We acknowledge that the final authority regarding these messages
rests
with the Holy See of Rome.
| Mary has requested that the daily message be given each day to the
world. It is read nightly at the prayer service from her Image Building in Clearwater,
Florida, U.S.A. This is according to her request. All attempts will be made to publish
this daily message to the world at 11 p.m. Eastern time, U.S.A. We acknowledge that the final authority regarding these messages
rests |
|
April 14th Holy Spirit Novena
Scripture selection is Day 7 Period II.The Novena Rosary Mystery
for April 14th is Sorrowful.
We need about $5,000
more for postage for the
priest English mailing.
Rita Ring will be in China
for a live rosary on the 13th
broadcasted worldwide.
It will be discerned by
a catholic priest.
PALM SUNDAY
Rita Ring will do a live rosary.
Prayers begin at 12:00 China time.
April 13th -
Sunday - China, Indiana
Come to China
Mass Saturday April 12 - 12:00 noon
exposed Eucharist until
April 14 - 12:00 noon
praying for the priests,
the Church and the world.
The Nursing Home Video
January 5, 2003
will be available and
shown on the 13th in China.
We urgently, urgently need
funds and volunteers for
the priestly mailing!
Please help us!
We still owe Banta
$2,000 for shipping
of the Blue Books
Here is the schedule for our web radio
April 14, 2003.4:00 a.m. - Mass
4:37 a.m. - October 13, 1996 Live Rosary
- Songs from Jesus6:20 a.m. - 6:20 prayers led by Father Carter
Holy Spirit Novena
Shepherds of Christ Prayer Manual
Rosary7:24 a.m. - Tell My People
read by Father Carter8:55 a.m. - Newsletter 1999 Issue 4
read by Father Carter10:23 a.m. - Choose Life
11:25 a.m. - Grace by Father Carter
read by a priest12:33 p.m. - August 20, 1996 Rosary
from the Mass Book1:45 p.m. - Newsletter 2000 Issue 1
read by Father Carter3:05 p.m. - Rosary of Light from November 15, 2002
led by Rita Ring4:00 p.m. - Mass
4:37 p.m. - Blue Book Reading
- Songs from Jesus
6:20 p.m. - 6:20 prayers led by Father Carter
Holy Spirit Novena
Shepherds of Christ Prayer Manual
Rosary7:24 p.m. - Tell My People
read by Father Carter8:55 p.m. - Love Songs and Messages
October 1, 19949:59 p.m. - Spirituality Handbook
read by Father Carter11:33 p.m. - Mary's Message
12:30 a.m. - November 13, 1996 Live Rosary
1:50 a.m. - Messages from December 12, 2002
feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe2:37 a.m. - August 20, 1996 Rosary
from the Mass Book3:50 a.m. - Songs from Jesus
4:00 a.m. - Mass
April 13, 2003
Excerpt from March 28, 1999 message
PASSION SUNDAY
Messenger: I was going to Church on Passion Sunday. I think it was 1993, it could have been 1994. I looked at the sun, I saw two streaks of red come down from the sun. I watched them as if blood was running down. It started at the base of the sun and went downward.
Next, the red slowly covered the sky. It started to spread from the streaks.
Soon the sky was covered with this reddish hue. I pulled over by the side of the road and cried. All I could see was a red sky.
No one was with me.
I looked out of the very back of the car and it was blue.
Most of the entire sky slowly was covered with this.
When I got to church a woman told me what I saw was probably connected to Passion Sunday.
end of March 28, 1999 message
April 13, 2003 message continues
Jesus speaks: My child you are to love your God with your
whole heart, your whole soul and
your whole being — LOVE YOUR GOD
with all your heart.Messenger: Oh Jesus it is so hard because I love Thee
so much and love to go to Mass and be
with You forever in heaven.Jesus speaks: Oh My child, I love you so much.
Messenger: Oh Jesus I give You myself and ask You to
take charge of my life — help me
to surrender to You.Oh God, I want the people of this earth
to be so united and love You
so deeply.Since I have had this wreck, most people
have been so nice to me.Oh Jesus, I love the priest so much,
they are such a gift for us.Jesus speaks: Oh My child, please tell all the Shepherds
of Christ how deeply I love them and
thank them in their fervor in this mailing.Your white van landed on the black
car. The envelopes and your lives
were saved. I want you all to serve
Me on this earth. You will know
deep love and union in this mission —
all are working so deeply united in
Cincinnati and China and this pleases
Me so very much.Circulate the video of January 5, 2003
all over the earth.Circulate the video April 17, 1994
with it.Oh Rita, don't ever give up, offer up the
suffering — grace is being released
all over the world because of your
prayers.Do not ever give up, never give in — say yes
every day, yes, yes, yes, yes ——Even Peter denied Me.
My children when you are sinful, admit
it, say you are sorry and help Me —It is that some have so much pride —
Oh I am with you —
I love you so much.The body can be injured and you
love so deeply from your heart —
trust in Me, My child —
Can you not watch one hour?
Why do you give into temptation —
Pain, pain, I suffered so much pain
for your sins.Judas betrayed Me, I am the Son of God.
I loved him so much and Judas betrayed Me.
My heart is a furnace of love, burning
for all the souls of this earth.Help Me to send My mailing and video
to My priests. They need this
mailing, I love them so much —
I appear and My Mother appears for
them.I was arrested, I am God and they arrested
Me.Oh My people, I love you so very much.
Oh My people help Me.
Even Peter denied Me.
How do you deny Me? Do you deny Me when
you do so many worldly things — when others
are treating Me with such irreverence
and you don't say anything or watch it.How do you deny Me, when others say its
okay to skip Church on Sunday for golf
and you don't speak up?I am Jesus, the Son of God.
They put Me to death —
I am God and they put Me to death.
Look how many treat God today.
I am Jesus the Son of God.
Help Me.
Listen to Me.
Tell My People
Messages from Jesus and Mary
as given to Fr. Edward Carter, S.J.
Published by:
Shepherds of Christ Ministries
P.O. Box 193
Morrow, Ohio 45152-0193
In conformity with the decrees of Pope Urban VIII, the Publisher recognizes and accepts that the final authority regarding these messages rests with the Holy See of Rome, to whose judgment we willingly submit.
-The Publisher
This book is published by Shepherds of Christ Publications, a subsidiary of Shepherds of Christ Ministries, a tax exempt organization. Shepherds of Christ Ministries is a religious public charitable association organized to foster devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
For additional copies, write to:
Shepherds of Christ Ministries
P.O. Box 193
Morrow, Ohio 45152-0193
1-888-211-3041 US Toll Free
(513) 932-4451Copyright © 1994 Rev. Edward Carter, S.J.
Rights for non-commercial reproduction granted:
May be copied in its entirety, but neither re-typed nor edited.
Scripture texts are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd. and Doubleday Company.
ISBN: 0-9635852-7-4
First Printing: March, 1995
Second Printing: July, 1995
Table of Contents
Introduction
In recent years there have been reports from all over the world regarding alleged visionaries and locutionists. One question which immediately comes to mind is, "Why would there be such a great number of visionaries and locutionists supposedly receiving private revelations at the same time?"
I myself asked this question about two years ago when I was doing research regarding the writing of a book about our Blessed Mother. Initially, I myself was quite skeptical concerning the great number of persons allegedly receiving private revelations. However, the more research I did, the more convinced I became that many of the messages being received by the reported visionaries and locutionists could be authentic.
We apparently are living in one of the most critical periods of human history, and many of the messages, in one way or another, bring out how a great number of people have seriously strayed from God. Never before has there been such alienation from God. Has there ever been a time in the history of the human race when sin was so widespread?
I am convinced that God, in His great love and mercy, is going to extraordinary lengths to try to wake up the multitudes concerning the seriousness of the situation. This, to me, explains why there are so many claimed visionaries and locutionists in these our times.
We can say, in summary fashion, that the messages they are delivering have to do with the call to conversion. The messages are addressed to two basic kinds of people. The messages are calling back to God those who have seriously wandered from the path which leads to eternal life. In reference to those who are in a basically good relationship with God, the messages are calling for an ongoing conversion--to a deeper relationship with God.
I think at this point it is beneficial to say a few words about the different kinds of visions and locutions (messages). I quote here from Fr. Joseph de Guibert, S.J., one of the most eminent mystical theologians of this century:
A distinction is made between corporeal, imaginative, and intellectual visions. This distinction can also be applied to locutions. In corporeal visions and locutions there is a real perception by the external senses; the person who is seen or heard may be really present, or (in corporeal visions) the body which appears may be formed in the air, or a change may be affected at the moment the light-rays impinge on the eye, or (in corporeal locutions) a real acoustical vibration may be produced in the ears. In imaginative visions and locutions there is no perception by the external senses but, rather, a Divine action on the imagination or the internal senses. . . . In intellectual visions and locutions the Divine action directly affects the intellect (from The Theology of the Spiritual Life, pp. 355-356).
Often, a visionary receives a locution (message) together with an apparition or vision. However, a vision can be received with no accompanying locution. A locutionist is usually understood to be a person who receives messages without an accompanying external vision. Still, a locutionist often does experience an internal type of vision when receiving messages.
In the history of the Church there obviously have been those who claimed to be visionaries and locutionists who, in reality, were not having authentic mystical experiences. This reminds us that we must have a set of criteria at hand which helps us to discern whether or not the messages coming forth from reported visionaries and locutionists are authentic or not. There are specific guidelines which mystical theologians have traditionally employed to help discern the authenticity, or lack thereof, of alleged private revelations.
First, one must look to the credibility of the alleged visionary or locutionist. Does the person seem to be well balanced mentally and emotionally? Is the person generally known to be a truthful person? Second, is there anything against faith or morals in the alleged visions or messages? Third, what fruits are being produced by the alleged visions and locutions? Are they helping to bring people closer to God? Jesus tells us in the Gospel: ". . . a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit. A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit" (Matthew 7:17-18). Fourth, at times external signs are given by God to help confirm the authenticity of visions and locutions. It is appropriate to look for these, although if they are absent one cannot conclude that a particular alleged vision or locution is not authentic.
If the first three of the above criteria can be favorably attested to, a person can prudently give consideration to the authenticity of the particular visions and locutions involved, while always being willing to submit to the final judgment of the Church in the matter.
I myself began receiving locutions on a regular basis in the summer of 1993. For a number of months, these were given to me for my own spiritual development and guidance in my ministry. On Holy Saturday, 1994, Jesus told me that on the following day, Easter, I would also begin to receive messages for others. Our Lord also told me that some of these were eventually to be published in a book--and here is that book.
I humbly make the following statement: I recognize and accept that the final authority regarding private revelations rests with the Holy See of Rome, to whose judgment I willingly submit.
Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J
Professor of Theology
Xavier University
Cincinnati, Ohio
"What I say to you in the dark, tell in the day-
light; what you hear in whispers, proclaim
from the housetops." (Matthew 10:27)
Jesus Has Come to Give Us Life
Jesus: "This is the day celebrating My Resurrection (Easter). The day of newness of life. I am Lord and Master. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Tell My people to come to Me if they wish to experience life in abundance. I want to give all an ever greater share in the life of My Resurrection. Without Me you cannot be happy, nor have peace, nor have real joy. Tell My people to surrender to Me more and more. The more they do so, the more they will experience My love, wisdom, power, peace, joy, happiness, mercy, and goodness. Within My Heart My people will find these riches. I am Lord and Master! Please listen to My words."
Call of the Sacred Heart
Jesus: "Tell My People that I wish them to come to My Sacred Heart. I show My Heart as symbol of My great love for My people. So many, however, are cold and indifferent concerning My love for them. Consider all I have done for My people! I suffered a brutal passion and death for them. My Body was unmercifully scourged, My head cruelly crowned with thorns, My hands and feet mercilessly pierced with nails. Oh, how much I suffered in all this—out of love for My Father and the whole human race! Finally, My Heart was pierced with the soldier's lance. From My pierced Heart flowed forth blood and water, symbols of the Eucharist and Baptism. How much My pierced Heart still loves My people! How I long for each to come to My Heart in a return of love! All who do will experience My love in a special way. All who take up their refuge within My Heart will experience love, security, peace, joy. The world cannot give My people these gifts. I, Who am Lord and Master, am the One Who gives these gifts."
