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 11p.m. Eastern time, U.S.A.
   

We acknowledge that the final authority regarding these messages rests
with the Holy See of Rome.


I appear my children on this former bank building in Florida, Our Lady Clothed with the Sun.

September 26, 2003

September 27th Holy Spirit Novena
Scripture selection is Day 2 Period I.
The Novena Rosary Mysteries for September 27th are the Glorious.

                   
    

We owe $2,662.00 which was crucial 

to the Priestly Mailing 

we sent out several months ago.

Can someone please help us?

 

1-888-211-3041 or 1-513-932-4451.

We accept credit card donations.

Shepherds of Christ
P. O. Box 193
Morrow, OH 45152

          

  


  

An Afternoon with Mary
September 7, 2003

Click here to watch the video

  

 We desperately need funds.

     



  

     

Call to apostles, servants, and handmaids
will be in China on the 13th of October.
Adoration will begin on Saturday
and end on the 14th.
More details will be available soon.

     

LISTEN TO
THE NEW RADIO —

NEW GREAT RECEPTION —
NEW PROGRAM

www.sofc.org

   
See Mary as she

appears NOW

on the web camera
  

  
  

We desperately need funds.

Please call 1-888-211-3041

or 1-513-932-4451.

We accept credit card donations.

             

         

Schedule for September 26, 2003

      
4:00 a.m. - Mass

4:37 a.m. - Children's Glorious Rosary July 15, 1995 led by Fr Carter

5:30 a.m. - Morning Offering & Prayers

5:40 a.m. - Nursing Home #10

6:20 a.m. - 6:20 prayers led by Father Carter
                 Holy Spirit Novena
                 Shepherds of Christ Prayer Manual
                 Rosary

7:24 a.m. - Mass celebrated by Fr Carter July 5, 2000

8:13 a.m. - Newsletter 1999 Issue 1 (Priesthood)

9:38 a.m. - Choose Life

10:40 a.m. - Mass celebrated by Fr Carter July 5, 2000

11:29 a.m. - Children's Glorious Rosary July 15, 1995 led by Fr Carter

12:22 p.m. - Morning Offering

12:26 p.m. - Mary's Message

12:32 p.m. - Tell My People read by Fr Carter

2:03 p.m. - Mass celebrated by Fr Carter July 5, 2000

2:52 p.m. - Mysteries of Light from November 14, 2002

3:25 p.m. - Nursing Home January 5, 2003 feast of the Epiphany

3:57 p.m. - A Prayer before the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

4:00 p.m. - Mass

4:37 p.m. - Children's Glorious Rosary July 15, 1995 led by Fr Carter

5:29 p.m. - The Spirituality of Fatima

6:12 p.m. - Songs

6:20 p.m. - 6:20 prayers led by Father Carter
                 Holy Spirit Novena
                 Shepherds of Christ Prayer Manual

7:24 p.m. - Mass celebrated by Fr Carter July 5, 2000

8:12 p.m. - Live Rosary from August 20, 2003 
                    (part 2 from August 19, 2003)

11:24 p.m. - Live Rosary from November 13, 1996

12:44 a.m. - Children's Glorious Rosary July 15, 1995 led by Fr Carter

1:36 a.m. - Mass celebrated by Fr Carter July 5, 2000

2:26 a.m. - Special Messages from Jesus given to Fr Carter 
                    & Songs from Jesus

3:44 a.m. - The Seven Sorrows

3:58 a.m. - A Prayer before the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

4:00 a.m. - Mass

                                      
     

A Prayer for Intimacy with the Lamb
the Bridegroom of the soul

    Oh Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, come and act on my soul most intimately. I surrender myself, as I ask for the grace to let go, to just be as I exist in You and You act most intimately on my soul. You are the Initiator. I am the soul waiting Your favors as You act in me. I love You. I adore You. I worship You. Come and possess my soul with Your Divine Grace, as I experience You most intimately.

       

September 26, 2003

Messenger:        I come to you and rest in Your Heart.

  
Jesus speaks:     Peace My child is found in Me.

                            A person wanted to live a long life, prolong

                                their life.

                                Do not fret or fume about anything.

                            Let go, let Me be in charge of your

                            life. I will hold you in My arms,

                            I will comfort you in your suffering,

                            I will widen the path before you, I

                            will lead you to your eternal home,

                            there you will have love, and peace

                            forever.

