Daily Writing
| Shepherds of Christ Daily Writing |
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February 3, 2009 - St. Blaise
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February 4th Holy
Spirit Novena |
The Novena Rosary
Mysteries |
Retreat in FloridaFebruary 3rd - 5th
2 Sessions each day -
1:30pm and 6:20pm
Please tune in and pray with us!
Come to the Florida building February 5, 2009for the prayer service at 6:20pm.
Given January 30, 2009
Happiness is found in seeking
good —
It is in us —
A tendency toward good
As with truth
We seek truth
We want the truth of God in us —
Like a flowing brook —
We seek God
We seek goodness
We live in the truth
We live to do God's will
We obey God's rule
We live by God's commands —
To have Jesus the King and Center
of our hearts
We want to be under Him
He must increase
We must decrease
The proud man sees himself
as knowing
We must realize that we do
not know the depth of God's
love and are always
seeking greater knowledge
of God.
We use our intellect and free
will —
We are not as blind men
We use our free will. We choose the
will of God
to seek it
to want it
to live by it
to beg for grace to be more and
more filled with the
Holy Spirit
We seek His counsel
We want more and more His life
in us
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit live in
the graced baptized soul
We stand on a pinnacle and
we reach for the mystery —
groping into the great
abyss
seeking the counsel of the Holy Spirit
wanting to be saturated with
His grace
Come Holy Spirit fill us with the
fire of God's love
God is with us — we live IN HIM —
We are focused on His wants
God has the Plan
February 3, 2009 - St. Blaise
I have but one life to offer to my God —
For the days — I wasted not living in
the truth
Oh God pardon me
My days were given as gifts from You to
serve, in my vocation for Your
service —
anything less than this is folly
Nothing is hidden from God —
not one thought, or one deed —
how we serve God is a flower placed
before the Father at our death
how we selfishly disobeyed Him is
written on the wounded body of
Jesus beaten for our sins
The will is to seek good — to have happiness
we must seek the will of God —
Man can chose something harmful to
him — man with his reason can
want to do what is disobedient to
God — harmful to himself —
harmful to others — this detours
the man off the road to happiness
Freedom is found in how man chooses —
We must seek the vision of God —
We cannot give into emotions, but must
seek right reason
Man is not like the wind — to be carried
away —
Man has intellect and will —
A married man cannot have relations with
someone outside of marriage, his
secretary etc. —
even though his desire for pleasure
is there — with right reason and a free
will — he can choose to be
faithful to his wife
Given January 27, 2009 - Habits
A generous man finds it easy to be generous
because of habits —
Children when learning to share a toy, are learning
about their free will — do they want to share — a person
practicing good habits will act generously and loving
habitually because of habits they have taught
themselves —
Where as a person who has developed bad habits
or vices becomes more steeped in their habits
and easier in performing bad acts.
Habits make it easy or difficult for men
to be good. Likewise it is easy or difficult
for men to do evil because of habits.
The intellect and will must be put in
proper order — one cannot give into appetites
freely.
When we operate the same way — time and time
again it is a habit.
Say a person changes a way something
is working and it is working well, but there is
constant confusion because people are forced
by another, to put aside well working ways
just because someone demands it.
Communication is necessary. It
can be a bad habit to not communicate and
hold back pertinent information to do work
that one wishes to accomplish —
God is all perfect.
Man is imperfect —
He has a tainted human nature —
Man can freely choose to follow good or evil.
Man to be likened to God is to
will good —
Seek truth intellectually
Man wills to tell the truth —
But he must acquire the habit of truthfulness.
Man in his heart — in his will acquires
truthfulness because he wants it —
He always wants to tell the truth —
If a man tells the truth sometimes and sometimes
he does not — he has to decide every time
how to act —
He has not acquired the habit of truthfulness —
in fact he can acquire the habit of
lying, being difficult in communication
withholding pertinent information.
Habits can be part of taking care of the body
What about habits of the soul?
When God calls us to the vision of Himself —
man must want this - will it and
with His will and intellect seek to
acquire it.
Men who want their own will against
God's will can use force to make
others do what they want —
controlling things needed —
like squeezing a lemon —
anger — throwing tantrums
fighting
February 3, 2009 - St. Blaise
Hebrews 12: 1-4
With so many witnesses in a great cloud all around us, we too, then, should throw off everything that weighs us down and the sin that clings so closely, and with perseverance keep running in the race which lies ahead of us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which lay ahead of him, he endured the cross, disregarding the shame of it, and has taken his seat at the right of God’s throne. Think of the way he persevered against such opposition from sinners and then you will not lose heart and come to grief. In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of bloodshed.
Matthew 8: 17
This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
He himself bore our sicknesses away
and carried our diseases.
