Short Sober and Sweet

Volume XXIII, Number 2 – February 26, 2019

Dear CatholiCity Citizen,

I've been looking forward to writing to you. I'm going to keep everything brief until I get to the Sober item. Let's begin, shall we?

Stream All our Talks

Did you know every talk we offer has been available free on Spotify, iTunes, GooglePlay and most of the other major streaming services for a while now? (If you use our Rosary and Divine Mercy chaplet while commuting, you can migrate to streaming.) Find the major formats here.

We Are Really Bad

You and I are really bad. Take an long honest moment—I mean, really, pause—and gaze inside yourself and behold the one or two things, either a bad habit you indulge or something you did or did not do over the past few days, that makes you ashamed. I'll wait. What comes to mind?

Ash Wednesday is just around the corner, on March 6. Prepare to make your confession. Be courageous. If you fail to deal bravely with your sinfulness, trust me, it will get worse. The good news is that Jesus is ready to bestow mercy and the graces you need to carry your cross up the hill of sanctity.

Simply Wonderful

Your response to my update on how I messed up the Christmas appeal Was. Simply. Wonderful! So many of you flooded us with support that I was moved to tears. You gave us enough to pull the trigger on that expensive “top secret” multi-media book project!

And we still have some of those amazing Holy Sepulchre rosaries on hand (for a slightly higher gift amount) if you want to make this big sentimental lug cry again:

Holy Land Rosary

Lourdes: Prayer Intentions Open!

Father John O'Brien and I are already planning a pilgrimage to bring to your intentions to France this summer, with a few twists. We will bring your intentions to Lourdes (of course!) and Our Lady of Victory Shrine (where Our Lady gave the Miraculous Medal to Saint Catherine Laboure).

This time, however, we will bring a group of young men who are discerning vocations (perhaps you have a son or grandson who needs this?). It will be a decidedly spiritual pilgrimage with time set aside for prayer and the Ignatian exercises—not a “Catholic vacation.” We will need for a handful of you to serve as chaperones and CatholiCity Citizen representatives, though we are going to invite all of you to participate as prayer warriors.

I'll share more details in the coming months, but you can start submitting your confidential intentions online (which I will personally carry on a flash drive and “hide” at every holy site) right now by clicking here.

Ash Wednesday: March 6, 2019

Wait!? What?! Lent?! Now is the time to “stock up” on Mary Foundation books, CDs, and booklets to receive in time for Ash Wednesday for your parish and circle of influence. Order here.

From Three Elevations

I promised you something on the ongoing scandals in the Church. From here on the ground, at my elevation, I am a mere layman toiling in the vineyard of souls, just like you. I have read hundreds of articles since Pope Benedict resigned, and early on, decided to keep my thoughts to myself.

Although I pray for every pope at Mass daily with great love, Pope Francis' reign has been, uh, problematic, from a variety of perspectives, yet I believe these issues can also be a distraction. For over four decades since high school, I have been privy to the rot within certain parts of the Catholic Church hierarchy--including the so-called Lavender Mafia and rampant heresies which permeated seminaries, parishes, and the priesthood, to varying degrees worldwide, in recent generations.

No doubt you have your own experiences.

I grew up in a diocese run by, and was confirmed by, one of the most notoriously liberal bishops in the history of the United States and graduated from the pathetically and purposefully dissident University of Notre Dame. As I have taken pains to explain, the evil one must, by definition, target Christ's one true Church because His Mystical Body is where souls in need of salvation find their only succor.

I'm encouraged by the best efforts of the United States bishops since the turn of the millennium to clean up the mess here to the point that sexual abuse by our priests is now extremely rare—the policy requiring everyone to report incidents to the police first was long overdue. (Although, tragically, some innocent, faithful priests have been unjustly sanctioned.)

Many of our seminaries are safe and orthodox—we have some of the best in the world, including where my own son, Xavier, attends here in the Diocese of Cleveland. How many people know that Pope Benedict defrocked over 800 priests after careful investigation? Efforts by our own good bishops to police our (there is no other word) evil bishops, with the help of lay oversight, apparently have been met will little support or even stonewalling by the Vatican. I share your frustration.

The finest and most influential authentically Catholic organizations, from EWTN, to LifeSite News, First Things, and countless devout Catholic thinkers and commentators on a multitude of websites and podcasts have recognized the gravity of the situation.

