Get Shorty, In Fact
Volume XXIV, Number 12 – June 4, 2020
Dear CatholiCity Citizen,
Clearly we need to pray for our country as the Coronavirus plague has morphed into civil unrest. In fact, we will do so at the end of this Message, which will come quickly.
In fact, I have decided to write "In fact" at the beginning of many of my paragraphs today, just because.
In fact, I've decided to continue writing the CatholiCity Message more often but for complex technical reasons, we shall rarely "repeat" the message for those of you who miss the first one. So from now on, people, open that first one!
In fact, I used to write briefer messages just about every week back in the old days (in the late 1990s!).
I'll probably go long Message, short Message.
Thank you for praying for Mrs. Comegno, my best friend's mother who was at death's door with Covid-19. She has made a miraculous turnaround in recent days and now has a realistic chance to survive!
Never underestimate the power of prayer, especially when tens of thousands of us pray together.
The WD-40 of SaintsIn fact, June 13th is the Feast of Saint Anthony, and I have arranged for a Mass to be said for your intentions by the good friars at the beautiful National Shrine of Saint Anthony in Cincinnati, Ohio.
You can submit you intentions online quickly, totally free (I personally cover the donation), and with complete privacy here. Ask for miracles:
We will deliver your intentions (whenever possible, I will do this in person) on an encrypted flash drive before the Mass takes place.
In fact, since so many of you have gone bonkers over our new line of Relic Prayer Medals, I am arranging for a special Mass to be offered the at the national shrines of each saint or devotion featured on our medals on the universal feast day of the saint or devotion:
- June 19th, Sacred Heart
- August 14th, Saint Maximilian
- September 14th, Holy Cross
- October 1st, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
- October 28th, Saint Jude
- December 8th, Immaculate Mary
- March 19th, Saint Joseph
- March 21st, Saint Benedict
Wait, what!? You haven't ordered Relic Prayer Medals for yourself or as gifts which are always welcome?!
Seriously, in fact, I would like to understand why not. Feel free to let me know so I can learn. Or simply reply by saying a prayer, making a decision, and taking a moment to place your order online or through the mail:
You can hold one of these special medals in your hand soon and you will see and feel something strike you in a good way. (You can then attach it to your necklace or bracelet or wallet or scapular.)
In fact, we'll ship 'em as soon as humanly possible. Because that's what we do. Remember: hold a medal touched to the saint's relic in your hand.
Quick Quotes
"The most useless purchase of 2019 was a 2020 planner."
-Anonymous Internet Meme
"For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."
-Jesus, teaching Saint Faustina the Divine Mercy Chaplet
"Fear not, beloved, you are safe. Take courage and be strong."
-Daniel 10:19
"Consider the lilies of the field and how they grow. They neither labor nor spin, yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all of his splendor was clothed such as these. Now if that is the way God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and thrown into the oven tomorrow, will He not clothe you much better, oh ye of little faith?
"So do not worry by saying 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?' because it is the unbelievers who are eager for all those things. Surely your heavenly Father knows that you need all these! Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all of these will be provided unto you as well."
-Jesus (Matthew 6: 28-33)
When my son Buddy was a six-year-old, he asked me what was beyond the end of the universe.
"Nothing," I told him.
"That can't be true," he replied.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because nothing can't exist."
He had me. Here is another question, this time more recently from my adult son and now Master of Theology on his way to a doctorate, Jude.
"Where is the universe?"
If you think about it, there is only one possible answer.
"The universe is inside God."
So Buddy was right. Beyond the universe is God, not nothing. (He formulated his brilliant intellectual gambit a week or so after I taught him that "nothing" is defined as a lack of existence.)
We are "enveloped" by God, no matter how piddly small we might personally feel as world affairs spin out before our eyes. I find this consoling.
And according to my other son, Xavier, when we receive Holy Communion, we receive God, and thus we "envelope" the Enveloper, who is still enveloping us and the entire universe at the same time. Mind. Blowing.
In other, plainer words, everything is going to be all right, in time through eternity. Amen.
Praying for Our CountrySometimes when we read common prayers we have memorized, the experience is different. Reports are coming in that protests and rioting are spreading to other parts of the world. Let us pray for peace for the whole world, in whatever way that might mean in the Loving Will of God, tens of thousands of us together, by lifting our hearts to Our Lady, in faith received by grace through baptism, focusing on the word "now" as we begin in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now,
and at the hour of our death, amen.
Thank you for being a part of our work and our lives. I'll be back soon, bigger (from eating too much!) and exactly the same as ever before.
As I always say, you guys are the best! In fact, because you are. I remain yours...
With the Miracle Work of Padua,
Bud Macfarlane
Founder
