"Catholic" chain letter

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I don’t see how this is any different to novenas, indulgences and other god-currency of the catholic faith. This one was just poorly worded compared to novenas but in essence, I don’t see why this should shock when novenas are the norm :hmmm:
 
uglygal said:
I don’t see how this is any different to novenas, indulgences and other god-currency of the catholic faith. This one was just poorly worded compared to novenas but in essence, I don’t see why this should shock when novenas are the norm :hmmm:
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Because novenas aren’t, or shouldn’t be, treated as magic formulas guaranteeing ‘luck’ of all things. As if God and the idea of ‘luck’ are compatible.

And God isn’t or shouldn’t be, treated as a vending machine, guaranteed to deliver if you pay in the correct amount. People who have a proper understanding of novenas know this, and don’t make either mistake when praying them.

True a novena is a prayer repeated nine times. This is in honour of the original novena - the nine days of fervent prayer the Apostles spent between the Ascension and Pentecost. It has everything to do with trying to emulate the Apostles in their fervency and faith, and nothing to do with belief in some sort of guaranteed answer to your prayer.
 
LilyM said:
Because novenas aren’t, or shouldn’t be, treated as magic formulas guaranteeing ‘luck’ of all things. As if God and the idea of ‘luck’ are compatible.

And God isn’t or shouldn’t be, treated as a vending machine, guaranteed to deliver if you pay in the correct amount. People who have a proper understanding of novenas know this, and don’t make either mistake when praying them.

True a novena is a prayer repeated nine times. This is in honour of the original novena - the nine days of fervent prayer the Apostles spent between the Ascension and Pentecost. It has everything to do with trying to emulate the Apostles in their fervency and faith, and nothing to do with belief in some sort of guaranteed answer to your prayer.
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Amen! And one should always pray a Novena in God’s will. Plus, they don’t carry a death threat if you miss a day:rolleyes:
 
Mathematically these things set up the recipient for failure. If everyone forwards these things as instructed, the number of recipients would geometrically increase until everybody has one and there is nobody new to send it to. It’s like a time bomb that will curse everybody once everybody has one, because they can no longer comply.

I guess that’s slightly incomplete logic. Everybody could just send them around and we’d all get them about 100 times. Either way at some point the chain will be broken and we’ll all be doomed.

The same thing goes for feel-good “pass along to your true friends” letters – especially those that want you to send a copy back to the recipient. It’s still a threat; it’s just more subtle than the direct ones. If it’s worth forwarding, it doesn’t need that garbage on the bottom and on the rare occasion I do forward a good email, I take all that out – also clean up the “>>>>” at the beginning of each line, remove the “Fwd Fwd Re Fwd” from the subject, and that sort of thing.

Alan
 
  • To protect Privacy I won’t be giving any names. My apologies if this is confusing
I’ve received so many different types of “religious” chain letters it’s not even funny.

What really upsets me is when I receive them from religious Brother and religious Sisters. By the way, I’ve known religious Brother for years and religious Sisters for about 3-4 years now

Yes, I’ve told them why it upsets me and not to send me those type of messages anymore…The religious Sisters understood but I’m not too sure if the religious Brother understands.

Here is what I E-Mailed him:

How do I find out about other things like chain letters I recall my mom (she was informed by a Priest or Religious person a long time ago) telling me when I was a child that chain letters were evil and with these so called “Prayer chain letters” I agree with my mom (and whoever told her). Why? Well, if you pay closer attention most if not all of them threaten people or they request you to make a wish.

St. Theresa’s Prayer

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

And this is the religious Brother’s reply

Don’t you think that the Communion of Saints exist? I’ve seen my mother perform a couple of miracles using the Statues of Mary (to stop a forest fire) and of Saint Joseph ( to stop a fire from burning our wheat granary : she made the wind change direction and saved the barn

I don’t mean to be rude to the religious Brother but I told him anytime I receive these so-called letters I’m not going to open them but just delete them. Hmm, maybe that’s a bit too harsh but I trust in Our Lord and Blesed Mother more than I do men/women even if they are religious.

I also received Our Lady of Guadulupe and a picture of Jesus crown of Thorns. I have to admit they are moving pictures but the message of threats are not so moving.

