My Best Idea Ever

Volume XXVI, Number 6
March 31, 2022

Hello Friends,

Thanks for reading my previous Kitchen Sink Edition. One of my best, if your reactions are the judge.

I have Middle of Lent Encouragement, the story of how and why our new Pray Stickers came to be, reflections on my loser-ness, some Catholic quotations, and the Fatima Prayer for the tens of thousands of us to offer together.

MID-LENT PEP TALK

Lent is half over. Mine has been going well (for a change), which means my daily fasting and my other self-disciplines have been difficult and tedious.

The counterintuitive result of my finally doing something substantial this Lent is that God has been revealing my weakness, sinfulness, and selfishness. Bummer!

You would think that "having a good Lent" would make me feel like a better Christian. Self-denial, it turns out, is not a mirror of how wonderful and strong I am, but rather reveals my lack of discipline and holiness.

Seeing our weakness, however, is the great benefit of Lent. A realistic perception of our sinfulness reveals our need for grace, for virtue, and for a savior.

The fruit of a good Lent is thus humility, which gives us empathy for just how difficult the "narrow path" to eternal life truly is for others and for ourselves.

Ash Wednesday Redux

If you've fallen this Lent, it is never too late to return to those Ash Wednesday resolutions you let fall by the wayside.

I'll be at your side. I'm adding a new self-discipline on this very day (getting up a half-hour earlier through Holy Saturday) to encourage you, and for the conversion of your loved ones. Please bring to mind the name of the person in your family who most needs to find God. I'll get up earlier, with no snooze button, just for him or her.

Let's finish strong together. Recall the parable of the workers who received a full day's wage despite working only the final hour of the shift. Decades ago I made up a saying: God is not a bureaucrat. Make today or tomorrow your second Ash Wednesday!

Other intentions you might embrace for motivation: Offer your renewed reparation for the priest who needs it the most that day. Or for the end of abortion. Or for the supernatural battle taking place over the fate of your country. For an end to that terrible war in Ukraine. For your bishop.

MY BEST IDEA EVER?

I never got a chance to tell you the story of how and why our newest tool for evangelization came to be.

I travel. A lot. All told, I have been on over twelve hundred trips. I've spent over four years of my life in hotel rooms (which is just sad).

During these trips all over the United States, Canada, Europe, and even the Middle East, I have seen stickers (mostly ads) everywhere: on bathroom walls, laptops, appliances, light posts, backpacks, doors, and a hundred other kinds of public and private spaces.

Lately, stickers have become an amusing form of political expression at gas pumps. People then post photos of these particular stickers on social media (where millions more see them).

A few weeks ago, I was pondering this new combination of old media (stickers) and new media (web) at a rest stop in South Carolina when the most simple kind of idea came as an image into my mind's eye.

I saw a sticker, and it came fully-formed, like a chunk of pure gold popping up out of the ocean onto the beach at my feet. It might be the best idea I have ever had in a lifetime filled with creative ideas.

The sticker said "Pray." I saw the entire thing: the lettering, the font size, the color, the oval shape. It looked like this:

It reminded me of relatively new inventions such as the post-it note or the paper clip. Just by seeing one stuck to something, everyone would immediately get the idea.

With our pre-Lent focus on the release of our new Daily Prayers to Save America book, many of you missed our Prayer Sticker release. Before you decide to pass up this opportunity to evangelize lost souls, I only ask that you read the long list of suggested uses for your home, for "out in the world," and for social media.

Dozens of Suggested Uses

50 Stickers Free By Mail

Order 5-Packs Only $1

'tis all grace. Prayer changes the world because every prayer unleashes the power of God, which is grace. Pray stickers prompt the lukewarm, the fallen-away, and practicing Christians to pray.

Whether inside your home, on something you own (like the back of your car), on a wall, or a bulletin board, or in a public place, one single Pray Sticker could prompt a very large number of people to pray over its lifetime.

And kids love them!

Packets of stickers should be included in every Easter basket for your children and grandchildren!

And please consider giving a bunch to every Catholic school in your area.

Like a big nugget of gold, I tell you, this is probably my best idea ever, because I really don't think it was my idea at all.

LIVE TO GIVE

I recently heard the phrase "Live to Give" on a Christian podcast, used in the context of fundraising. The phrase struck me as cutesy, although the explanation was wonderful—that people who actively seek opportunities to help others financially are often themselves extremely happy people.

Let's flip the idea around. "Ask and you shall receive," might be my favorite five words in the Bible. God lives to give.

As Catholics (especially parents) whose lives are defined by the responsibilities that require sacrificing (giving) for others, Live to Give applies perfectly. Parents live to give. Grandparents live to give.

So, yes, Live to Give. It's not trite. It's a profound imitation of Christ. Live to give everything to God. Live to give to others--your time, your money, and your love.

