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 with the Holy See of Rome. |
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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.
Messenger: Include Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Center in 6:20 prayers.
Messenger: Please pray for 5 urgent intentions!
Messenger: WE URGENTLY NEED FUNDS TO PUT OUT THE NEXT NEWSLETTER, PRAY FOR THIS AND FOR THE NEWSLETTER AND ALL INVOLVED.
Messenger: Our Lord has asked us to pray for a special priest and three other special priests and His designated priests.
Please pray for the priestly newsletter and for the intentions on the prayer list at the end of the message.
Messenger: Tomorrow is Father Carter's birthday.
We listened to an excerpt of a tape on January 13, 2001.
It was from his 70th
birthday celebration
which we celebrated on
January 17, 1999.
He said he worked so
hard on his birthday
he never even had time
to go out to dinner.
He had been writing the
priestly newsletter.
Father Carter is gone now but the seeds he planted
in so many from his
writings live in
our hearts.
Today for the message I include two things,
January 15, 1994, a
message from Blue Book II
he loved so much. It
was one of his
favorite messages.
Father Carter worked hard on
the newsletter January/
February 1999, on Priesthood.
He disciplined himself so he could study
and write and pray.
Today his writings will reach so many.
Every person we touch can effect
so many people's lives.
I remember the funerals this summer and the
children of the
grandfathers that died.
God's grace is a gift.
Baptism is a gift.
We take so many things for granted.
God loves us so much and He wants us to
thank Him and love Him.
I thank God for the gift of Father Carter and
to be called to be a
shepherd of Christ.
I am proud to be called
to Jesus' Movement.
. . . and when we go to heaven we will be asked,
"Where are your
children?"
Our Church is to help bring forth fruit for the
Kingdom.
The Church is Mother.
Mary cries for her children.
All of us in the Church must spread the
good news.
We are the sons of God.
Christ came and showed us how to live as
a son of God.
Today we model our lives after His.
Oh God, show us the way.
Jesus speaks: I am the Way; I am Truth and Life. (John 14:6)
Messenger: Father Carter, Happy
Birthday January 15.
Now he is in a holy place.
God has enveloped him in His ravishing love.
Let's be thankful for the air we breathe.
Let's be thankful for our warm houses in the cold winter.
Let's be thankful for each other.
Let's be thankful for our clothes.
Let's be thankful for our food.
Let's be thankful for His grace.
The list can go on and on, God is so good to us.
January l5, 1994 4:50 a.m.
Jesus speaks: I am Jesus, Your Savior. When you are tired and weary, come to Me. I wait for you as would a doting mother, ready to kiss your little wounds and send you out to play.
I love you so, little one. Come and be with Me in your heart. Do not worry about anything concerning this book. My hand is in everything and I will see to its publishing Myself. Do you fret and fume for nothing? I am God. Why should you worry for the work of God? Do you not think I will take care of My own work? I tend to everything that needs to be done in your life. You are so precious to Me. There is not one thing that happens that I have not consented to.
To be able to be in the midst of adversity and struggle and say, "God's hand is here and He knows what is happening; I will let go of my anxiety and be at peace," is to reach a great plateau of trust in Me! Trust in Me in all your trials. Refuse to worry. What good does such a needless task perform? If I am God and I am there in every moment of your life and you truly believe it, what are you doing letting yourself worry?
Child, I have so much love for you that I died on the a cross for you. Look at Me there. I spread My arms and came for you. I love you this much, this very day. How do I make you realize how much you mean to Me? Well, I am here in everything you are experiencing. There is not one thing that happens without My consent. Do you hear Me? Think of one of your little hairs falling out. I am that hyper-vigilant. I know whence that hair came. I know the very pore on your head it fell from.
If I, Jesus, am that attentive to you and everything that is happening with you, what are you doing worrying? It is your trust and faith in Me that gives you peace. Practice letting go on all matters. Refuse to worry. Place every care in My hands and trust I will tend to it. You, My child, are so precious. I want you to know how I am truly there, loving you and watching you and guarding you.
I watch you like a doting mother lest you stumble and fall and lose your way. In that little trial, practice turning it over to Me. Trust in Me. It is an act of your will to truly trust Me or to worry about your problem.