Mark 5: 21-43
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered round him and he stayed by the lake. Then the president of the synagogue came up, named Jairus, and seeing him, fell at his feet and begged him earnestly, saying, ‘My little daughter is desperately sick. Do come and lay your hands on her that she may be saved and may live.’ Jesus went with him and a large crowd followed him; they were pressing all round him.
Now there was a woman who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years; after long and painful treatment under various doctors, she had spent all she had without being any the better for it; in fact, she was getting worse. She had heard about Jesus, and she came up through the crowd and touched his cloak from behind, thinking, ‘If I can just touch his clothes, I shall be saved.’ And at once the source of the bleeding dried up, and she felt in herself that she was cured of her complaint. And at once aware of the power that had gone out from him, Jesus turned round in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ His disciples said to him, ‘You see how the crowd is pressing round you; how can you ask, "Who touched me?" ’ But he continued to look all round to see who had done it. Then the woman came forward, frightened and trembling because she knew what had happened to her, and she fell at his feet and told him the whole truth. ‘My daughter,’ he said, ‘your faith has restored you to health; go in peace and be free of your complaint.’
While he was still speaking some people arrived from the house of the president of the synagogue to say, ‘Your daughter is dead; why put the Master to any further trouble?’ But Jesus overheard what they said and he said to the president of the synagogue, ‘Do not be afraid; only have faith.’ And he allowed no one to go with him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. So they came to the house of the president of the synagogue, and Jesus noticed all the commotion, with people weeping and wailing unrestrainedly. He went in and said to them, ‘Why all this commotion and crying? The child is not dead, but asleep.’ But they ridiculed him. So he turned them all out and, taking with him the child’s father and mother and his own companions, he went into the place where the child lay. And taking the child by the hand he said to her, ‘Talitha kum!’ which means, ‘Little girl, I tell you to get up.’ The little girl got up at once and began to walk about, for she was twelve years old. At once they were overcome with astonishment, and he gave them strict orders not to let anyone know about it, and told them to give her something to eat.
Jesus:
Healing
Changing
Casting out
devils
R. Look at the
Sundays
before Ash Wednesday —
Jesus has all the power —
We are here to die to
our imperfect ways —
Lent - 40 days - to
die to self
- to fast by not acting
selfish
- fast from being
unloving
- fast from disobedience
The Crucifixion —
Christ paid for our sins
Many spend their lives trying
to save face
Prove they are perfect —
Fr. Carter had me do
a Spiritual Exercise
retreat every year
Prayer of St. Ignatius Loyola
Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from the side of Christ wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Permit me not to be separated from Thee
From the wicked foe defend me
at the hour of my death call me
and bid me come to Thee
That with Thy saints I may praise Thee
For ever and ever. Amen.
From The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius,
by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. p. 1121. 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
From The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius,
by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. p. 1223. FIRST PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION
Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God
our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.
From The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius,
by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. p. 2546. PRAYER. In the preparatory prayer I will beg God
our Lord for grace that all my intentions, actions,
and operations may be directed purely to the
praise and service of His Divine Majesty.
Sing: Take Lord Receive
The Spiritual Exercises are
to not give into emotions,
feelings, but to
choose to do God's will
We have a free will —
We have an intellect to
choose God's plan —
to use right reason
Fr. Carter
always talked about
asceticism
We are to discipline ourselves —
To be transformed —
2nd Sunday in Lent
Transfiguration
The Incarnation goes
on in us —
In the spiritual womb of
the Blessed Mother —
(her Immaculate Heart)
the Holy Spirit helps
us to be more and more
in the image of God
Archbishop Martinez says from
Fr. Carter's Priestly Newsletter
rom the Priestly Newsletter Issue 3, 2000F
The Holy Spirit and Mary
The late Archbishop Luis M. Martinez of Mexico strikingly speaks of the ongoing cooperation of Mary with the Holy Spirit regarding the reproduction of Jesus within us: "Christian life is the reproduction of Jesus in souls…
"Now, how will this mystical reproduction be brought about in souls? In the same way in which Jesus was brought into the world, for God gives a wonderful mark of unity to all His works. Divine acts have a wealth of variety because they are the work of omnipotence; nevertheless, a most perfect unity always shines forth from them because they are the fruit of wisdom; and this divine contrast of unity and variety stamps the works of God with sublime and unutterable beauty.
"In His miraculous birth, Jesus was the fruit of heaven and earth…The Holy Spirit conveyed the divine fruitfulness of the Father to Mary, and the virginal soil brought forth in an ineffable manner our most loving Savior, the divine Seed, as the prophets called Him…
"That is the way He is reproduced in souls. He is always the fruit of heaven and earth.
"Two artisans must concur in the work that is at once God’s masterpiece and humanity’s supreme product: the Holy Spirit and the most holy Virgin Mary. Two sanctifiers are necessary to souls, the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, for they are the only ones who can reproduce Christ.