Messenger:     Oh my Jesus, I do give you myself to

                            do with as You desire. I love You

                            so much. I love the Mass so much -

                            Oh Jesus You are my love.

Jesus speaks:    Like a dotting bridegroom, 

    

   

Jesus speaks:      I wait for you. My little one, I love you

                                so much.

  

   

    

September 26, 2003 message continues

Messenger:        Oh my God bathe me in Your love.

                            Oh my God take me to Your Heart.

                            Oh my God when I am weary, refresh me.

                            Oh my God that I would be at peace always,

                                as I rest in Thee, my Divine Bridegroom.

  

  

September 26, 2003 message continues

Messenger:        He is my all.

                            God is Divine.

                            God is Love and I love Him.
  

Jesus speaks:     A garden I give you.

                            A bouquet of flowers.

  

  

September 26, 2003 message continues

Jesus speaks:        A sunny day.

  

   

September 26, 2003 message continues

Jesus speaks:      A day to love and share with one

                                another.

  

  

September 26, 2003 message continues

Jesus speaks:     A day to love.

                            A day to be one.

                            A day to know joy.

   

  

September 26, 2003 message continues

Jesus speaks:     Oh memory of joyous times

  

  

September 26, 2003 message continues

Jesus speaks:     Oh joy of times shared with others -

  

  

September 26, 2003 message continues

Messenger:        We know our days here are short

                                and soon the day to meet our

                                beloved God draws near.

  

  

  

      

   

    
   

      

   

Excerpt from Priestly Newsletter 1998 - ISSUE FOUR

    Shortly before he was to die from cancer, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin left us these inspiring words about peace: "It is the first day of November, and fall is giving way to winter. Soon the trees will lose the vibrant colors of their leaves and snow will cover the ground. The earth will shut down, and people will race to and from their destinations bundled up for warmth. Chicago winters are harsh. It is a time of dying.

    "But we know that spring will soon come with all its new life and wonder.

    "It is quite clear that I will not be alive in the spring. But I will soon experience new life in a different way...

    "What I would like to leave behind is a simple prayer that each of you may find what I have foundGod's special gift to us all: the gift of peace. When we are at peace, we find the freedom to be most fully who we are, even in the worst of times. We let go of what is non-essential and embrace what is essential. We empty ourselves so that God may more fully work within us. And we become instruments in the hands of the Lord."
3


Notes:

3. Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, The Gift of Peace, Loyola University Press, pp. 151-153.
    


end of excerpt from Priestly Newsletter 1998 - ISSUE FOUR

     
   

            Sing: Oh Danny Boy

   

         
  

"MASS IN CHINA WITH FATHER CARTER"

 
              
 
                                                                       
 
                                                                                                         
 
                                                                  
 
                      
 
                                                                      
 
                                                                    
 
                                                       
 
                                                                                                        
 
                                                                      
 

  
     

From a Lenten Homily, March 24, 2000

Live in the Moment

    Today’s Gospel in its story certainly points ahead to Jesus in His Passion and death. And as we read passages such as this during the Lenten season, we are reminded once again that the Church in her Liturgy of the Word gives us an opportunity to undergo a purification, an ever deepening cleansing of ourselves so that we may be a more fit instrument for receiving the great graces which are to be given to us at the time of the Resurrection memorial on Easter. And so all in all, Lent is a time of purification to prepare us for ever-greater gifts of the Lord. It’s a time of self-discipline, a time to renew our efforts to be self-disciplined in the service of the Lord. Self-discipline is an aspect of purification. And I suggest that one of the most difficult acts of self-discipline in the spiritual journey is to concentrate on the present moment. We have a very strong tendency to disregard the importance of the present moment by focusing in a wrong way on the past or in a wrong way on the future. There are proper occasions for thinking of the past and the future. For example, we have to learn from the past and we have to prepare for the future, but our great emphasis has to be upon the present. There is a Latin axiom which says, age quod agis, age quod agis, which means: do what you are doing, concentrate on the present. And of course we are familiar with that term in the history of spirituality: the sacrament of the present moment. And so the discipline of Lent certainly encourages us to include in a deeper self-discipline a greater determination to get as much as we can out of the present moment. People with a terminal illness have an opportunity as they prepare for death for increased prayer, contrition, love of God. However, some are taken very, very quickly. But for those who have the opportunity of knowing with some certainty the time of their death, I’m sure as they look back on their lives, they are saddened by the many times they did not use time and opportunities for the service of the Lord properly, and are overjoyed at those times in which they did use the present opportunity properly. A great means we have of living in the present properly is a greater focus upon our Lord. For if I have that awareness of the fact I am united with Jesus here and now, why should I be concerned so much about the future or the past? Yes, a great help in living in the present and deriving all the good we can from it for ourselves and others is an ever greater focus upon Jesus, because the more I focus upon Jesus and the more I live with Him in the present moment, the more I am satisfied with the present moment. And so let us in our Lenten activity resolve to grow in that self-discipline - which is very difficult at times - to really live in the presence with the fullness of our being as much as is possible, with the help of God’s grace. Now is the day of salvation. Now is the day of salvation.

