The CatholiCity Message

Volume XIX, Number 10 – October 30, 2015

Dear CatholiCity Citizen,

Today will be one of the briefest CatholiCity Messages. I will share two thoughts followed by a few quotes, upcoming Feast days, and of course, our group prayer together. As for my (very popular) "Everything but the Kitchen Sink" messages, I will have a final Part 4 for you in about a week so. Remember, in early December, we begin our annual Christmas Appeal, and like every year, you'll have a chance to keep our doors open for 2016, receive a beautiful and spiritually powerful fridge magnet, medal, art-house print as our gift to you, and to play your crucial role in influencing millions of souls together. By the way, welcome new readers!

Thoughts on the Synod
As you have likely heard, a majority of faithful bishops from around the world made certain the final synod document reinforced Catholic doctrine despite efforts from primarily European leftist bishops to do otherwise.

You and I have basically grown up in a very difficult era of Church history over the past few decades, marked in particular by a lack of faithfulness to magisterial teaching by our own bishops while Saint John Paul and (saint) Benedict XVI slowly replaced most of the bad apples. However, it is still a bit surreal to witness Catholic bishops scheme so diligently for changes that would have amounted to contradictions of divine truth regarding marriage, sexual perversion, and other issues.

Still, I cannot help but sense an opportunity was lost with the two Synods on family life. This is simply a personal observation from me, but I suspect that many bishops, even relatively good ones, do not believe lay Catholics are capable of heroic, radically holy lives. The silence on the necessity for fathers to take responsibility for their families, for instance, is disturbing.

Your Brain and the Internet
I've just finished reading The Shallows, which is one of the most important, disturbing, and life-changing books I have ever read. (I'm working on making it available through CatholiCity for a minimal cost, so stayed tuned.) Essentially, based on modern neuroscience, it shows how all media causes our brains to literally "rewire." In the case of our interaction with our cellphones and computers, it is becoming clear Internet technology is rewiring our neurons (that is, our minds) to be dramatically less capable of reading books, deeper thinking, extended concentration, and connecting with people in the real world.

We all understandably tend to evaluate media (radio, television, computers, smart phones) in terms of content (pornography is the most obvious negative example). Yet consider the following hypothetical question: Even if all content were edifyingly Catholic, what would happen to a person whose interaction with the Internet consisted of tweets, Facebook updates, texts, games played, and webpages browsed, tens of thousands of repetitions piling up for hours per day, every day, month after month, years after year? Is this your life? Is this good for you? Does this decrease your ability to pray?

I'll have more on this subject over the coming year. In the meantime, click reply and let me know what you think the Internet is doing to your brain.

Quotes

"No doctrinal developments, no doctrinal surprises, no doctrinal backflips; no changes in praxis or discipline. It was beautiful commendation of large families and of the witness of happily married spouses and their children as agents of evangelization."
– Cardinal George Pell on the final Synod document

"Have you ever wondered why you have not yet become a saint? If you're like most people, the answer is simple: you need to spend more time with Jesus."
– Fr. John McCloskey in Seven Daily Habit for Faithful Catholics

"True science discovers God in an ever-increasing degree, as though God were waiting behind every door opened by science."
– Pope Pius XII

"A dead thing can go with the stream but only a living thing can go against it."
– G.K. Chesterton

"A vague lack of serenity? Family difficulties? Money or work problems? Then stop being a bad, lazy, or lukewarm Catholic. The most wonderful thing, the most exciting thing, would be God spitting you out of his mouth."
– Joseph Wood

Some Upcoming Feast Days

• Sunday, November 1, All Saints. Every one, 8050 in all.
• Monday, November 2, All Souls (including our relatives in heaven)
• Wednesday, November 4, St. Charles Borromeo, Really Smart Guy.
• Tuesday, November 10, St. Leo the Great. One of four: Peter, Leo, Gregory, John Paul II.

Let's Pray Together
Several years ago I noticed that we can find new insights into common prayers by concentrating on particular words. For example, try praying an Our Father with an emphasis on the word "daily." Today, along with tens of thousands of your fellow CatholiCity Citizen, pray one Hail Mary for each others' intentions, with a special emphasis on the word now, helping us remember that with each Hail Mary we pray, the Mother of Jesus is praying with us at this very moment.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death, amen.

Thank you for being a part of our work and my life. I remembered you and your family when I received Holy Communion just a few hours ago. Don't forget to set you clock back on Sunday.

Be back soon...and, as always,

With Mary,

Bud Macfarlane
Executive Director