"Catholic" chain letter

[Captain_Napalm]

I received one of those silly chain emails today (you know, the ones that tell you to forward it to everyone you know… or else!) This one, however, was entitled “St. Theresa’s Prayer.” I figured it was a chain-prayer thing; a nice thought, but a bit silly IMO. Usually, I read it and delete it. This one, however, really got me a bit mad. Here’s the body of the email:

*PLEASE READ AND SEND BACK…YOU’LL SEE WHY

Don’t know how many Catholics there are out there receiving this message, but in case anyone is interested, Saint Theresa is known as the Saint of the Little Ways… Meaning she believed in doing the little things in life well and with great love. She is also the patron Saint of flower growers and florists. She is represented by roses. May everyone be blessed who receives this message.

Theresa’s Prayer cannot be deleted. REMEMBER to make a wish before you read the poem. That’s all you have to do. There is nothing attached. This is a powerful novena. Just send this to four people and let me know what happens on the fourth day. Do not break this, please. Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of reward.

(Did you make a wish?) If you don’t make a wish, it won’t come true.

Last Chance to Make a Wish.

   May today there be peace within.
   May you trust your highest power that you are exactly
   where you are meant to be.....
   May you not forget the infinite possibilities
   that are born of faith.
   May you use those gifts that you have received, and
   pass on the love that has been given to you....
   May you be content knowing you are a child of God....
   Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow
   your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is
   there for each and every one of you....

Send This to 7 People within the next 5 minutes and your wish will come true Please send this back…you’ll see why.*

I was incensed! A stupid chain email is a powerful Novena? Do they have any idea what a Novena is?? It certainly isn’t "make a wish, read a poem and forward it to your friends!

Make a wish to get what you want? Who wrote this, Jiminy Cricket??

Send it to four people and see what you get on the fourth day?? Don’t forget to toss a pinch of salt over your shoulder and avoid any black cats on the way to work…

What really got me in a fit was that I got this email forwarded to me from a so-called Catholic! It’s nothing but silly silly superstitious pap that inspires people to bury inverted statues of St. Joseph in their yards to help them sell their houses. The fact that someone tried to masquerade this as a Catholic prayer really burns me up.

Sorry for the tirade, but this stuff drives me up a wall. I thought I’d post it so you could tell your Catholic friends and relatives to avoid this kind of garbage.

 

[Poisson]

Captain Napalm:

Sorry for the tirade, but this stuff drives me up a wall. I thought I’d post it so you could tell your Catholic friends and relatives to avoid this kind of garbage.

Other Christians will also get this and say “Yep everything I have heard about those Catholics is true.”
Makes us all look bad!

 

[The_Barrister]

Aye, thanks for bringing up this topic, Cap’n. We should all avoid this garbage, but maybe there’s something that we can do about it, too.

Catechism 2115-2117 address such nonsense. :banghead:

We don’t know who originated this particular email. It could well have been a well-meaning Catholic, and that is to our disgrace.

As we all know around here, sending chain letters is sinful on several levels. First, it is a form of false prophecying and spiritualism which does not rely upon God; if one believes it, it is presumptious at best that we can tell God what to do, and if one does not believe it but sends it anyway, that act is leading others into sin. Who says that we make the rules and God folows those rules? God’s promises are to those who obey HIS laws, not the other way around.

If you receive this email, you can simply delete it. Or, you can write a polite email to the writer and all of the recipients (if the writer was ignorant enough to put the recipients in the “TO:” or “CC:” field instead of the “BCC:” field) and tell tham that the Catholic Church teaches that superstition and false prophecying are sinful activities, and that, as Catholics, we should not be a party to such practices.

Just doing my part to help clean up my little area in cyberspace…

 

[Edwin1961]

Yes sir! Traveling along the Internet Super Highway, you’ll find garbage like that along the side of the road.
I usually delete them even before I read it. Moslty because I do not open e mails that are not from/or from those I know, BUT are all written with Fwd.Fwd Fwd all over them. They may contain computer VIRUSES! Now tell me that is a blessing?
Just a The Barrister said, Just go to the beginning recipient and send him/her a copy of the CCC dealing with supersticion.

Go with God!
Edwin

 

[hawkeye]

Received one of those 20 years ago and gave it to the priest and he destroyed it, my advice is burn it ! send it back to hell where it belongs, and break the chain !!!

 

[go_Leafs_go]

I get these all the time, I just delete them. I look at them as nice thoughts however just choose not to forward them nor believe them.

 

[Max]

Make a wish to get what you want? Who wrote this, Jiminy Cricket??