end of Father Carter's homily

       

Picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Your Time Is So Short 

November 9, 1993 - 4:45a.m.

Jesus speaks:  My dear child, you must turn yourself over entirely to Me. Oh, child, I am your Savior. Do not ever doubt Me. Always count on My being present to you. The days go by with such rapidness, you will soon be with Me forever in heaven.

Everyone only sees each moment as it is occurring now. There is an end to all of this and your reward waits for you. It seems hard to think of this as ever ending, but time is so short, little one. Soon all this will be over.

Fight a good fight for Me. You need to help all you can to know of Me. Keep remembering that these days will not go on forever, that this life is so short compared to all eternity.

Some day you will truly be with Me in heaven. Your life is so short compared to eternity. Here today, gone tomorrow. All that remains is how you choose to live, for God or against God!

You are responsible for all your time and your actions and how you live in service of Me. It sounds simple but people alive on earth in sin cannot see anything else but what they are doing now. Satan blinds you into thinking this life will go on and on when, in fact, it is so short compared to eternity, just a short while. It is so easy to see. Why do you get so caught up in this life here? It is so short. The batting of an eye, the dropping of a pin, and your life is over and eternity awaits. Do these short moments mean so much to you?

Listen to Me, little one. Time is so short. My light is at hand. My time is so precious because it determines your eternal life. So short, indeed. Heed My word and listen to My voice. What you do, how you act, are so small when compared to eternity! This is no laughing matter. It is your soul that is at stake. It is your life forever and ever. Is a few years of life, holding on to such insignificant "stuff" worth all eternity? My life for you is so simple. Love God, love one another. Put Me first and all falls into line! So simple, but so hard for so many precious little ones. I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter of My law will pass away.

Here today, gone tomorrow, and I am your God. Come to me and all will be brought to light! He made the crooked ways straight and He nourished their souls. Listen. You do not know the glories that await him who serves the Lord. Hold tight to Me, little one. Hold tight to Me and receive a divine reward forever. May My name be exalted in heaven and on earth. The trumpet blares and the Lord ascends His throne. All know His glory. Their lives were not in vain who served Him while in their lives. Their rewards are as golden gems whose splendor no one can comprehend.

Heaven and earth may vanish like smoke, but your deeds will not be forgotten. Store up treasures in the life hereafter by doing good works. Keep your eyes on your Father in heaven, Who waits and loves you so. All will be made open in the end and your life will be spent in the hereafter. What a reward for such a short test!

R. Oh, Jesus, praise to You from the heights. You are so good and loving. We trust in You and Your mercy. Alleluia. Alleluia.

end of November 9, 1993

  

            Sing Song
                    Turn to Me

            Sing Song
                    Turn Around

  

  

  

  

  

  

       

Prayer Chapter in Africa

      

   

    
 

July 4, 1996

   This message was received before a live statue of the Sorrowful Mother after Communion.
   Message from Jesus: "Peace will abound when nations, churches, families and individuals are consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary."
   "Fr. Carter is a pillar of light to the dark world. This is the explanation of the photo. It is through him, I will turn darkness to light. Circulate this message with the picture. Encourage all to consecrate their hearts to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to join the Shepherds of Christ Chapters, and the Apostles of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus Movement to pray for your Church and your world. This is My Movement for renewal of the Church and the world, based in consecration, joining your every act to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, praying the rosary, and making reparation to Our Hearts, especially on First Fridays and First Saturdays. It is through your prayers and sacrifices many souls will be helped to be saved. Grace will flow from those whose hearts are consecrated to Our Hearts and the fire of My Love will light up this darkened world."
   As you look at the picture, you see Fr. Carter's arm and hand on your left. This picture of Fr. Carter was taken July 2, 1996 at the Tuesday Shepherds of Christ Meeting at Tom Arlinghaus' Farm.

