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October 10, 2003
October 10th Holy Spirit Novena
Scripture selection is Day 6 Period II.The Novena Rosary Mysteries for October 10th are the Joyful.
China, Indiana
Rosary Convention
Handmaids and Servants at Father Carter's grave
Handmaids and Servants at Father Carter's grave
Handmaids and Servants at Father Carter's grave
Handmaids and Servants at Father Carter's grave
Handmaids and Servants after Mass
Handmaids and Servants at church
Margaret arriving in China
Margaret arriving in China
Margaret's funeral
Margaret's funeral
Margaret's funeral
Margaret's funeral
Margaret's funeral
Margaret's funeral
Margaret's funeral
Margaret's funeral
Margaret's funeral
Margaret's funeral
Margaret's funeral
Margaret's funeral
Jesus is calling all apostles, servants,
and handmaids to China on the 13th
to recommit.
Please come on the other days
for Eucharistic adoration,
praying for the priests,
the Church and the world.
We desperately need funds.
The building payment is due on the 1st
and we have a lot of other extra expenses.
God the Father wants us to own
the Virgin Mary Building
free and clear.
Can someone please help us?
We desperately need funds.
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
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 NEW GREAT RECEPTION — www.sofc.org |
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appears NOW on the web camera |
Schedule for October 10, 2003
4:00 a.m. - Mass4:37 a.m. - Soothing Mary Songs
5:05 a.m. - Choose Life
6:07 a.m. - Morning Offering
6:11 a.m. - Mary's Message
6:17 a.m. - A Song from Jesus
6:20 a.m. - 6:20 prayers led by Father Carter
Holy Spirit Novena
Shepherds of Christ Prayer Manual
Rosary7:24 a.m. - Songs to Mary & other Songs
8:43 a.m. - Sorrowful Rosary July 28, 1995
9:45 a.m. - Newsletter 2000 Issue 2 (Suffering: A Source of Life)
11:21 a.m. - Songs from Jesus - sang by Joe Lee
12:39 p.m. - Children's Rosary July 15, 1995 led by Father Carter
1:32 p.m. - Children's Rosary July 15, 1995 in Spanish led by Fernando
2:20 p.m. - Songs from Jesus in Spanish - sang by Fernando
2:56 p.m. - Songs from Jesus sang by Rita Ring
3:49 p.m. - Morning Offering
3:52 p.m. - Mary's Message
3:58 p.m. - Prayer before the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
4:00 p.m. - Mass
4:37 p.m. - Children's Rosary March 20, 1997
5:24 p.m. - Mysteries of Light from November 15, 2002
5:57 p.m. - Songs from Jesus
6:20 p.m. - 6:20 prayers led by Father Carter
Holy Spirit Novena
Shepherds of Christ Prayer Manual7:24 p.m. - Songs from Jesus sang by Rita Ring
8:16 p.m. - Songs from Jesus in Spanish - sang by Fernando
8:53 p.m. - Consecration - July 31, 1999
8:51 p.m. - Songs from Jesus - sang by Joe Lee
10:10 p.m. - Nursing Home #1
10:51 p.m. - Tell My People read by Father Carter
12:22 a.m. - Instrumental Songs - piano only
1:14 a.m. - Sorrowful Rosary March 21, 1995
2:01 a.m. - The Spirituality of Fatima - read by Father Carter & Rita Ring
2:43 a.m. - Morning Offering
2:47 a.m. - Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius
3:24 a.m. - Songs from Jesus in Spanish - sang by Fernando
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.
October 10, 2003
Messenger: Our lives are like this.
Jesus speaks:
It will become more difficult to communicate.
Tell each other what you think you
want done.
I asked Joe Lee to record the Songs
from Jesus.
I asked that My messenger record the
songs.
I asked Fernando to record the songs.
I am grateful this has been done.
I desire the label on Joe's disc to say
sung by Joe Lee.
I desire the label on Fernando's disc
to say sung by Fernando.
I desire these discs to be circulated (3)
on the 13th.
I desire the picture of My messenger
be on the disc in which she
sings the songs I gave her.
I am a God of justice.
I am in love with My people.
I want My people to love Me.
I want them to know Me.
I want a love affair with My people.
I want them to sing these songs.
Little song books should have a cover
with My Heart.
These little covers do not need to be
laminated.
They should be made in large
quantities so they can be readily
available for people to use.
Some special people in the Movement
can help make these song books.
I thank the Texas people for doing
this and ask them to continue.
The discs of songs should be made
available in all stores.
I have given you these songs to be sung
across the earth.
I do want them in all languages with
the Imprimatur.
I want the discs and tapes made.
I want My People to sing the songs
from Jesus.
I want people to play the songs and
sing them as love songs in the
tempo given.
At the end of this message the songs
will be given in English and Spanish.
Please help circulate these song books,
discs and tapes.
Please sing the songs.
In the days to come the 6:20 tapes and
disc and these song tapes will be a great
aid to you to remain fixed in My love
and light in your heart.
Matthew 11: 28
‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.
October 10, 2003 message continues
Messenger:
Oh God help us in these times when the
devil is trying to cause confusion.
...Jesus said: I am the Way; I am Truth and
Life.
John 14:6
October 10, 2003 message continues
Jesus speaks: I am your Savior -
The words of My Songs are so important.
Pray with all your heart the prayers
I have given for the priests, the
Church and the world.
I have asked through My Founder, Fr. Carter
that the Prayer Chapters support
the priestly mailing and collect
donations for the needs of the ministry
at every meeting.
Here is how I directed him to set up the Movement.
by Father Carter, S.J.
- A primary purpose of the chapters of Shepherds of Christ Associates is to pray for all priests throughout the world in all their needs. A coequal purpose is to provide a spiritual way of life for members of the chapters. The chapters are to pray in a special way for the spiritual success of the priestly newsletter, Shepherds of Christ. Prayer for the acquisition of monetary funds to publish the letter is also in order. The chapters are to meet on a regular basis, with the members of each chapter to determine the exact frequency of meetings. All chapters are encouraged to meet on a weekly basis. If for various other reasons certain chapters cannot meet weekly, they should meet at least once a month.
- All persons--lay persons, diocesan clergy, and priests, brothers, and sisters in religious life--are invited to become members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. Those who are already committed to a certain way of spiritual life may adapt the spirituality of Shepherds of Christ Associates to their own particular spirituality.
- In addition to the purpose of the chapters as put forth above, the members of each chapter are encouraged to help raise money to defray some of the newsletter publication costs and some of the financial needs of the Shepherds of Christ Associates movement. One way for chapters to financially aid the newsletter is to pledge to pay for a certain number of newsletters each year. Our Lord has asked that the newsletter be sent to the priests free of charge, although donations may be requested in the newsletter itself.
- A further purpose of the chapters is to undertake those activities which Jesus, through the Spiritual Director, further reveals to be His will.
- The formation of as many chapters as is reasonably possible is to be encouraged. Multiple chapters may exist in the same city or area. Each chapter is to have its own local coordinator, and each country its own national coordinator.
- A periodic newsletter for associates will be published to help establish the desired bond or union between all chapters and all members.
- Members of Shepherds of Christ Associates pledge their loyal support to the Holy Father, the Pope, and to the teaching authority of the Church.
- Shepherds of Christ Associates exists under Church law as provided in canons 298 and 299.
- The existence and activity of all chapters is to be placed under the special protection and guidance of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Chapters exist so that they may, according to the mission of Shepherds of Christ Associates, help to establish the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. All chapter members are strongly encouraged to consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
end of excerpt from the Spirituality Handbook
First Friday - December 6, 1996
Jesus speaks: I am calling you as a family. You will be joined in one heart, acting as My Heart beating in this world. All the apostles in the Shepherds of Christ Movement are joined in one Heart.
Messenger: The core leaders will contact the coordinators. The coordinators will contact the individual apostles. All are apostles with a job directed by Jesus to do. Her peace plan was given at Fatima:
- Until a sufficient number of people have consecrated their hearts to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, we will not have peace in the world.
- Mary has requested all to pray the daily rosary.
- We must observe the Five First Saturday devotion:
- Communion, confession (within 8 days before or after the Saturday), recital of the rosary, meditating for 15 minutes on the mysteries of the rosary. All this is to be done in spirit of reparation.- We must make reparation to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
His plan centers around this.
We have heads functioning in the individual ministries. Everything we do leads to consecration of hearts. As the apostles press on the three institutions, the Church, family, and school to help spread the consecration, the strayed ones will be led home to His Heart.
Mary said at Fatima until a sufficient number of people have consecrated their hearts to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, we will not have peace in the world.
The present condition of the world
Peace will come when hearts are hearts of love. The scales must shift. It will happen through the consecration. Mary's peace plan: until a sufficient amount of people consecrate their hearts to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, we will not have peace.
The Father looks to the earth; He sees much darkness.
The Father looks to the earth. There are few hearts fervently in love with God. The hearts of love light up the earth. It is as lights on a Christmas tree. It is sparsely lighted by a few hearts. Therefore, the tree looks dark.
As the Shepherds of Christ Movement spreads (as well as other movements focused on spreading consecration to Their Hearts) the tree is covered with more hearts and the earth becomes more lighted.
The tree is covered with hearts consecrated to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The tree is illuminated.
As the Shepherds of Christ apostles spread the consecration to the Church, the family, and the school, the tree is covered with lights and the earth is covered with the fire of His love.
The Father looks to the earth now. He is displeased with the hearts of men. The Father wants us to love God and love each other. He wants us to live according to His will in love.
Mary appears at Fatima. She tells us that we are offending God. She tells us what we must do. Mary's peace plan:
- Until a sufficient number of people have consecrated their hearts to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, we will not have peace in the world.
- Mary has requested all to pray the daily rosary.
- We must observe the First Saturday devotion.
- We must make reparation to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Mary said there will be an era of peace, no matter what we do, in which the Sacred Heart of Jesus will reign and the Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph.
Man disobeys, the devil blocks the Fatima message. World War II happens just as Mary said.
Mary appeared to me for 14 months daily. She gives us the same message as Fatima. Jesus and Mary give us God's Blue Book and Rosaries from the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. He writes His message of love on our hearts. His life lives in our hearts. The Scripture and the Mass live in our hearts.
In the Shepherds of Christ Movement, our focus is on the priest.
end of December 6, 1996 message
October 10, 2003 message continues
Jesus speaks:
Here is how My Movement is to work -
a network of prayer chapters,
a family.
Donations are needed to do the work I
have asked you to do with the
priestly mailings. This year since lent
86,000 priests in the world received
the prayer manual and spirituality
handbook in English and Spanish.
October 10, 2003 message continues
Jesus speaks: Your world is suffering, bleeding!!
I have given you My Movement, it
was given from Me to help bring
about the renewal of the Church
and the world.
Prayers are needed for the priests.
The devil does not like the prayer
chapters, praying fervently for
the priests, the Church and the
world.
There is an attitude in your world -
Many do not like anyone telling
them what to do.
They do not like the commandments,
they do not live by My Word -
God the Father speaks:
I am God -
You are creatures of the Creator -
I created the world -
You are subject to My laws -
You are favored -
I love you -
I send My only Son into the world
I created you.
But many do not want to obey My
laws or live by the Word.
Here are the 10 commandments.
The Ten Commandments
I, the Lord, am your God. You shall not have other gods besides me.
You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.
Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.
Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not kill.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Jesus speaks:
There is an attitude that everyone
should try to be in charge -
do their own thing, be #1.
God the Father speaks:
I have created you and given you
such dignity -
My special creation -
but the student is always a
student of God.
You are always being taught and
formed more and more in My
image and likeness.
You are imperfect human beings.
There is an attitude by many in
your world that nobody should
tell you what to do.
I love you so very much.
I want you to know this,
You are creatures of the Creator.
I am God.
I give you a free will.
I give you a free will and want
you to obey Me and love
Me.
I give you a free will to love.
You can love -
You can be bitter -
You can build the Kingdom -
You can tear it down -
Dignity - do you treat each other
with dignity?
Do you do things that are not kind
to others?
I have entrusted My Movement to
you.
I am God.
I have given you this Movement to
help build the Church and the
world.
I love you so much.
I have chosen you to do this mission.
You must learn to trust.
Messenger:
The priest at Church told a story.
He said when he was a young
priest he was sent to a parish
and he loved it and the people
and the Archbishop told him he
had to move. He thought it was
so hard, but then he went to a new
parish and he knew God had
more things for him to do there
and then he loved the new
people in that Church and
he had to move again and then he didn't
want to leave, but he was moved and
he loved the new parish ...
What if the priest didn't want to obey
the Archbishop?
Jesus speaks:
Today the focus is — many do not want
anyone telling them what to do -
How can I get the work done with
an attitude everyone wants to
be a chief, doing their own will -
I want you to be a body, working
together so you promote My
Kingdom -
You must love God and one another
not step on each other -
not all try to be leaders and
directors.
The devil has tried to break down
the family, trying to get children
to think they don't have to
obey their parents.
Little children are already fighting
many times to do their own will
because of TV shows and
movies that do not help to
promote parental authority.
Never before in the history of the world
are people so willful and self-
focused.
The world and the church and the
individual Christian is in the
state of becoming.
I give you this chapter from Fr. Carter's book,
Excerpt from Response to God’s Love
by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J.
3
Our incorporation into the mystery of Christ at baptism initiates us into a life that God intends to develop into full maturity. Our life in Christ as guided by the Spirit is not a static given, a life that is received in baptism and then simply clung to. It is not a life that we are merely to avoid losing through serious sin. Rather, it is our task to develop this life through a process of evolutionary growth. God has truly placed us in a situation of becoming. Our personal uniqueness is meant to gradually unfold into its full stature in Christ as we increasingly fulfill God's will in deepening faith, hope, and love.
For each individual, the process of becoming is intertwined with God's plan of growth for all creation. To understand the individual Christian's situation as one of process, of becoming, it is obviously helpful, then, to realize that he or she is part of a larger picture of becoming. Consequently, let us consider three aspects—the world, the Church, and the individual Christian—all of which are in a state of becoming.
The swirling pace of today's rapidly changing world is unavoidably evident. If we were tempted to think all this change might be an illusion, however, there are statistics to assure us that today's world is indeed undergoing change—or process—at a phenomenal rate. Some of these statistics include the following: Before the year 1500, Europe published 1000 books per year; by 1950, the rate had swelled to 120,000 per year; by the mid-1960s the overall world figure was 1000 titles per day. This affords us some idea of the vast knowledge explosion that has characterized our times and, indeed, is one of the most important influences in our fast-changing society. The following is another statistic: A period of 5000 years elapsed between the first shoeing of a horse by a blacksmith and the first guiding by an engineer of a different kind of horse—the iron horse, or locomotive; only 170 years elapsed, however, between that first locomotive engineer and the first jet pilot who shattered the sound barrier. These are a few of the numerous statistics that could be cited to demonstrate that our world is in rapid process.
The Church herself attests to a world in a state of profound becoming. Vatican II has stated: "Today, the human race is passing through a new stage of its history. Profound and rapid changes are spreading by degrees around the whole world" (The Church in the Modern World, No. 4); and, "Thus, the human race has passed from a rather static concept of reality to a more dynamic, evolutionary one" (No. 5).
God has called mankind to collaborate with him in the unfolding of creation. The fact that God has placed a creative urge deep within mankind is evidenced by the myriad achievements of the human race in the areas of science and technology, the humanities, art and culture, government, and so forth. Men and women constantly surpass themselves in what they are capable of achieving. Not too many years ago, landing a man on the moon was not even considered a serious possibility; now, however, it is just as possible as a jet flight to Paris. Contemporary mankind's capacity to develop the material world and other aspects of the temporal order is such that it staggers the imagination and makes one almost dizzy in an attempt to keep abreast of the latest advances.
This evolutionary process of the world, and the human capacity to increase its almost torrid pace, cannot be questioned. The fact that this capacity is a God-given talent likewise cannot be questioned. What can be questioned, however, is whether contemporary men and women will properly use this gift and thereby assist the temporal order to evolve to the authentic good of all mankind.
Today's Christian must take inspiration from the following words of Scripture:
Jesus replied, "Scripture has it:
'Not on bread alone is man to live
but on every utterance that comes
from the mouth of God.' "
—Mt 4:4
Jesus reminds us that we must keep material progress in proper perspective. The material universe is a gift from God that is intended to serve men and women in the quest for their temporal and eternal destiny, a destiny that is centered in mankind's spiritual nature. To say this is not to falsely dichotomize humanity or to deny the bodily dimension; it is merely to insist that the total person is meant to be controlled by his or her spirit and, from this spiritual nature, is actuated to be—and to become—what the Creator has designed.Human history is replete with examples of how men and women have, at times, abused material progress. An ungodly desire for the material has been the cause of unjust wars, murders, thefts, cheating in business, and the destruction of families by greed. The list could be extended, of course, but one final observation is sufficient, namely, that men and women have often allowed the inordinate desire for material gain to quench their innate desire for spiritual values. As often as men and women have done so, they have sold their souls for swine husks.
