We go to the pure and holy Hearts
                    of Jesus and Mary so our offering
                    is a more holy, pure
                    sacrifice —

                We pray, with our lives as an offering —
                    to the Father, united to the Mass —
                    the sacrifice of Jesus — in the
                    Holy Spirit
                    with all the angels and saints
                    and the souls in purgatory —

                Dying to self

                Living more and more in Him —

1 Corinthians 11: 23-26

For the tradition I received from the Lord and also handed on to you is that on the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and after he had given thanks, he broke it, and he said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.' And in the same way, with the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.' Whenever you eat this bread, then, and drink this cup, you are proclaiming the Lord's death until he comes.

Colossians 1: 15-20

He is the image of the unseen God,
the first–born of all creation,
for in him were created all things
in heaven and on earth:
everything visible
    and everything invisible,
thrones, ruling forces,
    sovereignties, powers—
all things were created through him
    and for him.
He exists before all things
and in him all things hold together,
and he is the Head of the Body,
that is, the Church.

He is the Beginning,
the first–born from the dead,
so that he should be supreme in every way;
because God wanted all fullness
    to be found in him
and through him
    to reconcile all things to him,
everything in heaven
    and everything on earth,
by making peace through his death
    on the cross.

 

Colossians 1: 24-28

It makes me happy to be suffering for you now, and in my own body to make up all the hardships that still have to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church, of which I was made a servant with the responsibility towards you that God gave to me, that of completing God's message, the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his holy people. It was God's purpose to reveal to them how rich is the glory of this mystery among the gentiles; it is Christ among you, your hope of glory: this is the Christ we are proclaiming, admonishing and instructing everyone in all wisdom, to make everyAnd it is for this reason that I labour, striving with his energy which works in me mightily.

Colossians 3: 1-5, 9-11

and do not lie to each other. You have stripped off your old behaviour with your old self, and you have put on a new self which will progress towards true knowledge the more it is renewed in the image of its Creator; and in that image there is no room for distinction between Greek and Jew, between the circumcised and uncircumcised, or between barbarian and Scythian, slave and free. There is only Christ: he is everything and he is in everything.

                When I go to Mass
                    I empty myself —
                    I pray to the Father —
                    I unite with the Sacrifice
                        of Jesus in the Holy Spirit

                I beg - beg for mercy and
                    grace for the world

                As I become more one with God
                    through His grace —
                    I am dying more to my
                    false self and
                    living deeper in Him —

             DYING TO SELF

                We want to be so likened to
                    Christ in His goodness,
                                        love,
                                        mercy,
                                        justice and so forth

                Jesus perfectly loved
                    the Father —

                We strive to live God's will!!

                The spiritual marriage marks
                    the highest exchange between
                    God and the mystic —

                God wants us to make a
                    greater gift of self
                    to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit —

                Much of God's will for us
                    depends on our
                    relationship with our neighbor.

1 John 4: 20

Anyone who says ‘I love God’
and hates his brother,
is a liar,
since whoever does not love the brother
   whom he can see
cannot love God whom he has not seen.

                To love God, means to love one's
                    neighbor whose existence
                    possesses the divine
                    imprint.

                We must 'love' all, but not
                    necessarily 'like' everyone —

                We must love our neighbor —

                Regarding the wrong actions
                    of anyone, I can and
                    must reject such actions,
                    yet I can and must love
                    the core person who is in God's image.

                We must love ourselves since
                    we are in the image of God —

                We cooperate with God in
                    developing our Christic,
                    Trinitarian image —
                    we grow in the capacity
                    to see our worth and
                    lovableness

                I must get to know myself

 
                Fr. Carter says

                    "Achieving adequate self-knowledge can be both painful
                and joyful. Coming to the realization that I have this bad
                trait, or that weakness, can be disturbing, frustrating, or
                humiliating — especially when others point out these negative
                characteristics. Growth in self-knowledge, however, can also
                be encouraging and joy-producing as I realize I can do
                something about these negative aspects, as I achieve a
                deeper insight into certain positive qualities or become
                aware of others that I hardly knew existed. The quest for
                self-knowledge can, then, be exciting. As I obtain better
                knowledge of both my limitations and my capabilities, I see
                interesting possibilities for more advanced Christian living
                which I have not yet implemented.

                    Growth in self-identity does not take place in a vacuum—
                the vacuum of the isolated self. Rather, I achieve self-
                knowledge through the proper relationship with reality.
                Through the interaction of myself with various facets of
                created reality—persons, places, things, happenings—I can
                come to know much about my strengths and weaknesses,
                my talents and limitations, my personality and temperament.
                It is, however, especially through my relationship with
                God that I grow in achieving self-identity. God, the
                ultimate source of all knowledge, is, consequently, the
                ultimate source of self-knowledge. God continually wants to
                remind me of the fundamental fact concerning myself—that
                he overwhelmingly loves me and that I am uniquely
                precious to him. Upon this rock-bottom fact rests all other
                facets of self-knowledge. Regarding all aspects of knowing
                myself, God is most anxious to help me grasp these with
                greater clarity. My task is to allow him to do so. If I open
                myself to him in prayer, he will continue to reveal himself to
                me, and also he will reveal myself to me. The more I
                fathom the mystical depths of my being—the more I allow
                God to lead me to the center of my being—the more God
                will tell me about himself and myself, this self which is in
                his image. Deeper insights concerning himself and myself
                come to light—and here again we meet up with the hidden
                aspect of mysticism. The more, in turn, I know of myself
                under God's guidance, the more I can truly love myself."              

