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February 28, 1997
Rita Ring
Our Wounds are Glorified When We Die in Him

He heals our wounds. His were glorified. So too, are our wounds glorified when we die in Him.

I mount the altar of sacrifice, I die with Him. I die more to all my imperfections that I may be raised in glory.

I must die to my imperfections to be raised to greater glory. In the Mass, I offer myself as a sacrifice with all my imperfections. I give myself and die to myself that I will be raised up and share in His glory.

In order to have oneness, we must be willing to recognize our imperfections with humility and die to them. It is in the dying there is the new life.

It is in dying to ourselves, our selfish imperfections, at every moment, being united at every moment to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, that we die to our will and live only according to the Father's will, as a little child, pleasing his Father at every second, offering ourselves as a sacrifice to Him.

Not our will, but Thy will.

That is what Jesus teaches us in His life. He lived according to the Father's will to His death. At every second, we unite to this great sacrifice, being sacramentally made present in the Mass. We die to ourselves to rise to greater life. The bell tolls--it is in that moment that we participate in the act of helping to save souls. The bell tolls. How are our moments spent in helping to save souls? We offer up all we suffer for His greater glory. We are one with each other in this sacrifice.

If everyone lived this way there would be no "bumping of heads."

I spent time blaming others and Jesus showed me His body bruised and bloodied! He died giving Himself for love of us. I must die to myself, it is the only way to new life.

My wounds become glorified in dying on the cross.

(Also on February 28, 1997):

Greatest intimacy takes the giving of ourselves. God wants our all. We mount the altar of sacrifice in humility. We give Him all of ourselves. I cannot change another person. I am responsible for being like Christ. Christ can change others, I cannot.

For years I made my job the job of changing you. For years we fought and hurt one another. From studying Our Lord, I learned His ways are gentle and kind. He walked the walk to Calvary. He loved His attackers. They spit on Him and He was silent. But, I say, "Oh, I cannot be silent, the suffering is so great." He tells me I must be silent and suffer for souls.

I am responsible for myself. The devil comes as a gentle lamb and wants to devour us.

Many times others tell us their problems. They tell us how others are talking about us and hurting us. We become angry and try to control the people around us.

We cannot, cannot, change another person. Only the grace of God can change them. We must surrender and give our problems to Him.

The devil aims to trip us up. His way is division. God's way is the only way. When I give in to division in my heart, it hurts me in my relationship with God - this is hell. I cannot be divided from others, I suffer when I am.

We are imperfect. The devil is working through many in the Movement that want to be first. There is a plan. It is His plan. We must do His will or we will not have peace.

Anyone complaining about others must stop and turn their hearts to love. God will take care of the troublemakers. God is unveiling the workings of Satan in the Movement. We must be in constant prayer. As these people identify themselves through their willfulness and lack of love, they will be divided by their own actions. We must try to work with people who encourage us and keep us on track. The devil will work through the mouths of the willful people to create negative feelings in our hearts. We are better working with those who are focused on Jesus. We must be loving to all, but it is easier for us to work with someone who is focused on their consecration and spends one hour in front of the tabernacle.

The devil has less of a chance to attack us if we work with those who are one in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

We will work as a family, in one mind and one heart. Our whole function must be to operate in love and oneness.

The devil works through the willful parties to cause division. By staying united to each other and operating with people who are consecrated firmly in their hearts to Jesus and Mary and have a steady prayer life (Mass, Communion, one hour of intimacy with Jesus, preferably before the tabernacle) we will be able to accomplish more work.

I am not telling you to ignore others. I am telling you how it is easiest to accomplish the most work. People who are constantly complaining drag us down. We must spend time with each other talking about Jesus. We must spend time keeping our focus on Him...

(Also on February 28, 1997):

I am truly to be more like Christ. I can be more like Jesus if I am constantly dying to myself with Him in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

So why do I operate? I operate for the honor and glory of God. I give myself as a sacrifice for His honor and glory.

I will meet with people with so many imperfections who think they are perfect, but God will love through me if I am so one with Him.

I love others as He loves through me. His love is perfect. He loved us so much He gave Himself to death on the cross! This is perfect loving.

He said we must die to ourselves.

Oh, I do not love you, my brother, when you hurt me. My wounds are glorified wounds when I die to my way of loving and love as He did. He loved to His death on the cross.

It is easiest to love those who are like Christ. I strive to be like Christ. I am the most imperfect of all.

The only answer to dealing with other's imperfections is to grow to be more like Christ ourselves.

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Copyright © 1997 Shepherds of Christ Publications
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the publisher. For information contact Shepherds of Christ Publications
First Printing: August, 1997