Schedule for February 17, 2004

This was December 5, 2003 when I played the piano
behind Mary's Image

This is a picture I took behind Mary's Image

The next apostle, associate,
Shepherds of Christ - St. Ignatius Retreat
will be April 12, 2004 (at night)
thru April 16, 2004

February 16, 2004

Messenger:        Alcoholism and drugs are a big problem
                        in our world.

                            The purpose of St. Ignatius exercise is

From The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, 
    by Louis J. Puhl, S.J.  p. 11

21.                     SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

    Which have as their purpose the conquest of self
    and the regulation of one's life in such a way that
    no decision is made under the influence of any
    inordinate attachment

February 16, 2004 message continues

Messenger:     Alcoholics have success in dealing with
                                their problems by living by the
                                12 steps.

The Twelve Steps of AA

            Here are the steps, which are suggested as a program of recovery:

                    1.  We admitted we were powerless over alcohol,
                            that our lives had become unmanageable.

                    2.  Came to believe that a Power greater than
                            ourselves could restore us to sanity.

                    3.  Made a decision to turn our will and our lives
                            over to the care of God as we understood Him.

                    4.  Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

                    5.  Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human
                            being the exact nature of our wrongs.

                    6.  Were entirely ready to have God remove all
                            these defects of character.

                    7.  Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

                    8.  Made a list of all persons we had harmed,
                            and became willing to make amends to them all.

                    9.  Made direct amends to such people wherever possible,
                            except when to do so would injure them or others.

                    10.  Continued to take personal inventory and when we
                            were wrong promptly admitted it.

                    11.  Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our
                            conscious contact with God as we understood Him,
                            praying only for knowledge of His will for us and
                            the power to carry that out.

                    12.  Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps,
                            we tried to carry this message to alcoholics,
                            and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

February 16, 2004 message continues

Messenger:     In a sick alcoholic family there is the alcoholic
                            and usually an enabler. As long as the enabler
                            continues rescuing the alcoholic, the
                            alcoholic usually does not get better if he
                            continues not taking responsibility
                            for his actions.

                        For example if the husband drinks (it
                            can be a child) and the wife (or a mother) enables,
                            the whole family can get very sick doing the
                            sick dance of the alcoholic. In this
                            case the actions of this sick family
                            depends on the actions of the alcoholic.
                            He drinks when he does and they may all
                            live responding to his "bouts" with
                            alcohol.

                        In a normal home, usually everyone takes
                            responsibility for their actions.

                        Many people that help others who are dysfunctional,
                            many times do not look at their
                            own faults, they only look at
                            others faults. In the case of those 
                            dealing with an alcoholic,
                            they do not grow themselves for they
                            usually do not look at themselves.

                            In a normal home where people
                        grow to be more perfected as the
                        "Heavenly Father" wants, persons
                        usually take responsibility for their actions.
                        Usually in an alcoholic family, the alcoholic
                        has tremendous control over everybody
                        else and they do not live their own
                        lives fully -- they usually don't examine their
                        own faults they dance around dealing
                        with the alcoholic day after day
                        not examining their own life or living
                        it as they should.

                            In a homes that are normal, people take
                        responsibility for their actions.

                            Usually people who are "normal" do not want
                        to lay a big burden on the backs of
                        others -- they come from a place of
                        strength being deeply rooted in God
                        and helping others and serving the Lord.
                        They are productive.

                            Some people may come to a community
                        and the second they enter the community
                        they are noisy and boisterous demanding
                        their own way.

                            Lets listen to the spiritual exercises
                        of St. Ignatius -- 

Excerpt of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, 
by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. pp. 141-146

  

313. RULES FOR DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS
I

Rules for understanding to some extent the different movements produced in the soul and for recognizing those that are good to admit them, and those that are bad, to reject them. These rules are more suited to the first week
  

314.  I.  In the case of those who go from one mortal sin to another, the enemy is ordinarily accustomed to propose apparent pleasures. He fills their imagination with sensual delights and gratifications, the more readily to keep them in their vices and increase the number of their sins.

