Sacred Heart of Jesus - Blessing - 24"
Sacred Heart of Jesus - 24", 18", 12"

12" - $200.00
18" - $300.00
24" - $500.00

                Given December 13, 2009

                Joy —

                St. John of the Cross —
                    one who loves God always
                    swims in joy

                Psalm
                Cry out with joy and gladness —

                Assyrians — war like people,
                    near Nineveh

                    Idolatry and immorality was rampant,
                    king himself had offered his
                        own son as human sacrifice

                    Zephaniah — ends on a ray of hope —

                    SING to your God

                    2nd Reading

                    Paul was in prison —
                        it was awful

Philippians 4: 4-7

    Always be joyful, then, in the Lord; I repeat, be joyful. Let your good sense be obvious to everybody. The Lord is near. Never worry about anything; but tell God all your desires of every kind in prayer and petition shot through with gratitude, and the peace of God which is beyond our understanding will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

                Even though Paul was in
                    prison he was joyful

                Fear not oh Zion

Isaiah 12: 2-3, 4, 5-6

Look, he is the God of my salvation:
I shall have faith and not be afraid,
for Yahweh is my strength and my song,
he has been my salvation.’

Joyfully you will draw water
from the springs of salvation
and, that day, you will say,
‘Praise Yahweh, invoke his name.
Proclaim his deeds to the people,
declare his name sublime.
Sing of Yahweh,
   for his works are majestic,
make them known throughout the world.
Cry and shout for joy,
   you who live in Zion,
For the Holy One of Israel
    is among you in his greatness.’  

                Paul was in prison and
                    he is saying
                    rejoice

                Mass used to be in Latin

                Gaudete — REJOICE

                From Fr. Joe today

                Smiles —

                A man was driving down a road —
                    he heard a loud thud —
                    the sheriff showed up at the house
                    the next morning —
                    the sheriff said "you hit a pig"
                        and you left the scene
                        of the accident"
                    the man said he didn't know it
                    how did the officer know
                    The officer said
                    "The pig squealed" —

                The Minister told jokes —
                    a reporter was there —
                    the man didn't want him
                    to print the jokes
                    because he would use them the next day —
                    the reporter said at the end
                    of his article "the minister told a few
                    jokes that could not be published"

                Fr. Joe says
                    just a little laugh for Gaudete Sunday

                A Laugh last a minute
                Joy in our heart, lasts and lasts, rooted in God.

                Sing for joy —

                Joy should be in our heart —
                Joy comes not from having
                    lots of things, but because
                    God is in our midst

                We will be with God for all
                    eternity —

                JOY
                    The things that steal joy
                        from us —

                Fr. Joe said after
                    45 years of being a priest and
                    being a clinical psychologist
                    this is what steals joy from us:

                    (1) Feeling sorry for one's self
                    (2) Putting people down
                    (3) Putting ourselves down
                    (4) We can't do everything
                        perfectly
                    (5) Forgive ourselves when
                        we fail
                    (6) Failing morally —
                            use confession
                    (7) Constantly beating ourselves
                            up —

                        Nor does it help us from
                            making the same
                            mistakes again

                    (8) Holding onto anger
                    (9) Wanting to have more things
                    (10) Fear and Worry

                St. Paul
                    Have no anxiety at all

                These things do not bring joy
                    1) self-pity
                    2) guilt
                    3) fear and worry
                    4) unforgiveness
                    5) anger

                Abraham Lincoln says
                    "a man is as happy as
                        he wants to be"

                We must choose joy

                It is the way we respond
                    to these things that makes
                    joy —

                We need to be good and
                    do good —

                We must lead a good life

                Gratitude

                Being grateful is an attitude
                    to develope

                The Lord your God
                    is in your midst

                Be joyful

                A person ungrateful is
                    not happy

                St. Paul says

                Sing: Your Presence Pervades My Soul

                Fr. Carter in his Response to God's Love

                    "that if a person is a liar — we put
                    little trust in what he says"

                If a person tells the truth —
                    we trust what he says
                    as true —

                Likewise we believe
                    in God
                    and we trust in Him —

                Jesus is the way, the
                    truth and the life

                Faith — believing —
                    involves the whole person —
                    intellect and will
                    entire commitment of
                    the entire person to God —

                Mature faith — we believe
                    with our whole being
                    in Him

