25 Years of Biblical Foundations International:

What We’ve Accomplished, and Why We're Needed Now More Than Ever; plus, “Houston, We Have A Problem": Gerry Matatics is comin’ to town March 2-5.

Dear Friends:

Happy Candlemas Day (aka the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary) on this, the final day of Christmastide, with an early Lent only eight days away. (The 17-day “mini-Lent” Septuagesima season thus overlapped Christmastide this year for ten days.)

 

Speaking of the imminence of Lent, a TV star recently raved to me — only two days ago — about the tremendous spiritual benefit he's received from my 12-CD set, "Victory Through Virtue," which is based on the thorough (40 double-column pages!), classic pre-Vatican II examination of conscience by famed Redemptorist priest and retreat master Donald F. Miller. His is but the umpteenth of the rave reviews I consistently receive, even from folks who've been traditional Catholics their entire lives and yet who say they've never received such in-depth spiritual direction before.

 

I urge you to order a copy of "Victoty Through Virtue" for yourself and/or your loved ones for Lenten listening from our online store, www.gerrymatatics.org/shop. As a bonus to the first seven customers who order a set, I will include a free, brand-new copy of the 561-page Penguin Classics edition of John Henry Cardinal Newman's classic spiritual autobiography, Apologia Pro Vita Sua, which recounts his conversion from Protestantism to Catholicism, a book that was instrumental in my own conversion 30 years ago — an $18 value, absolutely free!

 

In this update I want to talk about three things. First, my upcoming speaking engagements in the Houston TX area March 2-5.

 

Second, an insider's reflection on my appearance January 26 (a week ago today) on national TV as a contestant on the quiz show “Jeopardy!” and its ramifications. (Those who watched the show might find the location of the aforementioned, already-scheduled upcoming talks a bit ironic.)

 

Finally, last month's 25th anniversary of my apologetics apostolate Biblical Foundations, with a retrospective glance over the accomplishments of the past quarter century and an exciting look at the bold projects ahead. This, the lengthiest part of this essay, will include a shocking exposé of a spiritually deadly plague that is sweeping the Catholic world and snatching away the souls of countless Catholics (including "traditional Catholics").

 

These topics will be discussed in exactly that order — an order of increasing detail — and the resultant essay will be so long that I will need to break it into at least two, and probably three parts over the next two weeks.

 

To the Land of the Yellow Rose for Talks on the Rosary

(and more)

On March 2 I will return once again to the Lone Star state — land of the Alamo, Ted Cruz, ranches larger than the state of Rhode Island, the Presidents Bush, barbecues and chili, the Astros, Comets, Cowboys and Rockets, jalapeño pepper jelly, and my birth (in Harlingen TX, April 8, 1957).

 

I will be there for private meetings and talks March 2-3 in Shiner TX, a public talk on Friday evening, March 4 in Houston entitled “Three-Dimensional Catholicism: How to Biblically Build a Well-Rounded Faith for These Troubled Times,” and on Saturday I’ll be giving an all-day Scriptural Lenten retreat for young men ages 18-45 on the theme “Battle Tested: Following Mary, the Ark of the New Covenant, to Victory through the Fifteen Spiritual Skirmishes Recounted in the Rosary.”

 

As always, my monthly donors will receive a free copy of CD recordings of these talks, while others can purchase them from our online store at www.gerrymatatics.org/shop. 

More details of time and place are forthcoming, and fliers for the two public events will be posted on my website and Facebook page as well as emailed (and mailed, for those for whom I have no email address) to those on my mailing list who live within an hour or two drive from Houston. If you can’t wait for more details you’re welcome to email me at gerrymatatics@gerrymatatics.org or call me at (570) 969-1724.

 

(To be continued later this week.)