Trust in Jesus
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, tell My people to trust Me unreservedly. I am Lord and Master. I am their God. So many fail to trust Me as they should. I love all My people much, much more than they love themselves. This great love of Mine should encourage the greatest trust. The more you realize how much a friend loves you, the more you place your trust in the friend. I am your perfect Friend! I love you infinitely more than your best earthly friend. Tell My people to give Me their trust. Tell them to say often, 'Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You.' I am Lord and Master. Please do as I request."
Mary Our Mother
Jesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people to come to My Mother. From the cross, as I was suffering indescribable agony, I gave Mary as spiritual Mother to the world. My great love for My people prompted Me to do this. I am Lord and Master, and I want My people to come to My Mother and their Mother. If you wish to be close to Me, come to Mary. Consecrate yourselves to her. In this way you will grow into the closest union with Me. Through her Immaculate Heart, you will be drawn more and more into My own Heart. It is My desire that you allow My Mother to place you within My Heart which loves you with an unfathomable love! This is My wish—that you come to Me enfolded by Mary's mantle, cradled in her arms, pressed against her Heart."
Being Loved by Jesus
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, I have given you a special experience of what it means to be loved by Me. I have drawn you, through Mary, deeply within My Heart. There you experience a deep peace, joy, and security—all this results from your realizing how much I love you! Tell My people about My great love! Tell them I desire that they come to My Heart. There they will experience the wonders that only My Heart can give. I am Lord and Master. I desire that all listen to My words."
On Being Thankful
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, because I love you with a very special love, I have showered you with great gifts. You have cried out to Me in joy. You have told Me how thankful you are for My many special favors. Allowing you to be so thankful is itself a gift I give you. Tell My people that I want them to thank Me every day for all the gifts I have given and continue to give them. Tell them I want them to give themselves to Mary. In her company I want them to approach My Sacred Heart each day. Here I will give them ever greater gifts.
"How much I love My people! How much I long to shower them with My love-laden gifts! Sadly, many do not want to receive My gifts. Those who do, let them come to My Heart, and they will be amazed at what I will do for them! My Heart is an inexhaustible source of graces. Please, My people, I long for you to come and draw from its riches! I am Lord and Master. Please do as I request."
The Holy Spirit
Jesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people to pray daily to the Holy Spirit. They are to pray for an increase in His gifts. My people must realize that the Holy Spirit comes to transform them. The Spirit desires to transform you more and more according to My image. Those who are docile to His touch become increasingly shaped in My likeness. He performs this marvel within Mary's Immaculate Heart. The more one dwells in My Mother's Heart, the more active are the workings of the Spirit. The Spirit leads Mary to place you within My own Heart. In both Our Hearts, then, your transformation continues. The more you are formed after My own Heart, the more I lead you to the bosom of My Father. Tell My people all this. Tell them to pray daily for a greater appreciation of these wondrous gifts. I am Lord and Master. All who come to My Heart will be on fire to receive the gifts of the Spirit in ever greater measure! I love and bless My people!"
Prayer
Jesus: My beloved companion, tell My people about the great importance of prayer. Prayer plays an indispensable role in the process of sanctification and ultimate salvation. Let My little ones come to Me daily in prayer. I especially want My people to pray before the tabernacle. When they do so, I give them special graces. The prayer of My people should be filled with love for Me, My Father, the Holy Spirit, and My Mother. Pressed against their Mother's heart, and under her guidance, let My people come to My Sacred Heart. Each day they should take up their refuge in My Heart, and there enter into the deepest prayer. They should put all worries and anxieties aside and pray from the heart. I take their prayer to the Father in the Holy Spirit. My people, I want you to pray, pray, pray! During prayer I make you especially aware of My great love for you. During prayer I ask for your return of love. During prayer I especially allow you to experience peace and joy. The crosses you bear are no obstacle to this. In fact, when you bear your crosses properly—that is, according to My Father's will—you experience increased peace and joy. My people, listen to My words. I am Lord and Master. I love you with the most tender love!"
Images of the Hearts
of Jesus and MaryJesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people that I desire them to have pictures or statues of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart in their homes. This will greatly help them to give honor to Our Hearts. All My churches and chapels should also have these images. I will bestow great blessings on all those who heed My request. I am your Lord and Master. Please do as I ask."
Age of the Two Hearts
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!"
The Joy of Christ
Jesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people that I am a God of joy. I have come so that My people's joy may be complete. So many of My people seek for joy in the wrong places. So many seek their joy and happiness in material things. Joy can spring from material things only when they are used according to My Father's will. Many use material things against My Father's will. Come to My Heart, My people. Come to My Heart in union with your Mother Mary. She will place you within My Heart, and we will teach you the secret of joy. We will show you that joy is meant to be yours at all times-even in the deepest suffering.
"Come to Me, My people. I am your Lord and Master! I am all-powerful! When I say I will give you joy in abundance, I have the means to fulfill My promise. But you must come to My Heart, and you must trust Me. I ask for your total trust. The more you trust Me, the more you will be filled with My joy!"
The Peace of Christ
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, tell My beloved people that I am the Divine Giver of peace. I want so much to give My people an even greater sense of peace, but many refuse My offer! They think they know their own way to peace and happiness—a way which is not My way. The further they stray from Me, the more restless they become, and the less true peace they have. My way is the only way to peace.
"My people, come each day to My Sacred Heart. Let Mary lead you to My Heart. The more you dwell within My Heart, the more peace will be yours. I am Lord and Master. Please listen to My words! Do not seek your peace and consolation in worldly pursuits. Come within My Heart, and you will be filled with the peace you so much crave. I will press you to My Sacred Heart. I will tell you how much I love you! The more you realize this love, the more My peace will possess your soul!"
The Two Hearts and the Mass
Jesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people that they are living in the Age of the Two Hearts—that of My Heart and My Mother's heart. My people live in the initial stages of this great era. I call all My people to take up their refuge in My Heart and My Mother's heart. In Our Hearts they will become more and more transformed into My likeness.
"The greatest source for growth in devotion to Our Hearts is the Eucharist. I wish My people to attend Mass often, daily if possible. What a great gift I have given to My people in the Eucharist! Yet many of My people are indifferent to the treasures contained in the Mass. Think of it! My people are privileged to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass together with Me! And yet how many prefer to do other things rather than attend Mass. How this attitude offends My Sacred Heart!
"I long for My people to participate in the Mass and to receive Me worthily! Think of it! I, Who am your God, long to come to you each day! In the Eucharist I come to you in My Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Present within you, I long to take you close to My Sacred Heart, this Heart which is truly within you. The more you allow Me to do so, the more closely I press you to this Heart. I shower you with its riches. I abundantly give you great graces which increasingly form you in My likeness.
"I am Lord and Master! Please listen to My words. Pray, pray for a deeper understanding of the Mass. In union with Mary, approach Me daily in the Eucharist. I, your God, long to come to you. How much do you long to receive Me?"
The Riches of the Immaculate Heart
Mary: "My beloved priest-son, how often I have pressed you to my maternal and Immaculate Heart in the greatest love! How often I allow you to taste the sweetness of this Heart. How often I make you aware that my Heart is your refuge where you feel so much loved, where you feel so secure, where you feel bathed in peace! I desire that you tell all the people about the riches contained in my Immaculate Heart. Tell my people to come to my Heart each day. I will caress them with my maternal love. I will lead them ever closer to the Sacred Heart of my Son. I will tell them to listen to Jesus. I will remind them that He is their Lord and Master. I will remind them to do whatever He tells them to do.
"Yes, my dearly beloved son, tell my people all these things. Keep reminding them of my great love for them. Keep reminding them how I love to draw them to my maternal and Immaculate Heart!"
The Tears and Sorrows of Mary
Mary: "My beloved priest-son, I have given you a great devotion to my sorrows and tears. Tell my people about this devotion. Tell them I promise great blessings to all who say seven Hail Marys each day in honor of my tears and seven sorrows. Included in my promise is that of granting special assistance at the hour of death. At this moment, all who practice this devotion will see my face."
Children of Mary
Mary: "My beloved priest-son, how often I have embraced you! How often I have told you how much I love you! How often, at your request, I have held you in my arms as my child. You have told me you realize how helpless you are of yourself, but how strong and secure you feel dwelling in my heart and Jesus' Heart. Your sense of your littleness and helplessness endears you to me all the more. I take you ever more securely to my maternal and Immaculate Heart. Tell all my people of the riches you have found within my heart. Tell them how I place you within my Son's Heart. Tell them that, because of my motherly action, you are now more closely united with Jesus than ever before. Tell my people to come to my heart and draw forth similar riches. Tell all my little ones that Jesus, Who is Lord and Master, bids me to lead all to His Sacred Heart. The more my little ones dwell within my Immaculate Heart, the more I place them within Jesus' Heart. Oh, how I love all my little ones! How I love to bring them to the Heart of Jesus!"
The Eucharist
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, tell My people how I long for them to come to Me in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the great Sacrament of My love for My people. So many are indifferent to My Eucharistic presence. So many have no real desire to receive Me in the Eucharist. So many have no desire to visit Me in the Blessed Sacrament. How I long for My people to come before the tabernacle and to talk with Me!
"I am offended, many times seriously, by all the outrages, sacrileges, and indifferences committed against My Eucharistic presence. I ask My people to make reparation for all this. I especially ask that they often say the prayer of Eucharistic reparation given by the angel to the three Fatima visionaries.
"I am Lord and Master. Please do as I request. My Eucharistic Heart is beating with unfathomable love for My people! Let them come to My Sacred Heart. How I long to take My people to My Heart and shower them with Its abundant graces! I love My people with a tremendous love, and I give them this message with the greatest love!"
Reparation for Sin
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, tell My people that the ugly face of sin covers the earth as never before in the history of the human race. My image, which should shine forth brilliantly over the whole earth, is seriously marred by the hideousness of sin. My Father's justice demands reparation. Tell My people to offer their actions in reparation for all the sins whereby the Triune God is so much offended. My Heart cries out for reparation, especially for sins committed against My Eucharistic presence. My Heart hates sin, but loves the sinner. All who are sorry for their sins will find in My Heart overflowing graces of mercy.
"My people should receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation often, even if they have no serious sins to confess. The graces of this Sacrament give powerful graces for the fight against temptation. I am Lord and Master. Please do as I request!"
Consecration to the Hearts
of Jesus and MaryJesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people that I desire all to consecrate themselves to My Sacred Heart and to Mary's Immaculate Heart. Tell them not to just recite words in making the act of consecration, but to realize what they are saying. Consecration to Our Hearts means a total gift of self. It means handing over everything to Me and to My Mother. Consecration means a willingness to surrender completely to Me. In Baptism one is consecrated to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But how many fail to live out their consecration! I extend to all the invitation to renew this baptismal consecration through consecration to My Heart and to My Mother's Heart.
"My beloved companion, I have taught you what this consecration means. I have given you great peace, joy, and happiness because you have made this consecration. I have taught you that you are to renew this act of consecration each day, I constantly remind you that you are to pray each day for the grace to more and more live the consecration. I have taught you that your consecration to Me and My Mother means that you constantly surrender yourself to Us and to Our care. I have taught you that the more you surrender yourself to Me, the more I live in you and through you and for you. I have taught you that My great love for you longs to draw you more deeply into My Heart. I have shown you that I wish your Mother Mary to place you there within My Heart, and that the more you dwell within her heart, the more deeply she places you within My Heart. Dwelling within Our Hearts, the Holy Spirit fashions you more and more in My likeness. The Father thus looks upon you with greater favor and takes you more closely to Himself. Tell My people all these wondrous truths. I am Lord and Master, and I desire all to listen to My words!"
Mary, Model and Teacher of Love
Mary: "My beloved priest-son, I have led you to greatly increase your prayers and sacrifices for others. I have often reminded you of my teaching at Fatima—that many souls go to Hell because they have no one to pray and make sacrifices for them. My Immaculate Heart longs that all my little ones be saved. Tell my little ones that they must love their neighbor through prayer, sacrifices, and other ways, too. All should learn from me. My Heart is symbol, not only of my great love for God, but also of my tender love for all my little ones. Imitate my love for God and all my children. If you love Jesus and me, this means you also love all of God's children. Jesus died for all. You cannot exclude anyone from your love.