Another thing I wonder, is the St. Theresa’s Prayer. Hmm, which St. Theresa are they referring too? Is this “prayer” genuine? I’ve read a few prayers, novenas, quotes, etc. on St. Therese but I’ve never came up with this prayer. Has anyone?

goforgoal
 
that’s so annoying! 😦

I’ve said a real novena to St Therese and it’s not like this at all… this really misrepresents our beliefs 😦
 
Have any of you ever encountered the “shame” ones? I’ve gotten ones that tell stories like once in mass two gunman run in and yell that they’re gonna shoot everyone who believes in God. Half the people run out, then the gunmen take off their masks and tell the priest “We got rid of the non-believers”. Or another where it’s a class and the teacher has them draw pictures of people they don’t like and throw darts at them. Then he takes away the drawings to reveal Jesus.

The stories make a point, but at the end they always end with something like

If you aren’t ashamed to do this, please follow the directions.

Jesus said, ’ If you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you, before My Father.’

Not ashamed… pass this on.

Ashamed … . delete it.
Isn’t it funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell.

Isn’t it funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.
Isn’t it funny how everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not have to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says. Or is it scary?
Isn’t it funny how someone can say ’ I
believe in God ’ but still follow Satan (who, by the way,
also ‘believes’ in God ).
Isn’t it funny how you can send a thousand jokes through e-mail and! they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord , people think twice about sharing .
Isn’t it funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but the public discussion of Jesus is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Isn’t it funny how someone can be so fired up for Christ on Sunday, but be an invisible Christian the rest of the week.

Are
you laughing?

Isn’t it funny how when you go to forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you’re not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it to them.
Isn’t it funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what God thinks of me.

Will YOU pass this on? … I just did

What do you guys think about these?
 
Loren_1of6 said:
I delete them. I figure God knows my reasons and will reward or discipline me accordingly.
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I delete them, too. I call these type of chain letters “spiritual blackmail”, and refuse to submit to that type of thing. I do not think it is pleasing to the Lord.
 
Captain_Napalm said:
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.
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Chain letters - every last single one - exist for one reason only - to be ignored.​

All that stuff about wishing is superstitious piffle. :eek:
 
I know these are all old conversations regarding chain letters, but I would like to ask advice… I receive many chain letters from a friend of mine. I haven’t said anything to her because I just delete them. After, reading these posts and a few other Catholic websites I have come to see what is sinful about chain letters. You can cause anxiety in another person, causing them to believe what the chain letter says and cause them to believe that if they don’t obey it something awful will happen to them. Also, it’s wrong to put your trust in the chain letter after you send them out expecting good to happen to you. We should put our trust in God not some chain letter.
I haven’t had a problem deleting them but my son and her son are friends and are 13 years old. We recently bought him a cell phone and now he is getting chain letters from her son on his cell phone.
He says he doesn’t believe them but just doesn’t want to be the one to break the chain. I don’t think he quite understands though, I have tried to explain to him they are superstitious only and are wrong for Christians to do.
What could be a polite way to ask my friend to stop her family from sending the chain letters to us. My friend is protestant and I was surprised I could not find anything on the internet from a protestant perspective regarding what is wrong with chain letters but found a lot of sites offering chain letters. So coming to her with what the Catholic Church teaches might not help but maybe it will. I am not sure what to do. I just need a polite way to respond without ruining a friendship and not embarrass a teenage boy and not make her feel as though I am picking on her son. Two of the spiritual works of mercy say to: admonish the sinner and instruct the ignorant. I think she really doesn’t realize the sinfulness in it.

Thanks
Betty M
 
Those “apocalyptic” ones are the worst… They go around scaring ppl, but a lot of it is really dodgy sounding but ppl don’t bother confirming if the Vatican actually endorses these statements.

I justhope ppl notice from the spelling and grammar alone- as well as the tacky email formatting - when a chain letter is full of baloney.
 
Another thing I wonder, is the St. Theresa’s Prayer. Hmm, which St. Theresa are they referring too? Is this “prayer” genuine? I’ve read a few prayers, novenas, quotes, etc. on St. Therese but I’ve never came up with this prayer. Has anyone?
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I think they’re referring to St Therese of Lisieux but she NEVER wrote any prayer like this. Neither did St Teresa of Avila or Bl. Mother Teresa, to my knowledge. It doesn’t really sound like anything a Saint would even write 🤷
Debra_C said:
The Prayer Rug thing is definitely NOT Catholic. It is some sort of non denominational mega church. This is their big fundraiser. Who knows whether they ever actually say the first prayer for anyone. Many are of the opinion It is a nothing more than a scam to separate Christians desparately hoping for some miracle or another (and who isn’t) from their hard earned cash. They send out not only a prayer rug letter, but gold cords, and others as well.