"Undoubtedly, the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary sanctify us in different ways. The first is the Sanctifier by essence; because He is God, who is infinite sanctity; because He is the personal Love that completes, so to speak, the sanctity of God, consummating His life and His unity, and it belongs to Him to communicate to souls the mystery of that sanctity. The Virgin Mary, for her part, is the co-operator, the indispensable instrument in and by God’s design. From Mary’s maternal relation to the human body of Christ is derived her relation to His Mystical Body which is being formed through all the centuries until the end of time, when it will be lifted up to the heavens, beautiful, splendid, complete, and glorious.
"These two, then, the Holy Spirit and Mary, are the indispensable artificers of Jesus, the indispensable sanctifiers of souls. Any saint in heaven can co-operate in the sanctification of a soul, but his co-operation is not necessary, not profound, not constant: while the co-operation of these two artisans of Jesus of whom we have just been speaking is so necessary that without it souls are not sanctified (and this by the actual design of Providence), and so intimate that it reaches to the very depths of our soul. For the Holy Spirit pours charity into our heart, makes a habitation of our soul, and directs our spiritual life by means of His gifts. The Virgin Mary has the efficacious influence of Mediatrix in the most profound and delicate operations of grace in our souls. And, finally, the action of the Holy Spirit and the co-operation of the most holy Virgin Mary are constant; without them, not one single character of Jesus would be traced on our souls, no virtue grow, no gift be developed, no grace increased, no bond of union with God be strengthened in the rich flowering of the spiritual life.
"Such is the place that the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary have in the order of sanctification. Therefore, Christian piety should put these two artisans of Christ in their true place, making devotion to them something necessary, profound, and constant." 18
NOTES:
18 Archbishop Luis M. Martinez, The Sanctifier, op. cit. pp. 5-7.
R. Jesus wants us to see
this journey to
living lives likened
to Mary and Jesus as
we go through the Sundays
before and during Lent —
going into Easter —
Thank God
Praise God —
Celebrate the gifts He
gives us — our talents
to do His work —
Don't give into satan's darkness
Remember the withered fig tree
God gives us His grace —
pouring out in
baptism —
The Eucharist to feed this life
The Word —
The Eucharist and Word the Bread
of Life
God is with us
Jesus healed the paralytic
Jesus cast out demons
Jesus healed the leper
Jesus healed the blind man
Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead
A person not attached to
the vine withers and dies
John 12: 24
In all truth I tell you,
unless a wheat grain falls into the earth
and dies,
it remains only a single grain;
but if it dies
it yields a rich harvest.
Mysteries of Light
Jesus always changing things
at Cana — water into wine
at Mass bread changed to body of Jesus
wine changed to blood of Jesus
LENT is about changing
Life is about dying to ways
not likened to Jesus
Genesis 1: 26-27
God said, ‘Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all the wild animals and all the creatures that creep along the ground.’
God created man in the image of himself,
in the image of God he created him,
male and female he created them.
`
40 days - Christmas to Presentation of the Lord
February 1 —
Mark 1: 23-26
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are—the Holy One of God!"
Jesus rebuked him and said,
"Quiet! Come out of him!"
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.
February 8 — possessed by demons
healed fever
February 15 — scab - 1st Reading
UNCLEAN
leper
February 22 — healed paralytic
"Rise, pick up your mat
and walk"
God has all the power — we are sinners
in world today many see themselves as perfect
Then ASH WEDNESDAY - February 25th
2 Corinthians 5: 20 - 6: 2
So we are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were urging you through us, and in the name of Christ we appeal to you to be reconciled to God. For our sake he made the sinless one a victim for sin, so that in him we might become the uprightness of God.
As his fellow-workers, we urge you not to let your acceptance of his grace come to nothing. As he said, 'At the time of my favour I have answered you; on the day of salvation I have helped you'; well, now is the real time of favour, now the day of salvation is here.
1st Sunday of Lent
Noah and flood
God was loving in cleaning out the
earth of contamination by the
floods of Noah
First Blue Book Meeting February 17, 1994
Genesis 7: 11-12
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, and on the seventeenth day of the month, that very day all the springs of the great deep burst through, and the sluices of heaven opened. And heavy rain fell on earth for forty days and forty nights.
1 Peter 3: 18-22
Christ himself died once and for all for sins, the upright for the sake of the guilty, to lead us to God. In the body he was put to death, in the spirit he was raised to life, and, in the spirit, he went to preach to the spirits in prison. They refused to believe long ago, while God patiently waited to receive them, in Noah’s time when the ark was being built. In it only a few, that is eight souls, were saved through water. It is the baptism corresponding to this water which saves you now—not the washing off of physical dirt but the pledge of a good conscience given to God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has entered heaven and is at God’s right hand, with angels, ruling forces and powers subject to him.