end of July 4, 1996 message

  

       

October 13, 2002

  

  

  

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

   

  

  

  

  

     

  

  

  

  

  

  

    

  

  

  

    

  

  

  

  

    

  

  

  

 

    

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

    

  

  

   

   

Blessing book in China in handmaid garage

  

    

"HA - HA - we are in China"

  

China

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

    

   

  

Florida

Blessing of the Rosary Factory

  

Blessing of the Rosary Factory

  

Blessing of the Rosary Factory

  

Blessing of the Rosary Factory

   

Father Carter blessing the image

  

  

  

  

  

  

Father Carter blessing the image

 

  

Father Carter blessing the image

   

   

     

  

The Sign of the Cross

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit

     

We begin asking God to forgive our sins.

   

The Opening Prayer

    

The First Reading

   

The Gospel

  

The Offering of the Bread

   

The Offering of the Wine

  

The Washing of the Hands

  

The Holy Holy

 

The Raising of the Consecrated Host

 

The Raising of the Precious Blood

 

Through Him, With Him and In Him

  

The Our Father

     

The Breaking of the Bread
       
The Lamb of God

      

Communion

  

Communion

 

The Blessing

     

  

         

   

 

   

   

Morrow

  

  

     

  

   

Talk by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J.
given to the Apostles in the 
Shepherds of Christ Movement
   

February 1, 1998
   

    Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen all of you at once in the same place. It’s a tremendous treat for me. So praise be the Lord. Let’s start with the 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.

    ...So after I talk here I will have to depart and leave the praying to you at this place. I’ll be praying with you as I drive away...  

    ...I’m spending much more time on the newsletter now. Our Lord had been calling me to do that for months but it was when I was fully active it was very, very hard to get the time to really spread it around the world like He wanted to, although we had been working with the English edition trying to get that in more and more countries. We are in about eighty or more countries with the English edition... 

    And in cases where it needs translation, for instance, the Spanish edition we translate that up here, we print it up here and we bulk mail it.

    [Note: He talks about the spread of the Newsletter to priests and bishops in Central, South America in Spanish, Africa, India, French speaking, England, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia]

    ...It is Our Lord’s wish along with the prayer chapters that this be considered our primary ministry, the Newsletter. So please, please, please, please pray for it’s continued success and expansion. It is so extremely important because as you know, if you can change the heart of one priest, he is in a position to do so, so much good with even thousands of people. And we have received extremely encouraging letters over the years that the newsletters been published from priests, how it’s helped them out on their own spiritual life but in their ministries, giving them homilies and so forth. And from bishops which are highly encouraging commending us on the quality and the worthwhileness of the newsletter.

        

Rev. J. Mark Williams
Director of Formation Advising
Pontifical North American College
00120 Vatican City State

     

[He then talks about funds for the Newsletter.]

    I think I came to speak to you today because I think we’re at a very, very significant point of the Shepherds of Christ Movement as it marches into the new era of which was promised by Our Lady of Fatima. And I think the Movement is basically strong, basically healthy but I think we need a recommitment of ourselves to the Movement precisely because much more is being asked of us. We have three centers to staff not only with people but with materials.

    So as we go on in what Our Lord wants us to do, we just need a deeper commitment to the Movement just like the spiritual life in general. You never stand still on the spiritual journey. I mean spiritual masters have always told us this, you either go back or you go forward.

    And so it is with the Movement, we just don’t stand still. We have to keep on deepening our commitment to the Movement individually and collectively or it’s not going to move forward obviously. So I guess you can say that’s the main reason I thought it was very important that I come here today to speak to you to ask you to renew your commitment to Our Lord in the Movement. And to put some thoughts before (you) which hopefully will help you to renew your commitment.

    I’ll begin by reminding all of us of the great, great privilege it is to have been called to this Movement. I’ve said this before, I say it now even with deeper conviction, I really believe that this will go down in history as one of the great Movements in the history of the Church. And if you reflect upon what we’ve been called to do, I don’t think it’s hard to come to that conclusion. I don’t know of any just taking our ministry to the priests with the newsletter and with the prayer chapters whose primary duty is to pray for the priests as well as the whole human race. But I am unaware of any other Movement in the history of the Church which has tried to reach all priests the world over with the newsletter and the prayer chapters to the extent that we are trying to do so. So just those two ministries in themselves I think point to the greatness of this Movement. Then our many other ministries: the rosaries, the consecration of the schools, the nursing home, prison ministries are all our various publications. So much wonderful literature, rosary in the homes, one of our newest ministries, the couples rosary and the spirituality which comes out of that and we hope to work more and more nationally to strengthen marriage and family life through working with couples as couples.