Christians can be a force in properly shaping the temporal order in its state of becoming. By carrying Christian principles into the marketplace, Christians can help correctly direct the material world in its evolution. Christians cannot afford to be thwarted by temptations such as, "What's the use? What difference does it make what I do or don't do?" The contemporary examples of certain groups or individuals who have had a profound influence on society by bringing to light injustices and deficiencies in the present structure of things have become legion. What is more, the efforts of these groups and/or individuals in actually achieving a change for the better is also a matter of record. Likewise, each Christian, in some way or another, can also be effective if he or she is willing to pay the price. The fact that his or her influence may often remain a very hidden one does not make it less effective.
The Christian, in fact, has a duty to help properly shape the temporal order in its process of becoming. The Christian also has a duty to witness to the ultimate point of destiny toward which this process is evolving—the omega point who is Jesus himself, the center and culmination of all human history. Through the Christian's proper encounter with the world in process, he or she is supposed to be a reminder, as Christ himself was, of the world's ultimate outcome in its evolutionary thrust. This final point of the world's development will be the entrance of the temporal order into the eternal age of things; the world will be swept up by Christ in his second coming and will remain, for all eternity, in the transformation that it will receive at this parousia.
In giving this particular kind of witness to the world in process, the committed Christian is a reminder, however silent, that, despite mankind's greatest genius, the secular order cannot develop into a Utopia on earth. People have so often had the false expectation that a secular city can be established that will amount to a heaven on earth. So long as people persist in such unrealistic expectations, they will be disappointed. It is interesting to speculate whether those who are living today, surrounded by the material comforts and advantages of an incredibly advanced technological age, are really any happier than those who had lived in ages when these material advantages were absent. If present material progress has not brought men and women closer to God and to one another, then it surely has not made them authentically happier. Yes, the temporal order is surely meant to evolve for the sake of our greater happiness; however, the temporal order can only evolve properly and thus achieve its true purpose, if it refuses to be closed in upon itself in an attitude of absolute autonomy. Rather, the temporal order can only achieve its true purpose if it opens up in evolutionary process to its God and to the God-intended completion of its evolution that is in the eternal order of things.
As we turn our attention to the Church, we again encounter the reality of becoming. In the post-Vatican II Church, we are all well aware of a Church that is in process, a Church that is reaching out toward that which is yet to be achieved, toward that more perfect realization of the ideal that Jesus has delineated for it. The Church is a mustard seed that is meant to gradually evolve into that full stature which Christ intends: "He proposed still another parable: 'The reign of God is like a mustard seed which someone took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest seed of all, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants' " (Mt. 13:31-32).
The concept of the Church as a pilgrim Church is closely allied with the idea of the Church in the process of becoming. The pilgrim Church is the fulfillment of God's people from Old Testament times. Under the leadership of Moses, the Jewish people traveled through the desert toward the Promised Land. The journey was, however, not always a smooth one; there were sufferings, both physical and spiritual, as well as numerous infidelities against God—which, occasionally, were extremely flagrant violations of his covenant law. Good prevailed, however, sufficiently for the promised goal to be achieved.
God's people of New Testament times are also on the way; their Promised Land is the heavenly Jerusalem. The distance thus far traveled, however, presents a mixed picture. There has been a dark and ugly aspect of the Church's history; there have been jealousies, for example, as well as power politics in high places, and material greed; disloyal popes, bishops, and priests; laity who have, in numerous ways, betrayed the name of Jesus in the marketplace; apathy and a lack of concern for the world's problems.
This evil dimension of the Church's history would be tragically disheartening if there were not a brighter side, but, through the grace of God, the good in the Church has been more powerful than the evil. There have been numerous martyrs who are definite proof that Jesus' love for an individual, and that individual's love for Him, can take such deep possession of the person that death, even a death that might be exacted through the most horrendous torments, can be deemed a privilege and even eagerly embraced as the passageway to complete and eternal union with Christ. There have also been many men and women of all vocations who wholeheartedly dedicated themselves to Christ and lovingly gave themselves in service to mankind. It is true that the good they accomplished was supported by both Christ's love and others' love for them, yet it was not always easy. Disappointments, misunderstandings, periods of agonizing suffering—these were also indelibly woven into the accounts of their lives.
The Church cannot content herself with the good that her members have accomplished. The Church is still in the process of becoming; she is still a participant in an ongoing pilgrimage. Her members must have a spirit of openness, a venturesome attitude; they can never afford to settle down in a posture of self-satisfaction. There is still so much good yet to be accomplished. But how is it to be accomplished?
We cannot be sure of all the future possibilities for achieving the work that Jesus has entrusted to the Church. Not too long ago, for example, how many would have thought that the principle of collegiality would today be such a dynamic element in the Church? That it is so is evidenced in many ways—through synods of bishops; priests' senates; diocesan councils composed of laity, religious, and priests; parish councils; and a more democratic process at work in religious orders and congregations. This is not to say that the principle of collegiality is being implemented in a perfect way; however, it is apparent that, relatively speaking, the Church has made giant strides toward the ideal. As for projecting into the future, however, we must be aware that there may be completely new experiences for which the Spirit is preparing us. We cannot, therefore, harbor a too static view of the Church. We should not think that the more unchangeable the Church is, the better she serves her purpose. There are both unchangeable and changeable dimensions of the Church. While we loyally hold true to the unchangeable aspects, we must at the same time give proper attention to the changeable dimensions. To do otherwise would actually be to refuse to be open to the Spirit in a proper fullness. A Church in the process of becoming—a pilgrim Church—must, then, balance her concern for both the changeless and the changing aspects of her existence. Only in this way can she be both stable and flexible enough to properly serve her own members and the entire human race.
In discussing both the world and the Church in a process of becoming, much has already been said about the individual Christian's state of becoming, because the Christian's life is inevitably caught up in the world's and the Church's existence. It is well, at this point, to more directly consider the individual Christian as a person who is in the process of growth, of becoming more what God destines him or her to be.
We are meant to be in a continuing process of becoming through a deeper radicalization of faith, hope, and love. True, one dimension of the grace-life is the fact that it is a stable given. It is not, however, a static given. We have to thrust toward that which is yet to be achieved. We are meant to be in a process of becoming the "more."
Full maturity in Christ is not suddenly achieved. Even after a relative maturity is attained, this maturity can always take deeper root. This gradual achievement in spiritual maturity can be viewed as a process of self-encounter, a process whereby we gain the proper, graced self-control amid many struggles. It is a becoming through an encounter with the true self, through a gradual achievement of that self-identity and uniqueness that God intends. This becoming is achieved through a path of progress that is not always perfectly upward: there is the reaching out for good, but also the succumbing to evil; there is the discovery of strengths and talents, but also the painful awareness of weaknesses and limitations. There are, in short, successes and failures. There is joy—sometimes intense joy—over what is achieved in personal growth; however, there are also periods of discouragement—sometimes moments of near despair—because further growth seems impossible. All this happens because the process of becoming has inherent within it a constant newness that is linked to a certain sameness. We are always the same persons, but always different persons, too.
Moreover, the process of becoming through a proper encounter with the true self takes place not in a vacuum, but rather, within the framework of an encounter with the material world, with human persons, and with God. The encounter with the material world—and, indeed, with the entire temporal order—is meant to be characterized by a correct use of creation, by periodic renunciation, and by a spirit of creativity. The correct use of material things enables the person to grow by respecting the fact that the bodily aspect of his or her being has situated him or her in a material world that is meant to serve the person's needs. The fact that persons are in part material beings means that one aspect of God's plan for men and women intends that they grow, that is to say, that they become, through the proper encounter with, or use of, the material.
As long as men and women are on this earth, there will always be in them both a sinful tendency and a thrust toward good, and, consequently, they do not always properly relate to the material. For an individual to achieve a correct use of material things and other temporal values, he or she must periodically renounce them. At times, becoming means not becoming in a certain way, not encountering this thing or this value.
Also, the material and temporal order offers wide possibilities for individual creative instincts. By shaping the raw stuff of creation through the various uses of one's creative forces, a person can become that which he or she was not. The imprint of one's creative image where it did not previously exist is a reflection of a certain development, or becoming, within the individual person.
As significant as the encounter with the material world may be, however, it is obviously not as important as the encounter with human persons. God intends that so much of our spiritual growth occur as a result of our proper encounter with others. So much of our growth toward mature personhood occurs in the give-and-take of personal encounter. Until rather recent years, spiritual teaching placed a great emphasis upon the correct performance of certain practices. That appeal, however, did not always properly emphasize the fact that those practices were important only to the extent that they deepened the Christian's personal relationship with God and his or her fellow men and women.
The selflessness that is required for authentic relationship to the other readily points out why encounter with persons is such an important contributing factor to true becoming. The Christian life is primarily a going out of ourselves to God and to human persons. This transcendence of self is not always easily achieved, however, precisely because it involves a process of overcoming the strong thrust of selfishness. Although going out of self to God is obviously the primordial relationship for the Christian, it is interesting to note that, through the words of Scripture, God tells us that our relationship to our neighbor is the criterion by which we are to judge our love for him:
If anyone says, "My love is fixed on God,"
yet hates his brother,
he is a liar.
One who has no love for the brother
he has seen
cannot love the God he has not seen.
—1 Jn 4:20Going out to others, serving them, being for them, and loving them is a dynamic process. There is no set pattern that can perfectly serve all this. Surely there are certain established Christian principles and truths that govern our encountering and serving others; however, these truths have a certain flexibility built into them so that they can be assimilated to meet the particular situations of unique individuals. Our encounters with others—whether it be a case of relating to a partner in marriage or to a friend or to those who are recipients of our service or whatever—give proof to each of us, according to his or her own experience, that there can be no question of a static pattern of behavior to govern personal relationships. There is always the new, the unexpected, the surprising, or the significant change in behavior that must be considered along with the more stable elements that comprise personal encounter. Becoming by going out to the other truly is a dynamic process.
If an individual person grows toward Christian maturity through a proper encounter with material creation and other facets of the temporal order, as well as through encounters with others, individuals must especially grow, or become, through an encounter with God. Growth through encounters with both material creation and other persons is rooted in our maturing through the relationship with the great source of all becoming—namely, God himself. He himself is infinite being, and he constantly wants to communicate himself to us so that, drawing from his infinite source of life, we might become more what we are meant to be—more of what he desires that we become.
God draws us on to greater fulfillment according to the pattern of Christ's example and teaching. There is no other way according to which we progress to spiritual maturity. There is no Christian perfection that we can acquire, no possible development of our Christian personalities unless it occurs through Christ Jesus. The Spirit, however, does not superimpose this pattern of Christ upon us in an artificial way. The Spirit does not shape us according to the image of Christ without deep concern for our uniqueness; we are all different, and the Spirit supremely respects this fact. Furthermore, if the Spirit is of such an attitude, so must we be; we must not box ourselves in, all trying to fit into the exact same mold and maintaining that this is necessary because we must all follow the same Christ. The pattern of Christ is the creation of an infinitely wise God. He has arranged that the one pattern of Christ is also a pattern that has as many possibilities for unique assimilation as there are individual persons.
We all follow the one and same Christ and we must all have an attitude of complete openness, of expectancy concerning the unpredictable, an attitude that will allow the Spirit to lead us according to his way of forming us in the image of Christ. At times we might have a too minutely preconceived idea of how we will become in Christ and we are, therefore, somewhat rigid about the whole process. Although the following of Christ is basically the same for all, how can we be sure what particular path of imitation—mapped out in rather complete detail—the Spirit has prepared for each of us? We can certainly be tempted to think that we know with considerable certainty the way in which our becoming in Christ should logically evolve. We must learn, however, to balance an attitude of stability that is rooted in a certain way of life, a certain way of following Christ, with a spiritual freedom that makes us really open to what the Spirit wants of us, however surprising, novel, or unusual this may seem.
end of Response to God's Love
October 10, 2003 message continues
God the Father speaks:
I have given these prayers
through My Son to help
promote the Kingdom.
I give you these prayers
for the renewal of the
Church and the world.
October 10, 2003 message continues
God the Father speaks:
So many just want to do their own
will -
All they care about is their authority -
The Prayer Chapters have begun because
I called these people.
It is a calling from Me to be a
Shepherd of Christ.
The prayer chapters are to be a
network of prayer and support
to help the Shepherds of Christ Movement and
to pray for the priests, the
Church and the world.
The devil works in people's hearts
and they are tempted to think only
of themselves and their feelings
and the devil tempts people with
these emotional distractions.
This is My Movement.
I am God the Father,
It was begun by My Son Jesus
through Fr. Carter.
Many children today are being taught to
be willful and self-focused
to promote themselves.
The attitude is this in the world -
get ahead -
be out for yourself -
What happened to religious orders living
in communities for a common
purpose of promoting the
Kingdom of God?
Many convents have dissolved.
Many men do not want a vocation to the
priesthood.
The nuns that are left, many wear red
dresses and go to the office with
a suit like the other people
who aren't sisters - very many
live in apartments, it is one
thing if a sister was a medical
doctor or head of a hospital,
but many just have ordinary jobs,
ordinary clothes, live in apartments
and then the community life of
many religious orders suffer -
I want this community of Shepherds of
Christ, Servants and Handmaids -
I want them to live in communities
for a common purpose of promoting
My Son Jesus' Movement, My Movement
to help renew the Church and the
world and pray for the priest.
Look at this a world where so many do their
own thing - they are trained in institutions
to be working on "their" great work -
everyone is an individual working
on their own greatness -
T.V. talk shows have people arguing
about basic truths -
about homosexuality - men marrying
men, woman, marrying woman,
bishops leaders of a congregation
not living a holy life
babies are being murdered in the womb
and people argue this is right -
You aren't obeying the 10 commandments.
These are laws I gave you for happiness,
but some justify I can do what I
want and they teach the children.
You cry out in pain.
I have sent Mary as a sign.
I speak here and you ignore the sign.
You cannot even get financial support
for the building.
Into this self-focused, individualistic
world comes the baby, some are
murdered in the womb of their mother,
some make it, but then are taught
these things in your world.
I give you this Movement to help renew
the Church and the world.
I give you the prayer chapters,
I have called the Shepherds of Christ
members.
I am the Creator, you are the creatures,
but some are so willful they want
everything they can have their own
way - NOBODY will tell them
anything.
I watch you cry out in pain.
I watch babies murdered -
I watch the talk shows and the
violent movies -
The egotistical attitude -
the turn toward individual recognition
and not working for the whole
as a unit -
what promotes ME is seen as good -
not being part of an institution
working together for the common
good of promoting God's Kingdom.
Doing all these things for your own
honor and glory and pleasure not
for the honor and glory of God.
Many have become like little
"mad-men" so focused on themselves
and getting ahead.
So many babies are coming into the
world with cancer. The little babies
are being born into a cancerous world.
The evil grows more and more and runs
rampant.
The swing must come back to
the purity of the Sacred Heart and the
Immaculate Heart.
You are the sons and daughters of
Adam and Eve.
2000 years since Christ and how
are you growing spiritually as a
race.
How many of this world even
believe Jesus is the Son of God.
So Jesus comes and gives you
this song,
October 10, 2003 message continues
God the Father speaks:
I want this Song framed and
printed in gold for My Servants
handmaids and apostles.
It is a remembrance from Me, God the Father,
that you are to take the message of
the Shepherds of Christ and that song to the world.
Think of a time here on earth without Jesus Christ in
your life - would it be life at all?
Jesus Christ is the
way, the truth and the life.
Jesus Christ is the Savior.
Your job in the Shepherds of Christ is to lead people
home to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
October 10, 2003 message continues
God the Father speaks:
I want you to carry pictures of the
Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart.
People are afraid to speak the truth -
they think it is docility -
This is not true -
Someone who is docile speaks the
truth -
The truth is -- look at all the sexual
magazines -
This is a sign of the decaying morals
of the people to allow this
pornography and the willfulness
of people to do what they want
against the ten commandments
and the Word of God.
You are becoming more and more numb
everyday - priests are afraid to talk
out many times -
You are bleeding and don't even
know it.
Don't be fooled by the calmness and
laughing - your children are
being taught willfulness, lack
of respect for authority and how
to murder infants of the womb,
how to do all kinds of perverted
sexual things and then don't
step on anybodies toes -
You cry out in pain inside and to
ease that pain you become
numb and look the other way -
Your check book is your law -
Your money in the bank -
few come to see the sign on the
building -
The devil has pulled the wool over
your eyes -
he has attacked authority -
he has tempted people to be willful,
selfish,
seeking pleasures and hurting others
for their own vain glory and
desires -
I cry to you,
I am God the Father -
I send Mary as a messenger to appear
on the building in Clearwater, Florida
and you ignore Me, God the Father.