Jesus was in the desert 40 days
Spiritual Exercises
2nd Sunday of Lent
ABRAHAM
Genesis 22: 1-13, 15-18
It happened some time later that God put Abraham to the test. ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ he called. ‘Here I am,’ he replied. God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, your beloved Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, where you are to offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I shall point out to you.’
Early next morning Abraham saddled his donkey and took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. He chopped wood for the burnt offering and started on his journey to the place which God had indicated to him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. Then Abraham said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I are going over there; we shall worship and then come back to you.’
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering, loaded it on Isaac, and carried in his own hands the fire and the knife. Then the two of them set out together. Isaac spoke to his father Abraham. ‘Father?’ he said. ‘Yes, my son,’ he replied. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’ Abraham replied, ‘My son, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.’ And the two of them went on together.
When they arrived at the place which God had indicated to him, Abraham built an altar there, and arranged the wood. Then he bound his son and put him on the altar on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.
But the angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven. ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ he said. ‘Here I am,’ he replied. ‘Do not raise your hand against the boy,’ the angel said. ‘Do not harm him, for now I know you fear God. You have not refused me your own beloved son.’ Then looking up, Abraham saw a ram caught by its horns in a bush. Abraham took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.
The angel of Yahweh called Abraham a second time from heaven. ‘I swear by my own self, Yahweh declares, that because you have done this, because you have not refused me your own beloved son, I will shower blessings on you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will gain possession of the gates of their enemies. All nations on earth will bless themselves by your descendants, because you have obeyed my command.’
God tests us
God calls us to choose what He wants
Jesus - the perfect Son of God
From the Apostles Manual
February 23, 1997
SacrificeMessenger: When I go to Mass I offer a sacrifice. God wants our all. He wants to be first in our life. He asked Abraham to sacrifice his son.
Gen. 22:1-2, 9-13, 15-18:
It happened some time later that God put Abraham to the test. 'Abraham, Abraham!' he called. 'Here I am,' he replied. God said, 'Take your son, your only son, your beloved Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, where you are to offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I shall point out to you. '
When they arrived at the place which God had indicated to him, Abraham built an altar there, and arranged the wood. Then he bound his son and put him on the altar on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.
But the angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven. 'Abraham, Abraham!' he said. 'Here I am,' he replied. 'Do not raise your hand against the boy,' the angel said. 'Do not harm him, for now I know you fear God. You have not refused me your own beloved son.' Then looking up, Abraham saw a ram caught by its horns in a bush. Abraham took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.
The angel of Yahweh called Abraham a second time from heaven. 'I swear by my own self, Yahweh declares, that because you have done this, because you have not refused me your own beloved son, I will shower blessings on you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will gain possession of the gates of their enemies. All nations on earth will bless themselves by your descendants, because you have obeyed my command.'
Messenger: The Father gave His Son for us. This is how great the Father's love is for us.
When we go to the altar many times we are suffering. We want something really bad, but we know we love God the most. What the Father asks for us is to offer that which we are so attached to as a sacrifice, united to the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. If we offer this sacrifice to Him, the Father will pour out blessings that will be divine blessings, greater than anything we could have here on earth.
The Mass is the perfect sacrifice we offer to the Father, in which God pours out His blessings and we are one with Him and with all others in a profound expression of love. God shares His divine love with us and we partake in an intense way in His divine loving capacity. In order to become one in Him and to feel His love like this, we must surrender ourselves and be open.
He told Abraham to offer his son. God gave him his son back. He wanted Abraham to love God above all things and people.
Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice to the Father. This is the most pleasing sacrifice to the Father. If He gave His Son Who died for love of us, will He deny us when we unite our petitions with Jesus and offer these at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass?
He took them to the highest mountain and He was transfigured before them in the greatest light.
Mark 9:2-10:
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain on their own by themselves. There in their presence he was transfigured: his clothes became brilliantly white, whiter than any earthly bleacher could make them. Elijah appeared to them with Moses; and they were talking to Jesus. Then Peter spoke to Jesus, 'Rabbi,' he said, 'it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.' He did not know what to say; they were so frightened. And a cloud came, covering them in shadow; and from the cloud there came a voice, 'This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.' Then suddenly, when they looked round, they saw no one with them any more but only Jesus.
As they were coming down from the mountain he warned them to tell no one what they had seen, until after the Son of man had risen from the dead. They observed the warning faithfully, though among themselves they discussed what 'rising from the dead' could mean.
Messenger: We go to the altar of sacrifice. The mountain to come, in which so many graces will flow, is the altar of sacrifice where the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered through the hands of consecrated priests.
We hear the Father say, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, listen to Him." He is speaking to us. He is the Word. He is speaking in these messages. He is unveiling the Scriptures and speaking to us in plain talk. This is a great gift He is giving to us.
We are transformed in the Mass. We unite with the greatest sacrifice offered in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We have the most perfect sacrifice to offer to the Father when we offer this sacrifice. He gives us great blessings. We die to ourselves, we become white.