                The mystic marvels at the love God
                    has for his children. Embraced
                    by this love, their fear has diminished
                    and their trust increased.

                Made secure in this love, they have
                    possessed the courage to undertake
                    the ordinary with uncommon
                    devotion and the heroic with
                    dominant determination.

                    Consumed with this love, they have
                continually pushed forward to accomplish
                more for Christ and his kingdom.

                    Transformed by this love, the
                mystics have said with the most
                penetrating realization

Galatians 2: 19-20

                    Obviously, we can never fully
                fathom the depth of God's love
                for us. We can, however, grow
                in what will always be a finite
                comprehension of this awesome
                reality. Christ has shown us
                his heart as a constant reminder
                that we should strive for a greater
                realization of what it means to say
                God loves us. The heart of Christ is
                indeed the symbol of God's fathomless
                love for us, a love which requests
                our own, response to love —

                    Jesus' entire life was centered
                in His death and resurrection.
                His entire life was also contained
                or summed up therein. These two
                events comprised His paschal
                mystery.

                Father Cather says —

                (paschal or passover mystery)

                    "The word passover has a very basic
                and literal meaning. The word contains
                the idea of religious transition.
                While upon earth, Jesus was always
                experiencing such transition.
                He was always in a process of
                passing over, passing back to
                the Father. He was gradually achieving
                a new state of existence for His own
                humanity and for the entire human race.
                The new life was the state of resurrection.

                    As His mortal life beautifully and
                poignantly unfolded, He was in process
                to the definitive point of death.
                His death in turn, was the passageway
                to resurrection. This death marked
                the final mortal act of Jesus. It was
                the final act of His earth-bound life
                in which He would conform His
                will in love to His Father's will.
                His death was an act of final pouring-—
                out of Himself. It was His final libation.

                His final kenosis — His final self-emptying
                in love."

                Jesus:

                    I went to the hill of Calvary like a
                runner in a race. The final giving of
                My all for love of you — oh My precious
                one — how much I love you and you
                look for pleasures in things on earth
                and some seek relationships against the
                commandments, against the Father's will.
                How can you be happy when you sin?
                Wake now before it is too late —

                I emptied Myself for love of you and
                    My precious souls —

                I love you so much —

                Song: Bring Me Souls

                Fr. Carter:

                    "All through His life Jesus was undergoing
                this emptying out, this giving of Himself.
                He was always giving Himself, always
                concerned about others, always loving,
                even though this meant great suffering
                and hardship at times.

                    Yet Jesus always viewed suffering and
                hardship very positively. He always saw
                it as leading to greater life. He suffered
                as no one else ever has or ever will, yet
                He suffered with dignity, with a perduring
                optimism, with a basic peace of spirit,
                with a happiness which could not be
                extinguished despite the pain."

                Jesus:

                And I went to the top of the hill of Calvary
                and My thoughts were for you My chosen one —
                for you — for I love you so much and I have
                chosen you this day —

                Come to Me — that you will know more
                and more how I truly love you —
                I am Jesus and I love you, I am your
                beloved God, the bridegroom of your soul —
                Come to Me now — trust Me — do not be
                    afraid.

                Fr. Carter:

                    "This, briefly described, is the concept
                of Christ's passover or paschal event.
                In all this He was bringing to fulfillment
                the passover event of the Jewish people
                in Old Testament times. Their passover
                occurred in experiencing religious transition
                as they escaped Egyptian slavery and were
                formed into Yahweh's people under the
                leadership of Moses. They were, then
                passing to a higher type of religious
                existence — one of closer union with
                God — and the process was stamped with
                the pattern of death - resurrection.

                    The Church which is the earthly and visible
                continuation of Jesus and His mission,
                centers her life in the paschal mystery
                also. It can be no other way. The Church
                has no other pattern for existence
                except that which Jesus Himself established
                by the way He lived, died and rose.
                The Church is always meant to be dying
                with Jesus so that she might more
                and more rise with Him.

                The Church, like the Jesus who preceded
                her, is in a process of passing over,
                passing back to the Father under the
                guidance of the Spirit. The Church's
                passover will continue to the end of time,
                when there no longer will be an earthly
                Church.

                    As individual Christians we, too,
                possess a life focused in death - resurrection.
                At baptism we are incorporated into Jesus
                and His pascal mystery.

Death - Resurrection

                St. Paul says

Romans 6: 3-4