    With such persons the good spirit uses a method which is the reverse of the above. Making use of the light of reason, he will rouse the sting of conscience and fill them with remorse.

315.  2.  In the case of those who go on earnestly striving to cleanse their souls from sin and who seek to rise in the service of God our Lord to greater perfection, the method pursued is the opposite of that mentioned in the first rule.

    Then it is characteristic of the evil spirit to harass with anxiety, to afflict with sadness, to raise obstacles backed by fallacious reasonings that disturb the soul. Thus he seeks to prevent the soul from advancing.

    It is characteristic of the good spirit, however, to give courage and strength, consolations, tears, inspirations, and peace. This He does by making all easy, by removing all obstacles so that the soul goes forward in doing good.

316.  3.  SPIRITUAL CONSOLATION.  I call it consolation when an interior movement is aroused in the soul, by which it is inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord, and as a consequence, can love no creature on the face of the earth for its own sake, but only in the Creator of them all. It is likewise consolation when one sheds tears that move to the love of God, whether it be because of sorrow for sins, or because of the sufferings of Christ our Lord, or for any other reason that is immediately directed to the praise and service of God. Finally, I call consolation every increase of faith, hope, and love, and all interior joy that invites and attracts to what is heavenly and to the salvation of one's soul by filling it with peace and quiet in its Creator and Lord.

317.  4.  SPIRITUAL DESOLATION.  I call desolation what is entirely the opposite of what is described in the third rule, as darkness of soul, turmoil of spirit, inclination to what is low and earthly, restlessness rising from many disturbances and temptations which lead to want of faith, want of hope, want of love. The soul is wholly slothful, tepid, sad, and separated, as it were, from its Creator and Lord. For just as consolation is the opposite of desolation, so the thoughts that spring from consolation are the opposite of those that spring from desolation.

318.  5.  In time of desolation we should never make any change, but remain firm and constant in the resolution and decision which guided us the day before the desolation, or in the decision to which we adhered in the preceding consolation. For just as in consolation the good spirit guides and counsels us, so in desolation the evil spirit guides and counsels. Following his counsels we can never find the way to a right decision.

319.  6.  Though in desolation we must never change our former resolutions, it will be very advantageous to intensify our activity against the desolation. We can insist more upon prayer, upon meditation, and on much examination of ourselves. We can make an effort in a suitable way to do some penance.

320.  7.  When one is in desolation, he should be mindful that God has left him to his natural powers to resist the different agitations and temptations of the enemy in order to try him. He can resist with the help of God, which always remains, though he may not clearly perceive it. For though God has taken from him the abundance of fervor and overflowing love and the intensity of His favors, nevertheless, he has sufficient grace for eternal salvation.

321.  8.  When one is in desolation, he should strive to persevere in patience. This reacts against the vexations that have overtaken him. Let him consider, too, that consolation will soon return, and in the meantime, he must diligently use the means against desolation which have been given in the sixth rule.

322.  9.  The principal reasons why we suffer from desolation are three:

    The first is because we have been tepid and slothful or negligent in our exercises of piety, and so through our own fault spiritual consolation has been taken away from us.

    The second reason is because God wishes to try us, to see how much we are worth, and how much we will advance in His service and praise when left without the generous reward of consolations and signal favors.

    The third reason is because God wishes to give us a true knowledge and understanding of ourselves, so that we may have an intimate perception of the fact that it is not within our power to acquire and attain great devotion, intense love, tears, or any other spiritual consolation; but that all this is the gift and grace of God our Lord. God does not wish us to build on the property of another, to rise up in spirit in a certain pride and vainglory and attribute to ourselves the devotion and other effects of spiritual consolation.

323.  10.  When one enjoys consolation, let him consider how he will conduct himself during the time of ensuing desolation, and store up a supply of strength as defense against that day.