We must unite all of our sacrifices to this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass being said all over the world. This is the greatest way to magnify all of our offerings - by uniting everything we do as an offering, a sacrifice to the Father in union with His Son.
end of February 23, 1997
Transfiguration
February 27, 1997
Rita Ring
After the Death, There is the ResurrectionMy love affair is with You, my crucified Lord. I kiss Your cross and caress You tenderly. I smoother You with kisses and I know Your love.
This is love - to kiss the cross of Christ. I cursed the darkness and the light came across the sky, ever so gently as if it grew in intensity to a bright brilliant shade of glistening light. And in this I beheld my Beloved. I saw His glory in the wonders of the earth and I embraced Him, the divine, all-powerful, all Almighty Lord!
He took away those things I was attached to. I held on with a gripping hand. Oh, I cried out in pain and I heard the words in my heart: beyond the surrender is the real gift.
Is it not after the death there is the resurrection, after the dying, there is the glory?
Oh, my Divine Lord, I feel as if my eyes have crusted over. I laid down on the floor and pounded my fists to the earth. I did not see the miracle in the grass that touched my hand. I did not see the power and the might behind the work of endless beauty. A blade of grass, you say? Oh, yes indeed, for it lives and is not life the real miracle? For I am not a rock, but a living creature, created in the image and likeness of God and oh, you say, how much do you share in the life of the Divine Being? And I say, "I share through Baptism. He, God, gives me a sharing in His divine life!"
I pounded the earth and I cursed the darkness. I scoffed and I complained and beyond the horizon the sun slowly stole across the sky and the light appeared in glistening glory. The darkness was black and the night was cold. I heard the clamor of fear in my heart. I felt like screaming in that night and oh, I beheld the crucified Lord. He spoke no words to me, the Holy Spirit filled my heart with light and I saw the glory. I saw the resurrection, not with my earthly eyes, but with the awakening of a joyous heart within.
I saw the glorified wounds, the wounds once covered with blood, inflamed and red, gushing with deep, red blood. I saw the glistening wounds in the hands and feet and I knew behind His robe was the most tender of all wounds, the piercing wound to His side. It was there, the pierced wound of His most precious Heart. It was the wound of glory, from which His divine life would pour forth to a hungry Church. It would rain and fall as gently as the new fallen snow. It would go across the sky like the light and the souls would be transformed into the whitest light. The graced soul, oh, the glory of this soul, the soul that is filled with His divine life!
Oh, need I say more, my Lord? I see the life in a blade of grass. I see the tiniest potato bug with its dots and beauty and I behold the face of God. I behold life, His life, alive in us and in the world.
Well, the night was black, as black as black could be and the cold pierced my bones. I felt its chill go through my entire body and I wanted to scream and it happened--He gave me an outpouring of His life in my soul and my darkness was truly turned to light, another light, not the light of the eyes, a light of knowing God, the joy of beholding His heavenly embrace, the great illumination of another mystery. Oh, sweet gifts He gives when He gives me new knowledge of Himself. Sweet gifts He gives when, in an instant, I pray my rosary and the Holy Spirit fills my heart with lights and the mystery lights up and I know, I just know and I experience a great insight into God.
This is the reason for this letter, for I laid in my bed and I wanted to cry and I was deeply afraid for the devils pressed in as rocks poking at me and hurting my precious skin. I laid in bed and I went into the womb of my Mother and I asked for the Holy Spirit to flood me with His light and it came. I speak His words to you, they are the words He gives: death-resurrection, darkness-light, sorrow-joy, suffering and pain, but oh, the joy of His light, the joy of His glory, the sacrifice I offer to Him that He turns into blessings and I experience His glory. It is in the death there is the resurrection. It is in the anguishing days of lent we come to the glory of Easter.
So, my dear brothers, I walk the road to Calvary. I mount the cross and I die. I offer sacrifice and in the morning when the night is done I see the glory of the resurrection. I experience His joy in my heart.
So I went to bed and went into the womb of my Mother and the Holy Spirit flooded me with light and I united deeply to my precious Jesus on the cross. I knew Him and His love. I reminisced on all the places of deepest intimacy I had shared with Him and my heart burned. I wanted Him so close and I loved Him so much. I cried out, "I love You, I love You, I love You." In that moment I knew and wanted only Him. He had removed my bonds and set me free to be engulfed by His divine love. I then knew Him as never before, the most Holy One, in this union with Jesus.
I felt my great love for God the Father. I have been experiencing my littleness as a child and knowing my Father, seeing myself real little and knowing my Father and wanting, as a little child, to please Him. Then tonight I realized more His Fatherly love. I see myself depending on Him, needing Him, crying to Him, loving Him and then I realized His power and might and love coming to me.
