The CatholiCity Message
Volume XX, Number 4 – April 6, 2016
The Twelve to Fifteen Minute Solution
Dear CatholiCity Citizen,
Mother Angelica, rest in peace. I'm sure you heard she passed away on Easter Sunday. I met her a few times. She was as tough as she came across on television. Here is my favorite quote from her:
"I believe if every Catholic in this country said the Rosary for a month, every day, all sixty million of us, the Lord would turn this country around."
Got lotsa stuff for you. Jam-packed, I tell you. I bring you things to help change your life. Feel free to browse, skip, or read every word, but please don't skip the concluding group prayer—where else can you pray with tens of thousands of believers around the world?
Jesus is Coming, and So is His CD
As I promised, in a few weeks we are releasing our first new talk in a long time. Riveting. Unique. Superstar priest speaker. And all about Jesus. CatholiCity Citizens will be the first to know, so keep an eye on your in-box.
This Next Item Was Going to Be Much Longer
But it won't be. To make frozen pizza taste better, spray or sprinkle one or two ounces of olive oil on before cooking. Add a few ounces of shredded mozzarella (only $2 to $3 a pound at discount "club" stores). I promised life-changing, so there.
Bringing Your 2016 Petitions to...(drumroll)
Remember how my son Clete and I physically brought several thousand of your written petitions to Fatima, Portugal last year? Many of your prayers were answered, including with a few miracles. This summer I'm going to the Rome, Italy with the same goal. (Perhaps a few of our readers in Italy and Europe could meet up with me?) I am also hoping our American and Canadian readers can make simultaneous pilgrimages to a Marian Shrine or cathedral near your home on the same day. I'll let all of you know when I set the date—it will definitely fall on a super-cool Catholic feast day.
Don't Make Me Remind You Forty-Eight Times
If your stash of Mary Foundation CDs, booklets (not to mention my novels) for distribution in churches and groups near you is running low, please stock up today. If you haven't given away these life-changing materials in a while (or ever), remember that souls are at stake. Only you can reach them. You do the real work—I just type stuff. It only takes a few moments and we'll ship 'em immediately.
Join Cardinal Burke in Operation Storm Heaven Monthly Rosary Campaign
Cardinal Burke is spearheading a powerful campaign to recruit one million people to pray the Rosary on the first day of every month, in union with Masses offered by the cardinal and priests who join him. I'm in! You can pledge to participate online and even submit your personal intentions.
Quote
Islam needs to clarify two questions, that is, the questions concerning its relation to violence and its relation to reason.
– Pope Benedict XVI
Bonus Below
I decided to locate my final bonus item after my signature because of its length, because it may not apply to you personally, and because it does not directly involve the faith (although it was inspired by a desire to improve health within the context of faith-filled parental responsibility). I believe it may help you immensely. (Does pizza involve the faith? Yes and no. Maybe.)
Easter is More Than Easter
Easter is not over. The Church has "seasons." Lent lasts from Ash Wednesday until Holy Thursday evening. The "Triduum," from Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday, comprises its own "season" and is the shortest on the Church calendar.
Easter Season officially ends on Pentecost Sunday, seven full weeks after Easter Sunday—a longer period than Lent. First up was Divine Mercy Sunday. Catholics also traditionally substitute the daily noontime Angelus prayer with the resurrection-focused Regina Coeli. If you haven't heard of either, which are rarely promoted in most parishes or schools anymore, you can find them in our free booklet, Powerful Prayers. Saint John Vianney, the ultimate parish priest, fasted on potatoes all year long except during Easter Season.
So let us make this Easter Season the best ever. It is always discouraging for me to see fewer brothers and sisters at daily Mass after Lent ends. This is the perfect time to add a positive spiritual habit to your life such as daily Mass, evening Examination of Conscience, daily Rosary, frequent Eucharistic adoration, bi-monthly Confession, or even, adding another church or two to your "Catholic CD and Booklet" distribution network.
When you pray or go to Mass the world changes because God changes you, which helps the people in your life. People you don't even know change because Jesus pours more grace into the world through His Mystical Body with every prayer or sacrifice you make. Offering your entire day to Jesus when you open your eyes in the morning changes the world.