324.  11.  He who enjoys consolation should take care to humble himself and lower himself as much as possible. Let him recall how little he is able to do in time of desolation, when he is left without such grace or consolation.

    On the other hand, one who suffers desolation should remember that by making use of the sufficient grace offered him, he can do much to withstand all his enemies. Let him find his strength in his Creator and Lord.

325.  12.  The enemy conducts himself as a woman. He is a weakling before a show of strength, and a tyrant if he has his will. It is characteristic of a woman in a quarrel with a man to lose courage and take to flight if the man shows that he is determined and fearless. However, if the man loses courage and begins to flee, the anger, vindictiveness, and rage of the woman surge up and know no bounds. In the same way, the enemy becomes weak, loses courage, and turns to flight with his seductions as soon as one leading a spiritual life faces his temptations boldly, and does exactly the opposite of what he suggests. However, if one begins to be afraid and to lose courage in temptations, no wild animal on earth can be more fierce than the enemy of our human nature. He will carry out his perverse intentions with consummate malice.

326.  13.  Our enemy may also be compared in his manner of acting to a false lover. He seeks to remain hidden and does not want to be discovered. If such a lover speaks with evil intention to the daughter of a good father, or to the wife of a good husband, and seeks to seduce them, he wants his words and solicitations kept secret. He is greatly displeased if his evil suggestions and depraved intentions are revealed by the daughter to her father, or by the wife to her husband. Then he readily sees he will not succeed in what he has begun. In the same way, when the enemy of our human nature tempts a just soul with his wiles and seductions, he earnestly desires that they be received secretly and kept secret. But if one manifests them to a confessor, or to some other spiritual person who understands his deceits and malicious designs, the evil one is very much vexed. For he knows that he cannot succeed in his evil undertaking, once his evident deceits have been revealed.

327.  14.  The conduct of our enemy may also be compared to the tactics of a leader intent upon seizing and plundering a position he desires. A commander and leader of an army will encamp, explore the fortifications and defenses of the stronghold, and attack at the weakest point. In the same way, the enemy of our human nature investigates from every side all our virtues, theological, cardinal, and moral. Where he finds the defenses of eternal salvation weakest and most deficient, there he attacks and tries to take us by storm.

end of excerpt of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius

February 16, 2004 message continues

Messenger:     There is only one way.

                        Everyone will stand before God and hold
                            an account for how they have
                            used their lives.
                            From this day forward we can choose
                                to love and serve God and take
                                responsibility NOW for our
                                actions.

                        People should not live out relationships
                            day after day where they believe
                            they are the rescuers and others
                            need them while the other acts
                            out bizarre behaviors and then
                            they analyze and tell them their faults.

                        We can change ourselves with
                            God's help.

                        We have a free will.

                        We are responsible for our actions.

February 16, 2004

    
Mary speaks:    
                            I beg for rosary kits and
                            Donations for the beads for the rosary
                                mailing sent to all the 
                                schools in the U.S.

                            Please rosary makers call
                                Doris in Morrow.

                            Please rosary makers help me
                                reach my school children
                                for May.

February 16, 2004

MY VALENTINE FOR JESUS AND MARY AND THE WORLD I _________________ give my heart to You Jesus and Mary on this day _________________ I promise to help spread the devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Copyright © 2004 Shepherds of Christ.
Rights for non-commercial reproduction granted:
May be copied in its entirety, but neither re-typed nor edited.
Translations are welcome but they must be reviewed for moral and 
theological accuracy by a source approved by Shepherds of Christ Ministries 
before any distribution takes place. Please contact us for more information.
All scripture quotes are from the New Jerusalem Bible, July 1990, published by Doubleday.
Revised: February 16, 2004
URL: www.sofc.org
Contact Information for Shepherds of Christ
Email: info@SofC.org

Shepherds of Christ Ministries
P.O. Box 193
Morrow, Ohio 45152-0193

Telephone: (toll free) 1-888-211-3041 or (513) 932-4451
FAX: (513) 932-6791