Listen to Me saying, "Child, I love you, child, I am love, child, don't worry. Turn your burden over to Me." You can be free of worry if you let go. Sail away in your hot air balloon. Drop the package of worries at the foot of My cross and sail away in a trouble-free sky.
You are lifted to such heights in My love! I am so powerful. I can do all things. I am working in your life at every moment. I never leave you abandoned. Take this opportunity to get closer to Me.
It is in your trials you are taught how to trust. Do not curse the dark nights. Come to Me and let Me light your way. Take each trial as an opportunity to get closer to Me. Ascend the ladder to trust in the Lord. You develop trust a step at a time. Trust must be developed by you. Pray that you will learn all the lessons on trust I am sending you.
You are so favored, My little sweet one. I love you. I love you. I love you. Come to Me weary and leave carefree. Only I can take a burdened heart and give it rest. Do not go to your brothers and complain. Keep reading My letters to you (December 30, 1993). Know which letters are those that set you free of worry.
Note: In His December 30 letter He said, "It is in acceptance of all things that you are drawn closer to Me. Do not try to throw back into My face the little opportunity for grace you receive. Child, I am ever by your side and I am ever teaching you. Know that My hand is in everything you are experiencing. I am vigilant and by your side. Nothing happens to you that I have not consented to. I love you. Trust in Me."
Messenger: Jesus, I trust in you!
Jesus speaks: Pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I am there with you. Turn to Me. Turn to Me alone and I will give you rest. Oh, you, who are heavily burdened, I will give you rest!
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep. The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and the sheep do not belong to him, abandons the sheep and runs away as soon as he sees a wolf coming, and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep; this is because he is only a hired man and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. (Jn 10:11-151)
Yes, the Good Shepherd has given His all for us. Through His life, His brutal and agonizing suffering and death on the cross, and His glorious resurrection, He has achieved new life for us. Through the sacrament of Holy Orders, Jesus has provided His Church with priests who play a major role in the dispensing of this life which Jesus has come to give and to give most abundantly. There follow various thoughts on the priesthood."Christ's friendship assumes different forms. His love for Peter and John appear to have been outstanding in the case of his disciples, but he loved them in different ways. His love for John is more tender, and John will be known 'as the disciple whom Jesus loved.' All the disciples were, of course, disciples whom Jesus loved, but the words indicate that he had a particularly tender love for John, a love corresponding to John's sensitive nature. John is attracted by Christ from the first moment he meets him. Until then, apparently, he had been a follower of John the Baptist in his search for an ideal way of life and a spiritual master. It is not difficult to understand that the gentle ways of Jesus must have made an immediate impression on him, compared with the harsh asceticism of the Baptist. He therefore abandons the company of the austere prophet who threatens the people with divine wrath to follow the 'lamb of God,' who has come to take away the sins of the world. He feels a special need for affection himself and is drawn to a Master whose preaching is so obviously inspired by his pity for the crowds and whose miraculous cures show that he is constantly moved by goodness. Hence he is the disciple who becomes the closest follower of Jesus, in the sense that he is the nearest to him and most sensitive to all the manifestations of his friendship. Along with Peter and James he witnesses the Transfiguration on Tabor and the agony in the garden at Gethsemane. But above all he has the good fortune to lie on Christ's breast at the Last Supper. The physical heart of Jesus has a particular meaning for him, and he abandons himself to it, so to speak. This action marks the climax of his friendship and expresses the full measure of his love; it is also destined to remain the permanent symbol of his love, for John will be called 'the disciple who leaned upon the breast of the Lord.' At Calvary John takes his place at the foot of the cross along with the woman, and Christ confides to him the one he holds dearest in this world, his own mother. He gives the most loving of his disciples his most tender gift. The friendship John has formed with the Son was destined to be continued with his mother in the same atmosphere of gentle affection. At Calvary John also witnesses something destined to make a profound impression upon him, the piercing of the side of Jesus by the spear of the soldier. The spear of course only pierces a dead body, but it reaches the human heart on which the beloved apostle has been leaning less than twenty-four hours before in a transport of love. In the same way that the gift of his heart on the previous evening had been a symbol of his great friendship for him, so the piercing of his side now appears to John as a symbol of a love which has suffered to the bitter end. This spectacle serves to bind him to Christ more than ever and puts the seal, as it were, on their friendship.