"My Heart is the perfect imitator of the Heart of my Son. I will teach you how to love the Father and all mankind after the example of Jesus. All my little ones, I long for you to come to my Heart so I can teach you the ways of love! I love you so much! Come to my Immaculate Heart. Pressed against my Heart, I will hold you in my arms. I will clothe you with my motherly and protective mantle. As I hold you close to my Heart, I will teach you the ways of love!"
"What I say to you in the dark, tell in the day-
light; what you hear in whispers, proclaim
from the housetops." (Matthew 10:27)The Two Hearts and Sanctity
Jesus: "My beloved priest companion, I and My Mother have given you a consuming desire to spread devotion to Our Hearts. Tell My people about the great riches contained in My Sacred Heart and Mary's Immaculate Heart! Tell My people that they live in the age of the Two Hearts. What I and My Mother said at Fatima has been gradually unfolding. The Fatima message is centered in devotion to Our Hearts. The triumph of Mary's Immaculate Heart, foretold at Fatima, is soon to take place. This triumph will coincide with the era of peace for the world which My Mother foretold at Fatima. This great new age of peace for the Church and the world will be characterized by the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart.
"Because this is the age of the Two Hearts, the quickest and surest way to sanctity is through devotion to My Heart and Mary's Heart. Such devotion reaches its highest point in consecration to Our Hearts. Within Our Hearts My people will be clothed with great graces! Their love for God and neighbor will deepen tremendously! They will be fired with a holy and burning desire to love God and neighbor in all their daily activities as guided by the Holy Spirit. Dwelling within Our Hearts, My people will long to help bring back an alienated world to conform to My Father's will.
"My friend, I and My Mother have allowed you to experience in an extraordinary way the riches contained in Our Hearts. Tell My people about these riches! Tell them that I and Mary long for them to come within Our Hearts! I am Lord and Master. Please listen to My words. Come to Our Hearts!"
Surrender to the Heart of Jesus
Jesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people how I want them to surrender to My Heart. I have taught you that the more you surrender to Me, the greater is your peace, joy, and happiness. I have shown you that the more you allow Me to control your life, to direct your life, the happier you become. I have shown you how fruitless it is for a person to want to control one's own life. A person has a choice: as a finite, weak creature to try to control things himself, or in humility to throw himself into my arms, the arms of One Who is all-loving and all-powerful.
"I give you the grace to increasingly surrender to My Heart. In doing so you experience My love and power in an extraordinary way. Teach My people these lessons. Tell them to listen to My words. I am Lord and Master, and I desire all to heed My request! I give this message out of My great love for My People!"
Jesus Asks for Our Love
Jesus: "My beloved companion, tell My people how I long for them to say that they love Me! When they do this, it gives Me great joy. When they tell Me they love Me, I take them close to My Heart. I give them the desire to love Me more and more. I clothe them with fresh graces, increasing their capacity to love God and neighbor. Tell My people to express their love for Me often! I am Lord and Master. Please do as I request!"
Mary as Our Mediatrix
Mary: "My beloved priest-son, I have given you a profound conviction of how necessary it is to realize I am your motherly mediatrix with Jesus. I have been appointed by the Triune God. Constantly remind all my little ones of this great truth! The more my little ones give themselves to my maternal and Immaculate Heart, the more I bring them to the Heart of Jesus!"
I Have Died for All -
You Must Love AllJesus: "My beloved companion, tell My people that all in the human race have been marked with My Precious Blood! I died a brutal death for all! Since all have been touched and redeemed by My Precious Blood, no one can be excluded from your love. My people must love each and every one. They must look beyond the exterior of a person and see the God-image of each. Each one has been created in God's image. Each one has been raised to a new dignity through My redemption.
"Tell My people to be conscious of all this in their dealings with others—especially those marginalized little ones who are so forgotten and abandoned by many. Each person is precious to My Sacred Heart! Treat everyone accordingly. Be kind, and patient, and, above all, loving toward everyone. In union with Mary, come to My Heart each day and I will give you the light and strength to love your neighbor with a mighty love! I am Lord and Master! Please heed My request. In My great love for you, I give you this message!"
Come to Our Hearts
Mary: "My beloved priest-son, how I love you! You give me such great joy because you love to dwell in my Immaculate Heart. In my great love for you, I have obtained this grace for you—that you love to dwell in my Heart! In my Heart, I caress you as a little child. I shower you with expressions of my motherly love. I take you each day to the Heart of Jesus and place you deeply within His Heart. How you love for me to do this, and how I love to do it! Tell all my little ones of the riches you have discovered in my Heart and Jesus' Heart. Tell them to come to Our Hearts in order to experience similar riches. Oh, how I love all my little ones, and how I long for them to come to me!"
Live Your Consecration
Jesus: "My beloved friend, I have taught you what is involved in living out your consecration to My Heart and to My Mother's Heart. I have taught you to renew your consecration each day. I have led you to be aware of your consecration many times during the day. I have taught you to pray frequently during the day for the grace to grow in the life of consecration. I have impressed upon you that your consecration to Our Hearts includes your being aware of how much I and Mary love you! I have given you a great desire to respond to Our love. I have greatly increased your desire to love Me, the Father, the Holy Spirit, Mary, and all your fellow human beings! I have taught you that to grow in your consecration you must surrender more and more to My Heart and My Mother's Heart—that you must give yourself completely to Us. And I have given you a great desire to do so! I have given you a great trust in Our Hearts. This trust is so important in making the act of consecration and living it.
"My beloved companion, tell My people about these lessons I have taught you. Lead them to consecrate themselves to My Sacred Heart and to Mary's Immaculate Heart. Tell them of the great love, peace, and joy they will experience if they make this consecration and live it! I am Lord and Master. I urgently request that My people listen to My messages and live them! I love My people with a tremendous love, and, out of this love, I give My messages through you and others in these most critical times!"
The Cross Leads to Life
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, tell My people that they must keep the lesson of the cross fresh in their consciousness. Remind them that I am the Christ of the Cross as well as the Christ of the Resurrection. I suffered tremendously on My way to death on the cross. My sacred flesh was so cruelly lacerated by the scourging. My sacred head was so cruelly and mockingly crowned with thorns. I was spat upon and made fun of. Exhausted by terrible suffering, I still had to carry the heavy cross to Calvary. There My sacred hands and feet were mercilessly pierced with nails. Oh, what pain this caused Me!
"I suffered all this most willingly—out of love for My Father and for all My people! Through My cross, through My suffering, I obtained new life for My people. Through My cruel and brutal death, I achieved Resurrection for Myself and all My people. My suffering was not an end in itself. It was a necessary passageway to obtain the life I came to give.
"My people must share in My cross, so that they may share more and more in My life. Remind My people, My dear friend, that suffering, when embraced according to My Father's will, leads to greater life here and hereafter. The cross, properly carried, always leads to a greater share in My Resurrection.
"Tell My people that the more they are united with Me in love, the easier is the carrying of the cross. The more one dwells in Me, the more I help that person to carry the cross. In this way, even the heaviest cross becomes relatively light.
"Carrying the cross does not mean to be in misery. Carrying one's cross in union with Me always allows a person to remain in peace. The cross does not take away peace and joy. Despite the pain involved, the cross gives increased peace and joy. I am Lord and Master. I eagerly desire that all listen to My words and live them!
"My people, come each day to My Heart and I will give you the light and strength to carry your cross according to Father's will! I love My people with an overwhelming love, and in this great love I give them this message."
Come to My Heart
Jesus: "My beloved companion, how I love to hold you against My Heart! Each day, as you dwell in Mary's Heart, she places you against My Heart, and within My Heart. I have given you a great desire to allow your mother to do this. As you dwell within My Heart, I tell you how much I love you! I give you a great desire to love God and neighbor. I increase your trust in Me—something so necessary for your growth in Me. Within My Heart I make you feel so loved, so secure, so strengthened, so much at peace!
"Tell My people I wish them to come to My Heart each day, in union with Mary, in order to experience similar riches! Oh, how I love for My people to come to My Heart! How I desire to tell them how much I love them! How much I desire to ask for their return of love! I am Lord and Master. I give this message out of My great love for My people, and I request that they listen to My words."
My Father's Will
Jesus: "There is so much disunity, hatred, and lack of love which covers the face of the earth today. My Father's will is being seriously violated in all sorts of ways. There are so many murders—including all the ones killed by abortion—thefts, all kinds of violence, all kinds of impure actions, lies, blasphemies, and much more.
"My Father's will is so much violated because there is so little love. The more one loves God and neighbor, the more My Father's will is being accomplished. Love and conformity to God's will are inseparable.
"Tell My people, My beloved friend, to come to My Heart each day. The more they come to My Heart, the more I will inflame their hearts with a burning love to do My Father's will. The more they come to My Heart, the more I will teach them concerning My Father's will. The more they come to My Heart, the more I will allow them to realize that happiness consists in doing My Father's will out of love in all things. The more one does My Father's will out of love in union with Me and My Mother, the more I lead them to the bosom of the Father in the Holy Spirit. Safe in My Father's arms, they experience great happiness, peace, and joy.
"I am Lord and Master. In My great love for My people, I give this message. I desire that all hear My words and live them!"
The Present Moment
Jesus: "My beloved companion, tell My people to concentrate on living in the present moment. Tell them to depend on Me from moment to moment. My people should want to fill each moment with as great a love of God and neighbor as possible! So many of My people fail to concentrate properly on the present.
"Come to My Heart each day, My people, and I will give you the light and strength to more and more realize the greatness of the present moment. The more you dwell in My Heart, the more content you will be to live in the present. I am Lord and Master. I want to fill you with ever greater peace and joy! But to experience this, you must listen to My words and live them!"
How Much I Love You!
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, how often I tell you how much I love you! And what great joy and peace I give you when I tell you this! How often I press you closely to My Heart! Daily I draw you ever more deeply within My Heart! There I allow you to experience the overwhelming riches of My Heart. I have shown you, as you dwell within My Heart, the secret of finding amazing peace, joy, and happiness. I have shown you that to dwell within My Heart is to experience a foretaste of Heaven!
"I allow you to dwell so deeply within My Heart because I have given you the gift of dwelling within My Mother's Heart. The more one dwells within Mary's Immaculate Heart, the more she places that person within My Sacred Heart.
"My beloved friend, keep telling My people about all the wondrous riches contained in Our Hearts! Keep reminding them that they live in the age of the Two Hearts. Keep telling them that the quickest and most secure path to the highest sanctity is to dwell within Mary's Heart and My Heart!
"I am Lord and Master. I plead with My people to listen to My words and to live them! I love My people with a tremendous love, and in this love I give them this message."
Spiritual Childhood
Mary: "My beloved priest-son, how I love to enfold you in my arms as my little child! Enfolded in my arms in my maternal embrace, I press you against my Immaculate Heart. I draw you within my Heart. There, through my maternal intercession, I clothe you with Jesus' graces. As you dwell in my Heart, I place you ever more deeply within Jesus' Heart and there the Holy Spirit fashions you increasingly in the image of my Son. As you grow in the likeness of Jesus, He takes you ever closer to the Father.
"Thus, as you grow in the sense of your helplessness without God, the stronger you become in Jesus. Childlike thus becomes strength. The smaller you become in living out spiritual childhood, the taller you stand beside Jesus. Weakness becomes strength, your sense of helplessness becomes spiritual maturity!
"Tell all my children about the wonders of spiritual childhood! Tell them to come to me and I will school them in its ways. How I love all my children! Oh, how I love to exercise my motherhood toward them all!"
Humility
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, keep telling My people of the great necessity of humility in the spiritual life. My saints, oh, how they realized the importance of this virtue!
"The world is filled with pride. Pride is the refusal to serve God. It is the refusal to do My Father's will. There is so much sin in today's world because there is so much pride.
"Tell My people to come to My Heart each day. There I will teach them the lesson of humility. There I will show them the riches which flow from humility! There I will teach them that the more they grow in humility, the more peace and joy and happiness they experience. Yes, let My people come to My Heart and learn these lessons. I am Lord and Master, and I desire that all respond to My request. I love My people with a tremendous love, and in this love I give them this message!"
Depend on Me
Jesus: "My beloved friend, I have been teaching you how necessary it is to depend upon Me completely. I teach you to keep your focus on Me, to do everything in union with Me, with complete dependence on Me. I give you the light to see how strong you are when you surrender to Me and depend completely on Me. I allow you to share in a special way in My power. I greatly enhance your ability to do so many things in My service.