So I knew in an instant. He just gives you a light and you know, you experience--I knew, I experienced the Trinity. I loved Them, all three Persons, so much and I loved Them as one, my heart, being consumed with the presence of God and sharing the love of each Person--love beyond all love, and I stopped to be in this embrace, wanting it to never end, for in this embrace I felt peace, a peace I had not felt before, so different from the days that proceeded this moment, the days of suffering and trial.
I mounted the cross. I felt the nails press deeply into my hands and feet. I felt the crown of thorns on my head. I said to Him, "Oh, why, my God, if You love me, do You make it so hard?"
And then I saw Him on the cross. I saw His mouth with blood running from the corner of it. I saw the body of a man, close to death. I saw His wounds, blistery and red, pouring out His precious blood. I saw the hollowness of His cheeks and the exhaustion of a body ready to expire in death. I saw the anguishing Lord who came to show us His way. His way is death and resurrection. His way is pain and glory. His way is the way to eternal life.
end of February 27, 1997
3rd Sunday of Lent
Then God spoke all these words. He said, ‘I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you lived as slaves.
‘You shall have no other gods to rival me.
‘You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven above or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth.
‘You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God and I punish a parent’s fault in the children, the grandchildren, and the great–grandchildren among those who hate me; but I act with faithful love towards thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
‘You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God, for Yahweh will not leave unpunished anyone who misuses his name.
‘Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath for Yahweh your God. You shall do no work that day, neither you nor your son nor your daughter nor your servants, men or women, nor your animals nor the alien living with you. For in six days Yahweh made the heavens, earth and sea and all that these contain, but on the seventh day he rested; that is why Yahweh has blessed the Sabbath day and made it sacred.
‘Honour your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you.
‘You shall not kill.
‘You shall not commit adultery.
‘You shall not steal.
‘You shall not give false evidence against your neighbour.
‘You shall not set your heart on your neighbour’s house. You shall not set your heart on your neighbour’s spouse, or servant, man or woman, or ox, or donkey, or any of your neighbour’s possessions.’
1 Corinthians 1: 22-25
While the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom, we are preaching a crucified Christ: to the Jews an obstacle they cannot get over, to the gentiles foolishness, but to those who have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is both the power of God and the wisdom of God. God's folly is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.
Money changers
John 2: 20
The Jews replied, ‘It has taken forty–six years to build this Temple: are you going to raise it up again in three days?’
Optional
grumbling in desert
Moses strikes rock — water
Romans 5: 1-2, 5-8So then, now that we have been justified by faith, we are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; it is through him, by faith, that we have been admitted into God’s favour in which we are living, and look forward exultantly to God’s glory.
and a hope which will not let us down, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. When we were still helpless, at the appointed time, Christ died for the godless. You could hardly find anyone ready to die even for someone upright; though it is just possible that, for a really good person, someone might undertake to die. So it is proof of God’s own love for us, that Christ died for us while we were still sinners.
woman at the well
4th Sunday of Lent
Chronicles 36: 15-16, 19
Yahweh, God of their ancestors, continuously sent them word through his messengers because he felt sorry for his people and his dwelling, but they ridiculed the messengers of God, they despised his words, they laughed at his prophets, until Yahweh's wrath with his people became so fierce that there was no further remedy.
He burned down the temple of God, demolished the walls of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces to the ground and destroyed everything of value in it.
Moses lifted the serpent in
the desert
Optional
Samuel
You were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord; behave as children of light, for the effects of the light are seen in complete goodness and uprightness and truth. Try to discover what the Lord wants of you, take no part in the futile works of darkness but, on the contrary, show them up for what they are. The things which are done in secret are shameful even to speak of; but anything shown up by the light will be illuminated and anything illuminated is itself a light. That is why it is said: Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Blind man John 9
5th Sunday of Lent
Jeremiah 31: 31-34
‘Look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shall make a new covenant with the House of Israel (and the House of Judah), but not like the covenant I made with their ancestors the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt, a covenant which they broke, even though I was their Master, Yahweh declares. No, this is the covenant I shall make with the House of Israel when those days have come, Yahweh declares. Within them I shall plant my Law, writing it on their hearts. Then I shall be their God and they will be my people. There will be no further need for everyone to teach neighbour or brother, saying, "Learn to know Yahweh!" No, they will all know me, from the least to the greatest, Yahweh declares, since I shall forgive their guilt and never more call their sin to mind.’
Hebrews 5: 7-9
During his life on earth, he offered up prayer and entreaty, with loud cries and with tears, to the one who had the power to save him from death, and, winning a hearing by his reverence, he learnt obedience, Son though he was, through his sufferings; when he had been perfected, he became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation
Gospel: Unless a grain of wheat
Optional - open your graves
Romans 8: 8-11
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. But when Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is alive because you have been justified; and if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead has made his home in you, then he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in you.