My Son Jesus has appeared, the New
Adam, the old Adam sinned
in the garden, My Son's
face looks
at you from behind the bush.
Oh you - a garden I have planted
in Florida and sent My Son Jesus
and you have hung Him
on the tree.
The crucifix is the tree of life.
The Eucharist is the gift I give
you.
Jesus Christ truly present in
His Divinity and Humanity -
no longer walks the earth,
but is truly present in the
consecrated Host.
Oh My Priests -
Pray these Prayers, My Son
gives you
begin prayer chapters -
help Me circulate the writings of
Fr. Carter given to him from
Jesus.
The devil has attacked the priests.
The devil has attacked the Church.
The devil has attacked the family.
Oh where is the community life -
everyone has put up their own
shingle and many have stepped
on their brothers for their own vain
glory,
Murdering babies, homosexual marriages -
Do you lie?
Do you obey the commandments?
Do you respect life when you
murder babies?
Do you respect each other?
Do you think this emphasis on the
body and the shiny sexy
bodies everywhere help children
learn about the spiritual life.
A baby can watch porno and violence
in their own home and dad and
mom can be so numb they
aren't even shocked anymore.
I BEG YOU AS YOUR
HEAVENLY FATHER TO
LISTEN -
YOU ARE SICK -
YOU NEED THE
MIGHTY MEDICINE
October 10, 2003 message continues
God the Father speaks:
Your life is being spent in dealing
with these untruths and you
are "crabby".
Don't block MY MOVEMENT.
I have called you the Shepherds
of Christ.
You live in a world of willful
people.
How much have you learned
about obeying God's will
since the Garden of Eden.
Genesis Chapter 3
Now, the snake was the most subtle of all the wild animals that Yahweh God had made. It asked the woman, ‘Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?’ The woman answered the snake, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, "You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death." ’ Then the snake said to the woman, ‘No! You will not die! God knows in fact that the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good from evil.’ The woman saw that the tree was good to eat and pleasing to the eye, and that it was enticing for the wisdom that it could give. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realised that they were naked. So they sewed fig–leaves together to make themselves loin–cloths.
The man and his wife heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. But Yahweh God called to the man. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden,’ he replied. ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked. ‘Have you been eating from the tree I forbade you to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.’ Then Yahweh God said to the woman, ‘Why did you do that?’ The woman replied, ‘The snake tempted me and I ate.’
Then Yahweh God said to the snake, ‘Because you have done this,
Accursed be you of
all animals wild and tame!
On your belly you will go
and on dust you will feed
as long as you live.
I shall put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
it will bruise your head
and you will strike its heel.’To the woman he said:
I shall give you intense pain
in childbearing,
you will give birth to your children
in pain.
Your yearning will be for your husband,
and he will dominate you.To the man he said, ‘Because you listened to the voice of your wife and ate from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat,
Accursed be the soil because of you!
Painfully will you get your food from it
as long as you live.
It will yield you brambles and thistles,
as you eat the produce of the land.
By the sweat of your face
will you earn your food,
until you return to the ground,
as you were taken from it.
For dust you are
and to dust you shall return.’The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live. Yahweh God made tunics of skins for the man and his wife and clothed them. Then Yahweh God said, ‘Now that the man has become like one of us in knowing good from evil, he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and pick from the tree of life too, and eat and live for ever!’ So Yahweh God expelled him from the garden of Eden, to till the soil from which he had been taken. He banished the man, and in front of the garden of Eden he posted the great winged creatures and the fiery flashing sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.
October 10, 2003 message continues
God the Father speaks:
Mary appears in the garden in Florida.
I have given you the face of My Son.
I have given you the crucifix
to study. This must be taken
care of.
I want this crucifix to last.
This is the new garden.
My Son Jesus is the New Adam.
Mary is the Lady Clothed with
the sun - she is the New Eve.
Revelation Chapter 12
Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, robed with the sun, standing on the moon, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant, and in labour, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth. Then a second sign appeared in the sky: there was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and each of the seven heads crowned with a coronet. Its tail swept a third of the stars from the sky and hurled them to the ground, and the dragon stopped in front of the woman as she was at the point of giving birth, so that it could eat the child as soon as it was born. The woman was delivered of a boy, the son who was to rule all the nations with an iron scepter, and the child was taken straight up to God and to his throne, while the woman escaped into the desert, where God had prepared a place for her to be looked after for twelve hundred and sixty days.
And now war broke out in heaven, when Michael with his angels attacked the dragon. The dragon fought back with his angels, but they were defeated and driven out of heaven. The great dragon, the primeval serpent, known as the devil or Satan, who had led all the world astray, was hurled down to the earth and his angels were hurled down with him. Then I heard a voice shout from heaven, 'Salvation and power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ, now that the accuser, who accused our brothers day and night before our God, has been brought down. They have triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word to which they bore witness, because even in the face of death they did not cling to life. So let the heavens rejoice and all who live there; but for you, earth and sea, disaster is coming-- because the devil has gone down to you in a rage, knowing that he has little time left.'
As soon as the dragon found himself hurled down to the earth, he sprang in pursuit of the woman, the mother of the male child, but she was given a pair of the great eagle's wings to fly away from the serpent into the desert, to the place where she was to be looked after for a time, two times and half a time. So the serpent vomited water from his mouth, like a river, after the woman, to sweep her away in the current, but the earth came to her rescue; it opened its mouth and swallowed the river spewed from the dragon's mouth. Then the dragon was enraged with the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children, who obey God's commandments and have in themselves the witness of Jesus.
Ezekiel 34: 11-16
“For the Lord Yahweh says this: Look, I myself shall take care of my flock and look after it. As a shepherd looks after his flock when he is with his scattered sheep, so shall I look after my sheep. I shall rescue them from wherever they have been scattered on the day of clouds and darkness. I shall bring them back from the peoples where they are; I shall gather them back from the countries and bring them back to their own land. I shall pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the inhabited parts of the country. I shall feed them in good pasturage; the highest mountains of Israel will be their grazing ground. There they will rest in good grazing grounds; they will browse in rich pastures on the mountains of Israel. I myself shall pasture my sheep, I myself shall give them rest–declares the Lord Yahweh. I shall look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the injured and make the sick strong. I shall watch over the fat and healthy. I shall be a true shepherd to them."
Excerpt from the Spirituality Handbook
by Father Carter, S.J.
2
Chapter Guidelines for Shepherds of Christ Associates
- A primary purpose of the chapters of Shepherds of Christ Associates is to pray for all priests throughout the world in all their needs. A coequal purpose is to provide a spiritual way of life for members of the chapters. The chapters are to pray in a special way for the spiritual success of the priestly newsletter, Shepherds of Christ. Prayer for the acquisition of monetary funds to publish the letter is also in order. The chapters are to meet on a regular basis, with the members of each chapter to determine the exact frequency of meetings. All chapters are encouraged to meet on a weekly basis. If for various other reasons certain chapters cannot meet weekly, they should meet at least once a month.
- All persons--lay persons, diocesan clergy, and priests, brothers, and sisters in religious life--are invited to become members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. Those who are already committed to a certain way of spiritual life may adapt the spirituality of Shepherds of Christ Associates to their own particular spirituality.
- In addition to the purpose of the chapters as put forth above, the members of each chapter are encouraged to help raise money to defray some of the newsletter publication costs and some of the financial needs of the Shepherds of Christ Associates movement. One way for chapters to financially aid the newsletter is to pledge to pay for a certain number of newsletters each year. Our Lord has asked that the newsletter be sent to the priests free of charge, although donations may be requested in the newsletter itself.
- A further purpose of the chapters is to undertake those activities which Jesus, through the Spiritual Director, further reveals to be His will.
- The formation of as many chapters as is reasonably possible is to be encouraged. Multiple chapters may exist in the same city or area. Each chapter is to have its own local coordinator, and each country its own national coordinator.
- A periodic newsletter for associates will be published to help establish the desired bond or union between all chapters and all members.
- Members of Shepherds of Christ Associates pledge their loyal support to the Holy Father, the Pope, and to the teaching authority of the Church.
- Shepherds of Christ Associates exists under Church law as provided in canons 298 and 299.
- The existence and activity of all chapters is to be placed under the special protection and guidance of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Chapters exist so that they may, according to the mission of Shepherds of Christ Associates, help to establish the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. All chapter members are strongly encouraged to consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
3
A Way of Spiritual Life
The way of spiritual life proposed to the members of Shepherds of Christ Associates is centered in consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. All aspects of the spiritual life discussed below should be viewed as means to help members develop their lives in consecration to Christ, the Sacred Heart, and to Mary, the Immaculate Heart.
An Overview of the Spiritual Life
The Christian life is rooted in the great event of the Incarnation. We must consequently always focus our gaze upon Christ, realizing that everything the Father wishes to tell us has been summed up in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It only remains for us, then, to strive to understand with greater insight the inexhaustible truth of the Word Incarnate: "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days He has spoken to us by a Son, Whom He appointed the heir of all things, through Whom also He created the world." (Heb. 1: 1-2) (1)
What was the condition of the human race at the time of Christ's coming? In some ways, people were much the same as we are today. There were those just being born into this world of human drama. There were those who, in death, were leaving it, some of whom had grasped but little of life's meaning. There were those who were healthy and vigorous. There were those who were sick and lame. Some especially felt the burdens, the grief, the suffering of the human condition. Others were ebullient and desired all the pleasures life could provide. There was some good being accomplished. Immorality, however, was rampant. What St. Paul tells us concerning the time that immediately followed Christ's existence certainly could also be applied to the time of His entrance into the world. It is, in short, an ugly picture that St. Paul depicts for us (Rom. 1: 22-32).
Into such a depraved condition Jesus entered, with a full and generous Heart, to lead the human race from the depths of sinfulness to the vibrant richness of a new life in Himself. Through His enfleshment, this Christ became the focal point of all history. The authentic hopes and dreams of the human family, now so overshadowed by the ugliness of sin, came converging upon this Christ. He would gather them up in Himself, give them a new luster and brilliance and dynamism, and would lead the human family back to the Father in the Holy Spirit.
Christ was radically to release us from the dominion of sin and elevate us to a new level of existence. This life Christ has given us is not a type of superstructure which is erected atop human existence. Although nature and grace are distinct, they do not lie side by side as separate entities. Rather, grace permeates nature. The Christian is one graced person. The Christian is one who has been raised up, caught up, into a deeper form of life in Christ Jesus. Nothing that is authentically human in the life of the Christian has been excluded from this new existence. Whatever is really human in the life of the Christian is meant to be an expression of the Christ-life. The simple but deep joys of family life, the wonderment at nature's beauty, the warm embrace of a mother for her child, the agony of crucial decision making, the success or frustration that is experienced in one's work, the joy of being well received by others, and the heartache of being misunderstood--all these experiences are intended to be caught up in Christ and made more deeply human because of Him.
Jesus has come, then, not to destroy anything that is authentically human, but to perfect it by leading it to a graced fulfillment. This is the meaning of the Word's becoming flesh, the meaning of the Incarnation. The more God-like we become through Christ, the more human we become.
We, through our incorporation into Christ which occurs at Baptism, are meant to relive the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In doing so, we are not only accomplishing our own salvation, but we are assisting in the salvation of others also. The Incarnation continues all the time. Christ, of course, is the one Who fundamentally continues the Incarnation. But He enlists our help. The world no longer sees Jesus, no longer is able to reach out and touch Him. We are the ones who now, in some way, make Christ visible and tangible. In union with the invisible, glorified Christ, and depending on Him as our source of life, we continue the Incarnation in its visible and temporal dimensions. This is our great privilege. This is our great responsibility.
The Christian is initiated into the mystery of Christ, into his or her role in prolonging the Incarnation, through Baptism. In the words of St. Paul: "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by Baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." (Rom. 6: 3-4).
It is not sufficient, however, that we be incorporated into Christ through Baptism. All forms of life require nourishment. So, too, our life in Christ must be continually nourished. How can we continually keep in contact with Christ? There are various ways. We contact Christ in a most special way through the liturgy, above all in the Eucharistic liturgy. Here the entire course of salvation history, as centered in Jesus, is sacramentally renewed and continued. Through our most special and most personal meeting with Jesus in the Mass, we are more deeply incorporated into Christ. Also, we should remember that all the sacraments make up part of the Church's liturgy.
The reading of Scripture provides another special opportunity for meeting Jesus. This is true for both Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament prefigures the New Testament and leads to it. It is obvious, however, that we meet Christ especially in the pages of the New Testament. How true it is to say that not to be familiar with Scripture is not to know Jesus properly. We should resolve to read from Scripture daily.
We also meet Jesus in our interaction with others. Everyone we meet, everyone we serve, is in the image of Jesus. We have to take the means to grow in this awareness. If I truly believe that everyone has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, how should I treat everyone?
These, then, are some of the ways we keep in contact with Jesus. Common to the various ways of meeting Jesus is a certain degree of prayerful reflection. Our contact with Jesus in the liturgy, in Scripture, and in our interaction with others, and so forth, will not be all that it should be unless we are persons of prayer. The light and strength of prayer enables us to keep in contact with Jesus as we should.
We live out our Christ-life in an atmosphere of love. Indeed, the life Jesus has given us is centered in love. It has its origins in the mysterious love of God: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (Jn 3: 16).
Our new life in Jesus has arisen out of God's fathomless love. Christ, in His descent into human flesh, has established a milieu of love. The life He came to give can flourish only in the framework of love. Indeed, we can summarize the meaning of the Christian life by stating that it is our loving response to God's love. The pierced Heart of Jesus, this Heart which shed its last drop of blood in the greatest love for each one of us, is the symbol of God's tremendous love for us. Christ's Heart also calls us to respond by giving ourselves in love to God and neighbor. Yes, Jesus invites us to respond to God's love by giving ourselves in love to Him in an ever closer union. The more closely we are united to Him, the greater is our capacity to love God and neighbor. The more closely we are united with Jesus, the more closely He unites us to the Father in the Holy Spirit, with Mary our Mother at our side.
Consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary
We have already spoken of how we are incorporated into Christ at Baptism. Now we shall speak of the life which comes to us in Baptism in terms of consecration:
"To consecrate means to make sacred, to make holy. Only God can make a being holy. So to speak of our consecration is to speak of God's activity in making us holy, His activity of giving us a share in His own holiness. At Baptism we receive a share in God's life, a share in His holiness. Christ is the Mediator of this grace life. We are baptized into Christ, into His death and resurrection. In Baptism we become holy by sharing in the holiness of Christ. We become consecrated, sealed with the divine holiness. We belong to the Father, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit.
"On our part, we must respond to God's consecration of us. We must live out the consecration of Baptism. We must realize what God has done for us in Christ and live according to this awareness. We need to live the life of holiness and grow in it. In other words, we must develop the life of grace, the Christ-life.
"What God has done for us in Christ involves Mary. God has given us a Christ-life, our life of grace, and Mary is the Mother of this Christ-life. Consequently, living out our life of consecration to God--living out the Christ-life--includes allowing Mary to increasingly be the Mother of our Christ-life.
"Consecration to Mary, therefore, is an aspect of our consecration to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is entrusting ourselves entirely to her maternal love so that she can bring us ever closer to Jesus, so that we can increasingly live out our consecration to God in Christ.
"At Fatima, Our Lady asked that we consecrate ourselves to her Immaculate Heart. Mary shows us her heart as a symbol of her love for God and us. She asks us to make a return of love to her, to consecrate ourselves to her, to give ourselves to her completely. She wants us to entrust ourselves to her completely so that she may help us love God and neighbor.
"As stated above, consecration to Mary is an aspect of our consecration to God in Christ and she has asked for consecration to her Heart so that she may assist us. Christ, in turn, invites us to live out this consecration to Him through consecration to His Sacred Heart. We see the divine symmetry: consecration to the Immaculate Heart helps us to live out consecration to Christ Who reveals His Heart as symbol of His life of love in all its aspects, including His tremendous love for each of us individually. His Heart also asks for our love in return, a return which ideally is summed up in consecration to Jesus' Heart. Through this consecration we give ourselves completely to Jesus through the Immaculate Heart. In this consecration to Jesus, we promise to strive to live according to His Father's will in all things." (2)
Our Personal Relationship With Jesus
He hung upon a cross on a hill called Calvary. Death was near. How much Jesus had already suffered! He had been brutally scourged. Much of His sacred body was a bloody, open wound. He had been derisively crowned with thorns. In a terribly weakened condition, He carried the heavy cross to the hill of Golgotha. There He was stripped of His garments and mercilessly nailed to the cross. Try to imagine the excruciating pain Jesus suffered as the nails penetrated His sacred hands and feet! After all this brutal and agonizing suffering--of body and spirit--Jesus finally died.