Send it to four people and see what you get on the fourth day?? Don’t forget to toss a pinch of salt over your shoulder and avoid any black cats on the way to work…

I couldn’t help but laugh at loud when I read that

But, really, I don’t believe that most people who send them are “sinners” for doing so. If they knew it was wrong and just what they were doing, they wouldn’t send it! It’s just something that they unwittingly do, plus send it with the added pressure that it would be the “wrong thing to do” to delete it since most of them claim it is. But yes, chain letters are actually quite bad, and The Barrister here is actually doing a good service that I hadn’t thought of…maybe I’ll send back a reply to get the sender informed next time i get one.

 

[DrCat]

The Barrister:

Aye, thanks for bringing up this topic, Cap’n. We should all avoid this garbage, but maybe there’s something that we can do about it, too.

Catechism 2115-2117 address such nonsense. :banghead:

We don’t know who originated this particular email. It could well have been a well-meaning Catholic, and that is to our disgrace.

As we all know around here, sending chain letters is sinful on several levels. First, it is a form of false prophecying and spiritualism which does not rely upon God; if one believes it, it is presumptious at best that we can tell God what to do, and if one does not believe it but sends it anyway, that act is leading others into sin. Who says that we make the rules and God folows those rules? God’s promises are to those who obey HIS laws, not the other way around.

If you receive this email, you can simply delete it. Or, you can write a polite email to the writer and all of the recipients (if the writer was ignorant enough to put the recipients in the “TO:” or “CC:” field instead of the “BCC:” field) and tell tham that the Catholic Church teaches that superstition and false prophecying are sinful activities, and that, as Catholics, we should not be a party to such practices.

Just doing my part to help clean up my little area in cyberspace…

Barrister,

Thanks. I keep getting things like this from “Catholic” co-workers. I keep trying to find some way to make them see that this type of mail can be problematical, all to no avail. Maybe if I tell them this, they might stop and think the next time.

Usually I just delete these letters (unread), but they are still distracting.

(Of course, I also have one other way of dealing with forwarded messages of this variety. I informed my daughter (who used to be one of the worst offenders) that I had just added her to my block list. Then I refused to answer any mail that did get through from her. She soon straightened up.)

John

 

[Annunciata]

The Barrister:

Aye, thanks for bringing up this topic, Cap’n. We should all avoid this garbage, but maybe there’s something that we can do about it, too.

Catechism 2115-2117 address such nonsense. :banghead:

We don’t know who originated this particular email. It could well have been a well-meaning Catholic, and that is to our disgrace.

As we all know around here, sending chain letters is sinful on several levels. First, it is a form of false prophecying and spiritualism which does not rely upon God; if one believes it, it is presumptious at best that we can tell God what to do, and if one does not believe it but sends it anyway, that act is leading others into sin. Who says that we make the rules and God folows those rules? God’s promises are to those who obey HIS laws, not the other way around.

If you receive this email, you can simply delete it. Or, you can write a polite email to the writer and all of the recipients (if the writer was ignorant enough to put the recipients in the “TO:” or “CC:” field instead of the “BCC:” field) and tell tham that the Catholic Church teaches that superstition and false prophecying are sinful activities, and that, as Catholics, we should not be a party to such practices.

Just doing my part to help clean up my little area in cyberspace…

Guilty… I have sent these along only after cutting out the warnings if you don’t stuff or the this or that will happend, etc, etc…basically because I thought the prayer was nice to receive and send…St Therese` is one of my favorite saints. I really do believe that those who send them are well meaning and aren’t even aware that they are sinning. But thanks for the heads up. I really think sending them a “slap on the wrist” note wouldn’t be very nice…some of these people are waining Catholics and are just trying to do the right thing. p.s. to much legalism can turn a faint hearted Catholic away…:crying:

 

[ilt]

Anunciata wrote…(Have yet to learn how to add quotes…)

*“I really do believe that those who send them are well meaning and aren’t even aware that they are sinning. But thanks for the heads up. I really think sending them a “slap on the wrist” note wouldn’t be very nice…some of these people are waining Catholics and are just trying to do the right thing. p.s. to much legalism can turn a faint hearted Catholic away…”
*

(Hi Anunciata: Nice to meet you. I always came across your wonderful posts in my pre-poster days. God bless your good soul! )

I would like to add this post to this almost 2yr old thread, after having read most of the similar threads. I have just received the St. Therese chain letter from a niece and thought of responding to her after searching the Forums.

I think that even though these senders of chain letters are well-meaning or are waning Catholics, the greater is the need and obligation on our part to point out to them the truth about chain letter/prayer as being a superstition. With charity, of course, asap. The truth hurts at times but it sets us free. I came from a culture where there’s a lot of superstitious beliefs and it’s through the Catholic Faith, common sense and science that I was able to free myself from this evil, with God’s grace. I even refrain from saying “Good luck”. So I am emailing back my niece today w/ attached quotes from where else but the great posters of this Forums. Thanks so much!!

I have also added the following:

The best prayer for me is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, where one receives Holy Communion in the state of sanctifying grace (after having been to Confession). Next is spending some time (preferably at least an hour) in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

Peace.