    So if you look at what we are doing with the tremendous amount of materials which are being distributed from the Florida site and through orders from this site and through other sites.  

    So again I think this is one of the great, great Movements in the history of the Church. And we have to pinch ourselves every once in awhile and nudge ourselves and realize the great calling we have been given to work in this Movement. I think there has been a certain, despite all the great work which is being done, I think there is a certain stagnation which has set in to a certain degree and we have to jolt ourselves out of that and recommit ourselves.

    St. John of the Cross in one of his writings says—of course he is one of the greatest mystical theologians in the history of the Church and in one of his writings he says, “What does it profit you to give God one thing if He wishes for another? Consider what it is God wants and then do it.”

    Let’s read that again together “What does it profit you to give God one thing if He wishes for another? Consider what it is God wants and then do it.”

    [Father Carter is speaking to Servants and Handmaids of the Good Shepherd—]

  

  

    [Apostles who dedicate themselves completely to the Shepherds of Christ Ministries—]

  

   

  

   

    Applying that to our calling to Shepherds of Christ—there’s more work to this Movement than any of us, individually or all put together can ever attend to properly. What I am getting at, if you really feel you’ve been called to this Movement and especially to the apostle's level, I am suggesting to you very fervently and hopefully, persuasively, the Shepherds of Christ Ministries can use all the spare time, all the ministerial time you have to give to the work of the Kingdom. You don’t have to go around looking for other ministries to contribute your time to. You are free to do that, you are free to leave the Movement at any time. We are not forcing anyone to stay, we hope everybody stays but we have had people leave.

    So there should always be that, that sense of freedom if you want to lessen off your commitment or hopefully it would never happen, but if you would chose to leave the commitment, Jesus respects your freewill.

    But looking at it again positively I’m suggesting to you—there is so much work to be done in the Movement. So this first day of February which happened to be the month of the feast of St. Claude de la Columbiere, February the 15th, who has been one of the greatest apostles to the devotion to the Heart of Jesus in the history of the Church, so in a certain sense it’s a type of month of the Sacred Heart because of his feast, so I ask that all of us renew our commitment to the Movement. And again realize the great privilege, that’s one of the first ways to persevere in the Movement and to grow in the Movement, everyday to thank God for the great graces He has given you in the Movement.

    And I ask you just briefly to look back over your lives, now compared to when you joined the Movement. Has not Our Lord through Our Lady drawn you so, so, so much closer to Them. And He in turn has led you so much closer to the Father and the Spirit. The chairman of our theology department, the first departmental meeting when he took over, he said Xavier has been very good to me, now I feel it’s payback time and I think I should serve the University being chair of the Theology department. Being chair of a department, it’s really a pain of any department. But those words stick in my mind, he says now it is payback time. I should payback Xavier for all the good Xavier has done to me. I suggest we keep that in mind in reference to Jesus in His Movement. It’s always payback time. He does not give us graces and gifts in the Movement just for ourselves. Every gift of Jesus has a social dimension, it’s meant not only for my own spiritual growth, but for growth of the Kingdom. And so if we find ourselves becoming somewhat complacent in our gifts received through the Movement and not properly using them at least to the full extent that we could and helping to spread the Movement, helping to spread the Kingdom, then let us resolve here and now to do better.

    Perseverance in the Movement—all vocations, all callings need perseverance. I pray for perseverance as a Jesuit every day of my life. I pray for perseverance. I’m suggesting to all of us that we pray for perseverance in the Movement and not just a status quo type of perseverance, but pray for a perseverance which will allow us to dynamically grow and be greater apostles in the Movement. And we have to take the means to persevere.