Lazarus Gospel
Given January 27, 2009
Hebrews 10: 11-18
Every priest stands at his duties every day, offering over and over again the same sacrifices which are quite incapable of taking away sins. He, on the other hand, has offered one single sacrifice for sins, and then taken his seat for ever, at the right hand of God, where he is now waiting till his enemies are made his footstool. By virtue of that one single offering, he has achieved the eternal perfection of all who are sanctified. The Holy Spirit attests this to us, for after saying:
No, this is the covenant
I will make with them,
when those days have come.the Lord says:
In their minds I will plant my Laws
writing them on their hearts,
and I shall never more
call their sins to mind,
or their offences.When these have been forgiven, there can be no more sin offerings.
Psalm 110: 1-4
Yahweh declared to my Lord, ‘Take your seat at my right hand,
till I have made your enemies your footstool.’Yahweh will stretch out the sceptre of your power;
from Zion you will rule your foes all around you.Royal dignity has been yours from the day of your birth,
sacred honour from the womb, from the dawn of your youth.Yahweh has sworn an oath he will never retract,
you are a priest for ever of the order of Melchizedek.
Mark 4: 1-20
Again he began to teach them by the lakeside, but such a huge crowd gathered round him that he got into a boat on the water and sat there. The whole crowd were at the lakeside on land. He taught them many things in parables, and in the course of his teaching he said to them, 'Listen! Imagine a sower going out to sow. Now it happened that, as he sowed, some of the seed fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground where it found little soil and at once sprang up, because there was no depth of earth; and when the sun came up it was scorched and, not having any roots, it withered away. Some seed fell into thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no crop. And some seeds fell into rich soil, grew tall and strong, and produced a good crop; the yield was thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.' And he said, 'Anyone who has ears for listening should listen!'
When he was alone, the Twelve, together with the others who formed his company, asked what the parables meant. He told them, 'To you is granted the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside everything comes in parables, so that they may look and look, but never perceive; listen and listen, but never understand; to avoid changing their ways and being healed.'
He said to them, 'Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? What the sower is sowing is the word. Those on the edge of the path where the word is sown are people who have no sooner heard it than Satan at once comes and carries away the word that was sown in them. Similarly, those who are sown on patches of rock are people who, when first they hear the word, welcome it at once with joy. But they have no root deep down and do not last; should some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, at once they fall away. Then there are others who are sown in thorns. These have heard the word, but the worries of the world, the lure of riches and all the other passions come in to choke the word, and so it produces nothing. And there are those who have been sown in rich soil; they hear the word and accept it and yield a harvest, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.'
In religious life for centuries the
religious were to take the vow of
poverty, chastity and obedience —
These are most important for any order —
The sin of Adam and Eve was against
obedience — because of their sin we
all have a wounded human nature —
Since abuse, control, greed, can
occur around money, one of the vows
taken is poverty —
Another vow is chastity — abuse
has occurred in the religious around
chastity, passions, involvement of
people against God's will
I see also the other end — hatred, unloving
ways, division hurting the order —
ORDER — means order as God intends
NOT DISORDER - like the garden
- Adam and Eve were prideful
- Adam and Eve disobeyed God
Fr. Mike gave a homily once about a frog —
if a frog is put in boiling water he
jumps out, but if a frog is put in
warm water and the water is heated to
boiling slowly — the frog won't notice
and will stay in the pot of water and
die.
In today's world we see less and less
people being obedient to God's commandments —
God gives us the COMMAND - MENTS to
obey —
God the Father is the Creator
God has a Plan
God intends us to obey the commandments —
We are the creatures
Because of the garden —
there is disorder
DIS-ORDER
DIS-OBEDIENCE to God's will
Mark 3: 31-35
Now his mother and his brothers arrived and, standing outside, sent in a message asking for him. A crowd was sitting round him at the time the message was passed to him, ‘Look, your mother and brothers and sisters are outside asking for you.’ He replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking at those sitting in a circle round him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.’
We were created to be like Jesus — in
Chapter 1 of Genesis — God tells us
He created us to be like God
The Bible is the Word of God
Chapter 1 of Genesis tells us God
created the light —
God created the world
God created the sea
God created us and intends us to
be likened to Him
Chapter 1, Genesis
Creation
Created in the image and likeness
of God
In God calling us to help renew
the Church and the world — God is teaching
us to obey His commandments, to love and
to be likened to Him.
Mary said at Fatima there will be
an era of peace —
From Tell My People
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, I have allowed you to experience in extraordinary fashion the riches contained in My Heart and My Mother's Heart. I desire that you tell all My people about these riches. I desire that My people consecrate themselves to My Sacred Heart and to Mary's Immaculate Heart. My people are living in the beginnings of the age of the Two Hearts.