John is the first of the apostles to arrive at the empty tomb on the morning of Easter. He is also the first one to recognize the Lord on the shore of the sea of Tiberias, because his love is more tender and therefore more perceptive. Finally, Christ promises John that his death shall be a prolongation of their friendship. The chief of the apostles is destined to undergo martyrdom, but John will only have to remain here until the Lord comes. His death will recall their intimacy at the Supper; Christ will simply come and allow the apostle's head to rest on his breast. The beautiful expression often used to describe a Christian death, 'going to sleep in the Lord', is especially applicable in the case of John, because he learned so well to know the meaning of that rest." 10
Pope John Paul II tells us: "The Church professes the mercy of God, the Church lives by it in her wide experience of faith and also in her teaching, constantly contemplating Christ, concentrating on him, on his life and on his Gospel, on his cross and resurrection, on his whole mystery. Everything that forms the 'vision' of Christ in the Church's living faith and teaching brings us nearer to the 'vision of the Father' in the holiness of his mercy. The Church seems in a particular way to profess the mercy of God and to venerate it when she directs herself to the heart of Christ. In fact, it is precisely this drawing close to Christ in the mystery of his heart which enables us to dwell on this point-a point in a sense central and also most accessible on the human level-of the revelation of the merciful love of the Father, a revelation which constituted the central content of the messianic mission of the Son of Man." 11
The Resurrected Christ has sent the
Holy Spirit to sanctify the world:
Still, I am telling you the truth:
it is for your own good that I am going,
because unless I go,
the Paraclete will not come to you;
but if I go,
I will send him to you (Jn 16:7)
The task of the Holy Spirit is to imprint the mystery of Christ ever more deeply upon the whole of creation. The Spirit is gradually leading us to full communion with the Father through Christ.
As this process evolves, the Holy Spirit concentrates His action upon the Church.
The Church progressively evolves by assimilating more perfectly the mystery of Christ. The Holy Spirit guides this process. He is the soul of the Church. He constantly labors to unite the diversified elements of the Church so that she is constantly being formed more and more according to the image of Christ.
The Holy Spirit as Sanctifier not only guides the entire Church, but He also guides each member of the Church. He strives to deepen the image of Christ which has been indelibly imprinted upon the Christian through Baptism and Confirmation. He labors to guide the Christian so that his or her activity becomes increasingly Christ-like. In this regard we notice the biblical distinction between living according to the Spirit rather than according to the flesh. To live according to the flesh does not refer only to sins against chastity. It refers to anything in one's life which is not according to the Spirit. Therefore, capitulating to intellectual pride, something "spiritual," would be living according to the flesh.
On the other hand, to live according to the Spirit can include the most intense involvement with material creation. This is Christ-like activity as long as one is following the lead of the Holy Spirit.
In summary, the Holy Spirit promotes the process of our growing as sons and daughters of the Father in Christ: "All who are guided by the Spirit of God are sons of God; for what you received was not the spirit of slavery to bring you back into fear; you received the Spirit of adoption, enabling us to cry out, 'Abba, Father!' The Spirit himself joins with our spirit to bear witness that we are children of God. And if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, provided that we share his suffering, so as to share his glory." (Rom 8:14-17).
Laurentin also speaks about the presence of Mary in the life of the Church: "Mary's discreet and universal presence continues throughout the life of the Church: visible and invisible, in history, its churches, its religious art. The call for her intercession appears throughout the dogmatic history of the Councils and the various complex struggles within the Church which, during the Carolingian era, inspired the famous anthiphon: 'You have conquered all heresies throughout the world.'
"She was also the inspiration for the initiatives and victories of the Church. Many feasts were instituted in order to commemorate her efficacious assistance. From the earliest centuries, the most ancient churches were dedicated to her since she was the first temple of God and remains the model of all others. Mary, model of the Church, is also the model of the churches where the eucharistic presence of the Lord is renewed and where prayer takes place continuously."
Present to the universal Church, Mary is also present to the individual Christian. Laurentin quotes from the writings of numerous holy men and women who give witness concerning this personal presence of Mary. There follow some of Laurentin's quotations regarding this testimony.
