Full Speed Ahead
Volume XXV, Number 12 – July 22, 2021
Dear CatholiCity Citizen,
You can let me know what you think of this message by clicking reply. Better yet, let me know what you think by ordering our tools for evangelization or by becoming a much-needed monthly donor.
I have just a few short items, a prayer, and some quotes you've never heard before.
You Are in the Mega ChurchI'm sure you have heard about Protestant "mega-churches" with congregations numbering into the thousands or even tens of thousands. Mega-churches? That ain't nothing compared to the One True Church which Our Lord actually founded, the Roman Catholic Church.
(It should be obvious that Jesus did not start the Protestant group with a catchy name that meets in the nearby giant auditorium--some dude did.)
As an illustration, my bishop in the medium-sized city of Cleveland has hundreds of thousands in his care spread throughout roughly 170 parishes in eight counties! There are over seventy million baptized Catholics in just the United States alone.
With over 1.4 billion members worldwide, your Catholic Church is the Real Mega-Church.
And whether they know it or not, if validly baptized, our Orthodox and Protestant brothers and sisters (add well over another billion souls) are members of the one Mystical Body of Christ, and are therefore members of His Catholic Church, even if not formally (yet!).
Plus, Our Mega Church includes the countless souls in heaven and purgatory. It's the biggest institution in time through eternity.
Colebrook Society Begins Saturday!In my last message, I told you about our exciting new tool for evangelization, The Colebrook Society. Our goal is reach hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of our fallen-away children and grandchildren in two hundred cities over the next five years.
Our first event will take place tomorrow, Saturday, July 24th, and we expect over one hundred young devout Catholic adults and many of their fallen-away friends to attend!
Because nothing happens without grace, I am counting on you to pray a Rosary, or offer your daily sufferings, or receive Holy Communion, or pray at least one Hail Mary today and tomorrow for the Holy Spirit to influence every aspect of the gathering and every person who attends (including the priests). Reply to this email to let me know you're praying!
If you want a powerful way to participate beyond prayer, I encourage you to experience the heavenly joy of helping convert young folks to Catholicism by becoming one of the 1,000 new monthly donors we need over the next two years to expand into ten more cities in 2022. (Just 100 supporters averaging $50 per month per city is an amazingly efficient way to influence several thousand young adults.)
On behalf of the numerous souls Colebrook will convert in the coming five years, the marriages that will come to be, and the children who will be born as a result, all I ask is that you (and your spouse, if you are married) invite God into your decision.
Your reward is a heart bursting with grace and joy. You have all been financial benefactors to our work, so you already know this. It's very rare to have the opportunity to participate at the beginning of something as wonderful as the Colebrook Society. Thank you.
(You can also make a one-time online gift here or mail a donation to The Mary Foundation, PO Box 26101, Fairview Park, OH 44126.)
I'm with Cardinal MuellerPope Francis's recent motu proprio, a petulant and imprudent suppression of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) under the pretext of "unity," blatantly contradicts Saint John Paul II's and holy Pope Benedict XVI's own clear actions and desires.
I suspect Francis's obvious goal of reversing the TLM trend will probably have the opposite effect in America. It's too late; the liturgical cat is out of the bag, and now millions all over the world have fallen in love with the beautiful old Mass, the infallible teachings promulgated in its sermons, and the witness of the big, happy Catholic families who attend.
I love the TLM, the priests who offer it, our friendly and tolerant bishops, and my brothers and sisters who are faithful to it. Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, former head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, ably summed up my own view in a statement he immediately issued, which chastises the pope and summarizes the bigger agenda at work in this abuse of Petrine plenary power, however licit.
QUOTATIONS
"As base a thing as money often is, yet it can be transmuted into everlasting treasure. It can be converted into food for the hungry and clothing for the poor. It can keep a missionary actively winning lost men to the light of the Gospel and thus transmute itself into heavenly values. Any temporal possession can be turned into everlasting wealth. Whatever is given to Christ is immediately touched with immortality."
-Aiden Wilson Tozer
"It is only by sacrificing and suffering, offered as penance, that you will be able, by the grace of God, to convert sinners."
-Saint John Vianney
"There is one thing that gives radiance to everything. It is the idea of something around the corner."
-G.K. Chesterton
"On my death bed, I desire there be nothing left of me. No idea, no gold, no time, no energy, no will of my own, no human need except the joy of absolution from all my sins, granted in pure grace through a Catholic priest of Jesus Christ conferred via the Rite of Extreme Unction. Oh, God, make of me upon my last breath an indistinguishable bubble in Your ocean, filled with grace, like Mary!"
-Joseph Wood
"God gives where He finds empty hands."
-Saint Augustine
Thank you for praying with me and your fellow CatholiCity Citizens around the world, offering these simple words, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins,
save us from the fires of hell,
lead all souls to heaven,
especially those most in need of Thy mercy!
For sake of Your sorrowful passion,
have mercy on us and on the whole world!
Amen.
Thank you, my friends, for being a part of this little project of Our Lady.
In the office, we jokingly call this my "fashion model" picture. Until next time, I remain yours, along...
With Saint Maximilian Kolbe,
Bud Macfarlane
Founder