Our godless, materialistic, self-absorbed, baby-killing, sinful pornocracy broadcasts a pulsing, constant message: we serious Catholics are weird, stupid, powerless, and delusional. Rubes. Just the opposite is true: our virtuous cooperation with God's grace and our enthusiastic joining of our struggles to Christ on the Cross is the most powerful and important human activity on this planet. "Success" for us is holiness. To the world, the Catholic father who humbly sacrifices and leads his family is boring. The Catholic mother who welcomes another child is a sucker. Nothing is more ridiculous in the judgement of our culture than a young man or woman "wasting" life by giving up sex for the priesthood or religious life. The world, which loves pleasure, believes selflessness is irrational.
We are the powerful ones because the smaller we become and the more we live for others, the greater God becomes. They are the ones wasting their lives. Mother Teresa is our shining example and a perfect refutation of their lies.
Which means you are my heroes (and I really do wish I could hang out with every one of you, knock back a few adult beverages, and share some laughs). Easter Season is our season: the season of the triumph of Jesus over death. Let's keep celebrating!
Hey Hey Let's Pray
Tens of thousands of us, together, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...
All the angels and saints, especially our relatives in heaven and their angels, please join our cries of the heart to your intercession before the throne of heaven. Eternal Father, we offer you the body and blood, soul and divinity, of your dearly beloved, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world! Holy God, holy Mighty One, holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world!
O Risen Christ, Spirit of the Living God, and Father of Mercy, we, the Citizens of CatholiCity, in gratitude and humility, beg you to answer all our petitions for our family, friends, and coworkers without delay—for their conversion and sanctification, spiritual and temporal needs, for their healing, perfect health, long life and freedom from temptation, addiction, and all evil. Amen.
I'll be back soon. I'm looking forward to reading your email responses. You guys are the best!
With Mary,
Bud Macfarlane
Founder
Bonus: Practical Exercise Advice, Based on a True Story
Please stay with me here if you struggle to fit exercise into your life. I was an accomplished athlete growing up—football, basketball, baseball, as well as naturally adept at soccer, frisbee—whatever. Like a number of you, I gradually gained weight into middle age, and sadly, like a few of you, to the point of high-risk obesity.
About fifteen years ago, as our longtime readers may recall, for the sake of my children (and a bit of vanity) I embraced a low-carb diet, exercised virtually every day (skiing, running, outdoor work, and hiking) and regained the slimness of my youth. It was easy because we lived in New Hampshire and there were mountains in the back yard (literally). Since returning to the Ohio suburbs I've gained a bit of weight and have settled into a somewhat beefy middle-aged dude (who can still kick your sorry bum, so don't get any ideas, whippersnappers). My body is understandably breaking down with age; even if I had the time, I just can't play pick-up basketball three or four times a week without straining or injuring something.
Fat, trim, fit, unhealthy, in between—if you've been there or are there, I have experienced your frustrations, pains, and joys firsthand, often for years at a time. As an Italian, I love to eat, too. As a Not-German, self-discipline lies at the bottom of my natural inclinations. I could watch television all day while eating nothing but junk food (the perfect vacation?) and enjoy it until I exploded. My faith teaches that sloth and gluttony are sins, but my flesh begs to differ (and also begs for Doritos and chocolate and Breaking Bad).
As a very engaged father, working man, frequent traveler (and lazy bum), it has become increasingly difficult to find the time and energy to exercise. When I arrive home from work there are always few more hours of "family" time, which I love. Exhausted, when I finally get a chance to relax with a book or watch a show (usually with my sons during what I like to think of as the optimal "do the laundry" window) I look up at the clock and am shocked it's 9:00 pm or later.
Is this your life too, fellow dads and moms? Finally catching your breath at 8:45? Seriously, let me know by replying to this email. Tell me about your day—work, prayer, family, and fitness. Any wisdom to share? Or frustrations.
So the conundrum is how to fit meaningful exercise into our schedule while fully and energetically meeting our Christian responsibilities. Months ago I solved this Chinese puzzle by accepting one practical truth, and in response, adopting two simple principles (and one "tracking" method).
First, I accepted that is impossible to exercise for an hour at a time. Realistically, including changing into exercise clothes, driving to and from my local recreation center, showering, and changing again, exercising for a half hour to an hour translates into taking an hour and half out of sacrosanct family time.