He refers to St. Anthony of Padua: "And St. Anthony of Padua, Doctor of the Church, whose canonization broke all records, taking place less than two years after his death, concluded one of his principal homilies with this prayer: 'We beseech you, Our Lady, our hope, tossed about as we are by the storm. You, Star of the Sea, bright ray, direct us towards safe harbour, assist our arrival by the protection of your presence. (Sermon 3 in Praise of the Virgin, op. 1, p 163.)"
Laurentin also refers to Jean Jacques Olier, founder of the Sulpicians, and one of the most prominent figures of the French School of Spirituality. He quotes Olier: "One Saturday Mary became interiorly present to my soul...She recalled to me that her dear son had told me that he would only live in me through her...as if she were a sacrament by which he wished to communicate his life to me. (Brettonvillers, L'esprit de Monsieur Olier, t. 1, 1, 9 pp. 396-397)."
And it is not surprising that Laurentin, in his discussion of Mary's presence to us, refers to St. Louis de Montfort, one of the greatest apostles of devotion to Mary. Laurentin says: "Let us not pick any further from the petals of the dossier (Laurentin refers to the list of citations he has made concerning Mary's presence to us) which stretches over the centuries and which seems to justify de Montfort's prediction in his Treatise on True Devotion (no 46): 'At the end of the world, the greatest saints will be those who are most devoted to praying to the most Holy Virgin, and who have had her always present... in order... to have her as their powerful helper in their time of need '' " 12
Let us remind ourselves, regarding St. Louis de Montfort, that his Marian devotion is deeply Christocentric. J. Patrick Gaffney, S. S. M., tells us: "Montfort's intense devotion to Mary is clearly Christocentric. So strongly does the saint insist upon the point that he forcefully teaches that if devotion to Mary alienated us from Jesus it would have to be rejected as a diabolical temptation...with Mary we enter into a more intense and more immediate union with the Incarnate Wisdom. To wrench Mary from salvation history and therefore from Christian life is, for Montfort, to reject the plan of salvation as decreed by the Father." 13
St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. Ignatius of Loyola have all spoken with great spiritual insight on prayer. Fr. Thomas McKenna, C.M., offers some astute observations concerning their spiritual doctrine: "Confessing that the approach to God happens only in God's terms, Teresa nonetheless painted the way there in warm and welcoming colors. Her chronicle of the journey through a series of successively enclosed chambers (mansions) is classic among the descriptions of the mystical path. Sparkling as it does with images of emerging butterflies and bubbling artesian wells, it depicts her move from active to passive contemplation. Hardly a passive personality, Teresa initiated a prodigious reform within the Carmelites and this also testified to the synergy between genuine interior life and effective apostolic action."
"If Teresa sketched resting points along the spiritual ascent, her prodigy, John of the Cross, fixed his gaze on the summit. Compactly in his poetry but also in interpretive prose, John detailed the melting-down and recasting of human desire as it draws near the Divine. His is a shadowy passage through a twilight of the senses and spirit, an intensely dark nocturne, and out into a dawn streaked with the divine light. Over the course of that night, the darkness that blinded the traveler is revealed as the radiance of God, which at the earlier stage could not be recognized for the light it was...
"Ignatius of Loyola took a different tact as he found intimacy with God in the press of active service. As he interacted with his times and circumstances, he discovered certain patterns of divine guidance embedded within his experience and subsequently constructed an imaginatively rich method to help others appropriate theirs. Basic to his logic was a conviction that the Spirit of Jesus is 'afoot in the universe,' particularly within each individual, and that therefore the Spirit-filled person is able to know by both interior and exterior signs which activities are the genuine works of Christ. Such a mystical perception of the world ties the closest of bonds between prayer and ministry, providing the apostle to view all activities in their relation to their divine ground, and conversely to find that source in all things." 19
There are certain days which make us especially glad to be alive. Sometimes,-but not always-the weather is consonant with our inner feelings. If it happens to be fall (I speak as a resident of the mid-west in the U.S.A.), the air is crisp, quickened with October freshness. The leaves spellbind us with their rich and varied colors-their golds, and reds, and browns. The sky is autumn blue, clear blue, crowned with a golden sun. Or, if it happens to be spring, a deep and fresh greenness seems to cover everything, breathing forth new signs of hope for the world. A gentle breeze mixed with the sun's warmth in a perfect mixture makes us eagerly seek the out-of-doors.