    First of all, of course, is Mass and communion, then our visit to the Blessed Sacrament, saying the rosary and listening to at least five minutes a day to a live rosary which Rita receives, praying the hourly prayers without feeling overburdened. If you begin to feel overburdened by the hourly novena just make a 30 second prayer, say Jesus, say the three invocations, “Lord ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you, through the intercession of Mary, thy most holy mother I knock, I seek, I ask that my prayer be granted” and just say we pray for all needs of the Shepherds of Christ Movement and the other two invocations. You can do that in about 30 seconds. And then at times of course when you have the time and you feel moved bring in the specific intentions. But that hourly prayer has great power to keep our motivation up but it should not on the other hand feel burdensome to you. If it feels burdensome to you for any length of time, just use the short form for quite a while.

    [Note: servants and handmaids and apostles of the Good Shepherd of the Shepherds of Christ Movement go to daily Mass and spend one hour before the tabernacle and pray hourly for the priests, the Church and the world.]

    Reading the Blue Book messages, at least just a few minutes a day, can do wonders to help us persevere in the Movement. Renew your love and commitment to the Movement. Included in that renewed love and commitment I think should be a resolution that we don’t bad mouth the Movement, certainly not to those outside the Movement, certainly not even to those within the Movement. We have problems, we always have had some, we always will, the universal Church has monumental problems. But we have to learn how to handle the problems responsibly. If you have a significant problem please contact John or Rita, talk it over with them, with me if you feel so called. They usually report problems to me. I’m in constant contact with them. Currently I talk to them each day about the Movement, what’s going on, strong points, weak points and so forth. If you have problems with the Movement, don’t spread your problem with the problems to somebody else who starts to think negatively also.

    I mean go to Jesus, of course, first of all, but then bring your problem to somebody who has the authority in the Movement to handle it. That’s very, very important, 'cause our loyalty and love for the Movement, I think are significantly harmed when we don’t take that approach. Obedience in the Movement is going to become more and more important as the Movement grows. Any organization needs a certain structure, a hierarchy of command, obedience to legitimate authority. When John asks you to do something, please try to answer his request. If you can’t, just tell him I can’t do it now. When he directs you to do something, which is stronger than a request, don’t give him a hard time. Jesus wants obedience in the Movement. No Movement can survive or progress without obedience, without a structure of command. John has a terrifically difficult job. Don’t make it more difficult for him by, as I say, giving him a hard time or by never answering his request for help.

    I understand that the level of volunteerism here at the center has gradually slackened off over recent months, and it is very difficult to get people together to do our mailings. We can’t keep depending on just a few people all the time. Here again it’s payback time. I mean everyday is payback time. You can never fully repay Jesus for what He has done for us or what He continues to do for us. Now we have to use Christian prudence in all this, we’ve got family duties; we’ve got other duties that’s God’s will for us. We have to take care of those. But granting all those other calls on our time and our energy, if Jesus has called you to this Movement, He’s called each and every one of you, then He expects you to live up to your commitment. And if it’s always looked upon, if you feel it’s always more of a burden than a privilege, then I think a person has to consider, 'Shall I stay in the Movement?' Jesus loves a cheerful giver. Suffering is involved, is it not? Any following of Christ involves suffering. Any non following of Christ brings suffering, and a greater suffering—those who don’t believe, who don’t have any religious faith or conviction. They end up suffering much more than we who suffer in the following of Christ.

    I would like to read you something that I’ve written on suffering that will appear in the next newsletter—

   

FATHER CARTER'S VOICE WAS VERY SAD
and VERY LOVING.

      

        Excerpt from Priestly Newsletter 1998 Issue 1

Suffering

To follow Jesus entails a willingness to suffer for Him and His cause. The furthering of any worthwhile cause demands a spirit of sacrifice, a willingness to endure a variety of hardships and difficulties. We cannot expect it to be otherwise regarding the cause of Christ. To help further the process of ongoing redemption demands a price.

There is an almost endless variety of pains, sufferings, and difficulties which can arise in following Jesus and promoting His cause. At times seeing few, if any, visible results of our labors, feeling unappreciated, experiencing opposition, sometimes comprehending that we are being hated precisely by some of those whom we are striving to help, at times being laughed at and ridiculed—these are some of the ways we experience the sufferings of an apostle.

The suffering involved in contributing to the process of ongoing redemption is not, however, the complete picture. The happiness resulting from commitment to Christ and His mission far outweighs the hardships. To be aware that one is so intimately loved by Jesus, to experience the satisfaction that one is contributing to a cause that cannot fail, to play a role in helping to bring to others the love and peace of Jesus—all of this makes for a life that has no equal. The committed follower of Christ, experiencing what it means to be closely associated with Jesus, realizes why St. Peter said, Lord,…it is wonderful for us to be here. (Mt. 17:4). 