"I draw you into My Heart, and as you depend on Me completely, I allow you to draw forth from the riches of My Heart. You become clothed more and more in My likeness. With an ever greater love you give yourself to the service of God and neighbor. I also allow you to realize that your growing dependence on Me is proportionate to your growing dependence on Mary your Mother. The more you live out your consecration to her Heart in giving yourself to her, the more she leads you to live out your consecration to My Heart. This consecration includes and demands an ever greater surrender and dependence upon Me.
"Tell My people of the joy and peace and security which results from this growing dependence on Me. Tell them I wish them to come each day to My Heart and surrender themselves to Me. Tell them to trust Me, and to depend on Me for all their needs. In My great, burning love for them I will care for them to the extent they trust Me and depend on Me! Oh! how I long to care for all My people! Many refuse My help. To those who accept Me, I give them peace and joy and happiness to the degree they surrender to Me and depend on Me.
"I am Lord and Master. I desire that My people listen to My words and live them! I love My people with a tremendous love, and in this love I give them this message!"
Pray, Pray, Pray!
Mary: "My beloved priest-son, I have taught you many times the great importance of prayer. I have obtained for you the gift to love to pray—not only during your set periods of prayer, but also during the day in a manner which permits you to perform your daily duties. I have taught you to always be aware that all prayer should be made in union with the Mass. Indeed, the Eucharistic sacrifice is itself the greatest prayer. All other prayers should be consciously united with the Mass which is constantly being offered throughout the world. I have taught you the great importance of praying before the tabernacle. My Son is really present there in the Eucharist—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Special graces are given to those who pray before the Blessed Sacrament.
"There is so much to pray for in this most critical era! The Church and the world exist in most difficult times. I desire that all my children pray daily for all the needs of the Church and the world. I ask special prayers for the conversion of sinners.
"I ask that my children pray the Rosary each day. Very special graces are given to those who do so. During these times of great purification, I promise special protection to those who regularly pray the Rosary. I also promise protection to their loved ones.
"The more one is united with me, the more I lead them to make their prayer in the Heart of my Son, Jesus. He, in turn, places all prayer in the bosom of the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
"My dear son, please keep reminding all my little ones of the great importance of prayer for their own needs and the needs of all others! Keep telling them of the great necessity of prayer for growth in love of God and neighbor! I love all my children with the most tender love. I desire that all listen to my words and live them in their daily lives!"
Build up My Church
Jesus: "My beloved friend, remind My people that the Church was born from My Heart, pierced with the soldier's lance on Calvary. From My pierced Heart the Church with her sacraments was born. Two of these sacraments, the Eucharist and Baptism, were symbolized by the Blood and Water which flowed forth from My pierced side.
"As the Church was born from My pierced Heart, so does the Church's life grow from the graces I continually give her from My pierced Heart—this Heart which is now glorified. "I call all the members of My Church to help build up My Body, the Church, by coming to My pierced Heart. United to My Heart, and dwelling within It, I will give to each one the light and strength to carry out My Father's will in the building up of My Church.
"Mary is Mother and Model of the Church. As 'Mother of the Church,' she intercedes for all the graces the members need to contribute to the building up of My Church. As Model—as perfect imitator of Me—she shows the children of the Church how all, individually and collectively, are to be increasingly formed in My image. As all come to My Heart for the building up of the Church, let them do so united to the Heart of Mary.
"My Church is experiencing critical and very difficult times. There are many divisions. There are many false teachings, including some put forth by certain theologians. These false teachings occur because those responsible are not in proper union with My vicar, the Pope, and the Church Magisterium. I want all My children to pray daily for the cure of the many and serious ills of the Church. With increased prayer and sacrifices for the health of the Church, that day will soon come when the Church will be purified and revitalized. When that day comes, the Church will be a light to all nations as never before. When that day comes, the renewed Church will be characterized by the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. Thus the message of Fatima will have reached fulfillment.
"I am Lord and Master. I request that all My people listen to My words and respond to them. I love My people with a tremendous love, and in this great love I give them this message!"
Your Protection Against Satan
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, tell My people to take special means in these present times to guard against the snares of Satan and his followers. He is more active now than at any stage of human history.
"He is leading many of My people away from the path of the Gospel. Never before has sin blemished the face of the earth as it does today. Satan and his forces are leading many along the path to perdition. Many souls are being lost each day. Satan is helping to create divisions everywhere within My Church, among nations, within nations, within families, within individuals themselves. He does this by leading many to refuse to love God and neighbor. In place of love, he is sowing the seeds of hatred. Divisiveness is caused by a lack of love. The less love, the more divisiveness, the greater lack of unity.
"As a remedy against the snares of Satan, I call all to the refuge of My Heart and My Mother's Heart. The more you dwell in Our Hearts, the less influence Satan has over you. In Our Hearts, you are more and more clothed with the power to love God and neighbor. The more you love, the safer you are from the snares of Satan. The more you love, the more you help bring about the great era of a renewed Church and a renewed world. This era will be characterized by the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. In this new era of splendor, love will reign in the hearts of My people as never before!
"I am Lord and Master! Please listen to My words and carry out My requests. I love My people with a tremendous love and in this love I give them this message!"
"What I say to you in the dark, tell in the day-
light; what you hear in whispers, proclaim
from the housetops." (Matthew 10:27)The Two Ways
Jesus: "My beloved friend, remind My people of the seriousness of life. Two paths stretch before them. One way is My way, the way which leads to eternal happiness in Heaven. The other way is the way of Satan, the path which leads to everlasting punishment in Hell.
"I have laid down My life for each of My people so that they could possess eternal life. I paid a great price to do this! But I did so gladly because of My great love for My Father and all My people. As I was suffering the excrutiating pain of My brutal passion and death, My Sacred Heart beat with overwhelming love for each of you! I knew each of you by name. How I long for each of you to love Me in return, and to follow Me on the path to eternal life! Do not waste the graces which cost Me such a great price. Resolve each day to grow in knowledge and love of Me. Resolve each day to make use of the precious opportunities to love God and neighbor. Resolve each day to become saints! Oh! how much the Church and the world need saints in these the most critical of times!
"Be in communion with those in Heaven and Purgatory. They have successfully completed their earthly journey. They followed My way, and now eternal life in Heaven is theirs, or will be. Pray that those in Purgatory may soon join the blessed in Heaven. Pray to the blessed in Heaven and the souls in Purgatory that they in turn, may help you in all your needs.
"I am Lord and Master. Listen to My words! United to My Mother's Heart, come to My Heart each day for the light and strength to follow the path of life I hold before you—the path which leads to eternal bliss.
"I love My people with an overwhelming love, and in this great love, I give them this message!"
The Indwelling of the Trinity
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, I have given you a great desire to pray to the Divine Persons many times during the day. This can be done in a way which does not interfere with your daily duties. Rather, you have learned that this prayerful contact with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit enhances your ability to work for God and neighbor. Remind My people that when one is in the state of grace, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dwell within that person in a most special way. We are within those in the state of grace to receive their acts of faith, hope, and love.
"So many of My people are not aware of the precious treasure which dwells within them! Tell My people to pray for a growing awareness of this marvelous truth! Through the graces which flow from the great love of My pierced Heart, My people are called to develop the greatest intimacy with the Divine Persons. Please, do not waste these graces! I am Lord and Master, and in My great love, I ask that all comply with My request!"
The Power to Love
Jesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people how much I long to draw all of them to My Mother's Heart and to My Heart! I do this to the extent they allow Me to do so. The more My people come to Our Hearts, the more I empower them to love God and neighbor.
"I desire that all within the human family be united through deep bonds of love. Many refuse to enter into this union of love with their neighbor. That is why there is so much hatred and division in today's world between nations, within nations, within families, between individuals.
"There are, however, many of My people who, because of their growing union with Me, are increasing their capacity to love each other. There is being developed a strong core who are helping to spread love around the world. As these people dwell in Mary's Heart and My Heart, they are helping to bring about the great new era of the renewed Church and world. When the purification of Church and world is completed, this great era of peace and love, predicted by My Mother at Fatima, will be characterized by the triumph of her Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart, and love will pervade the earth as never before.
"I am Lord and Master. Listen to these words I am giving to you. Live these words! As you dwell in Mary's Heart and My Heart, love one another with the deepest love! I love My people with a tremendous love, and in this love I give them this message."
Scripture Nourishes You
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, tell My people that I wish them to read Scripture every day. They should read a passage from the Gospel each day and should read from other sections of the New Testament as time permits. They should also read from the Old Testament as time allows.
"The writings of Scripture guide you according to the way My Father wants you to live. Since I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, all Scripture centers around Me. Scripture converges on the teaching contained in My life, death, and resurrection."
"Many of My people say they do not have the time to read from the Bible each day. Do they have time to read newspapers and magazines and to watch TV? Yes! And much of what they read and watch is harmful to their souls! People have time for what they think is important. If a person says he does not have time to read from the Bible daily, what is he actually saying?
"Come to My Heart each day and ask Me to give you a deeper appreciation of the Bible. Ask Me to give you a deeper love of Scripture. The more you prayerfully read the Bible, the more closely you are united to Me.
"I am Lord and Master. I desire that all heed My requests. I love My people with an overwhelming love, and in this great love I give them this message!"
Mother of Our Christian Virtues
Mary: "My beloved priest-son, I wish all my children to come to my Immaculate Heart each day. I cooperate with the Holy Spirit in helping all my little ones to grow in the life of the Christian virtues. As my children dwell within my maternal Heart, the Holy Spirit leads them along the path of the virtues. Faith, hope, love, prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, humility, chastity, and the other virtues take deeper root in the hearts of my children. Above all, the queen of the virtues, love, increasingly rules the lives of my little ones.
"I am ever at the side of my children to help them grow in the life of the virtues. As I do so, I place them more deeply within the Heart of Jesus, the source of growth in all the virtues. The Holy Spirit, then, desires that my children dwell both within my Heart and Jesus' Heart. Within Our Hearts He clothes you with growth in the life of the virtues. The more you dwell in my Heart, the more ready you are for my placing you deeply within the Heart of Jesus where the Holy Spirit clothes you more and more with the splendor of all the virtues. Thus you grow in the likeness of Christ, and Jesus unites you more closely to the Father."
Work to Make Your World Better
Jesus: "My beloved companion, remind My people of their responsibility toward the world. They have a duty to try to make this a better world for all to live in.
"Today there is much which is wrong with the world. Sin covers the face of the earth. Sins of all kinds blemish the goodness of My Father's creation.
"However, My Mother and I are increasingly gathering our forces for the battle against Satan and his followers. We are more and more forming Our followers to wage the battle to win back that part of the world dominated by Satan's influence. We are forming our followers in the ways of love. We are forming Our followers with the grace which flows from the bosom of My Father, through My Heart, given in the Holy Spirit, and distributed through the intercession of the maternal and Immaculate Heart of Mary.
"We are forming Our followers to give themselves in the greatest love for God and neighbor. We are bringing them ever more closely to Our Hearts so that they may draw from the flames of love of My Heart and Mary's Heart! The more My followers dwell in Mary's Heart and My Heart, the more they are enlightened and strengthened to give themselves for the salvation of the world.
"I am Lord and Master. I ask all to follow Me and My Mother to help us bring forth the great age of love and peace for the world. This age will emerge after the phase of purification has been completed. This age will be characterized by the triumph of Mary's immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. In this great new age, soon to come, My people will love and praise My Father, with Mary and through Me and in the Holy Spirit, as never before!
"I love My people with a tremendous, burning love, and in this love I give them this message!"
Follow the Way I Have Given You
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, I have given you this book of messages for the spiritual instruction of My people. I have put before My people the path I wish them to follow. The messages I and My Mother have given all converge upon devotion to Our Hearts, and, in particular, upon consecration to Our Hearts. Ideally, devotion to Our Hearts culminates in the act of consecration to My Heart and My Mother's Heart. Living out this consecration day by day leads to the highest sanctity.
"My people who make and live out the consecration to Our Hearts are helping to bring about the great new era of peace which the Church and the world will experience after the period of purification has been completed. This period of splendorous peace will be characterized by the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart!"