There are several legitimate Chruches in Tulsa affiliated with the name of St. Matthew, including a Methodist Church, and an Episcopal Church, but these mailings are not affiliated with any of these. If you take the time to Google St. Matthews Churches, Tulsa, OK you will find quite a number of people are upset about this, including at least one watchdog group. Also, the organization itself has a website. They supposedly set up this po box in Tulsa where a secular third party organization insures the integrity of the handling of their tithes and seed faith money. It is all connected up with some law firm in the Tulsa area. However, they do not actually have any churches there.
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I found a “St Matthews” church… is it this one?
saintmatthewschurches.com/index.aspx

it’s unlike any other church I’ve ever encountered… it’s “ecumenical”, but if you look at it, it looks so Catholic! it has a type of an altar and a tabernacle… but it’s clearly non denominational… it seems to be mixing different forms of Christianity together
 
ichen said:
Have any of you ever encountered the “shame” ones? I’ve gotten ones that tell stories like once in mass two gunman run in and yell that they’re gonna shoot everyone who believes in God. Half the people run out, then the gunmen take off their masks and tell the priest “We got rid of the non-believers”. Or another where it’s a class and the teacher has them draw pictures of people they don’t like and throw darts at them. Then he takes away the drawings to reveal Jesus.

The stories make a point, but at the end they always end with something like

If you aren’t ashamed to do this, please follow the directions.

Jesus said, ’ If you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you, before My Father.’

Not ashamed… pass this on.

Ashamed … . delete it.
Isn’t it funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell.

Isn’t it funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.
Isn’t it funny how everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not have to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says. Or is it scary?
Isn’t it funny how someone can say ’ I
believe in God ’ but still follow Satan (who, by the way,
also ‘believes’ in God ).
Isn’t it funny how you can send a thousand jokes through e-mail and! they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord , people think twice about sharing .
Isn’t it funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but the public discussion of Jesus is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Isn’t it funny how someone can be so fired up for Christ on Sunday, but be an invisible Christian the rest of the week.

Are
you laughing?

Isn’t it funny how when you go to forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you’re not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it to them.
Isn’t it funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what God thinks of me.

Will YOU pass this on? … I just did

What do you guys think about these?
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These make me kind of angry… I’ve received them before… but the problem is they equate not sending an email to being ashamed of Christ. THat’s a very serious accusation. What if you just don’t want to send a random email? also, how will it help anyone who reads it? it’s essentially saying to people: “if you don’t send this email, you’ll go to hell because you’re ashamed of Jesus and so He’ll not accept you into His Kingdom” wowow :rolleyes:
BettyM said:
I know these are all old conversations regarding chain letters, but I would like to ask advice… I receive many chain letters from a friend of mine. I haven’t said anything to her because I just delete them. After, reading these posts and a few other Catholic websites I have come to see what is sinful about chain letters. You can cause anxiety in another person, causing them to believe what the chain letter says and cause them to believe that if they don’t obey it something awful will happen to them. Also, it’s wrong to put your trust in the chain letter after you send them out expecting good to happen to you. We should put our trust in God not some chain letter.
I haven’t had a problem deleting them but my son and her son are friends and are 13 years old. We recently bought him a cell phone and now he is getting chain letters from her son on his cell phone.
He says he doesn’t believe them but just doesn’t want to be the one to break the chain. I don’t think he quite understands though, I have tried to explain to him they are superstitious only and are wrong for Christians to do.
What could be a polite way to ask my friend to stop her family from sending the chain letters to us. My friend is protestant and I was surprised I could not find anything on the internet from a protestant perspective regarding what is wrong with chain letters but found a lot of sites offering chain letters. So coming to her with what the Catholic Church teaches might not help but maybe it will. I am not sure what to do. I just need a polite way to respond without ruining a friendship and not embarrass a teenage boy and not make her feel as though I am picking on her son. Two of the spiritual works of mercy say to: admonish the sinner and instruct the ignorant. I think she really doesn’t realize the sinfulness in it.

Thanks
Betty M
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Betty, I wish I had a good reply… I sometimes wonder the same thing! I’ve had friends send me chain letters in the past… maybe it would be best to simply be honest and explain your view on chain letters, but in a gentle way? and maybe do this face to face rather than on email…

God bless
 
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