And He did it all for you! Yes, you can truly say that Jesus did it all for you. I can say that Jesus did it all for me. He suffered and died for the whole human race, but He did it in a way which makes it true to say He also did it for each individual. When He was undergoing all the brutal and horrible suffering, He knew you and He knew me by name. He was loving each of us with the most tender, and tremendous, and unique love! He gave the last drop of His precious blood for you individually and for me individually!
What should be our return to this magnificent Heart of Jesus which gave until there was no more to give? No less than our entire selves. No less than a total consecration to this tremendous Lover, to this magnificent and tender Heart! No less than a day-by-day resolve to strive to live our consecration with the deepest faith, hope, and love. No less than the deepest desire to develop the most intimate, personal relationship with Jesus. The total and the most tender love of Jesus' magnificent Heart for you and for me deserves nothing less!
Mary Our Mother
As Jesus hung upon the cross in His excruciating suffering, He gave Mary to us as our spiritual Mother:
"…standing by the cross of Jesus were His Mother, and His Mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His Mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing near, He said to His Mother, 'Woman, behold, your son!' Then He said to the disciple, 'Behold, your Mother!'" (Jn 19: 25-26).
Yes, John, the disciple, represented all of us. Jesus, in giving Mary to John as His Mother, was giving her to all of us as our spiritual Mother. We can never thank Jesus sufficiently for this great gift. Mary is your Mother and she is my Mother. Pope John Paul II tells us how Mary is Mother to each of us according to each one's uniqueness:
"Of the essence of motherhood is the fact that it concerns the person. Motherhood always establishes a unique and unrepeatable relationship between two people: between mother and child and between child and mother. Even when the same woman is the mother of many children, her personal relationship with each one of them is of the very essence of motherhood…
"It can be said that motherhood 'in the order of grace' preserves the analogy with what 'in the order of nature' characterizes the union between mother and child." (3)
Let us always thank Mary that she is the Mother of each of us according to each one's uniqueness. I can truly say that Mary is my Mother in an unrepeatable way, and you can truly say that she is your Mother in an unrepeatable way. Realizing what a great and unique love Mary has for each of us, what reason could we ever have for not always going to her? What reason could we ever have for not asking her to take us as her beloved children and to hold us close to her maternal and Immaculate Heart where we always experience the love, the warmth, the tenderness of this magnificent Mother?
The Mass and the Sacraments
The best way to return love to Jesus is through participation in the Mass. Indeed, the Mass is the chief source for growth in our life of consecration. Everything in the life of the Church, including the sacraments--centers around the Eucharistic Sacrifice.
All the faithful are privileged to be able to enter into the offering of the Mass:
"The sacrifice of the Mass, as we well know, makes truly present the sacrifice of Calvary. At His sacrifice on Calvary, Christ was Priest and Victim. We obviously did not offer together with Him. At the Mass, however, Christ, although He is the chief Priest and Victim, does not act alone. Through God's gracious design, at Mass all the members of the Church are priests and victims together with Christ. To be sure, there is a very significant difference between the priesthood of bishops and priests and the priesthood of the faithful. The point we wish to stress, however, is that the universal priesthood, given in Baptism to all the faithful, is a real participation in Christ's priesthood.
"Vatican II has stressed this concept of the priesthood of all the Church's members. Speaking of the Mass, the Council says: 'The Church, therefore, earnestly desires that Christ's faithful, when present at this mystery of faith, should not be there as strangers or silent spectators. On the contrary, through a proper appreciation of the rites and prayers, they should participate knowingly, devoutly, and actively. They should be instructed by God's word and be refreshed at the table of the Lord's body; they should give thanks to God; by offering the Immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him, they should learn to offer themselves too. Through Christ the Mediator, they should be drawn, day-by-day, into ever closer union with God and with each other, so that finally God may be all in all.'
"During all our Christ-like activities, we are living the Mass. Working, recreating, laughing, weeping, enjoying success but also experiencing failure, enjoying the beauties of nature--through all such activities, we are living the Mass. We are continually offering ourselves in loving conformity to the Father's will. From time to time during the day, we should make a conscious act of uniting ourselves and our activities with the sacrifice of Calvary as it is made present throughout the world through the Mass.
"A very precious time during the Mass is, of course, our reception of Jesus in Holy Communion. We should make the most of these special moments. Let's properly thank Jesus for coming to us with His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Let's thank Jesus for the tremendous suffering He experienced in order to be able to give us the Eucharist. As Jesus dwells within us in this precious way at Communion time, the very Heart of Christ--this Heart which is symbol of His great love--dwells within. This Heart cries out for our love in return.
"One of the great means God has given us to help prepare ourselves for better participation in the Mass is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Our Lady of Medjugorje asks us to go to Confession at least once a month.
"Indeed, we should use all available means to prepare ourselves for a more fruitful participation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. It is a great privilege to be able to be present at, and to participate in, the Mass. We should show Jesus our appreciation for such a great gift by preparing ourselves as best we can, and in this way we will gain the greatest possible benefit from the Mass, both for ourselves and for others.
"Included in our devotion to the Eucharist should be our desire to make Eucharistic reparation. One way to do this is to say often the following Fatima prayer: 'Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly. I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifferences by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and (the intercession of) the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of sinners.'" (4)
Besides saying the above prayer, there are other acts of Eucharistic reparation we can make. One of these is to be sure we make adequate thanksgiving after Mass. One of the intentions we should have at this time is to help make reparation for the lack of proper thanksgiving on the part of many. Pope Pius XII speaks about the duty of spending the proper time in thanksgiving:
"When at Mass, which is subject to special rules of the liturgy, is over, the person who has received Holy Communion is not thereby freed from his duty of thanksgiving; rather, it is most becoming that, when the Mass is finished, the person who has received the Eucharist should recollect himself and, in intimate union with the Divine Master, hold loving and fruitful converse with Him. Hence they have departed from the straight way of truth who, adhering to the letter rather than the sense, assert and teach that, when Mass has ended, no such thanksgiving should be added, not only because the Mass is itself a thanksgiving, but also because this pertains to a private and personal act of piety and not to the good of the community." (5)
Life in the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is given to us to transform us in the likeness of Christ. This is an ongoing process. Here is a message of Jesus which speaks to the issue:
"My beloved friend, tell My people to pray daily to the Holy Spirit. They are to pray for an increase in His gifts. My people must realize that the Holy Spirit comes to transform them. The Spirit desires to transform you more and more according to My image. Those who are docile to His touch become increasingly shaped in my likeness. He performs this marvel within My Mother's Heart. The more one dwells in My Mother's Heart, the more active are the workings of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit leads Mary to place you within My Heart. In both of Our Hearts, then, your transformation continues. The more you are formed after My own Heart, the more I lead you to the bosom of My Father. Tell My people all this. Tell them to pray daily for a greater appreciation of these wondrous gifts. I am Lord and Master! All who come to My Heart will be on fire to receive the gifts of the Spirit in ever greater measure! I love and bless My people!" (Message of Jesus given to Father Carter).(6)
Life Within the Church
God calls us to live Christian existence, the spiritual life, within the Church--the Church which Christ has established. This Church is a many splendored reality. It has many different names, images and dimensions that variously attest to and manifest this multifaceted richness. All of them, however, speak of the one, same reality. Here is a message of Jesus which speaks of His Church:
"My beloved priest-companion, remind My people that the Church was born from My Heart, pierced with the soldier's lance on Calvary. From My pierced Heart the Church and her sacraments were born. Two of these sacraments, the Eucharist and Baptism, were symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from My pierced side.
"As the Church was born from My pierced Heart, so does the Church's life grow from the graces I continually give to her from My pierced Heart, this Heart which is now glorified.
"I call all the members of My Church to help build up My Body, the Church, by coming to My pierced Heart. United to My Heart and dwelling within It, I will give to each the light and strength to carry out My Father's will in the building up of My Church.
"Mary is Mother and Model of the Church. As Mother of the Church, she intercedes for all the graces the members need to contribute to the building up of My Church. As Model of the Church, as perfect imitator of Me, she shows the children of the Church how all, individually and collectively, are to be increasingly formed in My image. As all come to My Heart for the building up of My Church, let them do so united in the Heart of Mary.
"My Church is experiencing critical and difficult times. There are many divisions within My Church. There are many false teachings, including some put forth by certain theologians. These false teachings occur because those responsible for such are not in proper union with My vicar, the Pope, and the Church's Magisterium. I want all My children to pray daily for the cure of the many and serious ills of the Church. With the increase of prayers and sacrifices for the health of the Church, that day will soon come when the Church will be purified and revitalized. When that day comes, the renewed Church will be characterized by the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. Thus the message of Fatima will have reached its completion.
"I am Lord and Master. I request that all My people listen to My words and respond to them. I love My people with a tremendous love and, in this great love, I give them this message!"(Message from Jesus given to Father Carter). (7)
The Spiritual Life and the Christian Virtues
The life of sanctifying grace expresses itself through the various Christian virtues. Let us take a brief look at this life:
"The Persons of the Blessed Trinity have communicated Themselves to us in lavish love. When a person is in the state of grace, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dwell within that person in an extraordinary fashion.
"Such is the intimacy of this Trinitarian communication that the Persons of the Trinity imprint Their image upon us. This image is our life of grace, our created participation in the life of the Trinity. We receive this life at Baptism, and our privilege and responsibility are to develop it as fully as possible during our earthly journey before experiencing its culmination in eternal life.
"Because Christ in His humanity is Mediator of our life of grace, it possesses not only a Trinitarian dimension, but a Christic aspect as well. We can readily understand, then, why our grace-life is very appropriately also called the Christ-life.
"Our Christ-life is centered in faith and love. Christian faith gives us an extraordinary capacity to know realities about God and the things of God. The virtue of Christian love allows us to accompany this faith-knowledge with an appropriate love-response. Christian hope is the chief support of faith and love. Finally, all the other Christian virtues are variously connected with these three main Christian capacities." (8)
We hear much about faith and love, the two main Christian virtues. However, hope is also extremely important. One of the aspects of the virtue of hope is trust. Let's listen to a message of Jesus regarding trust:
"My beloved priest-companion, tell my people to trust Me unreservedly. I am Lord and Master. I am God. So many fail to trust Me as they should. I love all My people much more than they love themselves! The great love I have for each person should encourage all to trust Me! The more you realize how much a friend loves you, the more you place your trust in that person. I am your perfect Friend. I love you much, much more than your best earthly friend! Tell My people to trust Me completely. Tell them to say often, 'Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You.'" (Message of Jesus as given to Father Carter). (9)
Prayer
Here is a message from Mary on prayer. She tells us of the great importance of prayer regarding the spiritual life:
"My beloved priest-son, many times I have taught you the great importance of prayer. I have obtained for you the grace so that you love to pray, not only during your set periods of prayer, but also during the day in a way which permits you to perform your daily duties. I have taught you to always be aware that all prayer should be made in union with the Mass. Indeed, the Eucharistic sacrifice is itself the greatest prayer. All other prayer should be consciously united with the Mass which is constantly being offered throughout the world. I have taught you the great importance of praying before the tabernacle. My Son is present there in the Eucharist--Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Special graces are given to those who pray before the tabernacle.
"There is much to pray for in these most critical times. The Church and the world exist in most difficult times. I desire that all my children pray daily for all the needs of the Church and the world. I ask for special prayer for the conversion of sinners.
"I ask that my children pray the rosary each day. Very special graces are given to those who do so. During these days of great purification, I promise special protection to those who regularly pray the rosary. I also promise protection to their loved ones.
"Whatever form of prayer my children use, it should always be made in union with my Immaculate Heart. The more my children are united to me, the more I lead them to make their prayer in the Heart of my Son, Jesus. He, in turn, places all prayers in the bosom of the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
"My dear son, keep reminding all my little ones of the great importance of prayer for their own needs and the needs of all others. Keep telling them of the great necessity of prayer for growth in love of God and neighbor. I love all my children with the most tender love. I desire that all listen to my words and live them in their daily lives!" (Message of Mary as given to Father Carter). (10)
The Cross Leads to Life
Our incorporation into Christ at Baptism, and the gradual nurturing in that life, is centered in the pattern of death-resurrection. Indeed, the theme of death-resurrection is at the heart of salvation history. Let us briefly consider its place in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, and in our own lives, always remembering that any form of death--that is, any form of suffering--is meant to lead to greater life, greater peace, greater happiness.
The theme of death-resurrection is at the heart of Old Testament history. The Jewish people, under the leadership of Moses, experienced death-resurrection as they were formed into the people of the covenant, God's people. In the great Exodus event, they escaped Egyptian slavery, went on to Mt. Sinai where the covenant was ratified, and then progressed to the Promised Land. As members of the Mosaic covenant, as God's people, the Jews experienced religious transition. They passed over to a higher level of religious existence, to a more intimate union with God.
This religious transition contained death-resurrection. For the Jews to become people of the covenant, to remain so, and to grow in the life of the covenant, it was necessary that they undergo a mystical or spiritual death. In short, the Jewish people had to be willing to bear that which was difficult in covenant life. They had to be willing to die to that which was not according to God's will. This mystical death, however, had a very positive purpose. It was directed at life in the covenant and at growth in that life. This spiritual death, in other words, was aimed at resurrection.
Christ perfectly fulfilled the Old Testament theme of death-resurrection. In doing so, He, too, was experiencing a religious transition. He was passing over--gradually at first, then definitively in His death--to a new kind of existence, to the life of His resurrection, which He achieved not only for Himself, but for the entire human race. To achieve this newness of life, Jesus was willing to pay the price. Jesus was willing to suffer, even unto death. That it had to be that way, that the only way Christ could have achieved resurrection was through suffering and death, was pointed out by Jesus Himself to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His Glory?" (Lk 24: 25-26).
Christ has structured the Christian life by the way He lived, died, and rose from the dead. It is obvious, then, that the pattern of death-resurrection must be at the heart of the Church's life. Individually and collectively, we continually die with Christ so that we may continually rise with Him. Thus we pass over, in a process of continued religious transition, to a greater participation in Jesus' resurrection. It is true that our participation in Jesus' resurrection will reach its completion only in eternal life. Nevertheless, we begin the life of resurrection here on earth, in the here and now of human life, in the midst of joy and pain, in the experience of success and failure, in the sweat of our brow, in the enjoyment of all of God's gifts. As Christians, we should have a sense of growth concerning our here-and-now life of resurrection. Some seem to have a rather static view of the Christian life. They do not seem to have a vital and efficacious realization that the spiritual life, centered in death-resurrection, should become more conscious, more experiential, more dynamically relative to daily existence.
We cannot maintain the life of resurrection--our newness of life in Christ--without a willingness to suffer, a willingness to follow Jesus in the carrying of the cross. This does not mean that we need to feel overwhelmed and heavily burdened by the suffering in our lives. The greater portion of suffering for most Christians seems to be an accumulation of ordinary hardships, difficulties, and pains. At times, however, deep suffering, even suffering of agonizing proportions, can enter one's life. Whether our sufferings are of either the ordinary variety or the extreme and rare type, we must convince ourselves that to properly relate to the cross is to grow in resurrection. And to grow in resurrection ourselves means that we have an increased capacity to help give resurrection to others.
The pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary are the great symbols reminding us that to love God and neighbor requires a willingness to suffer. How much Jesus and Mary suffered for love of you and me! Our consecration to Their Hearts includes a willingness to carry the cross, not as an end in itself, but as a means to greater life. As we bear the cross in loving conformity to the Father's will, we grow in the Christ-life. With Mary at our side we come closer to Christ. Jesus, in turn, leads us closer to the Father in the Holy Spirit. And as we ourselves grow in the Christ-life, we become more apt instruments in helping to channel this life to others. Yes, the cross of Christ always points to life!
Relationship with Others and the World-at-large
The true Christian is imbued with a proper consciousness of others. That is to say, the true Christian is keenly aware that a great part of God's plan for us tells us that we must, according to His will, relate in various ways to our fellow human beings. Indeed, the Christian imperative tells us that we are to walk life's path, not in isolation, but hand in hand with our brothers and sisters of the human family.
To relate to others according to God's will, we must be properly aware of who they really are. We must, in short, be able to go beneath surface appearances, which may or may not be appealing to us, and contact others in their core existence. When we are truly in touch with others at the core of their beings, we are aware of their awesome dignity. We are conscious that these persons are created and redeemed by God's love. We are conscious that our merciful and loving Jesus shed His last drop of blood for each of them, that His Heart was pierced on the cross because He loved each of them without measure! We are conscious that this magnificent, pierced Heart, now in Its glorified state, still beats with the most special love for each individual upon this earth. Realizing all this, and doing so consistently, gives us the basis and the motivation to try to relate to all--both those we directly contact and those billions we never physically meet--with the greatest love.