Regardless of what the weather may be, special days, in the ultimate meaning of our present use of the word special, awaken us in an unique way regarding the beauty of life. We feel an inner glow. Life has a mysterious freshness on these days, making us especially aware of its grandeur, its tenderness, its expansiveness, its capacity to call us forth to greatness. On such days the splendid drama of life deeply attracts us, takes hold of us in those inner depths where we are most alive, where we are most ourselves.
We need these days on which we feel deeply alive. If such days do not periodically refresh us with their pleasant arrival, then boredom and the monotonous aspect of daily living, the drudgery of life, would be too much for us. As the little child needs to be especially refreshed on occasion by a surprise gift of candy or a toy, so all of us need periodic excursions into the realm of these special kind of days. They, too, are often pleasant surprises, for usually we cannot forecast their advent with any degree of precision.
We should make the most of these special days. They are precious gifts which God lovingly offers us. Through them God enlivens the awareness of our lives, and gives us the desire to refurbish what may have become a rather lethargic type of existence. We can fall into a rut of wasting many of the opportunities which each day presents. Our lethargic condition can cause us to squander much of life's precious moments. We must allow the beauty of the special kind of day we have been describing to once again enliven our appreciation of the value of life. We must determine not to squander existence, but to drink in its preciousness from the depths of our being in Christ Jesus Our Lord, Who leads us to the Father, in the Holy Spirit,with Mary our Mother at our side.
Pope John Paul II instructs us: "In order to overcome today's widespread individualistic mentality, what is required is a concrete commitment to solidarity and charity, beginning in the family with the mutual support of husband and wife and the care which the different generations give to one another. In this sense the family too can be called a community of work and solidarity. It can happen, however, that when a family does decide to live up fully to its vocation, it finds itself without the necessary support from the State and without sufficient resources. It is urgent therefore to promote not only family policies, but also those social policies which have the family as their principal object, policies which assist the family by providing adequate resources and efficient means of support, both for bringing up children and for looking after the elderly, so as to avoid distancing the latter from the family unit and in order to strengthen relations between generations.
"Apart from the family, other intermediate communities exercise primary functions and give life to specific networks of solidarity. These develop as real communities of persons and strengthen the social fabric, preventing society from becoming an anonymous and impersonal mass, as unfortunately often happens today. It is in inter-relationships on many levels that a person lives, and that society becomes more 'personalized.' The individual today is often suffocated between two poles represented by the State and the marketplace. At times it seems as though he exists only as a producer and consumer of goods, or as an object of state administration. People lose sight of the fact that life in society has neither the market nor the State as its final purpose, since life itself has a unique value which the State and the market must serve. Man remains above all a being who seeks the truth and strives to live in that truth, deepening his understanding of it through a dialogue which involves past and future generations." 25
Many of the laity pray for us priests, and consistently so. Is it not also fitting that we priests pray for all our brothers in the priesthood, and consistently so? There follows a prayer that can aid us in this endeavor.
"Lord Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the Flock, we pray that in the great love and mercy of Your Heart that 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".
The above prayer is taken from the prayer manual of Shepherds of Christ Associates, a facet of Shepherds of Christ Ministries. The associates are members of prayer groups which meet regularly to pray for all the needs of the entire human family, but most especially for priests. If you would like a copy, or copies, of this prayer manual, and, further, if you would like information on how to begin a Shepherds of Christ prayer chapter, contact us at:
Shepherds of Christ
P.O. Box 193
Morrow, Ohio 45152-0193
U.S.A.
Phone (toll free): 1-888-211-3041
Phone 1-513-932-4451
Fax: 1-513-932-6791
Lord, Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the Flock, I consecrate my priestly life to your Heart, pierced on Calvary for love of us. From your pierced Heart the Church was born, the Church you have called me, as a priest, 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 priest-companion. 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 priest-son. 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, Who leads me to the Father in the Holy Spirit.
Thank you for Shepherds of Christ which I treasure and read as spiritual reading. It contains a volume of practical recommendations.
Let's pray for each other...