Again, from my ground level elevation, there is always the temptation for us to avoid our own responsibility, even if we are not a direct cause for the horrors committed by our churchmen. Have I been a saint? No. Have you?

During my three decades running the Mary Foundation and CatholiCity, as my longtime readers know, I have avoided getting bogged down in liberal/conservative polemics. Instead I focus on sharing the supernatural hope Immaculate Mary placed in my heart, invite regular folks like you to join her work, which consists of encouraging others to pray and return to the sacraments (especially Confession).

Without further adieu, here is some recommended reading:

From 10,000 Feet

I trust Robert Royal, frequent member of the “Papal Posse” on EWTN. He often writes for The Catholic Thing website. (I also recommend Phil Lawler at CatholicCulture.org). In his latest depressing article, Robert considers what might come after Francis.

From 50,000 Feet

R.R. “Rusty” Reno, the genius editor of the leading Catholic intellectual journal of our time, First Things, has a knack for perceiving the big picture. Read his now-famous commentary on the “failure” of the Pope Francis papacy from a more detached perspective.

From 5,000,000 Feet

The most trustworthy “source” is the one without sin, the one closest to God as His spouse, mother, and daughter: Immaculate Mary. This little project to which Our Lady has called you, the Mary Foundation (parent of CatholiCity), originated when we released my father's riveting and terrifying summary of her approved apparitions to the world over the last few centuries. It is the most popular Catholic recording of all time, and retains striking relevance.

Along these lines, my friend Ted Flynn at Signs and Wonders of Our Times, has written an intriguing article about lesser-known warnings Mary has given concerning the evil times in which we live.

Agree or disagree, for me, very little has changed. I am going to keep praying for our pope. I remain grateful beyond words that you are a part of my life.

Quotes

The only security is courage.
-Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Great are those two gifts: wisdom and continence (self-restraint of fleshly desire). Wisdom, because it that by which we are formed by God. Continence, whereby we are not formed by this world.
-Saint Augustine

If am obliged to bring bring religion into after-dinner toasts, I shall drink to the pope, if you please, yet still, to conscience first, and to the pope afterwards.
-(Soon-to-Be Saint) Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman

If you rightly bear your cross, it will bear you.
-Thomas a Kempis

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of the readiness to die.
-G.K. Chesterton

The principle act of courage is to endure and withstand dangers doggedly rather than to attack.
-Saint Thomas Aquinas

Joke

A man is riding his horse in the desert alongside his dog when the dog remarks, “I can’t do this anymore. I need water.”

The man, taken aback, says, “I didn’t know dogs could talk.”

Then his horse says, “Me neither!”

Healing Prayer

A few days ago, a friend of mine, Pamela, told me she has breast cancer and that it is spreading quickly throughout her body. As I related months ago, Katherine, a young mother and my coworker here, is also battling cancer. Both are being quite brave. Tens of thousands receive this CatholiCity Message, and we all know loved ones suffering from serious illness (or perhaps you're the one suffering). Take heart and please join me, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, as we call on my dear friend, Saint Anthony...

Oh Holy Saint Anthony, gentlest of saints,
your love for God made you worthy to
possess miraculous powers on earth.
Miracles waited on your word,
which you were ever ready to speak for those in trouble or anxiety.
Encouraged by this thought,
I implore of you to intercede for the healing of Pamela, Katherine,
and all of us who need healing in body, mind, and soul.

If the answer to our prayer requires a miracle, well,
you are the saint of miracles, and we trust you before the
Throne of Heaven.

Oh gentle and loving Saint Anthony,
whose heart was ever full of human sympathy,
whisper our petitions into the ear of the sweet infant Jesus,
who loved to be folded in your arms,
and the gratitude of our hearts will ever be yours.
Amen.

More Jordan Peterson

And amen. As I shared last month, I believe Jordan Peterson needs our prayers, so join me in praying for him every day. I found this month's recommended Peterson Podcast, entitled Our Cultural Inflection Point, particularly inspiring, and so, I trust, will you.

Are you still reading this? Awww, thank you! Do you like the different photos I've been putting at the end of the Message recently (I shaved and applied 17 filters to the one below)? Until Lent, I remain yours...

With the Queen of Heaven,

Bud Macfarlane
Founder