In order to be in touch with the inner self of others, we must be aware of, or in touch with, our own true self. This awareness is a realization that our self is likewise made in the image of God, that we have been redeemed by Christ, and that we can only find true happiness through the constant effort to grow in love of God and neighbor. Here, then, we can see the profound interaction among the three awarenesses and loves--awareness and love of God, neighbor, and self. As Christians, consequently, we should have a maturing sense of how our existence is, in varied ways, profoundly linked with the existence of others. Again, this feeling of union with others is not limited to those we directly meet, but, in various ways, is directed to all members of the human family.
The world in which we live is an amazing mixture of that which is good and beautiful and brilliant and that which is sinful and ugly and dreadful. We have the privilege and responsibility of shaping this contemporary world according to its Christological imprint. Jesus put this image of Himself upon the world order by the way He lived and died and rose. We have to help in directing our fellow humans and their values along the path which has been made by the footprints of Jesus of Nazareth--a task that is not always easy. There are so many forces in today's world that work against Christ, His message, and the order He came to establish! But are we going to allow the forces of evil to discourage us from doing all we possibly can to make this a better world according to the designs of Christ? Jesus paid a terrible price to redeem the world. His Heart, which was pierced on the cross for our redemption, cries out to us in His great love for us. He asks us to do our part in helping make the world better reflect His image. In response to the great love which the Heart of Jesus has for each of us, let us, in union with Mary our Mother, often ask ourselves, "What have I done for Christ, what am I now doing for Christ, what am I going to do for Christ?"
Devotion to St. Joseph, Other Saints and the Angels
St. Joseph is Patron of the Universal Church. His power of intercession is indeed great. Joseph, while on earth, enjoyed extraordinary closeness to Jesus and Mary. And His union with them in heaven is even greater. Let us each day pray to St. Joseph to obtain for us the grace to come ever closer to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
We should also pray to the other saints in heaven, especially our favorite saints. The saints are members of the Church triumphant. We should also pray for the souls in purgatory and to them (they can help us). The souls in purgatory are members of the Church suffering. We, who are members of the Church militant here on earth, make up one Church with the saints in heaven and the souls in purgatory. We should be aware of the common bond which unites us in Christ.
We should also pray to the angels for help, especially to the archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, and to our own guardian angels.
Summary
We have given a proposed way of spiritual life for members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. All aspects of this way of life center in the living out of the act of consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Making and living out this consecration is our return of love to Jesus and Mary and, through them, our return of love to the Father and the Holy Spirit. Indeed, our consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary is also consecration to the Father and the Holy Spirit. We should always remember that our consecration to the Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart is the way according to which Jesus and Mary invite us to live out our baptismal consecration, the consecration which originally made us belong to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let us always remember that we go to the Father through Christ, in the Holy Spirit, with Mary our Mother at our side.
We strongly encourage members of Shepherds of Christ Associates to reread regularly all of the above in a prayerful manner. This will provide an ongoing aid to help members grow in their consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Notes:
1. Scripture quotations are taken from The Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition, St. Ignatius Press, San Francisco.
2. Edward Carter, S.J., Mother at Our Side, Faith Publishing, Milford, Ohio, 1993, pp. 15-17.
3. Pope John Paul II, The Mother of the Redeemer (Redemptoris Mater), United States Catholic Conference, Washington, D.C., 1987, No. 38.
4. Edward Carter, S.J., The Spirituality of Fatima and Medjugorje, Faith Publishing, Milford, Ohio, 1994, pp. 89-92. Vatican II quotations are from The Documents of Vatican II, America Press edition.
5. Pope Pius XII, Mediator Dei, No. 123.
6. From Tell My People, Shepherds of Christ Publications, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1994, p. 9.
7. Ibid.
8. Edward Carter, S.J., Prayer Perspectives, Alba House, Staten Island, New York, 1987, p. 12.
9. Tell My People, op. cit.
10. Ibid.
June 26, 1995
Discerned very carefully by Fr Carter
Messenger: He spread His arms, He gave His all, Jesus, the Son of God, the greatest sacrifice, He gave Himself entirely for the good of all men. He opened His arms, He died on the cross.
His arms were covered with blood, His arms so weak and filled with pain, wounded. His arms, the pain shot up His arms and the final blow to each arm a nail through each precious hand.
All the agony He experienced, all the pain, and the crown, to each arm, a nail hammered into the hand.
All the nerves cut and severed by the nail, the pain shooting up His precious arms, the final blow given to His most precious members.
The legs that carried Him, that carried the heavy cross, the legs that were forced and cajoled, that continues to Calvary - the legs weakened, skinned, bleeding, beaten, burned, the legs that knew patience and perseverance, the legs connected to a sore foot that was rubbed and gashed and bleeding, the members of Jesus, filled with such pain and exhaustion, now is crowned with the final glory. The nail that was driven into the foot, the pain shot up this already weakened leg, covered with blood and wounds and pain, the final blow, the nerves severed by the hammered nail.
A blow to each hand, a blow to each foot, a blow to the head, a stamping that pressed down and continued in excruciating pain.
Jesus: They numbered all My bones. They gave Me vinegar and gall to drink. They gave Me a cloth to wipe My blood-covered flesh.
What did they give to Me? Love is giving, My dear ones. How many of you are wounded when you are not given things by your brothers you love?
My members were in such pain, the pain shot up My arms. My legs were so weak I could scarce move them. I was filled with pain within them.
To all who watched, they saw a man, weakened and covered with blood and wounds. They did not see the pain inside that shot up My legs and arms, the nerves inside My body that sent signals of deep pain to My central nervous system. They did not see the nerves inside sending pain signals everywhere.
The final blow being to each hand and foot, the severing of My nerves by the blunt and rusted nails.
An arm extended. A final blow. I beheld a nail pounded into My hand and the pain shot up My arms, unbearable to a human mind.
Do you know of the pain within My body? Signals sending messages of deep pain everywhere. I knew all of these sufferings in the garden. So great were the sufferings to My mind, I sweat blood.
My flesh was covered with wounds. My arms were stretched from their sockets. My body was beaten and bleeding, every inch of My body covered with deep wounds. But, My loved ones, you miss the depth of My love. My wounds were so deep, but the final wound, the pounding of the nails in My hands and feet, a severing of the nerves, an ending of the deepest pain, to experience even deeper pain, beyond your human comprehension, it was done to the Almighty God, a Divine Person, I suffered the final blow to each member.
The pounding in the hands and feet, the crown to each member, and they numbered all My bones. My nerves a network of pain running throughout My entire body.
The pain within the body, the pain recorded in My loving head, the pain sent by a network of nerves in My body, now records the final blows, the nails in the hands and feet, the pain being recorded from every thorn that pierced My skull, every gash to My body, the pain, the pain, the pain - a network of signals and pain, running through My body and the final hour, the pains recorded on the cross, arms outstretched - a surrendering to all pain. I surrendered to a body laden with pain.
You focus on your little problems, your little aches and pains. You discuss them and show the world your pin pricks and sufferings.
Do you want to know holiness and love? They gave Me vinegar mixed with gall. This was their offering. They gave Me a cross. They crowned My head with a crown of thorns.
This, My dear ones, is suffering, My beloved souls, I gave My life for and this is their return.
A severing of My nerves, the final blows to all the aches and pains recorded in My nervous system. This was one of the final blows - the rusted nails pounded into My hands.
You will feel little aches and pains in your hands and feet to remind you of this message. Your understanding of the immense pain within will deepen. What was visible to the eye on My battered body was nothing compared to the pains within. I gave My all. I gave My insides, My mind, My Heart, wounded for the love of men.
All functions in the body were stopped.
The final curtain, blood and water pouring out from My Heart, show that all functions of the body had ended.
R: All signals that carried messages of immense pain had ended, the final act of surrender for God to die to this human body and surrender His flesh.
Jesus: And end, a beginning, the water and blood flowed from My Heart, the beginning of My life in the Church, life flowing into your spirit.
R: Come give me life, abundant life. I thirst to be with Thee.
Jesus: My blood was spent. My human flesh and blood offered as the sacrifice, the sacrifice of Calvary is now made present at every Mass.
An end, a beginning, and the grace and life flow through the sacraments in the Church. My life flows to you in the Mass. Mary, the Mediatrix of all grace, stands by the side of the altar and the grace flows from the Father, through My body offered up as a sacrifice in the Holy Spirit, given through the Mothership of Mary to you in the Church.
You stand under the cross with My Mother and you receive the gift given, My Body, My Blood.
R: Man is reconciled with the Father through the Divine Person, Jesus Christ, and you receive His life poured out to you as Calvary is made present in the unbloody sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Do you feel the graces poured out to you at this sacrifice of the Son of God at every Mass? Do you feel the presence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and Mary, all the angels and saints, and the souls in purgatory? Do you feel united as one at the sacrifice of Calvary sacramentally made present upon the altar through the priest? The priest who now puts on Christ and through Him the dispenser of this life given to man.
Jesus: Oh, My beloved ones, love so dearly your priest. Give him such reverence. He is the chosen instrument of God and you treat him with such ordinariness. You are so blind and so dumb in your ways.
And they numbered all My bones. Each nerve carrying a message of My love of mankind, each member in My Church carrying a special message, all united as one working in harmony according to the Father's will, each carrying a message of love to one another.
The body is many members, you are the messengers of My love. Christ is the head. The message does not flow as it should when some are cut off from the Head.
They nailed My hands and feet and My nerves were severed by the nails, such pain, undescribable in words, the severing of My nerves from the body, the severing of many members from the body of Christ.
My Body given for all on the cross, the network of nerves within carrying the messages of My love to all mankind. My body covered on the outside with blood and wounded, the pain recorded within.
Your Church, covered with blood on the outside, the slaughter of innocent babies, the homosexuality, the sins of the flesh, the members that have severed themselves from the source by their sins, but the pain is carried in the nerves inside. The blood of the Lamb shed for each and every soul, the real pain carried within. The life is weakened in your Church because the love of God is so weak in many members. The messages of love are not being transmitted as they should be. Your body shows the wounds, but your pain within is the root of the problems. The pain is from the messages of love that are not being transmitted.
Unless you seek to fill your priests and sisters with the fire of God's love, fill their hearts with burning love for God, your Church will continue to show the marks of the blood shed without. I give to you these letters as a mighty medicine for this world, directed to make men's hearts burn with love of God and love of one another. The rosaries are meditations and messages given from the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
These messages will make men's hearts burn with fire for love of God.
You have ignored the importance of these letters.
I send to you the mighty medicine to heal a hurting world.
My priests and religious need these messages. The love of God will be transmitted to the Church from these messages when you circulate these letters.
The devil has blocked the minds of men involved in these messages because of their importance to the world and the Church.
I am speaking to you Fr. Carter to help to get these messages published and circulated as soon as possible. I give to you a mighty medicine for a sick world.
Read St. Thomas Aquinas about the medicine for the sick Church.
You know what these messages have done for you. I am Jesus. I give to you the mighty medicine for a sick world, for a sick Church, rosaries and letters from the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Your Church shows the wounds of bloodshed, abortion, homosexuality, sins of the flesh, murder of little children's minds with sex education in Catholic schools and you hold back the gifts of God's love I am giving to the Church and this world.
My arms were weak and wounded but the final blow as the nail put in My hand. It severed the nerves.
The final blow is the bloodshed in the Church, the slaughtering of children's minds in Catholic schools. My children are pure and innocent. They are not being taught messages of God's love, they are being taught messages of sick sex and coldness.
Men's hearts have turned cold. They have been severed from the life of the body. The body is decaying from within. Only with the love of God enkindled in men's hearts will this bloodshed stop.
I beg you to publish and circulate these messages in the Church. I am Jesus. I am giving you the mighty medicine for the world. Your body wears the marks of the bloodshed, only with messages of My on-fire love will it stop.
Mary leads you to Jesus. Never is she the end. The Father has a plan. Mary's messages have led men and will lead men to Jesus. Satan has tried to stop all efforts to publish and circulate these messages. I am the Almighty God. The funds will come when you circulate and publish these messages and rosaries under the Shepherds of Christ Publishing. I am working with Fr. Carter and Rita as messenger to renew the Church and the world. Each messenger has a very vital role in the Father's plan. The significance of these messages are being overlooked. You are not studying the messages as a whole and their content. There are five unpublished Blue Books and more than four Rosary Books which I and My Mother have given to this world in the last 14 months. I have also given 15 songs of My love. I am begging you to see to the recording and publishing of this music. I beg you to listen. This is the mighty medicine for the Church and the world to draw men to the burning love of Jesus. Please harken to My call. I will send you the money. You must study and read these messages. This is a fulfillment of Fatima - these messages were given to bring priests to the burning love of Jesus. I am Jesus, your beloved Savior.
end of June 26, 1995 message
The Spirituality Handbook
Words of Jesus to Members of
Shepherds of Christ Associates:"My beloved priest-companion, I intend to use the priestly newsletter, Shepherds of Christ, and the movement, Shepherds of Christ Associates, in a powerful way for the renewal of My Church and the world.
"I will use the newsletter and the chapters of Shepherds of Christ Associates as a powerful instrument for spreading devotion to My Heart and My Mother's Heart.
"I am calling many to become members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. To all of them I will give great blessings. I will use them as instruments to help bring about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. I will give great graces to the members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. I will call them to be deeply united to My Heart and to Mary's Heart as I lead them ever closer to My Father in the Holy Spirit."
- Message from Jesus to Father Edward J. Carter, S.J., as given on July 31, 1994,
feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola, Founder of the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits).
Introduction:
How It All BeganDuring the summer of 1993, Father Edward J. Carter, S.J., Professor of Theology at Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, began to receive mystical locutions (messages) from Jesus and Mary on a regular basis.
In a message given on May 31, 1994, Jesus asked Father Carter to begin the publication of a spirituality newsletter for priests. To be sent to more than 45,000 priests in the U.S.A., and also to priests in other countries, the newsletter is published by Shepherds of Christ Publications, and is distributed bi-monthly. The title of the newsletter is Shepherds of Christ.
Jesus has asked that chapters be formed to pray for the needs of priests and religious around the world. The chapters are to pray in a special way for the spiritual success of the priestly newsletter, as well as to aid in the financial support of this publication. The chapters and members are to be called Shepherds of Christ Associates.
Our Lord has stressed that Shepherds of Christ Associates become an international movement.
Chapter Guidelines for
Shepherds of Christ Associates
- A primary purpose of the chapters of Shepherds of Christ Associates is to pray for all priests throughout the world in all their needs. A coequal purpose is to provide a spiritual way of life for members of the chapters. The chapters are to pray in a special way for the spiritual success of the priestly newsletter, Shepherds of Christ Associates. Prayer for the acquisition of monetary funds to publish the letter is also in order. The chapters are to meet on a regular basis, with the members of each chapter to determine the exact frequency of meetings. All chapters are encouraged to meet on a weekly basis. If for various other reasons certain chapters cannot meet weekly, they should meet at least once a month.
- All persons-lay persons, diocesan clergy, and priests, brothers, and sisters in religious life-are invited to become members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. Those who are already committed to a certain way of spiritual life may adapt the spirituality of Shepherds of Christ Associates to their own particular spirituality.
- In addition to the purpose of the chapters as put forth above, the members of each chapter are encouraged to help raise money to defray some of the newsletter publication costs and some of the financial needs of the Shepherds of Christ Associates movement. One way for chapters to financially aid the newsletter is to pledge to pay for a certain number of newsletters each year. The cost per newsletter per year for each priest is slightly more than $1.00. Our Lord has asked that the newsletter be sent to the priests free of charge, although donations may be requested in the newsletter itself.
- A further purpose of the chapters is to undertake those activities which Jesus, through the Spiritual Director, further reveals to be His will.
- The formation of as many chapters as is reasonably possible is to be encouraged. Multiple chapters may exist in the same city or area. Each chapter is to have its own local coordinator, and each country its own national coordinator.
- A periodic newsletter for associates will be published to help establish the desired bond or union between all chapters and all members.
- Members of Shepherds of Christ Associates pledge their loyal support to the Holy Father, the Pope, and to the teaching authority of the Church.
- Shepherds of Christ Associates exists under Church law as provided in canons 298 and 299.
- The existence and activity of all chapters is to be placed under the special protection and guidance of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Chapters exist so that they may, according to the mission of Shepherds of Christ Associates, help to establish the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. All chapter members are strongly encouraged to consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
A Way of Spiritual Life
The way of spiritual life proposed to the members of Shepherds of Christ Associates is centered in consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. All aspects of the spiritual life discussed below should be viewed as means to help members develop their lives in consecration to Christ, the Sacred Heart, and to Mary, the Immaculate Heart.