Rev. Msgr. James J. Rugel
Oak Ridge, New Jersey
Dear Fr. Edward,
The peace of the Lord be always with you. Recently I received your newsletter, Shepherds of Christ from my Bishop. It is very interesting for me and the priests who are working with me in this parish.
I would like to ask you for the cassettes (Newsletters on cassettes).
Could you please supply me with these cassettes, which will be of great help to priests and the thirty catechists working in the same parish.
Thank you very much for your cooperation.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Hilary Abela
Mpiketoni
Kenya
website: http://www.sofc.org
E-Mail: info@sofc.org
1999, ISSUE ONE
Shepherds of Christ
Shepherds of Christ Ministries
P.O. Box 193
Morrow, Ohio 45152-0193
U.S.A.
Shepherds of Christ, a spirituality newsletter for priests, is published bi-monthly by Shepherds of Christ Ministries, P.O. Box 193, Morrow, Ohio 45152-0193. While distribution is free of charge to all priests in the U.S., and growing internationally, donations are still very much appreciated. Inquiries and comments are welcome, as are address changes and addresses of the newly ordained. Permission to reproduce intact is granted for non-commercial use. Editor Father Edward Carter S.J. is Professor of Theology at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. John Weickert is President. Good Shepherd illustration is by Brother Jerome Pryor, S.J. Layout and design are by Cathy Ring. Also dedicated to the spiritual advancement of priests is a worldwide network of lay/religious prayer chapters, Shepherds of Christ Associates, headquartered at 2919 Shawhan Road, Morrow, Ohio 45152, telephone toll free 1-888-211-3041, fax 513-932-6791.
Copyright
© 1999 Shepherds of Christ.Excerpt from January 10, 2001, Daily Message
Messenger: My dear apostles and donors,
I give my heart to Jesus and Mary with you in love. Father Carter has majorly affected all of our lives. The mission given to him (Father Carter) by Jesus is major to help bring about the renewal of the Church and the world.
Father Carter told me to put out the newsletter in January 2001. The 33 newsletters are not the complete picture of his writings. He has written seventeen books. His writings give deep insight into the divine mysteries.
His writings centered in consecration are a big part of God the Father’s plan to help bring about the Reign of Jesus' Sacred Heart and the mission Mary began at Fatima to help bring peace to the world.
The prayer chapters Father Carter began were to pray for the priests, the Church and the world.
It is absolutely essential we continue the newsletter with Father Carter’s writings; this was his desire.
It is absolutely necessary we tell the 70,000 priests about his death.
Funds are needed to pay off the last newsletters and pay for this one.
Father Carter gave his life for this mission, his last newsletter was to ask for funds to help support it. And I quote from Father Carter's last newsletter.
Letter written by Father Edward J. Carter S.J. for Shepherds of Christ priestly newsletter, Issue 4, 2000
CAN YOU HELP US?
As you know, we distribute the Newsletter free of charge. We have been publishing the Newsletter for six years. Although the fine print on the last page of each Newsletter says that donations are always welcome, we have, to this date, only made one major appeal for donations.
Now we come to you again and ask for your financial assistance. It is considerably expensive to print the Newsletter and to mail it here in the U.S.A. and to other countries around the world. With our English and Spanish editions, we send the Newsletter to readers in about 90 countries. We soon hope to add a French edition.
With the help of God’s grace, the Newsletter seems to be accomplishing much good. The numerous letters we receive from around the world regarding the Newsletter’s helpfulness are one indication of this.
If you share with us our belief that the Newsletter is a very worthwhile ministry, we urgently ask you to seriously consider sending us a donation. We are always struggling to obtain the funds to continue publication of the Newsletter.
If you are financially able, we would be extremely grateful to receive your donation -- whether it is small, large, or medium-sized! We thank all of you who have previously sent donations.
Some of you may know of possible benefactors who would be interested in helping a worthy cause. And we firmly believe that a ministry which offers an aid for spiritual growth to priests especially, but to others also, is a most worthy endeavor.
For your convenience, we have enclosed a self-addressed donation envelope.
Very importantly, we also ask for your prayers that we may obtain the funds necessary to continue publication of the Newsletter and that the Newsletter will be spiritually beneficial to its readers. We hope to continue to publish it four to six times a year. The number of issues will depend upon various factors. Thank you very much for your attention to our urgent plea.
