Tape
Duct Tape
Masking Tape
Super Glue
Elmers Glue, small
Scissors, Clippers, Scrapers, Sharp Edges
Regular Scissors
Metal Cutter Clips
Surgical "Cloth" Scissors
Razor Scraper
Paint Scraper
Box Cutter
Pliers, Wrenches, Saws
7" Wire Cutter
7" Electrical Pliers
5" Needle Nose Pliers
9" Vice-Grip (medium sized)
9" hand saw or hack saw
8" Adjustable Wrench
"Multi-Socket" Tool
Ipso facto presto spaghettio, the Kitchen Tooltub: only here, in the CatholiCity Message, right?
I also stage a larger cartub in the back of my Jeep (you could just guess I'm a Jeep guy) filled with Mary Foundation CDs and booklets so I can restock the churches and grocery stores near my home. I even stage a larger quick-pull tub in my fridge for lunch sandwich fixings (cheeses, cold cuts, onions, et al). And instead of a briefcase I use a tub to carry the jetsam of modern life (wallets, keys, cellphone, sanitizer, glasses, mail, the day's papers, gum, etc) from car to office to home.
Tubs and staging, my friend, are (wait for it...) the Duct Tape of the Third Millennium.
When will the Immaculata rule over the world? When will her medal be worn on every breast, and every heart on the globe of the earth beat for her?
– Saint Maximilian Kolbe
Let Us Pray...
Tens of thousands of us, not one of us perfect except the Trinity we address together in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
O my God, I am heartfully sorry for having offended thee and I detest all my sins because of Thy just punishment, but most of all because I have offended Thee my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen.
And amen. You guys are the best! Hoped you liked or loved some of today's Message. Be back in two days with Part 2 of Everything But the Kitchen Sink, including the first paragraphs of my upcoming novel, tentatively entitled Today is the Wound.
Just hit reply if you want to email me with your thoughts.
With Mary,
Bud Macfarlane