                We dedicate ourselves and
                    all our powers to
                    Jesus and His cause

                Faith is the commitment
                    of one's entire being
                    to God

                We live the truth of Jesus —
                    WE LIVE IT —

                    We know the Power
                        of Christ more and more
                        when we live in
                        faith —

                We believe with our
                    intellects — but we
                    LIVE the faith —
                    believing in Jesus Christ

                We transform our entire
                    existence —
                    Look at Abraham
                    Look at Noah

                One's faith can grow weak and
                    even die

                If we grow in faith we
                    not only know god's
                    truths — WE LIVE IT

                WE Grow in faith
                WE ARE Faithful
                WE ARE faith filled

                We progress by witnessing
                    the lives of others in
                    Jesus —

                They are a witness to faith —
                    we see their faith —

                Jesus taught us the truth of
                    the Father —

                Jesus lived according to
                    this truth —
                Jesus hands on this truth
                    to us through the
                    teachings of the Church —

                We are to live as members of
                    the body of Christ and
                    in the Christian lives we
                    live by examples handing
                    this truth to others —

                Christianity is alive in
                    the world —
                    we live the truth of Jesus —
                    we live the life, death and
                        resurrection of Jesus —

                    we are witnesses of the
                        Christ-life living in us
                        in the world —

                This truth is to be lived in
                    our lives —

                People believe us because
                    we live the Christian truth
                    in our lives —

                Our faith is blessed when we
                    encounter such Christians —
                    witnesses to Christ Jesus —
                    witnesses to His truth —
                    Living as God desires
                        us to live —
                    Christ life alive in us —
                    His truth is our truth —

                We live according to the
                    Father's vision —
                    humanity living in the
                    image and likeness of Jesus —

                Our knowing and loving capacity is
                    elevated in baptism —

                God gives us His grace —
                    this sharing in His life —

                Human Reason alone cannot understand
                    insight into the mystery of the
                    Trinity — God gives us this
                    elevation in our knowing
                    and loving capacity in baptism this
                    sharing in His life so we can
                    understand insight into the
                    mystery of the Trinity

                We must more and more let this
                    vision of faith penetrate
                    our heart, our whole being
                    living by it and witnessing
                    before others with our
                    faith-filled lives —

                We should become contemplatives
                    in action —

                Living reality in a view that is
                    as God intends us to see
                    through His eyes —

                Reality — is God's reality —

                Everything we see should remind
                    us of God and His Plan for
                    us, for the Church, for the
                    world —

                We are His —

                The Church is to be living
                    in this world —
                    LIVING stones —

1 Peter 2: 4-9

                The world belongs to God —
                We are to be here to love and
                    serve our Master —

                God is all good —

                The beauties of nature manifest
                    God's beauty —

                We see His power in the storm
                    at sea

                When we see love and kindness
                    in others we see God
                    alive in them —
                    He intends us to be good and
                        kind and loving — to live
                        according to the
                        plan of the Father —
                        to live in the image
                        and likeness of God —

                As St. Paul says
                    "I have been crucified with Christ and
                    yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I,
                    but Christ living in me."

                We live out His life, death and
                    resurrection —

                We meditate on the mysteries
                    of the Rosary

                God is infinitely good and kind and
                    loving —

                God intends us to see with this
                    vision of faith — the
                    plan of the Father —

                We see man in the world differently
                    than the man sees who does
                    not believe in Jesus Christ.

                Contemplatives in action —
                    we act on this vision —
                    every man, woman, and child
                    is marked with the Blood
                    of Christ —

                Jesus loved them so much, He
                    died for them — He shed His
                    Blood for them — He wants us
                    to be faith-filled and walk
                    in this goodness in His
                    footprints

                We are to be Christians of
                    living faith — witnesses
                    of Christ alive in us —
                    teachers by how we live
                    our lives —

                ALL for Christ —

                Pleasing the Father

                Not focusing on men's worldly vision
                    ME - ME — Self promotion —
                    dominance
                   
                Living Faith filled lives
                Living according to the Father's will

                Contemplatives in ACTION

                Living For God
                Serving God
                Building His Kingdom

                Praying for the priests, the Church
                    and the world —

                Men for others —

                Christ died for all souls —

                Witnesses of the Christ life
                    in us —

                The vision of faith should
                    inspire us to action
                    according to our vocation —
                    God has called us to this
                        vocation to live our lives
                        as part of His grand design —
                        We are to be faithful and
                        serve Him, as He desires
                        in our vocation —