An Overview of the Spiritual Life
The Christian life is rooted in the great event of the Incarnation. We must consequently always focus our gaze upon Christ, realizing that everything the Father wishes to tell us has been summed up in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It only remains for us, then, to strive to understand with greater insight the inexhaustible truth of the Word Incarnate: "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days He has spoken to us by a Son, Whom He appointed the heir of all things, through Whom also He created the world." (Heb. 1: 1-2)7
What was the condition of the human race at the time of Christ's coming? In some ways, people were much the same as we are today. There were those just being born into this world of human drama. There were those who, in death, were leaving it, some of whom had grasped but little of life's meaning. There were those who were healthy and vigorous. There were those who were sick and lame. Some especially felt the burdens, the grief, the suffering of the human condition. Others were ebullient and desired all the pleasures life could provide. There was some good being accomplished. Immorality, however, was rampant. What St. Paul tells us concerning the time that immediately followed Christ's existence certainly could also be applied to the time of His entrance into the world. It is, in short, an ugly picture that St. Paul depicts for us (Rom. 1: 22-32).
Into such a depraved condition Jesus entered, with a full and generous Heart, to lead the human race from the depths of sinfulness to the vibrant richness of a new life in Himself. Through His enfleshment, this Christ became the focal point of all history. The authentic hopes and dreams of the human family, now so overshadowed by the ugliness of sin, came converging upon this Christ. He would gather them up in Himself, give them a new luster and brilliance and dynamism, and would lead the human family back to the Father in the Holy Spirit.
Christ was radically to release us from the dominion of sin and elevate us to a new level of existence. This life Christ has given us is not a type of superstructure which is erected atop human existence. Although nature and grace are distinct, they do not lie side by side as separate entities. Rather, grace permeates nature. The Christian is one graced person. The Christian is one who has been raised up, caught up, into a deeper form of life in Christ Jesus. Nothing that is authentically human in the life of the Christian has been excluded from this new existence. Whatever is really human in the life of the Christian is meant to be an expression of the Christ-life. The simple but deep joys of family life, the wonderment at nature's beauty, the warm embrace of a mother for her child, the agony of crucial decision making, the success or frustration that is experienced in one's work, the joy of being well received by others, and the heartache of being misunderstood-all these experiences are intended to be caught up in Christ and made more deeply human because of Him.
Jesus has come, then, not to destroy anything that is authentically human, but to perfect it by leading it to a graced fulfillment. This is the meaning of the Word's becoming flesh, the meaning of the Incarnation. The more God-like we become through Christ, the more human we become.
We, through our incorporation into Christ which occurs at Baptism, are meant to relive the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In doing so, we are not only accomplishing our own salvation, but we are assisting in the salvation of others also. The Incarnation continues all the time. Christ, of course, is the one Who fundamentally continues the Incarnation. But He enlists our help. The world no longer sees Jesus, no longer is able to reach out and touch Him. We are the ones who now, in some way, make Christ visible and tangible. In union with the invisible, glorified Christ, and depending on Him as our source of life, we continue the Incarnation in its visible and temporal dimensions. This is our great privilege. This is our great responsibility.
The Christian is initiated into the mystery of Christ, into his or her role in prolonging the Incarnation, through Baptism. In the words of St. Paul: "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by Baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." (Rom. 6: 3-4).
It is not sufficient, however, that we be incorporated into Christ through Baptism. All forms of life require nourishment. So, too, our life in Christ must be continually nourished. How can we continually keep in contact with Christ? There are various ways. We contact Christ in a most special way through the liturgy, above all in the Eucharistic liturgy. Here the entire course of salvation history, as centered in Jesus, is sacramentally renewed and continued. Through our most special and most personal meeting with Jesus in the Mass, we are more deeply incorporated into Christ. Also, we should remember that all the sacraments make up part of the Church's liturgy.
The reading of Scripture provides another special opportunity for meeting Jesus. This is true for both Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament prefigures the New Testament and leads to it. It is obvious, however, that we meet Christ especially in the pages of the New Testament. How true it is to say that not to be familiar with Scripture is not to know Jesus properly. We should resolve to read from Scripture daily.
We also meet Jesus in our interaction with others. Everyone we meet, everyone we serve, is in the image of Jesus. We have to take the means to grow in this awareness. If I truly believe that everyone has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, how should I treat everyone?
These, then, are some of the ways we keep in contact with Jesus. Common to the various ways of meeting Jesus is a certain degree of prayerful reflection. Our contact with Jesus in the liturgy, in Scripture, and in our interaction with others, and so forth, will not be all that it should be unless we are persons of prayer. The light and strength of prayer enables us to keep in contact with Jesus as we should.
We live out our Christ-life in an atmosphere of love. Indeed, the life Jesus has given us is centered in love. It has its origins in the mysterious love of God: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (Jn 3: 16).
Our new life in Jesus has arisen out of God's fathomless love. Christ, in His descent into human flesh, has established a milieu of love. The life He came to give can flourish only in the framework of love. Indeed, we can summarize the meaning of the Christian life by stating that it is our loving response to God's love. The pierced Heart of Jesus, this Heart which shed its last drop of blood in the greatest love for each one of us, is the symbol of God's tremendous love for us. Christ's Heart also calls us to respond by giving ourselves in love to God and neighbor. Yes, Jesus invites us to respond to God's love by giving ourselves in love to Him in an ever closer union. The more closely we are united to Him, the greater is our capacity to love God and neighbor. The more closely we are united with Jesus, the more closely He unites us to the Father in the Holy Spirit, with Mary our Mother at our side.
Consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary
We have already spoken of how we are incorporated into Christ at Baptism. Now we shall speak of the life which comes to us in Baptism in terms of consecration:
To consecrate means to make sacred, to make holy. Only God can make a being holy. So to speak of our consecration is to speak of God's activity in making us holy, His activity of giving us a share in His own holiness. At Baptism we receive a share in God's life, a share in His holiness. Christ is the Mediator of this grace life. We are baptized into Christ, into His death and resurrection. In Baptism we become holy by sharing in the holiness of Christ. We become consecrated, sealed with the divine holiness. We belong to the Father, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit.
On our part, we must respond to God's consecration of us. We must live out the consecration of Baptism. We must realize what God has done for us in Christ and live according to this awareness. We need to live the life of holiness and grow in it. In other words, we must develop the life of grace, the Christ-life.
What God has done for us in Christ involves Mary. God has given us a Christ-life, our life of grace, and Mary is the Mother of this Christ-life. Consequently, living out our life of consecration to God-living out the Christ-life-includes allowing Mary to increasingly be the Mother of our Christ-life.
Consecration to Mary, therefore, is an aspect of our consecration to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is entrusting ourselves entirely to her maternal love so that she can bring us ever closer to Jesus, so that we can increasingly live out our consecration to God in Christ.
At Fatima, Our Lady asked that we consecrate ourselves to her Immaculate Heart. Mary shows us her heart as a symbol of her love for God and us. She asks us to make a return of love to her, to consecrate ourselves to her, to give ourselves to her completely. She wants us to entrust ourselves to her completely so that she may help us love God and neighbor.
As stated above, consecration to Mary is an aspect of our consecration to God in Christ and she has asked for consecration to her Heart so that she may assist us. Christ, in turn, invites us to live out this consecration to Him through consecration to His Sacred Heart. We see the divine symmetry: consecration to the Immaculate Heart helps us to live out consecration to Christ Who reveals His Heart as symbol of His life of love in all its aspects, including His tremendous love for each of us individually. His Heart also asks for our love in return, a return which ideally is summed up in consecration to Jesus' Heart. Through this consecration we give ourselves completely to Jesus through the Immaculate Heart. In this consecration to Jesus, we promise to strive to live according to His Father's will in all things.8
Our Personal Relationship With Jesus
He hung upon a cross on a hill called Calvary. Death was near. How much Jesus had already suffered! He had been brutally scourged. Much of His sacred body was a bloody, open wound. He had been derisively crowned with thorns. In a terribly weakened condition, He carried the heavy cross to the hill of Golgotha. There He was stripped of His garments and mercilessly nailed to the cross. Try to imagine the excruciating pain Jesus suffered as the nails penetrated His sacred hands and feet! After all this brutal and agonizing suffering-of body and spirit-Jesus finally died.
And He did it all for you! Yes, you can truly say that Jesus did it all for you. I can say that Jesus did it all for me. He suffered and died for the whole human race, but He did it in a way which makes it true to say He also did it for each individual. When He was undergoing all the brutal and horrible suffering, He knew you and He knew me by name. He was loving each of us with the most tender, and tremendous, and unique love! He gave the last drop of His precious blood for you individually and for me individually!
What should be our return to this magnificent Heart of Jesus which gave until there was no more to give? No less than our entire selves. No less than a total consecration to this tremendous Lover, to this magnificent and tender Heart! No less than a day-by-day resolve to strive to live our consecration with the deepest faith, hope, and love. No less than the deepest desire to develop the most intimate, personal relationship with Jesus. The total and the most tender love of Jesus' magnificent Heart for you and for me deserves nothing less!
Mary Our Mother
As Jesus hung upon the cross in His excruciating suffering, He gave Mary to us as our spiritual Mother:
...standing by the cross of Jesus were His Mother, and His Mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His Mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing near, He said to His Mother, 'Woman, behold, your son!' Then He said to the disciple, 'Behold, your Mother!' (Jn 19: 25-26).
Yes, John, the disciple, represented all of us. Jesus, in giving Mary to John as His Mother, was giving her to all of us as our spiritual Mother. We can never thank Jesus sufficiently for this great gift. Mary is your Mother and she is my Mother. Pope John Paul II tells us how Mary is Mother to each of us according to each one's uniqueness:
Of the essence of motherhood is the fact that it concerns the person. Motherhood always establishes a unique and unrepeatable relationship between two people: between mother and child and between child and mother. Even when the same woman is the mother of many children, her personal relationship with each one of them is of the very essence of motherhood...
It can be said that motherhood 'in the order of grace' preserves the analogy with what 'in the order of nature' characterizes the union between mother and child.9
Let us always thank Mary that she is the Mother of each of us according to each one's uniqueness. I can truly say that Mary is my Mother in an unrepeatable way, and you can truly say that she is your Mother in an unrepeatable way. Realizing what a great and unique love Mary has for each of us, what reason could we ever have for not always going to her? What reason could we ever have for not asking her to take us as her beloved children and to hold us close to her maternal and Immaculate Heart where we always experience the love, the warmth, the tenderness of this magnificent Mother?
Mass and the Sacraments
The best way to return love to Jesus is through participation in the Mass. Indeed, the Mass is the chief source for growth in our life of consecration. Everything in the life of the Church-including the sacraments-centers around the Eucharistic Sacrifice.
All the faithful are privileged to be able to enter into the offering of the Mass:
The sacrifice of the Mass, as we well know, makes truly present the sacrifice of Calvary. At His sacrifice on Calvary, Christ was Priest and Victim. We obviously did not offer together with Him. At the Mass, however, Christ, although He is the chief Priest and Victim, does not act alone. Through God's gracious design, at Mass all the members of the Church are priests and victims together with Christ. To be sure, there is a very significant difference between the priesthood of bishops and priests and the priesthood of the faithful. The point we wish to stress, however, is that the universal priesthood, given in Baptism to all the faithful, is a real participation in Christ's priesthood.
Vatican II has stressed this concept of the priesthood of all the Church's members. Speaking of the Mass, the Council says: 'The Church, therefore, earnestly desires that Christ's faithful, when present at this mystery of faith, should not be there as strangers or silent spectators. On the contrary, through a proper appreciation of the rites and prayers, they should participate knowingly, devoutly, and actively. They should be instructed by God's word and be refreshed at the table of the Lord's body; they should give thanks to God; by offering the Immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him, they should learn to offer themselves too. Through Christ the Mediator, they should be drawn, day-by-day, into ever closer union with God and with each other, so that finally God may be all in all.'
During all our Christ-like activities, we are living the Mass. Working, recreating, laughing, weeping, enjoying success but also experiencing failure, enjoying the beauties of nature-through all such activities, we are living the Mass. We are continually offering ourselves in loving conformity to the Father's will. From time to time during the day, we should make a conscious act of uniting ourselves and our activities with the sacrifice of Calvary as it is made present throughout the world through the Mass.
A very precious time during the Mass is, of course, our reception of Jesus in Holy Communion. We should make the most of these special moments. Let's properly thank Jesus for coming to us with His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Let's thank Jesus for the tremendous suffering He experienced in order to be able to give us the Eucharist. As Jesus dwells within us in this precious way at Communion time, the very Heart of Christ-this Heart which is symbol of His great love-dwells within. This Heart cries out for our love in return.
One of the great means God has given us to help prepare ourselves for better participation in the Mass is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Our Lady of Medjugorje asks us to go to Confession at least once a month.
Indeed, we should use all available means to prepare ourselves for a more fruitful participation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. It is a great privilege to be able to be present at, and to participate in, the Mass. We should show Jesus our appreciation for such a great gift by preparing ourselves as best we can, and in this way we will gain the greatest possible benefit from the Mass, both for ourselves and for others.
Included in our devotion to the Eucharist should be our desire to make Eucharistic reparation. One way to do this is to say often the following Fatima prayer: 'Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly. I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifferences by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and (the intercession of) the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of sinners.10
Besides saying the above prayer, there are other acts of Eucharistic reparation we can make. One of these is to be sure we make adequate thanksgiving after Mass. One of the intentions we should have at this time is to help make reparation for the lack of proper thanksgiving on the part of many. Pope Pius XII speaks about the duty of spending the proper time in thanksgiving:
When at Mass, which is subject to special rules of the liturgy, is over, the person who has received Holy Communion is not thereby freed from his duty of thanksgiving; rather, it is most becoming that, when the Mass is finished, the person who has received the Eucharist should recollect himself and, in intimate union with the Divine Master, hold loving and fruitful converse with Him. Hence they have departed from the straight way of truth who, adhering to the letter rather than the sense, assert and teach that, when Mass has ended, no such thanksgiving should be added, not only because the Mass is itself a thanksgiving, but also because this pertains to a private and personal act of piety and not to the good of the community.11
Life in the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is given to us to transform us in the likeness of Christ. This is an ongoing process. Here is a message of Jesus which speaks to the issue:
My beloved friend, tell My people to pray daily to the Holy Spirit. They are to pray for an increase in His gifts. My people must realize that the Holy Spirit comes to transform them. The Spirit desires to transform you more and more according to My image. Those who are docile to His touch become increasingly shaped in my likeness. He performs this marvel within My Mother's Heart. The more one dwells in My Mother's Heart, the more active are the workings of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit leads Mary to place you within My Heart. In both of Our Hearts, then, your transformation continues. The more you are formed after My own Heart, the more I lead you to the bosom of My Father. Tell My people all this. Tell them to pray daily for a greater appreciation of these wondrous gifts. I am Lord and Master! All who come to My Heart will be on fire to receive the gifts of the Spirit in ever greater measure! I love and bless My people! (Message of Jesus given to Father Carter).12
Life Within the Church
God calls us to live Christian existence, the spiritual life, within the Church-the Church which Christ has established. This Church is a many splendored reality. It has many different names, images and dimensions that variously attest to and manifest this multifaceted richness. All of them, however, speak of the one, same reality. Here is a message of Jesus which speaks of His Church:
My beloved priest-companion, remind My people that the Church was born from My Heart, pierced with the soldier's lance on Calvary. From My pierced Heart the Church and her sacraments were born. Two of these sacraments, the Eucharist and Baptism, were symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from My pierced side.
As the Church was born from My pierced Heart, so does the Church's life grow from the graces I continually give to her from My pierced Heart, this Heart which is now glorified.
I call all the members of My Church to help build up My Body, the Church, by coming to My pierced Heart. United to My Heart and dwelling within It, I will give to each the light and strength to carry out My Father's will in the building up of My Church.
Mary is Mother and Model of the Church. As Mother of the Church, she intercedes for all the graces the members need to contribute to the building up of My Church. As Model of the Church, as perfect imitator of Me, she shows the children of the Church how all, individually and collectively, are to be increasingly formed in My image. As all come to My Heart for the building up of My Church, let them do so united in the Heart of Mary.
My Church is experiencing critical and difficult times. There are many divisions within My Church. There are many false teachings, including some put forth by certain theologians. These false teachings occur because those responsible for such are not in proper union with My vicar, the Pope, and the Church's Magisterium. I want all My children to pray daily for the cure of the many and serious ills of the Church. With the increase of prayers and sacrifices for the health of the Church, that day will soon come when the Church will be purified and revitalized. When that day comes, the renewed Church will be characterized by the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. Thus the message of Fatima will have reached its completion.