Act of Consecration to the Hearts
of Jesus and MaryLord Jesus, I consecrate myself to Your most Sacred Heart. You reveal Your Heart as symbol of Your love in all its aspects, including Your most special love for me as this unique individual. 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!
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 this unique child of yours. 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, this Jesus Who leads me ever closer to the Father in the Holy Spirit.
Shepherds of Christ
Jesus has asked that chapters be formed to pray for the needs of priests around the world. The chapters are to pray in a special way for the spiritual success of the priestly newsletter, as well as to aid in the financial support of this publication. The chapters and members are to be called Shepherds of Christ Associates.
Our Lord has stressed that Shepherds of Christ Associates become an international movement.
Words for Members of
Shepherds of Christ AssociatesJesus: "My beloved priest-companion, I intend to use the priestly newsletter, Shepherds of Christ, and the movement, Shepherds of Christ Associates, in a powerful way for the renewal of My Church and the world.
"I will use the newsletter and the chapters of Shepherds of Christ Associates as a powerful instrument for spreading devotion to My Heart and My Mother's Heart.
"I am calling many to become members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. To all of them I will give great blessings. I will use them as instruments to help bring about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. I will give great graces to the members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. I will call them to be deeply united to My Heart and to Mary's Heart as I lead them ever closer to My Father in the Holy Spirit."
-Message from Jesus to Father Edward J. Carter, S.J., the Spiritual Director, as given on July 31, 1994, feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola, Founder of the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits).
end of Tell My People
Contents
- Words of Jesus for Members of Shepherds of Christ Associates
- Chapter 1: Introduction How It All Began
- Chapter 2: Guidelines
- Chapter 3: A Way of Spiritual Life for Shepherds of Christ Associates
- An Overview of the Spiritual Life
- Consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary
- Our Personal Relationship With Jesus
- Mary Our Mother
- The Mass and the Sacraments
- Life in the Holy Spirit
- Life Within the Church
- The Spiritual Life and the Christian Virtues
- Prayer
- The Cross Leads to Life
- Relationship with Others and the World-at-large
- Devotion to St. Joseph, Other Saints and the Angels
- Summary
We recognize and accept that the final authority regarding these messages rests
with the Holy See of Rome, to whose judgment we willingly submit.© Copyright 1995 Shepherds of Christ Publications
Rights for non-commercial reproduction granted:
May be copied in its entirety, but neither re-typed nor edited.
The Shepherds of Christ Spirituality Handbook is available from
Shepherds of Christ Ministries
P.O. Box 193
Morrow, Ohio 45152-0193Telephone: (toll free) 1-888-211-3041 or (513) 932-4451
FAX: (513) 932-6791
Words of Jesus to Members of Shepherds of Christ Associates:
"My beloved priest-companion, I intend to use the priestly newsletter, Shepherds of Christ, and the movement, Shepherds of Christ Associates, in a powerful way for the renewal of My Church and the world.
"I will use the newsletter and the chapters of Shepherds of Christ Associates as a powerful instrument for spreading devotion to My Heart and My Mother's Heart.
"I am calling many to become members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. To all of them I will give great blessings. I will use them as instruments to help bring about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. I will give great graces to the members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. I will call them to be deeply united to My Heart and to Mary's Heart as I lead them ever closer to My Father in the Holy Spirit."
- Message from Jesus to Father Edward J. Carter, S.J., Founder, as given on July 31, 1994, feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola, Founder of the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits)
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Introduction: How It All Began
During the summer of 1993, Father Edward J. Carter, S.J., Professor of Theology at Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, began to receive mystical locutions (messages) from Jesus and Mary on a regular basis.
In a message given on May 31, 1994, Jesus asked Father Carter to begin the publication of a spirituality newsletter for priests. To be sent to more than 60,000 priests in the U.S.A., and also to priests in other countries, the newsletter is published by Shepherds of Christ Publications, an arm of Shepherds of Christ Ministries, and will be distributed bi-monthly. The title of the newsletter is Shepherds of Christ.
Jesus has asked that chapters be formed to pray for the needs of priests around the world. The chapters are to pray in a special way for the spiritual success of the priestly newsletter, as well as to aid in the financial support of this publication. The chapters and members are to be called Shepherds of Christ Associates.
Our Lord has stressed that Shepherds of Christ Associates become an international movement.
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Chapter Guidelines for Shepherds of Christ Associates
- A primary purpose of the chapters of Shepherds of Christ Associates is to pray for all priests throughout the world in all their needs. A coequal purpose is to provide a spiritual way of life for members of the chapters. The chapters are to pray in a special way for the spiritual success of the priestly newsletter, Shepherds of Christ. Prayer for the acquisition of monetary funds to publish the letter is also in order. The chapters are to meet on a regular basis, with the members of each chapter to determine the exact frequency of meetings. All chapters are encouraged to meet on a weekly basis. If for various other reasons certain chapters cannot meet weekly, they should meet at least once a month.
- All persons--lay persons, diocesan clergy, and priests, brothers, and sisters in religious life--are invited to become members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. Those who are already committed to a certain way of spiritual life may adapt the spirituality of Shepherds of Christ Associates to their own particular spirituality.
- In addition to the purpose of the chapters as put forth above, the members of each chapter are encouraged to help raise money to defray some of the newsletter publication costs and some of the financial needs of the Shepherds of Christ Associates movement. One way for chapters to financially aid the newsletter is to pledge to pay for a certain number of newsletters each year. Our Lord has asked that the newsletter be sent to the priests free of charge, although donations may be requested in the newsletter itself.
- A further purpose of the chapters is to undertake those activities which Jesus, through the Spiritual Director, further reveals to be His will.
- The formation of as many chapters as is reasonably possible is to be encouraged. Multiple chapters may exist in the same city or area. Each chapter is to have its own local coordinator, and each country its own national coordinator.
- A periodic newsletter for associates will be published to help establish the desired bond or union between all chapters and all members.
- Members of Shepherds of Christ Associates pledge their loyal support to the Holy Father, the Pope, and to the teaching authority of the Church.
- Shepherds of Christ Associates exists under Church law as provided in canons 298 and 299.
- The existence and activity of all chapters is to be placed under the special protection and guidance of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Chapters exist so that they may, according to the mission of Shepherds of Christ Associates, help to establish the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. All chapter members are strongly encouraged to consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
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A Way of Spiritual Life
The way of spiritual life proposed to the members of Shepherds of Christ Associates is centered in consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. All aspects of the spiritual life discussed below should be viewed as means to help members develop their lives in consecration to Christ, the Sacred Heart, and to Mary, the Immaculate Heart.
An Overview of the Spiritual Life
The Christian life is rooted in the great event of the Incarnation. We must consequently always focus our gaze upon Christ, realizing that everything the Father wishes to tell us has been summed up in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It only remains for us, then, to strive to understand with greater insight the inexhaustible truth of the Word Incarnate: "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days He has spoken to us by a Son, Whom He appointed the heir of all things, through Whom also He created the world." (Heb. 1: 1-2) (1)
What was the condition of the human race at the time of Christ's coming? In some ways, people were much the same as we are today. There were those just being born into this world of human drama. There were those who, in death, were leaving it, some of whom had grasped but little of life's meaning. There were those who were healthy and vigorous. There were those who were sick and lame. Some especially felt the burdens, the grief, the suffering of the human condition. Others were ebullient and desired all the pleasures life could provide. There was some good being accomplished. Immorality, however, was rampant. What St. Paul tells us concerning the time that immediately followed Christ's existence certainly could also be applied to the time of His entrance into the world. It is, in short, an ugly picture that St. Paul depicts for us (Rom. 1: 22-32).
Into such a depraved condition Jesus entered, with a full and generous Heart, to lead the human race from the depths of sinfulness to the vibrant richness of a new life in Himself. Through His enfleshment, this Christ became the focal point of all history. The authentic hopes and dreams of the human family, now so overshadowed by the ugliness of sin, came converging upon this Christ. He would gather them up in Himself, give them a new luster and brilliance and dynamism, and would lead the human family back to the Father in the Holy Spirit.
Christ was radically to release us from the dominion of sin and elevate us to a new level of existence. This life Christ has given us is not a type of superstructure which is erected atop human existence. Although nature and grace are distinct, they do not lie side by side as separate entities. Rather, grace permeates nature. The Christian is one graced person. The Christian is one who has been raised up, caught up, into a deeper form of life in Christ Jesus. Nothing that is authentically human in the life of the Christian has been excluded from this new existence. Whatever is really human in the life of the Christian is meant to be an expression of the Christ-life. The simple but deep joys of family life, the wonderment at nature's beauty, the warm embrace of a mother for her child, the agony of crucial decision making, the success or frustration that is experienced in one's work, the joy of being well received by others, and the heartache of being misunderstood--all these experiences are intended to be caught up in Christ and made more deeply human because of Him.
Jesus has come, then, not to destroy anything that is authentically human, but to perfect it by leading it to a graced fulfillment. This is the meaning of the Word's becoming flesh, the meaning of the Incarnation. The more God-like we become through Christ, the more human we become.
We, through our incorporation into Christ which occurs at Baptism, are meant to relive the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In doing so, we are not only accomplishing our own salvation, but we are assisting in the salvation of others also. The Incarnation continues all the time. Christ, of course, is the one Who fundamentally continues the Incarnation. But He enlists our help. The world no longer sees Jesus, no longer is able to reach out and touch Him. We are the ones who now, in some way, make Christ visible and tangible. In union with the invisible, glorified Christ, and depending on Him as our source of life, we continue the Incarnation in its visible and temporal dimensions. This is our great privilege. This is our great responsibility.
The Christian is initiated into the mystery of Christ, into his or her role in prolonging the Incarnation, through Baptism. In the words of St. Paul: "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by Baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." (Rom. 6: 3-4).
It is not sufficient, however, that we be incorporated into Christ through Baptism. All forms of life require nourishment. So, too, our life in Christ must be continually nourished. How can we continually keep in contact with Christ? There are various ways. We contact Christ in a most special way through the liturgy, above all in the Eucharistic liturgy. Here the entire course of salvation history, as centered in Jesus, is sacramentally renewed and continued. Through our most special and most personal meeting with Jesus in the Mass, we are more deeply incorporated into Christ. Also, we should remember that all the sacraments make up part of the Church's liturgy.
The reading of Scripture provides another special opportunity for meeting Jesus. This is true for both Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament prefigures the New Testament and leads to it. It is obvious, however, that we meet Christ especially in the pages of the New Testament. How true it is to say that not to be familiar with Scripture is not to know Jesus properly. We should resolve to read from Scripture daily.
We also meet Jesus in our interaction with others. Everyone we meet, everyone we serve, is in the image of Jesus. We have to take the means to grow in this awareness. If I truly believe that everyone has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, how should I treat everyone?
These, then, are some of the ways we keep in contact with Jesus. Common to the various ways of meeting Jesus is a certain degree of prayerful reflection. Our contact with Jesus in the liturgy, in Scripture, and in our interaction with others, and so forth, will not be all that it should be unless we are persons of prayer. The light and strength of prayer enables us to keep in contact with Jesus as we should.
We live out our Christ-life in an atmosphere of love. Indeed, the life Jesus has given us is centered in love. It has its origins in the mysterious love of God: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (Jn 3: 16).
Our new life in Jesus has arisen out of God's fathomless love. Christ, in His descent into human flesh, has established a milieu of love. The life He came to give can flourish only in the framework of love. Indeed, we can summarize the meaning of the Christian life by stating that it is our loving response to God's love. The pierced Heart of Jesus, this Heart which shed its last drop of blood in the greatest love for each one of us, is the symbol of God's tremendous love for us. Christ's Heart also calls us to respond by giving ourselves in love to God and neighbor. Yes, Jesus invites us to respond to God's love by giving ourselves in love to Him in an ever closer union. The more closely we are united to Him, the greater is our capacity to love God and neighbor. The more closely we are united with Jesus, the more closely He unites us to the Father in the Holy Spirit, with Mary our Mother at our side.
Consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary
We have already spoken of how we are incorporated into Christ at Baptism. Now we shall speak of the life which comes to us in Baptism in terms of consecration:
"To consecrate means to make sacred, to make holy. Only God can make a being holy. So to speak of our consecration is to speak of God's activity in making us holy, His activity of giving us a share in His own holiness. At Baptism we receive a share in God's life, a share in His holiness. Christ is the Mediator of this grace life. We are baptized into Christ, into His death and resurrection. In Baptism we become holy by sharing in the holiness of Christ. We become consecrated, sealed with the divine holiness. We belong to the Father, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit.