                    It is God who called us —

                God who created us and
                    intends us to witness, in faith,
                        to His truth — to reach
                        others — to live in this
                        world — A witness

                Baptized as members of the mystical
                    body of Christ — living as
                    one in harmony and love
                    with Christ the head —
                    witnessing in the world —
                    according to our vocation —
                    as God has called us —

                Our call was from God —

                When we fail to live as Christ
                    wants us to live in our vocation
                    we say "no" to God —

                Mary showed us how to serve —
                Mary is the perfect handmaid
                    of the Lord —

                Mary is the best disciple of
                    Christ

                Sing: Holy Is His Name
 

"Dear Blessed Virgin Mary, I consecrate myself to your maternal and Immaculate Heart, this Heart which is symbol of your life of love. You are the Mother of my Savior. You are also my Mother. You love me with a most special love as a member of Shepherds of Christ Associates, a movement created by your Son as a powerful instrument for the renewal of the Church and the world. In a return of love, I give myself entirely to your motherly love and protection. You followed Jesus perfectly. You are His first and perfect disciple. Teach me to imitate you in the putting on of Christ. Be my motherly intercessor so that, through your Immaculate Heart, I may be guided to an ever closer union with the pierced Heart of Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock."

Act of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

"Lord Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock, I consecrate myself to Your most Sacred Heart. From Your pierced Heart the Church was born, the Church You have called me, as a member of Shepherds of Christ Associates, to serve in a most special way. You reveal Your Heart as a symbol of Your love in all its aspects, including Your most special love for me, whom You have chosen as Your companion in this most important work. Help me to always love You in return. Help me to give myself entirely to You. Help me always to pour out my life in love of God and neighbor! Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You!

                We should be laboring to make
                    mankind in the world, more
                    reflective of Christ's image —

                As a unit we serve if we are
                    part of a community, a
                    family —
                    we are not in competition
                    with other members —
                    jealous, divided,
                    seeking dominance for
                    dominance sake, envious,
                    angry, punishing —

                We see the Trinity as our model
                    3 persons — One God

                We work to build the Kingdom
                    of God as members of the
                    mystical body of Christ —

                To the extent we do not do as
                    God desires we are
                    betraying the vision of faith

                Jesus died for the souls —

                God intends us to work in
                    our vocation as His
                    servants, handmaids and
                    apostles

                It is the devil and our own
                    willfulness —
                    rebellion against God's will —
                    when we give into our
                    wounded human nature in
                    not living according to
                    God's designs in our
                    vocation —

                Slothfulness — wanting what
                    we want when we want it —
                    being tired — provoking —
                    not being committed in the
                    job Jesus wants, but doing
                    other works, we justify, that
                    throw others off —

                Being obedient to God's will is
                    just that serving God as
                    He intends in our vocation
     

September 4, 2004

"What have I done for Christ?"
"What am I doing for Christ?"
"What ought I to do for Christ?"
 

                Some people disobey, provoke,
                    act sick, try to make the other
                    labor to deliver a job needed
                    so they cannot get the direction
                    to them —
                    withholding information —
                    being focused on self —
                    controlling by blocking
                        the job intentionally

                Having a bad attitude about
                    one's work needed to
                    serve God —

                Making another chase after
                    and trying to make
                    those in authority —
                    completely frustrated
                    by blocking a job

                SLOTHFULNESS

                Pride — not taking directions
                    after one has done a
                    job incorrectly and
                    punishing to hurt the
                    work further by
                    failure to recognize
                    this evilness

                The devil works to block the
                    spreading of the Kingdom
                    in those who give into him —
                    who through vices (bad evil habits)
                    continue to block needed
                    work to produce fruit
                    from the hard work
                    of others —

                Faith is a virtue — it is
                    seeing in the Father's
                    vision —
                    It is believing in God's
                    truth — It is working
                    according to one's vocation
                    to serve God and promote His
                    Kingdom —

                Vices are bad habits and are
                    wrong — the opposite of
                    virtuous living —
                    they come from habits of
                    giving into the wounded,
                    fallen, human nature —