"After the time of the purification is completed, this new era of the Church and the world will become firmly established. This era will be characterized by the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. All those who consecrate themselves to My Heart and to My Mother's Heart will help to establish this glorious new age. I am Lord and Master. Please listen to My urgent request. Within Our Hearts you will experience the love and security, the peace and the joy, which you all desire. I love My people with a tremendous love, and in My love I give them this message!"
Reflection: This is the Age of the Two Hearts! The surest road to sanctity in these our times is through consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. In making this consecration, and striving with God's grace to live it as best we can each day, we are contributing to the establishment of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and to the arrival of the reign of the Sacred Heart.
Adam and Eve sinned —
God sent the New Adam and the New Eve
Jesus died on the cross
Jesus obeyed the will of the Father
Mary stood beneath the cross
Mary followed Jesus
Mary obeyed the will of the Father
In the old testament God sent prophets —
Moses gave us the commandments —
Elijah represented the prophets
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There in their presence he was transfigured: his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as dazzling as light. And suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them; they were talking with him. Then Peter spoke to Jesus. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘it is wonderful for us to be here; if you want me to, I will make three shelters here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ He was still speaking when suddenly a bright cloud covered them with shadow, and suddenly from the cloud there came a voice which said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.’ When they heard this, the disciples fell on their faces, overcome with fear. But Jesus came up and touched them, saying, ‘Stand up, do not be afraid.’ And when they raised their eyes they saw no one but Jesus.
Transfiguration
Jesus is the perfection of the Law
and the prophets
The Father says
Matthew 3: 17
And suddenly there was a voice from heaven,
‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him.’
Jesus comes to teach us how to be the son
of God — created in that
image and likeness God is telling us about
in Genesis.
Jesus shows us He obeyed the will of
the Father.
Jesus came in poverty —
in the stable in Bethlehem
Jesus lived His vocation
Jesus the high-priest as the Father
intended
Poverty, Chastity, Obedience
Jesus came to Perfect the Law and the Prophets
Jesus Chief Priest, Prophet and King
Obedience to the Father's will —
In making Jesus - the King and Center of our
Hearts
In making Mary - the Queen of our Hearts
We are modeling our lives after the
New Adam and the New Eve —
who lived obedient to the Father
In praying the rosary we, the tainted children
of Adam and Eve — meditate on Their
lives so we live lives of greater
perfection — following their example
The greatest commandment is
Matthew 22: 36-40
'Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?' Jesus said to him, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets too.'
This calls us to relationship
relationship with God, each other and ourselves —
Yes we have a relationship with ourselves —
When our inner child, the little child of
the past wants his way — it is
our reason of the adult child
inside, the one rooted in wisdom,
justice, prudence and temperance
that comes to the foreground and says
I have a free will
I can obey God or disobey God
I can love or be competitive, unloving,
prideful, jealous, possessive,
seeking dominance for
dominance sake
What does God want with the Shepherds of
Christ
Why have I given this part of my life
to my vocation as
7 levels of commitment
(1) Servants
(2) Handmaids
(3) Apostles of the Sacred Heart
(4) Apostles of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus
(5) Prayer Apostles
(6) Associates
(7) Priests
In every relationship God intends us to
operate to help build His Kingdom
When we answer this call —
obeying God's will for us
obeying the commandments
we may suffer in this imperfect
world, but we have peace
When we give into sin —
when we hurt others
we are miserable
Like a fish out of water
We were called to obey God
When we aren't obeying God's commandments
When we aren't loving
We are like a fish out of water —
Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist
We were created for God
The purpose of the Shepherds of Christ Movement is
to be great intercessors praying
and to love prayer —
live greater intimacy with God and
teach others about this
When a person is so one with God —
Bishop Sheen said they like to be
before the Eucharist
A person - who is sinning will
not like to be before the
Eucharist — he will steer away
from prayer
When a person gives into satan —
they become more and more blind to
sin.
We can lie to ourselves about
our sins.
Adults can try to force their rules,
their ways on others through rages and
passive-aggressive controlling ways —
A person that is "capping" on another
every time someone comes in the room —
does so to prove they are above the other —
or they want to do their will — so they
can even use, sinful, unloving, controlling
ways — to force their rule on others —
How would an office operate where
every one tried to hurt every one else
and was competing to prove the other
not as smart as each other —
Meal time means a lot to us — it
is pleasure - to a religious who has
been living a celibate life — meal time
is especially pleasurable and sleep
is too
There is but one way
harmony to the Father's
Plan — for the creatures —
obedience to the Father
We had an old wash machine
front loading —
It sounded like our wash
machine now with tennis shoes
in them —
We can sound like this as we
dwell on the earth — making
noisy rebellious sounds against God's will
one person making a loud rebellious
noise on this earth
shouting — I have a free will
Yes, but God gave us commandments —
His Law —
God sent Jesus to teach us to be
a "son of God"
This is God's world —
He put us on the earth for His purpose —
What will we have if we
rebel against Him