"On our part, we must respond to God's consecration of us. We must live out the consecration of Baptism. We must realize what God has done for us in Christ and live according to this awareness. We need to live the life of holiness and grow in it. In other words, we must develop the life of grace, the Christ-life.
"What God has done for us in Christ involves Mary. God has given us a Christ-life, our life of grace, and Mary is the Mother of this Christ-life. Consequently, living out our life of consecration to God--living out the Christ-life--includes allowing Mary to increasingly be the Mother of our Christ-life.
"Consecration to Mary, therefore, is an aspect of our consecration to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is entrusting ourselves entirely to her maternal love so that she can bring us ever closer to Jesus, so that we can increasingly live out our consecration to God in Christ.
"At Fatima, Our Lady asked that we consecrate ourselves to her Immaculate Heart. Mary shows us her heart as a symbol of her love for God and us. She asks us to make a return of love to her, to consecrate ourselves to her, to give ourselves to her completely. She wants us to entrust ourselves to her completely so that she may help us love God and neighbor.
"As stated above, consecration to Mary is an aspect of our consecration to God in Christ and she has asked for consecration to her Heart so that she may assist us. Christ, in turn, invites us to live out this consecration to Him through consecration to His Sacred Heart. We see the divine symmetry: consecration to the Immaculate Heart helps us to live out consecration to Christ Who reveals His Heart as symbol of His life of love in all its aspects, including His tremendous love for each of us individually. His Heart also asks for our love in return, a return which ideally is summed up in consecration to Jesus' Heart. Through this consecration we give ourselves completely to Jesus through the Immaculate Heart. In this consecration to Jesus, we promise to strive to live according to His Father's will in all things." (2)
Our Personal Relationship With Jesus
He hung upon a cross on a hill called Calvary. Death was near. How much Jesus had already suffered! He had been brutally scourged. Much of His sacred body was a bloody, open wound. He had been derisively crowned with thorns. In a terribly weakened condition, He carried the heavy cross to the hill of Golgotha. There He was stripped of His garments and mercilessly nailed to the cross. Try to imagine the excruciating pain Jesus suffered as the nails penetrated His sacred hands and feet! After all this brutal and agonizing suffering--of body and spirit--Jesus finally died.
And He did it all for you! Yes, you can truly say that Jesus did it all for you. I can say that Jesus did it all for me. He suffered and died for the whole human race, but He did it in a way which makes it true to say He also did it for each individual. When He was undergoing all the brutal and horrible suffering, He knew you and He knew me by name. He was loving each of us with the most tender, and tremendous, and unique love! He gave the last drop of His precious blood for you individually and for me individually!
What should be our return to this magnificent Heart of Jesus which gave until there was no more to give? No less than our entire selves. No less than a total consecration to this tremendous Lover, to this magnificent and tender Heart! No less than a day-by-day resolve to strive to live our consecration with the deepest faith, hope, and love. No less than the deepest desire to develop the most intimate, personal relationship with Jesus. The total and the most tender love of Jesus' magnificent Heart for you and for me deserves nothing less!
Mary Our Mother
As Jesus hung upon the cross in His excruciating suffering, He gave Mary to us as our spiritual Mother:
"…standing by the cross of Jesus were His Mother, and His Mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His Mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing near, He said to His Mother, 'Woman, behold, your son!' Then He said to the disciple, 'Behold, your Mother!'" (Jn 19: 25-26).
Yes, John, the disciple, represented all of us. Jesus, in giving Mary to John as His Mother, was giving her to all of us as our spiritual Mother. We can never thank Jesus sufficiently for this great gift. Mary is your Mother and she is my Mother. Pope John Paul II tells us how Mary is Mother to each of us according to each one's uniqueness:
"Of the essence of motherhood is the fact that it concerns the person. Motherhood always establishes a unique and unrepeatable relationship between two people: between mother and child and between child and mother. Even when the same woman is the mother of many children, her personal relationship with each one of them is of the very essence of motherhood…
"It can be said that motherhood 'in the order of grace' preserves the analogy with what 'in the order of nature' characterizes the union between mother and child." (3)
Let us always thank Mary that she is the Mother of each of us according to each one's uniqueness. I can truly say that Mary is my Mother in an unrepeatable way, and you can truly say that she is your Mother in an unrepeatable way. Realizing what a great and unique love Mary has for each of us, what reason could we ever have for not always going to her? What reason could we ever have for not asking her to take us as her beloved children and to hold us close to her maternal and Immaculate Heart where we always experience the love, the warmth, the tenderness of this magnificent Mother?
The Mass and the Sacraments
The best way to return love to Jesus is through participation in the Mass. Indeed, the Mass is the chief source for growth in our life of consecration. Everything in the life of the Church, including the sacraments--centers around the Eucharistic Sacrifice.
All the faithful are privileged to be able to enter into the offering of the Mass:
"The sacrifice of the Mass, as we well know, makes truly present the sacrifice of Calvary. At His sacrifice on Calvary, Christ was Priest and Victim. We obviously did not offer together with Him. At the Mass, however, Christ, although He is the chief Priest and Victim, does not act alone. Through God's gracious design, at Mass all the members of the Church are priests and victims together with Christ. To be sure, there is a very significant difference between the priesthood of bishops and priests and the priesthood of the faithful. The point we wish to stress, however, is that the universal priesthood, given in Baptism to all the faithful, is a real participation in Christ's priesthood.
"Vatican II has stressed this concept of the priesthood of all the Church's members. Speaking of the Mass, the Council says: 'The Church, therefore, earnestly desires that Christ's faithful, when present at this mystery of faith, should not be there as strangers or silent spectators. On the contrary, through a proper appreciation of the rites and prayers, they should participate knowingly, devoutly, and actively. They should be instructed by God's word and be refreshed at the table of the Lord's body; they should give thanks to God; by offering the Immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him, they should learn to offer themselves too. Through Christ the Mediator, they should be drawn, day-by-day, into ever closer union with God and with each other, so that finally God may be all in all.'
"During all our Christ-like activities, we are living the Mass. Working, recreating, laughing, weeping, enjoying success but also experiencing failure, enjoying the beauties of nature--through all such activities, we are living the Mass. We are continually offering ourselves in loving conformity to the Father's will. From time to time during the day, we should make a conscious act of uniting ourselves and our activities with the sacrifice of Calvary as it is made present throughout the world through the Mass.
"A very precious time during the Mass is, of course, our reception of Jesus in Holy Communion. We should make the most of these special moments. Let's properly thank Jesus for coming to us with His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Let's thank Jesus for the tremendous suffering He experienced in order to be able to give us the Eucharist. As Jesus dwells within us in this precious way at Communion time, the very Heart of Christ--this Heart which is symbol of His great love--dwells within. This Heart cries out for our love in return.
"One of the great means God has given us to help prepare ourselves for better participation in the Mass is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Our Lady of Medjugorje asks us to go to Confession at least once a month.
"Indeed, we should use all available means to prepare ourselves for a more fruitful participation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. It is a great privilege to be able to be present at, and to participate in, the Mass. We should show Jesus our appreciation for such a great gift by preparing ourselves as best we can, and in this way we will gain the greatest possible benefit from the Mass, both for ourselves and for others.
"Included in our devotion to the Eucharist should be our desire to make Eucharistic reparation. One way to do this is to say often the following Fatima prayer: 'Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly. I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifferences by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and (the intercession of) the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of sinners.'" (4)
Besides saying the above prayer, there are other acts of Eucharistic reparation we can make. One of these is to be sure we make adequate thanksgiving after Mass. One of the intentions we should have at this time is to help make reparation for the lack of proper thanksgiving on the part of many. Pope Pius XII speaks about the duty of spending the proper time in thanksgiving:
"When at Mass, which is subject to special rules of the liturgy, is over, the person who has received Holy Communion is not thereby freed from his duty of thanksgiving; rather, it is most becoming that, when the Mass is finished, the person who has received the Eucharist should recollect himself and, in intimate union with the Divine Master, hold loving and fruitful converse with Him. Hence they have departed from the straight way of truth who, adhering to the letter rather than the sense, assert and teach that, when Mass has ended, no such thanksgiving should be added, not only because the Mass is itself a thanksgiving, but also because this pertains to a private and personal act of piety and not to the good of the community." (5)
Life in the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is given to us to transform us in the likeness of Christ. This is an ongoing process. Here is a message of Jesus which speaks to the issue:
"My beloved friend, tell My people to pray daily to the Holy Spirit. They are to pray for an increase in His gifts. My people must realize that the Holy Spirit comes to transform them. The Spirit desires to transform you more and more according to My image. Those who are docile to His touch become increasingly shaped in my likeness. He performs this marvel within My Mother's Heart. The more one dwells in My Mother's Heart, the more active are the workings of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit leads Mary to place you within My Heart. In both of Our Hearts, then, your transformation continues. The more you are formed after My own Heart, the more I lead you to the bosom of My Father. Tell My people all this. Tell them to pray daily for a greater appreciation of these wondrous gifts. I am Lord and Master! All who come to My Heart will be on fire to receive the gifts of the Spirit in ever greater measure! I love and bless My people!" (Message of Jesus given to Father Carter).(6)
Life Within the Church
God calls us to live Christian existence, the spiritual life, within the Church--the Church which Christ has established. This Church is a many splendored reality. It has many different names, images and dimensions that variously attest to and manifest this multifaceted richness. All of them, however, speak of the one, same reality. Here is a message of Jesus which speaks of His Church:
"My beloved priest-companion, remind My people that the Church was born from My Heart, pierced with the soldier's lance on Calvary. From My pierced Heart the Church and her sacraments were born. Two of these sacraments, the Eucharist and Baptism, were symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from My pierced side.
"As the Church was born from My pierced Heart, so does the Church's life grow from the graces I continually give to her from My pierced Heart, this Heart which is now glorified.
"I call all the members of My Church to help build up My Body, the Church, by coming to My pierced Heart. United to My Heart and dwelling within It, I will give to each the light and strength to carry out My Father's will in the building up of My Church.
"Mary is Mother and Model of the Church. As Mother of the Church, she intercedes for all the graces the members need to contribute to the building up of My Church. As Model of the Church, as perfect imitator of Me, she shows the children of the Church how all, individually and collectively, are to be increasingly formed in My image. As all come to My Heart for the building up of My Church, let them do so united in the Heart of Mary.
"My Church is experiencing critical and difficult times. There are many divisions within My Church. There are many false teachings, including some put forth by certain theologians. These false teachings occur because those responsible for such are not in proper union with My vicar, the Pope, and the Church's Magisterium. I want all My children to pray daily for the cure of the many and serious ills of the Church. With the increase of prayers and sacrifices for the health of the Church, that day will soon come when the Church will be purified and revitalized. When that day comes, the renewed Church will be characterized by the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. Thus the message of Fatima will have reached its completion.
"I am Lord and Master. I request that all My people listen to My words and respond to them. I love My people with a tremendous love and, in this great love, I give them this message!"(Message from Jesus given to Father Carter). (7)
The Spiritual Life and the Christian Virtues
The life of sanctifying grace expresses itself through the various Christian virtues. Let us take a brief look at this life:
"The Persons of the Blessed Trinity have communicated Themselves to us in lavish love. When a person is in the state of grace, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dwell within that person in an extraordinary fashion.
"Such is the intimacy of this Trinitarian communication that the Persons of the Trinity imprint Their image upon us. This image is our life of grace, our created participation in the life of the Trinity. We receive this life at Baptism, and our privilege and responsibility are to develop it as fully as possible during our earthly journey before experiencing its culmination in eternal life.
"Because Christ in His humanity is Mediator of our life of grace, it possesses not only a Trinitarian dimension, but a Christic aspect as well. We can readily understand, then, why our grace-life is very appropriately also called the Christ-life.