(End of Letter written by Father Edward J. Carter S.J.)
Messenger: In this new newsletter we will begin with the Morning Offering telling about Father Carter’s death and then the prayers that Jesus gave to us to spread prayer chapters. The newsletter includes a most powerful extensive writing of Father Carter’s on Grace.
This newsletter can help change the face of the earth as people pray the Morning Offering and the prayers Jesus gave to Father Carter for the priests, the Church and the world, great grace can be released on the earth. Only God’s grace will help change the hearts.
Reaching the priests with this information is crucial in getting the prayer manual in the hands of the priests.
Father Laurentin recently did an article on Clearwater, Florida, which included the information about the Morning Offering and several messages I received from Mary. It was written in French. Also it included pictures of the site in Florida. He sent his regrets to me about Father Carter’s death.
We need help to do as Father Carter wished. He asked that this newsletter be put out in January.
He spent his very sick days after chemo helping to prepare this for this publication.
His birthday is January 15.
Father Carter was very upset because we struggled so much for funds to do the 20 page newsletter.
We still owe on the last newsletter. Father Carter wrote the article about money and told us to include a donation envelope.
God the Father was angry when we did not receive help for the 20 page newsletter.
Can you please help us?
The day after that, I received the letter from Father Laurentin and the magazine with the Clearwater, Florida, pictures and article. Father Laurentin wrote a letter of sympathy regarding Father Carter’s death.
Please help us.
Jesus gave me a strong message today to get the newsletter out immediately.
Please help us for all Father Carter did to help change your life.
I love you,
The Messenger
Here is a letter Father Carter received about the newsletter.
Excerpt from priestly newsletter, Shepherds of Christ, Issue 4, 2000
- Dear Father Carter,
For years I have received Shepherds of Christ Newsletter; I do not know who put me on your mailing list, but I’m grateful to you both. Since I first began to receive the newsletter I have been assigned as the Director of Formation Advising for the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
I would like to know if it would be possible to make a bulk order so that our seminarians could benefit from the newsletter as well. I will make sure they are distributed to our seminarians. At present we have about 200 seminarians and student priests on our campus, all eager for good spiritual reading!
Please let me know if we can make an arrangement for the delivery of the newsletter here at the college.
Please keep our faculty and seminarians in your prayers.
Sincerely yours in Christ,Rev. J. Mark Williams
Director of Formation Advising
Pontifical North American College
00120 Vatican City State(End of excerpt from priestly newsletter, Shepherds of Christ, Issue 4, 2000)
(End of excerpt from January 10, 2001, Daily Message)
Mary's
Message from the Rosary of August 27, 1996Mary 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.
Song: O Lady of Light, shining so bright, be with us this day, guiding our way, O Lady, O Lady of Light.
Mary speaks: I appear to you as Our Mother of Sorrows.
(End of Mary's Message)
Messenger: Social at Morrow, Ohio, Center following 6:20 p.m. prayers and rosary on Wednesday, January 17, 2000. Please call 1-888-211-3041 for more information.
A rosary can be used to pray for healing. It is powerful to unite our prayers to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and pray through the powerful intercession of Our Lady of Clearwater.
In times of trouble, for special prayer, we can use our rosary and pray as follows.
A Rosary for Healing or for Someone with Cancer.
On one Hail Mary bead or as many as you desire, say:
May God heal through the intercession of Our Lady of Clearwater in union with the Mass and all the Masses being celebrated around the world.
Pray the Hail Mary or Hail Mary's then pray this after the Hail Mary.
May the cancer be uprooted and thrown into the sea.
We believe with all our hearts.
After the Glory Be — pray the following petition.
May be healed through the intercession of Our Lady of Clearwater if it be the holy will of God.
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Note: You can look at Mary on the image rosary while you pray this rosary. |  |
Note: The above section can be printed out from a PDF file, and you can pray the rosary looking at the pictures.
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December 17, 2000, Mary speaks: Help me to circulate my red and blue This is a gift we give you. |
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To order your Rosary Book fill out this form and send your donation to Shepherds of Christ Ministries, PO Box 193, Morrow, Ohio 45152-0193, Telephone: (toll free) 1-888-211-3041 or (513) 932-4451.