Endless Drag

Get this. Before Lent I told you about my year of fasting every day in 2022 for America and for the conversion of your loved ones. 90 days in with 275 to go, it has been an endless drag so far. I guess you could sum up my year as Live to Give Up. The Pray Sticker idea is probably a fruit of the tedium. We'll see; getting them out into the world is your department.

GOD'S "FRAMING"

In my studies of the enemy, I read an article summarizing a communication (really, propaganda) theory known as "framing," which is used relentlessly by the evil forces in our society to manipulate and deceive people.

People process their lives through "frames." That is, they react and make decisions using metaphors, which speak to the deepest motivations of our being. For example, we deeply desire to be part of a social group, and the most intimate groups are families. We navigate life through this "frame".

Knowing this, anti-God leftists consciously "frame" issues using family and parental metaphors:

"This government program is about how me we care about your child's health/education/future, so give us your vote, your money, and your trust. If you resist, it proves that you hate children, are a bad parent, and you will teach them lies if allowed, so trust us! We're your family."

It all got me to thinking about God's framing. God is a family of three persons whose very nature, Love, is a unity of One. (God precedes framing, of course. Note that he is his own metaphor. He is His frame.)

And that got me to pondering these examples of "divine frames" from Holy Scripture, the infallible dogma of the Church, Jesus' revelation of himself on earth, the Holy Spirit, and approved private revelations throughout salvation history:

Flames. The Sacred Heart is on fire. Hell is too. The miracle of the fiery sun at Fatima. The pillar of fire that prevented Pharaoh from attacking the Jews at the Red Sea. The burning bush. The heroic sons in the Book of Maccabees who were put to death with fire.

Heart. Sacred Heart, Immaculate Heart, hearts of stone vs. hearts of flesh, and "where your treasure is, there too your heart shall be."

The Cross. Theologically and philosophically, the Cross represents the paradox required to accept divine mysteries beyond human comprehension, whether it is the actual Holy Cross of the Crucifixion, or the "cross-road" of free will to do or not do God's will. Or that the cross of poverty embraced by nuns and priests is transformed into the freedom to serve the Kingdom of God, or that suffering is the divine power that brings salvation. As Simeon prophesied, Jesus would be a "sign of contradiction."

The Word. The Word (Logos) made Flesh, Jesus. This is the power of representation: words are sounds or symbols representing reality. Sacraments all require certain words and forms to unleash grace. When Jesus speaks, we "hear" the Father.

Lambs. That we are lambs, and we need a good shepherd. This divine shepherd, on the Cross, is a lamb who takes away the sins of the world.

Please ponder these frames, and let me know what your reaction is.

MY LOSER-NESS

I don't mind admitting I'm a failure, as you may have noticed. First, there is the reality. Second, as I wrote above, the great benefit of undertaking reparations and living the sacramental life is the opportunity to endlessly behold our disordered desires and need for grace.

Knowing your failures is freedom to let go of the cheap comfort of the banal familiarity of your own sins. Thus, I do not fear my many failures. I fear lying to myself (one of my greatest flaws).

I know there are some holy readers of this Message. It may be a challenge for you to find things to confess when you kneel at the screen. I wish it were that way for me. My sins never surprise me. Only my virtues do, because their source is grace, not me.

CATHOLIC QUOTATIONS

"Zeal for the salvation of souls is so great a merit before God that to give up all our goods to the poor or to spend our whole life in the exercises of all sorts of austerities cannot equal the merit of it. There is no service more agreeable to God than this one. To employ life in this blessed labor is more pleasing to the Divine Majesty than to suffer martyrdom."
- Saint John Chrysostom

"No devotion to the saints is more acceptable and more proper than if you strive to express their virtues."
- Erasmus

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

"In the higher world it is otherwise, but here below to live is to change, and to be perfect is to change often."
- Saint John Henry Newman

"Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained
- The Risen Christ, establishing the Sacrament of Reconciliation for his first twelve bishops.

And here are nine profound quotations from the early Church Fathers on the Eucharist.

PRAY WITH US

Echoing the prayer given to us by Our Lady of Fatima, please join CatholiCity Citizens the world over in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...

Oh my Jesus Forgive us our sins Save us from the fires of hell,
lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy Amen.

Thank you...really, thank you for being a part of our work. You are the work, which is a work of God himself through all of us. You do all the praying, all the distributing of materials, and all the giving.

"Ask and you shall receive." So I will ask. Will you please offer a small reparation today or tomorrow for me and my brother Joe?

With Mary, Bud Macfarlane Founder

Give Alms for Lent

Order Pray Stickers

Order Daily Prayers Book Only $1

Our supporters have distributed tens of millions of life-changing Catholic gifts since 1991, making us America's largest producer of high-quality, super-affordable tools for evangelization. Join our work today!

See All Our Catholic Materials

Find Local Young Adult Groups

Meet Bud Macfarlane, Our Founder

Donate to Help Us Reach Millions

Pray with Us to Save America