Crazy Town

Volume XXIV, Number 1 – February 4, 2020

Dear CatholiCity Citizen,

Hello there. Can you believe Lent is less than four weeks away? My annual "Best Lent Ever" email will plop down on the couch of your inbox shortly.

Yup, welcome to the 24th year of the "great granddaddy" of Catholic email messages. I was a 33-year-old puppy when I sent out the first CatholiCity Message way back in 1996--before some of you were born! That is just...crazytown. Crazy. Town. What is the "secret" to our success?

First, that we always pray together (as we will do below). Because even one small, half-hearted, pathetic, and imperfect prayer (my speciality) matters, and tens of thousands of people around the world praying together changes history.

And (aspiring writers take note) I lazily labor to leave out what I would not want to read myself. Except for what follows. (Only kidding!)

I have a brief Christmas Appeal Update. We have 2006 Quotes. Recommended reading and a Death Boat. Plus the striking true story of the first CatholiCity Citizen in heaven.

Good New Bad News

Because so many of you sacrificed financially, we will definitely stay open for another year. Our innovative Jesus book--a nearly perfect tool for evangelization--will be published in multiple languages and every imaginable format!

Just before the new year, however, our wonderful landlord for the past 20 years (who supports our spiritual mission) informed me that he would not renew our lease because he needed to sell his business, and that we have to vacate our shipping center in a matter of weeks! Moving is costly and a huge amount of work--I am dreading it, to be frank.

Please ask Saint Joseph to find us a new home.

Never Too Late to Be Late

Late? There is no late. We pay bills all year long! If you missed the annual appeal (or decided to skip it this year--which is totally cool), we still have plenty of the spiritually-priceless and beautiful Lourdes rosaries if you want to exchange gifts (not everybody does, by the way).

This might seem odd or obvious: it feels great to make a donation. The amount doesn't matter: Our Lord sees the sacrifice.

I actually sign every Thank You letter, by the way, and enjoy corresponding with you. Let me know what's on your mind -- there is a field for comments in the online donation form. (We also list an address if you want to mail me a note the old-fashioned way.) Tell me your story? How did you find us? Who needs prayers the most in your family?

Make a Donation

My Sister Passed Away

The oldest of my nine sisters, Rosemary, 60, mother of four, passed away just after Christmas from multiple cancers (which is one reason why this message is arriving tardy).

True Christian grieving is a special suffering, a kind of pristine gift, a paradox of fear of hell and hope for heaven and just plain missing that person we have loved during this wondrous adventure on earth. One of the melancholy realities of corresponding with so many of you during our annual appeals is learning of the loss of your husbands, wives, children, parents, grandparents, and friends.

As my sister was a Macfarlane, many Masses and more than a few plenary indulgences have been offered for her soul. As you can imagine, this was difficult for my parents, especially my mother, Pat.

"I Will Always Help You"

Back in 1991, a few months after this apostolate began, we received our first large gift (several hundred dollars). There was no note in the envelope--just a check. Using the phone number on the check, I called to say thank you. That is how I met Mr. Geary, an elderly, soft-spoken gentleman.

He told me he made the donation because he had prayed the rosary every day for many years for his son to return to the sacraments, and that my father's talk, Marian Apparitions Explained (our only recording at the time), had recently inspired his son to return to the faith.

A brilliant chemist, he told me how he spent his life trying to help the poorest mountain farmers in Costa Rica (where he often made mission trips) and as a result, invented the formula for a fertilizer for their arid land. You have heard of it.

The brand name for Mr. Geary's invention is Miracle-Gro. The way things worked back then, if I recall correctly, he received a small bonus from his employer, and his breakthrough did not make him especially wealthy. Our conversation lasted for a long time until he confessed to being tired. I will never forget how he assured me, as our phone call ended, that "I will always help you."

Months passed. I called to ask Mr. Geary for some advice but had to leave a message. His son eventually returned my call and explained that his father had passed away, and that, indeed, I had spoken to him on his death bed. He told me his father prayed three rosaries a day, went to daily Mass, and was so beloved that hundreds of people waited in line for city blocks to view his body before the funeral.

"I will always help you," Mr. Geary told me. I believe Our Lady was using this humble servant to teach me a profound spiritual truth. Yes, Saint Anthony is my man, and always helps me, yet so does Mr. Geary. So do all our relatives who receive Divine Mercy after bodily death.

Miracle Growth

Three decades and tens of millions of souls touched all over the world since, along with Mr. Geary, there are now many CatholiCity Citizens, including holy priests and nuns, who have surely merited the eternal joy of heaven. I pray for you to this particular holy communion of saints every day, in fact, when I receive Holy Communion.

I ask these august members of the Church Triumphant to welcome your departed friends and relatives into our special clan in heaven--the Mary Foundation and CatholiCity Clan.

For You: 30 Gregorian Masses this Lent

As one of my own Lent-preps, in honor of my sister, and in gratitude for your sacrifices to keep our doors open, I have made my own personal financial sacrifice to arrange for thirty consecutive traditional Gregorian Masses to be offered at the National Divine Mercy Shrine in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, for the intentions of every CatholiCity Citizen and your departed loved ones. Feel free to email me their names so I can pass them along to Father Joseph there before the Masses begin just after Easter.

You could say I'm being selfish because I want your loved ones to join Mr. Geary and all our holy benefactors in heaven to intercede for our mission and to enjoy each other's company in the Beatific Vision of the Holy Trinity. And for us to enjoy them when we get there. And you would be right.

What Happened to Lazarus?

This online talk by Fr. Wolfe tells you the extraordinary true story of what happened to Lazarus after Jesus raised him from the dead. It involves a death boat, France, and the bones of our Lady's mother.

China and the Church

Here are two articles on China, including one from my friend Steve Mosher:

The Vatican's China Syndrome by Robert Royal

How Xi Jinping Destroyed Religion in China by Steve Mosher.

Late Resolution

I am going to be selfish again. I know that your individual circumstances might make going to daily Mass impossible or unrealistic--jobs, geography, family responsibilities, health issues and what not--but if it is possible or realistic, I humbly encourage you to join me in the Eucharist at daily Mass.

We can literally "meet" in the Body of Christ every day, and pray for each other. Let this be the year. I'm going to make up a saying now: "February resolutions are the best solutions." Which is ridiculous, as a saying. It doesn't matter when you begin going to daily Mass for the rest of your life, only that you begin. This week will suffice. Here is a tip: aim for every day and if you manage two or three or four days, cool.

Quotes from CatholiCity Circa 2006

"Everyone argues in favor of the virtue he practices easily, and exaggerates the difficulties of the virtues which are contrary to it."
-Saint Frances De Sales

"Fasting is better than prayer and almsgiving is better than both."
-Saint Clement I

"I do not believe the crass and unproven myth that more people are depressed on Christmas than any other day. Sadly, the depressed, like the poor, shall be with us always. And tragically, they are an unhappy lot on other days of the year. Rather, I believe Christmas to be that bright amazing day when the contented are most happy, when children are most childlike, when materialists are most generous, when those who prefer to sleep in on a day off rise early, and all this because a baby became most divine."
-Joseph Wood

Let Us Pray...

...tens of thousands of us together, with one heart, striving toward the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...

Oh Heavenly Father, for the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us, and on the whole world, especially those we loved and have lost, and long to love again in your light, Amen.

Thank you, a bazillion times thank you. I'm looking forward to hearing from you, now and all year long. Pacem out. That's Latin, baby, for peace. As always...

With Immaculate Mary,

Bud Macfarlane
Founder