                They take us away from
                    virtuous living —

                They come from giving into
                    the counsel of the devil —

                God gives us grace when we
                    go to the sacraments.
                    Our heart is to be contrite, loving,
                    having a good purpose
                    as the goal —
                    seeking holiness and
                    joy —

                One who continues living lies,
                    untruths is not following
                    Jesus —

                Satan is the father of lies —

                If our actions are buried in wounded
                    emotions of the past — we are
                    to seek healing — forgive those
                    we have anger toward, bitterness
                    toward — finish, unfinished relationships

                We are to be loving —
                    working with others -
                    not provoking, trying to get
                    control —

                Admitting our sins

Romans 8: 5-9

Those who are living by their natural inclinations have their minds on the things human nature desires; those who live in the Spirit have their minds on spiritual things. And human nature has nothing to look forward to but death, while the Spirit looks forward to life and peace, because the outlook of disordered human nature is opposed to God, since it does not submit to God's Law, and indeed it cannot, and those who live by their natural inclinations can never be pleasing to God. You, however, live not by your natural inclinations, but by the Spirit, since the Spirit of God has made a home in you. Indeed, anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

                We are to live Holy lives — not to
                    chose rebellious lives against
                    God's plan —

                We are to see that we are to die to
                    those ways, not likened to
                    Christ and live more the
                    resurrected life

                We are constantly dying and rising in
                    Him —

                The Mass — the sacrifice of Calvary
                    sacramentally made present —
                    an emptying of oneself —
                    to be transformed — to
                    put on Christ —

                    A new creation — more and more
                        in Him

                    We put on Christ —
                    We offer ourselves —
                    Penitential right — we say
                        we are sorry —

                    Offertory — washing of hands

                Christ is light

                Look at little innocent babies —

                Abortion — killing babies in the
                    womb

                Older people around aborting them —
                Aborting babies like they are today
                    is not in God's truth —
                This is not according to God's Laws
                This is not in the will of the Father

                Whole countries make laws against
                    God's laws —
                    Sin of society —
                    We don't take on their views —

                We walk in faith according
                    to the vision of the Father —
                    the truth of Jesus

                When vice rules one's life —
                    Virtues are wanting

                Bad habits — get worse —

                Vices hurt our relationship
                    with God and others

                Vices are habits — where by we
                    operate

                Virtues are in the life of
                    a person who is living
                    a holy life according to God's
                        will

                A person who habitually flirts and
                    is married — have developed
                    a style — a habit —

                One who lies — can develop a
                    style to lie — manipulate
                    to get their way — they want
                    their way —

                The first time somebody steals — they
                    may become afraid —
                    If they continue it becomes
                    easier and easier —
                    Their style is to steal and lie

                It is evil to steal,
                It is wrong to lie
                    an ill informed conscience

                Virtues help strengthen us to live
                    a holy life

                Definition of hope from
                    Fr. Carter's Response to God's Love

"Christian hope is a virtue that allows us to tend toward God in Christ as our absolute fulfillment, our absolute future. Hope allows us to trust that God will grant us the graces necessary to achieve this goal."

                    We trust that God will give
                    us the graces necessary
                    to achieve the goal of
                    living a holy life and going
                    to heaven.

                Hope — a desire for God as our
                    absolute future

                God must be our goal —
                We were created such that are happiness
                    depends on God as our goal —

                If God is not our goal we become
                    miserable

                Did you see a rusted old boat
                    that can't go in the
                    water — it was not taken care
                    of —
                    boats are supposed to be in
                        the water —

                What about man who was created
                    for God —, but ignored the
                    Father's Plan for His
                    vocation —
                    rebelled against God —
                    Disobeyed His Law —
                    Made himself a god —
                    was unloving, divided
                    angry, controlling and provoking

                Fr. Joe said at Mass today —
                    that St. John of the Cross said —
                        something like if you
                        know God — you swim with joy

                Listen to St. Paul — today's
                    second reading

                St. Paul was in a horrible
                    prison

Philippians 4: 4-7

    Always be joyful, then, in the Lord; I repeat, be joyful. Let your good sense be obvious to everybody. The Lord is near. Never worry about anything; but tell God all your desires of every kind in prayer and petition shot through with gratitude, and the peace of God which is beyond our understanding will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

                2 men looked out prison doors —
                    one saw mud —
                    the other saw stars —

 

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