One and a half hours! That is never going to happen. Not with my responsibilities—not before work (because getting sleep is part of being healthy) and not after work, and I'm betting not with your responsibilities either. Am I right?
Without further adieu, here are the three deceptively simple principles which worked for me (because I tested them) and should work for you:
1) Exercise for twelve to fifteen minutes.
Consider exercise any rigorous aerobic activity that fits your age, health, and doctor's advice. For me this means any activity that keeps my heart rate between 120 and 150 (including shoveling snow or mowing the lawn with vigor). I'm not a doctor, but I remember reading somewhere that 12-15 minutes of aerobic exercise is sufficient for getting into shape and has the effect of initiating several hours of increased metabolic activity.
12-15 minutes is a minimum, not a limit; if you have more time, good for you: enjoy whatever is medically prudent.
Perhaps more to the point, the "actual" time needed for 12-15 minutes of exercise including travel, clothing changes, and a quick shower: around 30 minutes.
I discovered there is almost always a half hour gap when my family is otherwise engaged and I won't be missed (such as homework time). For me the gap is often just after getting home from work or just before or after dinner.
If I'm really pressed, I run back and forth inside my house and save the travel time. If the weather cooperates, I jump on a bike and ride for six minutes then ride back. Sometimes I'll use four different exercise machines at the workout center for three paltry minutes each. Sometimes I exercise and then do sweaty grocery shopping or other errand in one round trip. Or I walk super-briskly to a nearby store and consider carrying the stuff back a kind of weight training. When my legs are sore, I lift weights for my upper body. I'm sure you can find a variety of 12-15 minute exercises to suit your age, situation, tastes.
2) Aim for 5 or 6 days a week.
But be satisfied with at 3-4 days while trying to never skip more than one day. I don't let it bother me if I miss a day when family or work related responsibilities take precedent. As the weeks go by, you will find, as you grow stronger and more fit, that the habit will build and you'll have more 5-6 day weeks than 3-4 day weeks. (I used this same principle to incorporate daily Mass into my life decades ago. Now I rarely miss a day.)
Also: weekend days are like gold because it is easier to find that 30 minute window—so if you must skip a day, make it a weekday.
In both a practical and psychological manner, this works. I tell myself, "Self, it's only twelve minutes and you'll be back in a jiffy, Buddy Boy." (Yes, I call myself Buddy Boy, as does my mom.) 12-15 minutes is less daunting and easier because, in reality, it is less daunting and easier. You won't feel bad about depriving your family because you won't be depriving your family.
3) Measure Simply.
Live by the maxim "That is which is measured is that which is achieved." Even so, I am too thick to keep track of things with complex details—plus it takes more time. Instead, I write a big blue "E" with a sharpie on the calendar in the kitchen after I complete every exercise session. I derive great satisfaction from writing that E. If four or five Es mark any given seven-day period, cool. My boys see it. I text a photo of that calendar every few weeks to my son Jude in Arizona, who matches me with his own regimen.
Your can copy the calendar idea or come up with a similarly simple method. Line up magnets on your fridge. Stack checker pieces on the windowsill over the kitchen sink. Move your Saint Joseph statue to a designated Exercise Done Today spot on your dresser. Measure with something simple that you can see.
Finally, I invested in a Fitbit solely for the heart rate monitor function and was pleasantly surprised that the cellphone app, which keeps track of steps, sleep, stairs, miles, and calories, etc., is easy to use and quite motivational. Now I primarily measure my health progress by my daily Resting Heart Rate, which is down from 79-80 to 69-70 since I started. I have gained a significant amount of muscle and lost a few pounds of fat, although my goal is health, not weight loss. I'm consulting with my doctor and so should you.
The new approach has been working for months. It has been relatively easy. It does not impinge on responsibilities. My health has improved dramatically. It adjusts smoothly for my older body. I need less sleep, sleep more deeply, and concentrate better at work. I can keep this up for years—similar to the five straight years of slender health I enjoyed in New Hampshire.
12-15 minutes. 4-6 days a week. Measure simply.
If you decide to give some version of this approach a try, let me know or give me an update in a few months from now. I truly hope this helps. I sense it may add years or decades to some of your lives.
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