  

Father Carter's talk continues

    So in God’s plan in the following of Christ, suffering is always meant to lead to greater life here and hereafter, not only greater life for us as we grow in Jesus through the proper handling of suffering, but also greater life in the sense that we become more apt instruments for channeling His life to others, as we are purified by His suffering, so that we may more and more allow Him to live in and through and for us. One of the greatest Apostles of all times of suffering showing us the place of suffering in the Christian dispensation is St. Paul. He brings out this theme of death-resurrection of Jesus and our participation in it in various places in his writing. I think one of the most dramatic of those places is in

   

2 Corinthians 4: 7-11

         The hardships and hopes of the apostolate

But we hold this treasure in pots of earthenware, so that the immensity of the power is God’s and not our own. We are subjected to every kind of hardship, but never distressed; we see no way out but we never despair; we are pursued but never cut off; knocked down, but still have some life in us; always we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our body. Indeed, while we are still alive, we are continually being handed over to death, for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our mortal flesh.

    

Father Carter's talk continues

    So we suffer with Jesus, so that here below and in eternity, so that we may live more with Him, and that we may become more fit instruments for helping to channel His life to others. We have a particular way of doing that, a magnificent way within the Shepherds of Christ Movement. He hung upon a cross on a hill called Calvary. He had already suffered so much, had He not? He had been brutally scourged at the pillar, crowned with thorns, laughed at, ridiculed, without sleep. He had to carry the heavy cross up the hill, upon reaching the hill He was mercilessly nailed to the cross. He hung there in that agonizing suffering until death came. His side was pierced and from His pierced Heart flowed blood and water, symbols of sacramental life in the Church, Baptism and the Eucharist. And as He hung on that cross nearing death in that brutalized suffering, St. Francis de Sales, who was a Doctor of the Church—a Doctor of the Church means that the Church recognizes not only the great holiness of the person, but the great learning, the great wisdom—in one of his classic works, St. Francis de Sales, his work Treatise on God's Divine Love, he says, “As Jesus hung upon the cross there in that brutal suffering each of us was present to Him. He knew each of us intimately and the perfect one gave His last drop of blood for you and for me.” So if we ever have problems with our motivation in the Movement, I suggest that we come to the foot of the cross and we realize what Jesus has done for me and continues to do. It is payback time. St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, has left us this beautiful prayer, “Lord teach me to be generous, teach me to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for reward save that of knowing that I do your will.”  

      

    Now I will give the blessing. May the blessing of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit descend upon you and remain forever. Amen.

end of Father Carter's talk February 1, 1998

  

  

  

Come to Margaret's funeral

9:00 lay out China, Indiana

11:00 Mass

Burial - St. Anthony's cemetery

   

September 26, 2003 message continues

Messenger:        We prayed in China every 13th.

                            Margaret Mary drove down on the

                                13th every month to go to

                                China.

                            Margaret Mary, thank you for all

                                you've done for the Shepherds of Christ

                                Movement.

                            Without you we would have not

                                been able to do many things.

                            We love you.

  

      

Mary's Message
from the Rosary of August 27, 1996

Mary speaks:  I stood beneath the cross of my Son, and my Heart was in such pain for I saw Him before my eyes. I saw Him covered with blood. I saw Him die. My Heart, my children, my Heart to watch my Son, but my Heart, my Heart, how I suffered for my little children of the world that give in to this world and give up the love of my Son. O my little children of light, I give you this message. Carry this light into the darkness for your Mother Mary, for I stood beneath the cross and I cried. I cried for the little ones. I cried for the young ones, the ones that do not care and will lose their souls. How do I make you see for you will not listen to me? What can I do? I come. I appear. I beg. I plead. I give you these gifts from my Son, and you reject me. I do not deliver messages very often anymore for I have been ignored. The message is the same. You do not read the messages I have given to you. Please help me. Help the little children. I appear. I appear. I appear, and I am ignored. I stood beneath the cross, and I cried. I cried, and my Heart was in such anguish for my little children, for I am searching for them this day as I searched for the Child Jesus. Please, please help me. I cannot hold back the hand of my Son any longer. I am Mary, your Mother. I ask you to help my children. You are my children of light.

end of Mary's Message, August 27, 1996  

    

September 26, 2003 message continues

Messenger:        Margaret died and her funeral is right

                                before the month of the Holy Rosary.