"Our Christ-life is centered in faith and love. Christian faith gives us an extraordinary capacity to know realities about God and the things of God. The virtue of Christian love allows us to accompany this faith-knowledge with an appropriate love-response. Christian hope is the chief support of faith and love. Finally, all the other Christian virtues are variously connected with these three main Christian capacities." (8)
We hear much about faith and love, the two main Christian virtues. However, hope is also extremely important. One of the aspects of the virtue of hope is trust. Let's listen to a message of Jesus regarding trust:
"My beloved priest-companion, tell my people to trust Me unreservedly. I am Lord and Master. I am God. So many fail to trust Me as they should. I love all My people much more than they love themselves! The great love I have for each person should encourage all to trust Me! The more you realize how much a friend loves you, the more you place your trust in that person. I am your perfect Friend. I love you much, much more than your best earthly friend! Tell My people to trust Me completely. Tell them to say often, 'Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You.'" (Message of Jesus as given to Father Carter). (9)
Prayer
Here is a message from Mary on prayer. She tells us of the great importance of prayer regarding the spiritual life:
"My beloved priest-son, many times I have taught you the great importance of prayer. I have obtained for you the grace so that you love to pray, not only during your set periods of prayer, but also during the day in a way which permits you to perform your daily duties. I have taught you to always be aware that all prayer should be made in union with the Mass. Indeed, the Eucharistic sacrifice is itself the greatest prayer. All other prayer should be consciously united with the Mass which is constantly being offered throughout the world. I have taught you the great importance of praying before the tabernacle. My Son is present there in the Eucharist--Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Special graces are given to those who pray before the tabernacle.
"There is much to pray for in these most critical times. The Church and the world exist in most difficult times. I desire that all my children pray daily for all the needs of the Church and the world. I ask for special prayer for the conversion of sinners.
"I ask that my children pray the rosary each day. Very special graces are given to those who do so. During these days of great purification, I promise special protection to those who regularly pray the rosary. I also promise protection to their loved ones.
"Whatever form of prayer my children use, it should always be made in union with my Immaculate Heart. The more my children are united to me, the more I lead them to make their prayer in the Heart of my Son, Jesus. He, in turn, places all prayers in the bosom of the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
"My dear son, keep reminding all my little ones of the great importance of prayer for their own needs and the needs of all others. Keep telling them of the great necessity of prayer for growth in love of God and neighbor. I love all my children with the most tender love. I desire that all listen to my words and live them in their daily lives!" (Message of Mary as given to Father Carter). (10)
The Cross Leads to Life
Our incorporation into Christ at Baptism, and the gradual nurturing in that life, is centered in the pattern of death-resurrection. Indeed, the theme of death-resurrection is at the heart of salvation history. Let us briefly consider its place in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, and in our own lives, always remembering that any form of death--that is, any form of suffering--is meant to lead to greater life, greater peace, greater happiness.
The theme of death-resurrection is at the heart of Old Testament history. The Jewish people, under the leadership of Moses, experienced death-resurrection as they were formed into the people of the covenant, God's people. In the great Exodus event, they escaped Egyptian slavery, went on to Mt. Sinai where the covenant was ratified, and then progressed to the Promised Land. As members of the Mosaic covenant, as God's people, the Jews experienced religious transition. They passed over to a higher level of religious existence, to a more intimate union with God.
This religious transition contained death-resurrection. For the Jews to become people of the covenant, to remain so, and to grow in the life of the covenant, it was necessary that they undergo a mystical or spiritual death. In short, the Jewish people had to be willing to bear that which was difficult in covenant life. They had to be willing to die to that which was not according to God's will. This mystical death, however, had a very positive purpose. It was directed at life in the covenant and at growth in that life. This spiritual death, in other words, was aimed at resurrection.
Christ perfectly fulfilled the Old Testament theme of death-resurrection. In doing so, He, too, was experiencing a religious transition. He was passing over--gradually at first, then definitively in His death--to a new kind of existence, to the life of His resurrection, which He achieved not only for Himself, but for the entire human race. To achieve this newness of life, Jesus was willing to pay the price. Jesus was willing to suffer, even unto death. That it had to be that way, that the only way Christ could have achieved resurrection was through suffering and death, was pointed out by Jesus Himself to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His Glory?" (Lk 24: 25-26).
Christ has structured the Christian life by the way He lived, died, and rose from the dead. It is obvious, then, that the pattern of death-resurrection must be at the heart of the Church's life. Individually and collectively, we continually die with Christ so that we may continually rise with Him. Thus we pass over, in a process of continued religious transition, to a greater participation in Jesus' resurrection. It is true that our participation in Jesus' resurrection will reach its completion only in eternal life. Nevertheless, we begin the life of resurrection here on earth, in the here and now of human life, in the midst of joy and pain, in the experience of success and failure, in the sweat of our brow, in the enjoyment of all of God's gifts. As Christians, we should have a sense of growth concerning our here-and-now life of resurrection. Some seem to have a rather static view of the Christian life. They do not seem to have a vital and efficacious realization that the spiritual life, centered in death-resurrection, should become more conscious, more experiential, more dynamically relative to daily existence.
We cannot maintain the life of resurrection--our newness of life in Christ--without a willingness to suffer, a willingness to follow Jesus in the carrying of the cross. This does not mean that we need to feel overwhelmed and heavily burdened by the suffering in our lives. The greater portion of suffering for most Christians seems to be an accumulation of ordinary hardships, difficulties, and pains. At times, however, deep suffering, even suffering of agonizing proportions, can enter one's life. Whether our sufferings are of either the ordinary variety or the extreme and rare type, we must convince ourselves that to properly relate to the cross is to grow in resurrection. And to grow in resurrection ourselves means that we have an increased capacity to help give resurrection to others.
The pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary are the great symbols reminding us that to love God and neighbor requires a willingness to suffer. How much Jesus and Mary suffered for love of you and me! Our consecration to Their Hearts includes a willingness to carry the cross, not as an end in itself, but as a means to greater life. As we bear the cross in loving conformity to the Father's will, we grow in the Christ-life. With Mary at our side we come closer to Christ. Jesus, in turn, leads us closer to the Father in the Holy Spirit. And as we ourselves grow in the Christ-life, we become more apt instruments in helping to channel this life to others. Yes, the cross of Christ always points to life!
Relationship with Others and the World-at-large
The true Christian is imbued with a proper consciousness of others. That is to say, the true Christian is keenly aware that a great part of God's plan for us tells us that we must, according to His will, relate in various ways to our fellow human beings. Indeed, the Christian imperative tells us that we are to walk life's path, not in isolation, but hand in hand with our brothers and sisters of the human family.
To relate to others according to God's will, we must be properly aware of who they really are. We must, in short, be able to go beneath surface appearances, which may or may not be appealing to us, and contact others in their core existence. When we are truly in touch with others at the core of their beings, we are aware of their awesome dignity. We are conscious that these persons are created and redeemed by God's love. We are conscious that our merciful and loving Jesus shed His last drop of blood for each of them, that His Heart was pierced on the cross because He loved each of them without measure! We are conscious that this magnificent, pierced Heart, now in Its glorified state, still beats with the most special love for each individual upon this earth. Realizing all this, and doing so consistently, gives us the basis and the motivation to try to relate to all--both those we directly contact and those billions we never physically meet--with the greatest love.
In order to be in touch with the inner self of others, we must be aware of, or in touch with, our own true self. This awareness is a realization that our self is likewise made in the image of God, that we have been redeemed by Christ, and that we can only find true happiness through the constant effort to grow in love of God and neighbor. Here, then, we can see the profound interaction among the three awarenesses and loves--awareness and love of God, neighbor, and self. As Christians, consequently, we should have a maturing sense of how our existence is, in varied ways, profoundly linked with the existence of others. Again, this feeling of union with others is not limited to those we directly meet, but, in various ways, is directed to all members of the human family.
The world in which we live is an amazing mixture of that which is good and beautiful and brilliant and that which is sinful and ugly and dreadful. We have the privilege and responsibility of shaping this contemporary world according to its Christological imprint. Jesus put this image of Himself upon the world order by the way He lived and died and rose. We have to help in directing our fellow humans and their values along the path which has been made by the footprints of Jesus of Nazareth--a task that is not always easy. There are so many forces in today's world that work against Christ, His message, and the order He came to establish! But are we going to allow the forces of evil to discourage us from doing all we possibly can to make this a better world according to the designs of Christ? Jesus paid a terrible price to redeem the world. His Heart, which was pierced on the cross for our redemption, cries out to us in His great love for us. He asks us to do our part in helping make the world better reflect His image. In response to the great love which the Heart of Jesus has for each of us, let us, in union with Mary our Mother, often ask ourselves, "What have I done for Christ, what am I now doing for Christ, what am I going to do for Christ?"
Devotion to St. Joseph, Other Saints and the Angels
St. Joseph is Patron of the Universal Church. His power of intercession is indeed great. Joseph, while on earth, enjoyed extraordinary closeness to Jesus and Mary. And His union with them in heaven is even greater. Let us each day pray to St. Joseph to obtain for us the grace to come ever closer to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
We should also pray to the other saints in heaven, especially our favorite saints. The saints are members of the Church triumphant. We should also pray for the souls in purgatory and to them (they can help us). The souls in purgatory are members of the Church suffering. We, who are members of the Church militant here on earth, make up one Church with the saints in heaven and the souls in purgatory. We should be aware of the common bond which unites us in Christ.
We should also pray to the angels for help, especially to the archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, and to our own guardian angels.
Summary
We have given a proposed way of spiritual life for members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. All aspects of this way of life center in the living out of the act of consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Making and living out this consecration is our return of love to Jesus and Mary and, through them, our return of love to the Father and the Holy Spirit. Indeed, our consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary is also consecration to the Father and the Holy Spirit. We should always remember that our consecration to the Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart is the way according to which Jesus and Mary invite us to live out our baptismal consecration, the consecration which originally made us belong to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let us always remember that we go to the Father through Christ, in the Holy Spirit, with Mary our Mother at our side.
We strongly encourage members of Shepherds of Christ Associates to reread regularly all of the above in a prayerful manner. This will provide an ongoing aid to help members grow in their consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Notes:
1. Scripture quotations are taken from The Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition, St. Ignatius Press, San Francisco.
2. Edward Carter, S.J., Mother at Our Side, Faith Publishing, Milford, Ohio, 1993, pp. 15-17.
3. Pope John Paul II, The Mother of the Redeemer (Redemptoris Mater), United States Catholic Conference, Washington, D.C., 1987, No. 38.
4. Edward Carter, S.J., The Spirituality of Fatima and Medjugorje, Faith Publishing, Milford, Ohio, 1994, pp. 89-92. Vatican II quotations are from The Documents of Vatican II, America Press edition.
5. Pope Pius XII, Mediator Dei, No. 123.
6. From Tell My People, Shepherds of Christ Publications, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1994, p. 9.
7. Ibid.
8. Edward Carter, S.J., Prayer Perspectives, Alba House, Staten Island, New York, 1987, p. 12.
9. Tell My People, op. cit.
10. Ibid.
end of the Spirituality Handbook
© Copyright 2002 Shepherds of Christ Publications
Rights for non-commercial reproduction granted:
May be copied in its entirety, but neither re-typed nor edited.
The Shepherds of Christ Spirituality Handbook is available from
Shepherds of Christ Ministries
PO BOX 193
Morrow, Ohio 45152-0193Telephone: (toll free) 1-888-211-3041 or (513) 932-4451
FAX: (513) 932-6791First Printing, September 1994
Second Printing, November 1994
Third Printing, November 1995
Fourth Printing, March 1996
Chapter Meeting Prayer Format
The prayer format below should be followed at chapter meetings of Shepherds of Christ Associates. All prayers, not just those said specifically for priests, should include the intention of praying for all the needs of priests the world over.
1. Hymns. Hymns may be sung at any point of the prayer part of the meeting.
2. Holy Spirit Prayer. Come, Holy Spirit, almighty Sanctifier, God of love, who filled the Virgin Mary with grace, who wonderfully changed the hearts of the apostles, who endowed all Your martyrs with miraculous courage, come and sanctify us. Enlighten our minds, strengthen our wills, purify our consciences, rectify our judgment, set our hearts on fire, and preserve us from the misfortunes of resisting Your inspirations. Amen.
3. The Rosary.
4. Salve Regina. "Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To you do we send up our sighs, our mourning, our weeping in this vale of tears. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy toward us and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary."
5. The Memorare. "Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To you I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but, in your mercy, hear and answer me. Amen."