Name: _________________ Street: _____________________________
City: _________________ State: _________________ Zip: ________
Donation price:
$7 A $15 A $25 A $50 A $100 A Other $_____ AMessenger: Mary wants the Red Rosary Book printed. It will cost $12,000 - $14,000 to get them reprinted. We are out of Red Rosary books. Mary has asked us to always circulate them. They go with the apparition in Florida.
Messenger: The new Blue Rosary Book Volume II of Rosaries from the Hearts of Jesus and Mary has been printed. It cost $21,000. Please pray with us for funds.
Messenger: CAN YOU HELP US BY GIVING US ROSARIES FOR THE SCHOOLS REQUESTING THEM?
Mary speaks: PLEASE MAKE WALTER'S ROSARIES. THE SCHOOLS WANT ROSARIES AND THERE ARE NOT ANY ROSARIES LEFT.
Messenger: Pray for Perry, Ron, Fernando, Hank, Ed.
Spread the Blood of Jesus on everyone, consecrate their hearts, cast the devil out, pray for coming of the Holy Spirit in a special way for all people involved on this list.Prayer List for apostles for interior use in the Movement. Pray hourly.
Pray for Father Carter and the Jesuits, the people at Colombiere.
Please pray for one new very important intention.
Pray for all involved in buying the building.
Pray for 2 special priests.
Pray for designated priests, Fr. Mike, Fr. Joe, Fr. Lou B., Fr. Smith, Fr. Ken, all
priests involved in the Imprimaturs translations including all bishops. Pray for
Bishop Ed, Fr. Don, Father at Tuesday Masses, Fr. Tom, Fr. Bill, all priests involved with
Walter, Fr. Hagee and special priests, priests who help us in China, and priests who help
us in Florida.
Pray for Father's sister Merle, for all of us servants, handmaids, apostles and vocations
to all 7 categories.
Pray for priestly newsletter and all involved.
Pray for prayer book.
Pray for all book covers, pray for Cathy.
Pray for all translations and all involved.
Pray for the elected officials.
Pray for an audience with the Pope.
Pray for all Jesuits involved, all those over us. Pray for the 4 urgent intentions.
Pray for the rights to the books.
Pray for the process of getting Father's books on the Internet.
Pray for money to reprint the books.
Pray for the Imprimatur on the Priestly Newsletter Book II.
Pray we can send it to all bishops and Jesuits.
Pray for Perry and family and discernment.
Pray for all sub-centers and all out-of-state rosaries.
Pray for the sisters' mailing, nursing home mailing, bus mailing.
Pray for Rosary Factory.
Pray for Genevieve's daughter and Sheila's mom and the repose of the soul of Jerry's dad,
Bernice's daughter.
Pray for Paul and Joan discernment.
Pray for B & M and Tina and Terry, all printing jobs, companies involved.
Pray for 5th, the 13th, the 17th.
Pray for the Internet team and the daily messages.
Pray for building up of Morrow, Ohio, Dale, Indiana, other sub-centers.
Pray for the Holy Spirit Center and all involved.
Pray for all our families, children in school, college mailing.
Pray for lots of rosary makers and rosaries for the schools.
Pray for funds and grace.
Pray for Paul C., Margaret Mary, Steve and Sheila, Monica, Angie, Marian, Cathy, Joe,
Nick, Mary, Emily, Joe, Doris, Glaci, Dunkers, Joan R., Morgan, Mark, Walter, Janice, Mike
A., Margaret, Ron, Harold, Scott, and Nathan.
Pray for Fred doing the paper and all involved in priestly "start-up".
Please pray for all Shepherds of Christ children.
Pray for Victor's son, Michael. (Victor and Frances)
Pray for Delores and organization of writings and other material.
Pray for Diane A.'s dad.
MY VALENTINE FOR JESUS AND MARY
AND THE WORLDI _________________ give my heart to
You Jesus and Mary on this day
_________________
I promise to help spread the devotion to
the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Q: How do you feel we can more fully focus on God and His will for us?
Copyright © 2001
Shepherds of Christ. Shepherds of Christ Ministries
PO Box 193
Morrow, Ohio 45152-0193
Telephone: (toll free) 1-888-211-3041 or (513) 932-4451
FAX: (513) 932-6791
