The CatholiCity Message
Volume XII, Number 5 – May 30, 2008
May 30, 2008
Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Dear CatholiCity Citizen,
We know it's a hectic time for those of you who are parents with school-aged children as the school year draws to a close and outdoor sports ramp up. We have only three gut-checks for you on this wonderful day in May.
"Changing your life? That's easy. Most of us know the practical actions needed. What's difficult is beforehand, when you have to commit your will to allowing nothing to stop you from changing your life."
Joseph Wood
1. CHANGING YOUR LIFE
Have you done one thing in the past week or the past month to make yourself a better Catholic--a better servant of Christ? Imagine that holiness is a matter of flooding your soul with grace, and that supernatural grace is represented by millions of gallons of water behind a dam with you standing on the dry side. We warmly encourage you to take a sledge hammer to the dam with the goal of creating a little crack. Pound away every day at that crack and the graces will flow, and eventually become an unstoppable wave, even if it takes years of daily hammering. Choose the right sledgehammer. Decide to hammer away every day. Avoid "defeat" with the application of "repeat." Here are a few "daily" sledgehammers:
-When You Open Your Eyes in the Morning, Pray "Jesus, I Love You."
-Begin the Day with Morning Prayers
-Pray the Rosary
-Read the Bible
-Receive Holy Communion
-Twenty Minutes of Mental Prayer
-Spiritual Reading or Listening to a Catholic Recording
-Talk About Your Faith with a Loved One
-Perform Your Daily Duties with Humility and Love of God
-Mortify Your Flesh (Fasting, Forsake a Worldly Pleasure)
-End the Day with an Examination of Conscience and Night Prayers
-When You Close Your Eyes at Night, Pray, "Mary, I love you."
Often, the best, first "hammer" is the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
2. THE MIRACLE WORKER
Saint Anthony's feast day is coming up on Friday, June 13th, which means your one-time per year opportunity to begin a nine-day novena to end on his feast day is this Thursday, June 5th. Here is a link to a Saint Anthony Novena:
http://www.catholicity.com/prayer/saint-anthony-novena.html
Some of you may recall an item from several years ago when we listed the Top Five intercessory saints (not including Our Lady and Saint Michael the Archangel, who seem to defy categories). These are the Saints who, for whatever reasons God has chosen, are completely reliable. Here are the Top Five: Saint Joseph, Saint Jude, Saint Anthony, Saint Therese the Little Flower, and surprisingly, Saint Josemaria Escriva. Many of you would doubtless wish to add a Saint Philomena or some other favorite intercessor. That's cool.
We love them all, of course, but if we had to choose one saint for one miracle (which, of course, we don't have to do), it would be Saint Anthony, the Miracle Worker of Padua. He's not just for finding things, either. Many years ago, we dubbed him the WD-40 of Saints because he pretty much can "fix" anything. Go for it! Here is our Catholic Encyclopedia entry on this amazing man:
http://www.catholicity.com/encyclopedia/a/anthony_of_padua,saint.html
3. CATHOLIC SUMMER READING
On the subject of changing lives, all 3 free Saint Jude Media novels have spectacular track records in helping change lives, even to the extent of inspiring wholesale conversions. There are many ways of explaining why. At heart, all conversions find their source in Jesus; that is, in grace. It certainly is not magic. We suspect that the grace that changed the hearts of many who have read Saint Jude Media novels was made available through the prayers of their loved ones (including, your own relatives and their angels in heaven).
A novel, in and of itself, it a powerful avenue for grace because it immerses the reader in a entire world. J.R.R. Tolkien characterized the "world" of the novel as a "subcreation." In other words, we can have relationships with the characters in a novel. For a time, we can "live" in another world, a world that challenges our view of the truth and presents us with the Beauty and Truth and Love that emanates from God. If we could distill the comments we've received from tens of thousands of the one or two million readers of Saint Jude Media novels, it would be "The characters were real to me." Grace is available in virtually all human activity, of course. Sure, our novels are page-turners. Yes, they are fun, funny, exciting, always surprising, and even disturbing. They are not lectures, and they are definitely not "spiritual reading" in the classical sense. That's important.
An unknown percentage of you reading this message have not read our novels. Please consider it right now. And it's okay if you rarely or don't normally read novels. For some reason, Saint Jude Media novels are especially adored by people who tell us that they normally don't read novels. Consider. Decide. Act. You can have one or two or all three of novels in your hands super-fast, free of charge, by clicking here:
http://www.catholicity.com/novels/
GROUP PRAYER
Let's all of us, all the tens of thousands of us, join in prayer together. But first, as individuals, think of a miracle you need in your life, and keep in mind that the efficacy of your prayers is multiplied in proportion to the number of people you pray with. Got your miracle in mind? Good. Let's begin in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...
"Dear Mary, Saint Michael, Saint Anthony, Saint Joseph, Saint Josemaria, Saint Therese, Saint Philomena, and Saint Jude, we humbly request that you ask Jesus to grant all of our petitions, and to do so quickly, in accord to the Divine Will of the Holy Trinity. Please, as you look into the eyes of Jesus for us, tell Him that we love Him. Amen."
And Amen, again. Enjoy your summer. Enjoy your kids. Enjoy your friends. Enjoy (if you can) your job. Enjoy being a Catholic. Enjoy LIFE! We remain...
Yours in Christ,
Your Friends at CatholiCity