6. Seven Hail Marys in honor of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Mary has promised very special graces to those who do this on a daily basis. Included in the promises of Our Lady for those who practice this devotion is her pledge to give special assistance at the hour of death, including the sight of her face. The seven sorrows are:
(1) The first sorrow: the prophecy of Simeon (Hail Mary).
(2) The second sorrow: the flight into Egypt (Hail Mary).
(3) The third sorrow: the loss of the Child Jesus in the temple (Hail Mary).
(4) The fourth sorrow: Jesus and Mary meet on the way to the cross (Hail Mary).
(5) The fifth sorrow: Jesus dies on the cross (Hail Mary).
(6) The sixth sorrow: Jesus is taken down from the cross and laid in Mary's arms (Hail Mary).
(7) The seventh sorrow: the burial of Jesus (Hail Mary).
7. Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.Holy Mary, pray for us (repeat after each invocation).
Holy Mother of God,
Holy Virgin of virgins,
Mother of Christ,
Mother of the Church,
Mother of divine grace,
Mother most pure,
Mother most chaste,
Mother inviolate,
Mother undefiled,
Mother most amiable,
Mother most admirable,
Mother of good counsel,
Mother of our Creator,
Mother of our Savior,
Virgin most prudent,
Virgin most venerable,
Virgin most renowned,
Virgin most powerful,
Virgin most merciful,
Virgin most faithful,
Mirror of justice,
Seat of wisdom,
Cause of our joy,
Spiritual vessel,
Vessel of honor,
Singular vessel of devotion,
Mystical rose,
Tower of David,
Tower of ivory,
House of gold,
Ark of the Covenant,
Gate of heaven,
Morning star,
Health of the sick,
Refuge of sinners,
Comforter of the afflicted,
Help of Christians,
Queen of angels,
Queen of patriarchs,
Queen of prophets,
Queen of apostles,
Queen of martyrs,
Queen of confessors,
Queen of virgins,
Queen of all saints,
Queen conceived without original sin,
Queen assumed into heaven,
Queen of the most holy rosary,
Queen of families,
Queen of peace,Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.Let us pray: Grant, we beseech You, O Lord God, that we Your servants may enjoy perpetual health of mind and body and, by the glorious intercession of the blessed Mary, ever virgin, be delivered from present sorrow, and obtain eternal joy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
We fly to your patronage, O holy Mother of God. Despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.
8. Prayer to St. Joseph. St. Joseph, guardian of Jesus and chaste spouse of Mary, you passed your life in perfect fulfillment of duty. You supported the Holy Family of Nazareth with the work of your hands. Kindly protect those who trustingly turn to you. You know their aspirations, their hardships, their hopes; and they turn to you because they know you will understand and protect them. You too have known trial, labor, and weariness. But, even amid the worries of material life, your soul was filled with deep peace and sang out in true joy through intimacy with the Son of God entrusted to you, and with Mary, His tender Mother. Amen. --(Pope John XXIII)
9. Litany of the Sacred Heart, promises of the Sacred Heart.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us (repeat after each invocation).
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God the Holy Spirit,
Holy Trinity, one God,
Heart of Jesus, Son of the eternal Father,
Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mother,
Heart of Jesus, substantially united to the Word of God,
Heart of Jesus, of infinite majesty,
Heart of Jesus, sacred temple of God,
Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High,
Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of heaven,
Heart of Jesus, burning furnace of charity,
Heart of Jesus, abode of justice and love,
Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love,
Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues,
Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise,
Heart of Jesus, king and center of all hearts,
Heart of Jesus, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,
Heart of Jesus, in whom dwells the fullness of divinity,
Heart of Jesus, in whom the Father is well pleased,
Heart of Jesus, of whose fullness we have all received,
Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills,
Heart of Jesus, patient and most merciful,
Heart of Jesus, enriching all who invoke You,
Heart of Jesus, fountain of life and holiness,
Heart of Jesus, propitiation for our sins,
Heart of Jesus, loaded down with opprobrium,
Heart of Jesus, bruised for our offenses,
Heart of Jesus, obedient even to death,
Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance,
Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation,
Heart of Jesus, our life and reconciliation,
Heart of Jesus, victim of sin,
Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who hope in You,
Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in You,
Heart of Jesus, delight of all the saints,
Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto Yours.Let us pray: O almighty and eternal God, look upon the Heart of Your dearly beloved Son and upon the praise and satisfaction He offers You in behalf of sinners and, being appeased, grant pardon to those who seek Your mercy, in the name of the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen.
Promises of Our Lord to those devoted to His Sacred Heart
(these should be read by the prayer leader):
(1) I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.
(2) I will establish peace in their homes.
(3) I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
(4) I will be their refuge during life and above all in death.
(5) I will bestow a large blessing on all their undertakings.
(6) Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy.
(7) Tepid souls shall grow fervent.
(8) Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.
(9) I will bless every place where a picture of My Heart shall be set up and honored.
(10) I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
(11) Those who promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.
(12) I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the first Friday in nine consecutive months the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving their sacraments; My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.
10. Prayer for Priests. "Lord Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the Flock, we pray that in the great love and mercy of Your Sacred Heart You attend to all the needs of Your priest-shepherds throughout the world. We ask that You draw back to Your Heart all those priests who have seriously strayed from Your path, that You rekindle the desire for holiness in the hearts of those priests who have become lukewarm, and that You continue to give Your fervent priests the desire for the highest holiness. United with Your Heart and Mary's Heart, we ask that You take this petition to Your heavenly Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen"
11. Prayer for all members of the Shepherds of Christ Associates. "Dear Jesus, we ask Your special blessings on all members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. Continue to enlighten them regarding the very special privilege and responsibility you have given them as members of Your movement, Shepherds of Christ Associates. Draw them ever closer to Your Heart and to Your Mother's Heart. Allow them to more and more realize the great and special love of Your Hearts for each of them as unique individuals. Give them the grace to respond to Your love and Mary's love with an increased love of their own. As they dwell in Your Heart and Mary's Heart, abundantly care for all their needs and those of their loved ones. We make our prayer through You to the Father, in the Holy Spirit, with Mary our Mother at our side. Amen"
12. Prayer for the spiritual and financial success of the priestly newsletter. "Father, we ask Your special blessings upon the priestly newsletter, Shepherds of Christ. We ask that You open the priest-readers to the graces You wish to give them through this chosen instrument of Your Son. We also ask that You provide for the financial needs of the newsletter and the Shepherds of Christ Associates. We make our prayer through Jesus, in the Holy Spirit, with Mary at our side. Amen"
13. Prayer for all members of the human family. "Heavenly Father, we ask Your blessings on all Your children the world over. Attend to all their needs. We ask Your special assistance for all those marginalized people, all those who are so neglected and forgotten. United with our Mother Mary, we make this petition to You through Jesus and in the Holy Spirit."
14. Prayer to St. Michael and our Guardian Angels:
"St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen."
"Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen."
15. Pause for silent, personal prayer. This should last at least five minutes.
16. Act of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
"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!
"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."
17. Daily Prayers. All members should say the Holy Spirit prayer daily and make the act of consecration daily. They should also pray the rosary each day. They are encouraged to use the other above prayers as time allows.
end of prayer manual
April 13, 2003 message continues
Jesus speaks:
Many deny My Mother even appears on
the building —
Many deny I am the Son of God.
Today I am mistreated by many —
pray, My child, pray
Matthew 27: 11-14
Jesus before Pilate
Jesus, then, was brought before the governor, and the governor put to him this question, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ Jesus replied, ‘It is you who say it.’But when he was accused by the chief priests and the elders he refused to answer at all.Pilate then said to him, ‘Do you not hear how many charges they have made against you?’But to the governor’s amazement, he offered not a word in answer to any of the charges.
Philippians 2: 6-11
Who, being in the form of God,
did not count equality with God
something to be grasped.But he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
becoming as human beings are;
and being in every way
like a human being,
he was humbler yet,
even to accepting death,
death on a cross.And for this God raised him high,
and gave him the name
which is above all other names;so that all beings
in the heavens, on earth
and in the underworld,
should bend the knee at the name of Jesus
and that every tongue should acknowledge
Jesus Christ as Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Psalm 22: 1, 8-9, 17-20, 23-24
The sufferings and hopes of the upright
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
‘He trusted himself to Yahweh, let Yahweh set him free!
Let him deliver him, as he took such delight in him.’It was you who drew me from the womb
and soothed me on my mother’s breast.I can count every one of my bones,
while they look on and gloat;
they divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.Yahweh, do not hold aloof!
My strength, come quickly to my help,
rescue my soul from the sword,
the one life I have from the grasp of the dog!‘You who fear Yahweh, praise him!
All the race of Jacob, honour him!
Revere him, all the race of Israel!’For he has not despised
nor disregarded the poverty of the poor,
has not turned away his face,
but has listened to the cry for help.
John 19: 6
When they saw him, the chief priests and the guards shouted, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’
April 13, 2003 message continues
Messenger: What do we do to Jesus today?
The paschal mystery must be lived so
deeply in our lives.
Jesus is our King. We must honor and love
Him and give Him ourselves.
Our God died in peace on the cross.
I
Died In Peace
August 31, 1993
Jesus speaks: You are hurried. Relax and soak in My peace. Only My peace will quiet you. Your days are full of changes. You are adapting well, but always come back to My peace. Breathe in Jesus, out anxiety and fear. In Jesus, out anxiety. Quiet your mind and focus just on My face. See My sorrowful face, see Me with thorns. Bring yourself back to the Passion. It is because of you and your sins I suffered and died for all My children. How great is My love for you that I would die for love of you. Think of this-that you have a friend Who died for you. Oh, how I love, how I long to be with you to tell you of My infinite love for you. Your human minds cannot even comprehend My Divine love! In your deepest meditation you couldn't come close to all the love I have for you. But you must keep trying to know and feel this love. This is your salvation. This is what sets you free in a world of hate. You can always be drawn back to My love and know it is waiting for you always. It never stops. It is infinite. This is what comforts your troubled soul. When they scorn you and mock you, think of Me loving you. I am the all-perfect love. Always come back to Me. Don't let the world get to you. I am here, with peace, love, joy, rapture, being connected to your heart so divinely. I love you so much! I wish you would totally feel this love the way I want you to.
The only way you can experience Me more is to let go of the world more. In this bustling world, My peace reigns. It is in the quiet of your heart. It is within you and you can stay connected at every moment. You never have to lose this peace no matter what goes on around you. You can be a pillar of peace because I am peace. I am joy. I died in peace and dignity. My peace was not shattered even to death. You can experience this peace if you stay in Me. It is My gift I give you. Remember I was at peace at My death. You are being strengthened in your trials. You are growing in My peace. You are learning not to shatter to anything, that if you stay rooted in Me I never leave you and you remain at peace though the earth be shaking. For I am He Who lives in you. You can have this same consistency, but you must stay so connected to Me every minute, every second. Breathe in Jesus, out fear. Look at My face. It is there for you. Look and see Me, I am your rock. You will not falter or fall on your face. Your heart is rooted in My peace and My love. It is consistent, it is everlasting, it is intense and it is My gift to My children who remain fixed in Me. I love you.
end of August 31, 1993
April 13, 2003 message continues
Messenger: Jesus' way was always peace.
Jesus speaks:
Oh children of this earth, I am peace, love
Me.
Oh My children, My young ones pray,
I beg you to pray.
Messenger: Christ loves us so very much.
Christ is love.
Christ wants us to be one.
Christ wants us to live in harmony
as one body.
Christ wants us to pray for the
priests, the Church and the world.
Christ wants us to be peaceful.
God gave us His Mother.
Jesus love us so much.
Mary appears with Jesus in Clearwater.
March 5, 2001
October 5,
2001
February 5, 2002
Messenger: Here is our Mother —
Here is the Mother of God
July 5, 2000 (during 6:20 prayers
without a flash)
Messenger: Here is the lady clothed with the sun.
January 5, 2003
Feast of the Epiphany
Revelation 12: 1-2
Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, robed with the sun, standing on the moon, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant, and in labour, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth.
January 5, 2001
Copyright
© 2003 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: April 13,
2003
URL: http://www.sofc.org
Contact Information for Shepherds
of Christ
Email: info@SofC.org
Shepherds of Christ Ministries
P.O. Box 193
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Telephone: (toll free) 1-888-211-3041 or (513) 932-4451
FAX: (513) 932-6791