                            She dedicated herself to the Rosary Factory

                                in Florida.

                            She built the vestment shop with the

                                help of Steve and Sheila in the last

                                months of her life.

                            Margaret Mary answered the call of 

                                Jesus.

                            Margaret Mary is a handmaid of 

                                the Lord, a handmaid of

                                the Good Shepherd.

  

 

September 26, 2003 message continues

Messenger:        The last time I talked to Margaret Mary

                                I was on the phone in the vestment shop

                                sitting at the desk, it was late, maybe

                                10:40 p.m. September 21, 2003 eve of 

                                September 22 anniversary when they opened

                                up Father Carter and found out he had cancer

                                She was in the hospital at the 

                                Mayo Clinic when I talked to her —

                                I told her I was in the vestment shop ————

    

                            We never know how it will be, but life is

                                short and we should live it as God

                                wants every moment of our lives.

  

  

   

  

  

  

    

September 26, 2003 message continues

Messenger:        Here is a witness letter from Mary.

     

Mary G.

 
How has being a member of Shepherds of Christ has changed my life?

When I was a baby, we lived next door to a convent and I had 12 years of Catholic education. I married and lived Cincinnati eventually. After my civil divorce, my three younger children and I moved back to Price Hill in Cincinnati where I grew up. This time brought me the Catholic Charismatic experience.

Dad died in '86, and I moved away to a small town. Though I tried, I thought no Catholic church or prayer group met my needs so I attended Protestant prayer meetings and services. I found ministers and prayer groups that deeply love the Lord Jesus, and I would still be in these circles except that I went back to Cincinnati to visit. I hadn't told my old friends that I was no longer a practicing Catholic so I joined them when they attended charismatic functions. At one of these I was given Blue Book I.

Actually, someone tried to give it to me and I wouldn't take it saying, I had too much to read , so it was given to the friend I was staying with. When we got home and she was out of the room, I opened the book so I could congratulate myself for not accepting it.

That's Jesus! Jesus is speaking in this book! I read almost the whole book that night, then I ate humble pie and phoned the lady who had pressed me to accept it. I received it in a few days.

Back home I read and reread it. Jesus was speaking loud and clear and I went to the nearest church and made a confession and resumed my long neglected practice of daily Mass. I also began to go to the Shepherds of Christ chapter meetings in Morrow, Ohio, where I heard the call for volunteers to come to the Virgin Mary Site in Clearwater, Florida.

How well I understand God's words, "Your thoughts are not My thoughts!".

Changing my thoughts and my ways comes more slowly than changing my address, which is now Clearwater, Florida.

Though retirement isn't at all what I thought it would be, I wouldn't trade places with anyone at all.

   

September 26, 2003 message continues

Messenger:        God has called all of us in a different

                                way.

                            Here are some Spanish songs

                                translated by Fernando and having

                                the imprimatur from the 

                                bishop.

   

  

   

    

September 26, 2003 message continues

Messenger:        Here are some pictures of servants and

                                handmaids being brought in.

  

   

  

  

 

  

    

   

   

   

  

   

   

   

   

   

  


  

Prayer for Union with Jesus

    Come to me, Lord, and possess my soul. Come into my heart and permeate my soul. Help me to sit in silence with You and let You work in my heart.

    I am Yours to possess. I am Yours to use. I want to be selfless and only exist in You. Help me to spoon out all that is me and be an empty vessel ready to be filled by You. Help me to die to myself and live only for You. Use me as You will. Let me never draw my attention back to myself. I only want to operate as You do, dwelling within me.

    I am Yours, Lord. I want to have my life in You. I want to do the will of the Father. Give me the strength to put aside the world and let You operate my very being. Help me to act as You desire. Strengthen me against the distractions of the devil to take me from Your work.

    When I worry, I have taken my focus off of You and placed it on myself. Help me not to give in to the promptings of others to change what in my heart You are making very clear to me. I worship You, I adore You and I love You. Come and dwell in me now.

-God's Blue Book, January 17, 1994

             

   

   

     

       

Please check out 

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Go Shopping on the Web and

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to be mailed for priests

but we don't have

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We need money for the

English speaking priestly mailing.

You can put it on your credit card,

call Morrow.

  
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P.O. Box 193
Morrow, OH 45152

  
(toll free) 1-888-211-3041
1-513-932-4451

                


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