I am Lord and Master. I request that all My people listen to My words and respond to them. I love My people with a tremendous love and, in this great love, I give them this message! (Message from Jesus given to Fr. Carter).13
The Spiritual Life and the Christian Virtues
The life of sanctifying grace expresses itself through the various Christian virtues. Let us take a brief look at this life:
The Persons of the Blessed Trinity have communicated Themselves to us in lavish love. When a person is in the state of grace, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dwell within that person in an extraordinary fashion.
Such is the intimacy of this Trinitarian communication that the Persons of the Trinity imprint Their image upon us. This image is our life of grace, our created participation in the life of the Trinity. We receive this life at Baptism, and our privilege and responsibility are to develop it as fully as possible during our earthly journey before experiencing its culmination in eternal life.
"Because Christ in His humanity is Mediator of our life of grace, it possesses not only a Trinitarian dimension, but a Christic aspect as well. We can readily understand, then, why our grace-life is very appropriately also called the Christ-life.
Our Christ-life is centered in faith and love. Christian faith gives us an extraordinary capacity to know realities about God and the things of God. The virtue of Christian love allows us to accompany this faith-knowledge with an appropriate love-response. Christian hope is the chief support of faith and love. Finally, all the other Christian virtues are variously connected with these three main Christian capacities.14
We hear much about faith and love, the two main Christian virtues. However, hope is also extremely important. One of the aspects of the virtue of hope is trust. Let's listen to a message of Jesus regarding trust:
My beloved priest-companion, tell my people to trust Me unreservedly. I am Lord and Master. I am God. So many fail to trust Me as they should. I love all My people much more than they love themselves! The great love I have for each person should encourage all to trust Me! The more you realize how much a friend loves you, the more you place your trust in that person. I am your perfect Friend. I love you much, much more than your best earthly friend! Tell My people to trust Me completely. Tell them to say often, 'Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You.' (Message of Jesus as given to Father Carter).15
Prayer
Here is a message from Mary on prayer. She tells us of the great importance of prayer regarding the spiritual life:
My beloved priest-son, many times I have taught you the great importance of prayer. I have obtained for you the grace so that you love to pray, not only during your set periods of prayer, but also during the day in a way which permits you to perform your daily duties. I have taught you to always be aware that all prayer should be made in union with the Mass. Indeed, the Eucharistic sacrifice is itself the greatest prayer. All other prayer should be consciously united with the Mass which is constantly being offered throughout the world. I have taught you the great importance of praying before the tabernacle. My Son is present there in the Eucharist-Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Special graces are given to those who pray before the tabernacle.
There is much to pray for in these most critical times. The Church and the world exist in most difficult times. I desire that all my children pray daily for all the needs of the Church and the world. I ask for special prayer for the conversion of sinners.
I ask that my children pray the rosary each day. Very special graces are given to those who do so. During these days of great purification, I promise special protection to those who regularly pray the rosary. I also promise protection to their loved ones.
Whatever form of prayer my children use, it should always be made in union with my Immaculate Heart. The more my children are united to me, the more I lead them to make their prayer in the Heart of my Son, Jesus. He, in turn, places all prayers in the bosom of the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
My dear son, keep reminding all my little ones of the great importance of prayer for their own needs and the needs of all others. Keep telling them of the great necessity of prayer for growth in love of God and neighbor. I love all my children with the most tender love. I desire that all listen to my words and live them in their daily lives! (Message of Mary as given to Father Carter).16
The Cross Leads to Life
Our incorporation into Christ at Baptism, and the gradual nurturing in that life, is centered in the pattern of death-resurrection. Indeed, the theme of death-resurrection is at the heart of salvation history. Let us briefly consider its place in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, and in our own lives, always remembering that any form of death-that is, any form of suffering-is meant to lead to greater life, greater peace, greater happiness.
The theme of death-resurrection is at the heart of Old Testament history. The Jewish people, under the leadership of Moses, experienced death-resurrection as they were formed into the people of the covenant, God's people. In the great Exodus event, they escaped Egyptian slavery, went on to Mt. Sinai where the covenant was ratified, and then progressed to the Promised Land. As members of the Mosaic covenant, as God's people, the Jews experienced religious transition. They passed over to a higher level of religious existence, to a more intimate union with God.
This religious transition contained death-resurrection. For the Jews to become people of the covenant, to remain so, and to grow in the life of the covenant, it was necessary that they undergo a mystical or spiritual death. In short, the Jewish people had to be willing to bear that which was difficult in covenant life. They had to be willing to die to that which was not according to God's will. This mystical death, however, had a very positive purpose. It was directed at life in the covenant and at growth in that life. This spiritual death, in other words, was aimed at resurrection.
Christ perfectly fulfilled the Old Testament theme of death-resurrection. In doing so, He, too, was experiencing a religious transition. He was passing over-gradually at first, then definitively in His death-to a new kind of existence, to the life of His resurrection, which He achieved not only for Himself, but for the entire human race. To achieve this newness of life, Jesus was willing to pay the price. Jesus was willing to suffer, even unto death. That it had to be that way, that the only way Christ could have achieved resurrection was through suffering and death, was pointed out by Jesus Himself to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His Glory?" (Lk 24: 25-26).
Christ has structured the Christian life by the way He lived, died, and rose from the dead. It is obvious, then, that the pattern of death-resurrection must be at the heart of the Church's life. Individually and collectively, we continually die with Christ so that we may continually rise with Him. Thus we pass over, in a process of continued religious transition, to a greater participation in Jesus' resurrection. It is true that our participation in Jesus' resurrection will reach its completion only in eternal life. Nevertheless, we begin the life of resurrection here on earth, in the here and now of human life, in the midst of joy and pain, in the experience of success and failure, in the sweat of our brow, in the enjoyment of all of God's gifts. As Christians, we should have a sense of growth concerning our here-and-now life of resurrection. Some seem to have a rather static view of the Christian life. They do not seem to have a vital and efficacious realization that the spiritual life, centered in death-resurrection, should become more conscious, more experiential, more dynamically relative to daily existence.
We cannot maintain the life of resurrection-our newness of life in Christ-without a willingness to suffer, a willingness to follow Jesus in the carrying of the cross. This does not mean that we need to feel overwhelmed and heavily burdened by the suffering in our lives. The greater portion of suffering for most Christians seems to be an accumulation of ordinary hardships, difficulties, and pains. At times, however, deep suffering, even suffering of agonizing proportions, can enter one's life. Whether our sufferings are of either the ordinary variety or the extreme and rare type, we must convince ourselves that to properly relate to the cross is to grow in resurrection. And to grow in resurrection ourselves means that we have an increased capacity to help give resurrection to others.
The pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary are the great symbols reminding us that to love God and neighbor requires a willingness to suffer. How much Jesus and Mary suffered for love of you and me! Our consecration to Their Hearts includes a willingness to carry the cross, not as an end in itself, but as a means to greater life. As we bear the cross in loving conformity to the Father's will, we grow in the Christ-life. With Mary at our side we come closer to Christ. Jesus, in turn, leads us closer to the Father in the Holy Spirit. And as we ourselves grow in the Christ-life, we become more apt instruments in helping to channel this life to others. Yes, the cross of Christ always points to life!
Relationships with Others and the World-at-large
The true Christian is imbued with a proper consciousness of others. That is to say, the true Christian is keenly aware that a great part of God's plan for us tells us that we must, according to His will, relate in various ways to our fellow human beings. Indeed, the Christian imperative tells us that we are to walk life's path, not in isolation, but hand in hand with our brothers and sisters of the human family.
To relate to others according to God's will, we must be properly aware of who they really are. We must, in short, be able to go beneath surface appearances, which may or may not be appealing to us, and contact others in their core existence. When we are truly in touch with others at the core of their beings, we are aware of their awesome dignity. We are conscious that these persons are created and redeemed by God's love. We are conscious that our merciful and loving Jesus shed His last drop of blood for each of them, that His Heart was pierced on the cross because He loved each of them without measure! We are conscious that this magnificent, pierced Heart, now in Its glorified state, still beats with the most special love for each individual upon this earth. Realizing all this, and doing so consistently, gives us the basis and the motivation to try to relate to all-both those we directly contact and those billions we never physically meet-with the greatest love.
In order to be in touch with the inner self of others, we must be aware of, or in touch with, our own true self. This awareness is a realization that our self is likewise made in the image of God, that we have been redeemed by Christ, and that we can only find true happiness through the constant effort to grow in love of God and neighbor. Here, then, we can see the profound interaction among the three awarenesses and loves-awareness and love of God, neighbor, and self. As Christians, consequently, we should have a maturing sense of how our existence is, in varied ways, profoundly linked with the existence of others. Again, this feeling of union with others is not limited to those we directly meet, but, in various ways, is directed to all members of the human family.
The world in which we live is an amazing mixture of that which is good and beautiful and brilliant and that which is sinful and ugly and dreadful. We have the privilege and responsibility of shaping this contemporary world according to its Christological imprint. Jesus put this image of Himself upon the world order by the way He lived and died and rose. We have to help in directing our fellow humans and their values along the path which has been made by the footprints of Jesus of Nazareth-a task that is not always easy. There are so many forces in today's world that work against Christ, His message, and the order He came to establish! But are we going to allow the forces of evil to discourage us from doing all we possibly can to make this a better world according to the designs of Christ? Jesus paid a terrible price to redeem the world. His Heart, which was pierced on the cross for our redemption, cries out to us in His great love for us. He asks us to do our part in helping make the world better reflect His image. In response to the great love which the Heart of Jesus has for each of us, let us, in union with Mary our Mother, often ask ourselves, "What have I done for Christ, what am I now doing for Christ, what am I going to do for Christ?"
Devotion to St. Joseph, Other Saints and the Angels
St. Joseph is Patron of the Universal Church. His power of intercession is indeed great. Joseph, while on earth, enjoyed extraordinary closeness to Jesus and Mary. And His union with them in heaven is even greater. Let us each day pray to St. Joseph to obtain for us the grace to come ever closer to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
We should also pray to the other saints in heaven, especially our favorite saints. The saints are members of the Church triumphant. We should also pray for the souls in purgatory and to them (they can help us). The souls in purgatory are members of the Church suffering. We, who are members of the Church militant here on earth, make up one Church with the saints in heaven and the souls in purgatory. We should be aware of the common bond which unites us in Christ.
We should also pray to the angels for help, especially to the archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, and to our own guardian angels.
Summary
We have given a proposed way of spiritual life for members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. All aspects of this way of life center in the living out of the act of consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Making and living out this consecration is our return of love to Jesus and Mary and, through them, our return of love to the Father and the Holy Spirit. Indeed, our consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary is also consecration to the Father and the Holy Spirit. We should always remember that our consecration to the Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart is the way according to which Jesus and Mary invite us to live out our baptismal consecration, the consecration which originally made us belong to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let us always remember that we go to the Father through Christ, in the Holy Spirit, with Mary our Mother at our side.
We strongly encourage members of Shepherds of Christ Associates to reread regularly all of the above in a prayerful manner. This will provide an ongoing aid to help members grow in their consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
end of Spirituality Handbook
Scripture texts are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd. and Doubleday Company.
Table of Contents
Introduction
In recent years there have been reports from all over the world regarding alleged visionaries and locutionists. One question which immediately comes to mind is, "Why would there be such a great number of visionaries and locutionists supposedly receiving private revelations at the same time?"
I myself asked this question about two years ago when I was doing research regarding the writing of a book about our Blessed Mother. Initially, I myself was quite skeptical concerning the great number of persons allegedly receiving private revelations. However, the more research I did, the more convinced I became that many of the messages being received by the reported visionaries and locutionists could be authentic.
We apparently are living in one of the most critical periods of human history, and many of the messages, in one way or another, bring out how a great number of people have seriously strayed from God. Never before has there been such alienation from God. Has there ever been a time in the history of the human race when sin was so widespread?
I am convinced that God, in His great love and mercy, is going to extraordinary lengths to try to wake up the multitudes concerning the seriousness of the situation. This, to me, explains why there are so many claimed visionaries and locutionists in these our times.
We can say, in summary fashion, that the messages they are delivering have to do with the call to conversion. The messages are addressed to two basic kinds of people. The messages are calling back to God those who have seriously wandered from the path which leads to eternal life. In reference to those who are in a basically good relationship with God, the messages are calling for an ongoing conversion--to a deeper relationship with God.
I think at this point it is beneficial to say a few words about the different kinds of visions and locutions (messages). I quote here from Fr. Joseph de Guibert, S.J., one of the most eminent mystical theologians of this century:
A distinction is made between corporeal, imaginative, and intellectual visions. This distinction can also be applied to locutions. In corporeal visions and locutions there is a real perception by the external senses; the person who is seen or heard may be really present, or (in corporeal visions) the body which appears may be formed in the air, or a change may be affected at the moment the light-rays impinge on the eye, or (in corporeal locutions) a real acoustical vibration may be produced in the ears. In imaginative visions and locutions there is no perception by the external senses but, rather, a Divine action on the imagination or the internal senses. . . . In intellectual visions and locutions the Divine action directly affects the intellect (from The Theology of the Spiritual Life, pp. 355-356).
Often, a visionary receives a locution (message) together with an apparition or vision. However, a vision can be received with no accompanying locution. A locutionist is usually understood to be a person who receives messages without an accompanying external vision. Still, a locutionist often does experience an internal type of vision when receiving messages.
In the history of the Church there obviously have been those who claimed to be visionaries and locutionists who, in reality, were not having authentic mystical experiences. This reminds us that we must have a set of criteria at hand which helps us to discern whether or not the messages coming forth from reported visionaries and locutionists are authentic or not. There are specific guidelines which mystical theologians have traditionally employed to help discern the authenticity, or lack thereof, of alleged private revelations.
First, one must look to the credibility of the alleged visionary or locutionist. Does the person seem to be well balanced mentally and emotionally? Is the person generally known to be a truthful person? Second, is there anything against faith or morals in the alleged visions or messages? Third, what fruits are being produced by the alleged visions and locutions? Are they helping to bring people closer to God? Jesus tells us in the Gospel: ". . . a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit. A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit" (Matthew 7:17-18). Fourth, at times external signs are given by God to help confirm the authenticity of visions and locutions. It is appropriate to look for these, although if they are absent one cannot conclude that a particular alleged vision or locution is not authentic.
If the first three of the above criteria can be favorably attested to, a person can prudently give consideration to the authenticity of the particular visions and locutions involved, while always being willing to submit to the final judgment of the Church in the matter.
I myself began receiving locutions on a regular basis in the summer of 1993. For a number of months, these were given to me for my own spiritual development and guidance in my ministry. On Holy Saturday, 1994, Jesus told me that on the following day, Easter, I would also begin to receive messages for others. Our Lord also told me that some of these were eventually to be published in a book--and here is that book.
I humbly make the following statement: I recognize and accept that the final authority regarding private revelations rests with the Holy See of Rome, to whose judgment I willingly submit.
Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J
Professor of Theology
Xavier University
Cincinnati, Ohio
"What I say to you in the dark, tell in the day-
light; what you hear in whispers, proclaim
from the housetops." (Matthew 10:27)
Jesus Has Come to Give Us Life
Jesus: "This is the day celebrating My Resurrection (Easter). The day of newness of life. I am Lord and Master. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Tell My people to come to Me if they wish to experience life in abundance. I want to give all an ever greater share in the life of My Resurrection. Without Me you cannot be happy, nor have peace, nor have real joy. Tell My people to surrender to Me more and more. The more they do so, the more they will experience My love, wisdom, power, peace, joy, happiness, mercy, and goodness. Within My Heart My people will find these riches. I am Lord and Master! Please listen to My words."
Reflection: Through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus has come to give us life, and to give us this life in abundance.
When we were baptized, we were incorporated into Christ and His Church. When we were baptized, we received the life of sanctifying grace. This life is a created sharing in the life of the Trinity. Truly, we are called to live a God-like existence according to the teaching and example of Jesus! It is our duty and our privilege to develop our life of grace—our Christ-life—through our participation in the Mass, through the reception of the sacraments, through prayer, and through all other good works. Indeed, we are called to love God and neighbor more and more.
