The CatholiCity Message
Volume XV, Number 8 – September 8, 2011
"Suffering is but a kiss from Jesus."
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Dear CatholiCity Citizen,
I want to personally apologize for our last message. It was too wordy and below par, marring the good it attempted to convey. Please forgive me. Our quotes this month, all one-liners, are interspersed throughout the message. And now, onward...
YOUR LOVE FOR SOULS
Orders for CDs and novels slow down every late summer at the Mary Foundation for a number of understandable reasons--vacations, prepping kids for school, holiday weekends, and so on. But the fundamental dynamic here is that you, CatholiCity Citizens, have a heart for evangelizing your fellow parishioners, and that you actually care if they ultimately end up in heaven or hell. You do the "work" while we supply the "tools."
So if it has been a while since you've distributed our powerful, life-changing CDs or novels, take a moment to reflect on the truth that God definitely has souls within your circle of influence that He wants to reach and convert through you. Please order some "tools for evangelization" today, including our free CD display:
https://secure.catholicity.com/
"Onward! Be daring!"
Saint Josemaria Escriva
POPE BENEDICT APOLOGIZES
You may not have heard that Pope Benedict XVI apologized for "generations" of "cradle Catholics" who failed to pass on true Faith:
QUICK QUOTE
"Sure, you can try to use Tabasco Sauce as eye-drops--but it won't work."
GK McBrien
THE SAINTS OF SEPTEMBER
September is filled with feasts for saints who are well worth looking up in the Catholic Encyclopedia (and of course, praying to), including, on the days in parenthesis: Peter Claver (9), John Chrysostom (13), Pope Cornelius and Cyprian (16), Robert Bellarmine, (17), Janarius (19), Kim Taegon (20), Matthew the Apostle (21), Padre Pio (23), Vincent de Paul (27), the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael (29), and Jerome (30). Here is the URL for the Catholic Encyclopedia webpage listing every saint:
http://www.catholicity.com/encyclopedia/saints.html
"Pray, hope, and don't worry."
Saint "Padre" Pio
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARY!
This message is being composed and sent out on September 8, the day the Church celebrates Mary's birthday. If praying is singing twice, then let's sing a prayer together, if only in the concert hall of our minds...
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Mary, happy birthday to you! Amen."
"I am all yours, Mary, and all that I have is yours."
Motto of the Pontificate of Pope John Paul II
A BRIGHT FUTURE
Regarding Benedict's apology above, we are grateful for our beloved pope's reliable frankness. That apology, along with his earlier assertion that the Church in the future will be smaller but more faithful, reminded me of an essay I have been preparing with you in mind for a long time, and which is almost finished. It is too long for the CatholiCity Message, so we will post it online and let you know about it next week. It is a summary of what happened during the two generations of Catholics in the United States after Vatican II and what is beginning to happen as the third and fourth generation of the tiny minority of faithful Catholic families continues to expand and profoundly influence the Church in the United States over the next twenty to thirty years. As a story, it begins rather bleakly, but I trust you will find it insightful, and, above all, quite hopeful.
"Love God and do as you will."
Saint Augustine
REMEMBERING 9/11
The media is already covering the events of September 11, 2001, when Islamic terrorists took control of four passenger jets, destroyed the two World Trade Center buildings in New York City, smashed into the Pentagon, and lost the fourth hijacked plane, likely headed for the Capitol Building in Washington, to heroic passengers who overwhelmed the terrorists, causing it to crash in rural Pennsylvania. Over 3,000 innocent civilians were murdered that day, including firemen and policemen who died trying to save lives at the WTC, causing untold grief to their family and friends. This singular group of events on one morning altered the course of modern history. Today, though, we invite you, the tens of thousands of CatholiCity Citizens, to pray the same prayer we prayed together on September 11, 2002, one year after the attacks:
"Dear Father Almighty,
As we mourn for all the souls who died on September 11th, many of whom woke up that morning with no prayer or thought of You on their hearts, we ask You to extend the full portion of Your Mercy on their souls. We also beg of you to continue to send the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, into the lives of their surviving relatives and friends. You, Father, and You alone, have the power to bring good out of evil.
We humbly implore you to guide the hands, feet, and minds of all rescue workers and police and fire workers who responded after the attack, and who will respond in the days ahead to whatever challenges confront them. Protect them. Enlighten them. Help them save lives.
We ask, too, Almighty One, that You extend a blanket of divine protection on the United States at this critical time. Guide our leaders, especially the president, and all sovereign nations who are our friends, and place them under the special mantle of the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady, who is the patroness of our country.
We ask all of this in the Holy Name that is Above All Other Names in Power and Glory and Love and Mercy; in the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son, our brother, and Our Savior.
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in the day of battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast into hell satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, pray for us. Saint Katharine Drexel and Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, pray for us. Saint Thomas More, Patron of Politicians, pray for us. Saint Joseph, Patron Saint of Canada, pray for us. Immaculate Mary, Patroness of the United States, pray for us. Jesus Christ, King of Kings, we adore you! Amen."
Thank you for praying with us, and for being a faithful part of our work. Don't forget to order some CDs for your parish today. Our final quote is:
"God alone suffices."
Saint Terese of Avila
With the Birthday Girl,
Your Friends at CatholiCity