Irene

 

[AnthonyJ]

I got a chain letter the other day from a girl I was dating. I was so annoyed that I canceled our date today and told her never to send me a letter like that again.

 

[puzzleannie]

yes it is a chain letter
no it is not Catholic
it is basic superstition and extortion using a Catholic theme, very cynical and anti-Catholic
if it came through the mail it could violate USPS regs, esp if it contains threats
if it comes on the internet, report as spam and block the sender

when I get these from well-meaning but naive friends my first response is to shoot it back to them, tell them not to forward messages that contain my email address in the header, and explain why these messages are dangerous and wrong. if the same sender sends forwarded messages again I block them.

as a matter of practice I delete unread all messages with a paper clip unless it is someone sending something I requested, major virus conduit. I also inform my regular correspondents of my practice, so after a while they stop sending them. don’t have time to waste on this stuff anyhow

example, I subscribe to pro-life sites, and at least 10 of my friends also involved in pro-life send me messages from same sites, like they should know if they are subscribed, so am I. before you forward please ask your recipient if they would welcome such info

 

[Joysong]

as a matter of practice I delete unread all messages with a paper clip unless it is someone sending something I requested, major virus conduit.

What is a ‘paper clip,’ puzzleannie?

Send This to 7 People within the next 5 minutes and your wish will come true Please send this back…you’ll see why.

I understand this is where hackers get their names from to continue sending spam. One spam message that came through to me had my own user name in it! That’s why they use the urgency in forwarding, to get your mailing list, not to have you benefit spiritually from a so-called message.

 

[St_Gabriel]

The St. Therese chain letters don’t bother me so much as one that I received with a picture of Our Lady of Guadeloupe. It said that the picture was miraculous because if you didn’t send it out to 10 people you would be cursed. Then it went on to tell how some person had many tragedies and died because he didn’t forward it. There was a list of people that the email was sent to, so I returned it to all and explained the story of Tilma and why it was truely miraculous not because of “bad luck”.

 

[Leopard]

What is a ‘paper clip,’…?..

It is how some e-mail programs indicate that a message has one or more attached files.

 

[Teelynn]

I agree with you all, these are definitely “Anti-Catholic” sending prayer along with curses? I have received these as well and just delete them. (love that delete button ) but some of these people that send them to me I know very well personally. They are very upright and devout Catholic people that I believe are just doing this mindlessly…or maybe they don’t read the whole email message? Of course, I am giving them the benefit of the doubt, but I think some of these people should be gently informed that these are spam and have nothing to do with Catholic Christian teaching or values. This gives me the idea to compose some sort of tactful note to my email list telling them of the corrupt content of these emails. Some of these are not even necessarily “Catholic” in content, just prayer related with warnings of bad luck attached. I think I might finally put an end to these with a note to my address book. Glad I saw this thread this morning!

 

[Dorothy]

It would be good if someone were to articulate a standard reply to superstitious chain letters.

Of course, the reply would need to be charitable, but able to point out the errors in the message.

And, while we’re on the subject, planting plastic statues of St. Joseph upside down on your property is not necessary to sell your house.

Sincere prayers to St. Joseph will do.

A priest kindly pointed out to retreatants that this practice should not be done. (referring to burying St. Joseph statue). We need to learn what prayer truly is, and not think we have to depend on something to do to receive an answer.

 

[beckycmarie]

May today there be peace within.
May you trust your highest power that you are exactly
where you are meant to be…
May you not forget the infinite possibilities
that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and
pass on the love that has been given to you…
May you be content knowing you are a child of God…
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow
your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is
there for each and every one of you…

That sounds more like something New Ager Marianne Williamson would write. I don’t think this qualifies as a prayer - a wish at best. No way St. Theresa ever spoke these words. “May you trust your highest power”? In other words, forget about God, trust in yourself and your highest abilities. What garbage.

 

[Dorothy]

That sounds more like something New Ager Marianne Williamson would write. I don’t think this qualifies as a prayer - a wish at best. No way St. Theresa ever spoke these words. “May you trust your highest power”? In other words, forget about God, trust in yourself and your highest abilities. What garbage.

Excellent point!

 

[beckycmarie]

And, while we’re on the subject, planting plastic statues of St. Joseph upside down on your property is not necessary to sell your house.

Sincere prayers to St. Joseph will do.

A priest kindly pointed out to retreatants that this practice should not be done. (referring to burying St. Joseph statue). We need to learn what prayer truly is, and not think we have to depend on something to do to receive an answer.

+1

Someone suggested the statue thing to me when DH and I were trying to sell our condo in a tight market. I thought the practice sounded superstitious and so disrespectful to St. Joseph.

So instead of burying a statue, I printed a picture of St. Joseph off the internet, placed the picture in a frame, and set it prominently on our desk. I also printed a prayer to St. Joseph that I said daily. We received an offer very shortly thereafter.