What a glorious life has been given to us! In a spirit of thanksgiving, and together with Mary our Mother, let us always strive to know Christ more intimately, to love Him more ardently, and to follow Him more closely, so that He will always bring us to a closer union with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
Call of the Sacred Heart
Jesus: "Tell My People that I wish them to come to My Sacred Heart. I show My Heart as symbol of My great love for My people. So many, however, are cold and indifferent concerning My love for them. Consider all I have done for My people! I suffered a brutal passion and death for them. My Body was unmercifully scourged, My head cruelly crowned with thorns, My hands and feet mercilessly pierced with nails. Oh, how much I suffered in all this—out of love for My Father and the whole human race! Finally, My Heart was pierced with the soldier's lance. From My pierced Heart flowed forth blood and water, symbols of the Eucharist and Baptism. How much My pierced Heart still loves My people! How I long for each to come to My Heart in a return of love! All who do will experience My love in a special way. All who take up their refuge within My Heart will experience love, security, peace, joy. The world cannot give My people these gifts. I, Who am Lord and Master, am the One Who gives these gifts."
Reflection: Jesus tells us how much He loves us and to what lengths He went in His passion and death to show us this great love, this love symbolized by His Heart.
To meditate often upon the passion and death of Christ is to allow His love to more and more take hold of us. The more we allow Jesus to embrace us with His tremendous love for us, the more He draws us within His pierced Heart. Within this Heart is our refuge. Here is our source of enlightenment, of strength, of peace, joy, and happiness.
Trust in Jesus
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, tell My people to trust Me unreservedly. I am Lord and Master. I am their God. So many fail to trust Me as they should. I love all My people much, much more than they love themselves. This great love of Mine should encourage the greatest trust. The more you realize how much a friend loves you, the more you place your trust in the friend. I am your perfect Friend! I love you infinitely more than your best earthly friend. Tell My people to give Me their trust. Tell them to say often, 'Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You.' I am Lord and Master. Please do as I request."
Reflection: How can we fail to trust Jesus, this Jesus Who has given His life for each of us? During His passion, He knew each of us by name. Today, He calls each of us, by name, to the refuge of His Sacred Heart. Today, He calls each of us, by name, to a greater trust in His Heart.
Mary Our Mother
Jesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people to come to My Mother. From the cross, as I was suffering indescribable agony, I gave Mary as spiritual Mother to the world. My great love for My people prompted Me to do this. I am Lord and Master, and I want My people to come to My Mother and their Mother. If you wish to be close to Me, come to Mary. Consecrate yourselves to her. In this way you will grow into the closest union with Me. Through her Immaculate Heart, you will be drawn more and more into My own Heart. It is My desire that you allow My Mother to place you within My Heart which loves you with an unfathomable love! This is My wish—that you come to Me enfolded by Mary's mantle, cradled in her arms, pressed against her Heart."
Reflection: It is God's will that we approach Jesus in union with Mary. Enough said!
Being Loved by Jesus
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, I have given you a special experience of what it means to be loved by Me. I have drawn you, through Mary, deeply within My Heart. There you experience a deep peace, joy, and security—all this results from your realizing how much I love you! Tell My people about My great love! Tell them I desire that they come to My Heart. There they will experience the wonders that only My Heart can give. I am Lord and Master. I desire that all listen to My words."
Reflection: We know what a glowing feeling it is to realize that we are loved by a human person--by a friend or by a spouse, for example. Jesus loves us much, much more than any such person can possibly love us! Why don't we, then, allow ourselves constantly to be immersed in the joy which results from realizing how much Jesus loves us?
On Being Thankful
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, because I love you with a very special love, I have showered you with great gifts. You have cried out to Me in joy. You have told Me how thankful you are for My many special favors. Allowing you to be so thankful is itself a gift I give you. Tell My people that I want them to thank Me every day for all the gifts I have given and continue to give them. Tell them I want them to give themselves to Mary. In her company I want them to approach My Sacred Heart each day. Here I will give them ever greater gifts.
"How much I love My people! How much I long to shower them with My love-laden gifts! Sadly, many do not want to receive My gifts. Those who do, let them come to My Heart, and they will be amazed at what I will do for them! My Heart is an inexhaustible source of graces. Please, My people, I long for you to come and draw from its riches! I am Lord and Master. Please do as I request."
Reflection: Giving thanks to God for all His gifts is one of our great duties as children of God. We should be continually offering thanks to God for all the gifts He has given us and continues to give us through the Heart of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit
Jesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people to pray daily to the Holy Spirit. They are to pray for an increase in His gifts. My people must realize that the Holy Spirit comes to transform them. The Spirit desires to transform you more and more according to My image. Those who are docile to His touch become increasingly shaped in My likeness. He performs this marvel within Mary's Immaculate Heart. The more one dwells in My Mother's Heart, the more active are the workings of the Spirit. The Spirit leads Mary to place you within My own Heart. In both Our Hearts, then, your transformation continues. The more you are formed after My own Heart, the more I lead you to the bosom of My Father. Tell My people all this. Tell them to pray daily for a greater appreciation of these wondrous gifts. I am Lord and Master. All who come to My Heart will be on fire to receive the gifts of the Spirit in ever greater measure! I love and bless My people!"
Reflection: The Holy Spirit is given to us to fashion us ever more according to the likeness of Jesus. And the more we are like Jesus, the more Jesus leads us to the Father. Do we, each day, pray to the Holy Spirit to be more open to His transforming influence? Do we strive each day to grow in union with Mary? The greater our union with our Mother, the spouse of the Holy Spirit, the greater is the transforming action of the Holy Spirit within us.
Prayer
Jesus: My beloved companion, tell My people about the great importance of prayer. Prayer plays an indispensable role in the process of sanctification and ultimate salvation. Let My little ones come to Me daily in prayer. I especially want My people to pray before the tabernacle. When they do so, I give them special graces. The prayer of My people should be filled with love for Me, My Father, the Holy Spirit, and My Mother. Pressed against their Mother's heart, and under her guidance, let My people come to My Sacred Heart. Each day they should take up their refuge in My Heart, and there enter into the deepest prayer. They should put all worries and anxieties aside and pray from the heart. I take their prayer to the Father in the Holy Spirit. My people, I want you to pray, pray, pray! During prayer I make you especially aware of My great love for you. During prayer I ask for your return of love. During prayer I especially allow you to experience peace and joy. The crosses you bear are no obstacle to this. In fact, when you bear your crosses properly—that is, according to My Father's will—you experience increased peace and joy. My people, listen to My words. I am Lord and Master. I love you with the most tender love!"
Reflection: In the above message, Jesus reminds us of the great importance of prayer. Our greatest prayer is our participation in the Mass. Outside the time of Mass, Jesus tells us how important it is to pray before the tabernacle. The practice of prayer is extremely important for ongoing growth in our love relationship with Jesus, the Father, the Holy Spirit, and with Mary. It is also critical for our growth in love of neighbor.
Images of the Hearts
of Jesus and MaryJesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people that I desire them to have pictures or statues of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart in their homes. This will greatly help them to give honor to Our Hearts. All My churches and chapels should also have these images. I will bestow great blessings on all those who heed My request. I am your Lord and Master. Please do as I ask."
Reflection: We all know the role pictures of loved ones play in maintaining and developing our relationships with these people. Is it strange, then, that Jesus makes the above request?
Age of the Two Hearts
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, I have allowed you to experience in extraordinary fashion the riches contained in My Heart and My Mother's Heart. I desire that you tell all My people about these riches. I desire that My people consecrate themselves to My Sacred Heart and to Mary's Immaculate Heart. My people are living in the beginnings of the age of the Two Hearts.
"After the time of the purification is completed, this new era of the Church and the world will become firmly established. This era will be characterized by the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. All those who consecrate themselves to My Heart and to My Mother's Heart will help to establish this glorious new age. I am Lord and Master. Please listen to My urgent request. Within Our Hearts you will experience the love and security, the peace and the joy, which you all desire. I love My people with a tremendous love, and in My love I give them this message!"
Reflection: This is the Age of the Two Hearts! The surest road to sanctity in these our times is through consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. In making this consecration, and striving with God's grace to live it as best we can each day, we are contributing to the establishment of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and to the arrival of the reign of the Sacred Heart.
The Joy of Christ
Jesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people that I am a God of joy. I have come so that My people's joy may be complete. So many of My people seek for joy in the wrong places. So many seek their joy and happiness in material things. Joy can spring from material things only when they are used according to My Father's will. Many use material things against My Father's will. Come to My Heart, My people. Come to My Heart in union with your Mother Mary. She will place you within My Heart, and we will teach you the secret of joy. We will show you that joy is meant to be yours at all times-even in the deepest suffering.
"Come to Me, My people. I am your Lord and Master! I am all-powerful! When I say I will give you joy in abundance, I have the means to fulfill My promise. But you must come to My Heart, and you must trust Me. I ask for your total trust. The more you trust Me, the more you will be filled with My joy!"
Reflection: In the Litany of the Blessed Virgin we say, "Cause of our joy, pray for us." Mary is cause of our joy, because, under God, she gives us Jesus, the Source of all joy. Mary is cause of our ever-increasing joy, because she always unites us—if we allow her—more intimately to the Heart of Jesus. And as Jesus tells us above, within His Heart, He and Mary teach us the secret of joy.
The Peace of Christ
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, tell My beloved people that I am the Divine Giver of peace. I want so much to give My people an even greater sense of peace, but many refuse My offer! They think they know their own way to peace and happiness—a way which is not My way. The further they stray from Me, the more restless they become, and the less true peace they have. My way is the only way to peace.
"My people, come each day to My Sacred Heart. Let Mary lead you to My Heart. The more you dwell within My Heart, the more peace will be yours. I am Lord and Master. Please listen to My words! Do not seek your peace and consolation in worldly pursuits. Come within My Heart, and you will be filled with the peace you so much crave. I will press you to My Sacred Heart. I will tell you how much I love you! The more you realize this love, the more My peace will possess your soul!"
Reflection: The chief fruit of love is peace. The more we open ourselves to the burning love of Jesus' Heart, and respond by loving God and neighbor more and more, the more peace we experience.
The Two Hearts and the Mass
Jesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people that they are living in the Age of the Two Hearts—that of My Heart and My Mother's heart. My people live in the initial stages of this great era. I call all My people to take up their refuge in My Heart and My Mother's heart. In Our Hearts they will become more and more transformed into My likeness.
"The greatest source for growth in devotion to Our Hearts is the Eucharist. I wish My people to attend Mass often, daily if possible. What a great gift I have given to My people in the Eucharist! Yet many of My people are indifferent to the treasures contained in the Mass. Think of it! My people are privileged to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass together with Me! And yet how many prefer to do other things rather than attend Mass. How this attitude offends My Sacred Heart!
"I long for My people to participate in the Mass and to receive Me worthily! Think of it! I, Who am your God, long to come to you each day! In the Eucharist I come to you in My Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Present within you, I long to take you close to My Sacred Heart, this Heart which is truly within you. The more you allow Me to do so, the more closely I press you to this Heart. I shower you with its riches. I abundantly give you great graces which increasingly form you in My likeness.
"I am Lord and Master! Please listen to My words. Pray, pray for a deeper understanding of the Mass. In union with Mary, approach Me daily in the Eucharist. I, your God, long to come to you. How much do you long to receive Me?"
Reflection: Everything in the life of the Church, and in the Christian lives of each of us individually, is centered in the Mass. Vatican II, in a few words, makes a powerful statement concerning the Church's Liturgy--at the center of which is the Eucharistic Sacrifice: ". . .in the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the fountain from which all her power flows" [The Documents of Vatican II, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, No.10 (American Press edition)].
The Riches of the Immaculate Heart
Mary: "My beloved priest-son, how often I have pressed you to my maternal and Immaculate Heart in the greatest love! How often I allow you to taste the sweetness of this Heart. How often I make you aware that my Heart is your refuge where you feel so much loved, where you feel so secure, where you feel bathed in peace! I desire that you tell all the people about the riches contained in my Immaculate Heart. Tell my people to come to my Heart each day. I will caress them with my maternal love. I will lead them ever closer to the Sacred Heart of my Son. I will tell them to listen to Jesus. I will remind them that He is their Lord and Master. I will remind them to do whatever He tells them to do.
"Yes, my dearly beloved son, tell my people all these things. Keep reminding them of my great love for them. Keep reminding them how I love to draw them to my maternal and Immaculate Heart!"
Reflection: Is there anyone who, listening to these words of Mary, does not long for a closer union with the loving Heart of our Mother?
The Tears and Sorrows of Mary
Mary: "My beloved priest-son, I have given you a great devotion to my sorrows and tears. Tell my people about this devotion. Tell them I promise great blessings to all who say seven Hail Marys each day in honor of my tears and seven sorrows. Included in my promise is that of granting special assistance at the hour of death. At this moment, all who practice this devotion will see my face."
Reflection: Listed below are the seven sorrows of Mary. Let us each day recall these sorrows as we pray the seven Hail Marys as Our Lady requests.
- The prophecy of Simeon.
- The Flight into Egypt.
- The loss of Jesus in the Temple.
- Jesus and Mary meet during the way of the cross.
- Mary witnesses the crucifixion of her Son.
- Jesus is taken down from the cross and laid in Mary's arms.
- The burial of Jesus.
Children of Mary
Mary: "My beloved priest-son, how often I have embraced you! How often I have told you how much I love you! How often, at your request, I have held you in my arms as my child. You have told me you realize how helpless you are of yourself, but how strong and secure you feel dwelling in my heart and Jesus' Heart. Your sense of your littleness and helplessness endears you to me all the more. I take you ever more securely to my maternal and Immaculate Heart. Tell all my people of the riches you have found within my heart. Tell them how I place you within my Son's Heart. Tell them that, because of my motherly action, you are now more closely united with Jesus than ever before. Tell my people to come to my heart and draw forth similar riches. Tell all my little ones that Jesus, Who is Lord and Master, bids me to lead all to His Sacred Heart. The more my little ones dwell within my Immaculate Heart, the more I place them within Jesus' Heart. Oh, how I love all my little ones! How I love to bring them to the Heart of Jesus!"
Reflection: Again, let us remind ourselves that we live in the Age of the Two Hearts. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are inseparable. The more we dwell in Mary's heart, the more she places us within Jesus' Heart. Within these Two Hearts, the Holy Spirit fashions us more and more in the likeness of Christ, and the more we become like Christ, the more closely He unites us to the Father.
The Eucharist
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, tell My people how I long for them to come to Me in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the great Sacrament of My love for My people. So many are indifferent to My Eucharistic presence. So many have no real desire to receive Me in the Eucharist. So many have no desire to visit Me in the Blessed Sacrament. How I long for My people to come before the tabernacle and to talk with Me!
"I am offended, many times seriously, by all the outrages, sacrileges, and indifferences committed against My Eucharistic presence. I ask My people to make reparation for all this. I especially ask that they often say the prayer of Eucharistic reparation given by the angel to the three Fatima visionaries.
"I am Lord and Master. Please do as I request. My Eucharistic Heart is beating with unfathomable love for My people! Let them come to My Sacred Heart. How I long to take My people to My Heart and shower them with Its abundant graces! I love My people with a tremendous love, and I give them this message with the greatest love!"
Reflection: Pope John Paul II has often expressed his belief in the importance of Fatima. It also appears that the Fatima prayer of Eucharistic reparation is meant in a most special way for the present times
Reparation for Sin
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, tell My people that the ugly face of sin covers the earth as never before in the history of the human race. My image, which should shine forth brilliantly over the whole earth, is seriously marred by the hideousness of sin. My Father's justice demands reparation. Tell My people to offer their actions in reparation for all the sins whereby the Triune God is so much offended. My Heart cries out for reparation, especially for sins committed against My Eucharistic presence. My Heart hates sin, but loves the sinner. All who are sorry for their sins will find in My Heart overflowing graces of mercy.
"My people should receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation often, even if they have no serious sins to confess. The graces of this Sacrament give powerful graces for the fight against temptation. I am Lord and Master. Please do as I request!"
Reflection: In our determination to avoid sin, let us often recall the terrible sufferings which sin caused Our Loving Savior: the cruel crowning with thorns, the tearing of His sacred flesh by the soldiers' merciless scourging, the heartless hammering of nails through His sacred hands and feet, and all the rest. Who can prayerfully look upon the suffering Christ and not be repulsed by the hideousness of sin?
Consecration to the Hearts
of Jesus and MaryJesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people that I desire all to consecrate themselves to My Sacred Heart and to Mary's Immaculate Heart. Tell them not to just recite words in making the act of consecration, but to realize what they are saying. Consecration to Our Hearts means a total gift of self. It means handing over everything to Me and to My Mother. Consecration means a willingness to surrender completely to Me. In Baptism one is consecrated to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But how many fail to live out their consecration! I extend to all the invitation to renew this baptismal consecration through consecration to My Heart and to My Mother's Heart.
"My beloved companion, I have taught you what this consecration means. I have given you great peace, joy, and happiness because you have made this consecration. I have taught you that you are to renew this act of consecration each day, I constantly remind you that you are to pray each day for the grace to more and more live the consecration. I have taught you that your consecration to Me and My Mother means that you constantly surrender yourself to Us and to Our care. I have taught you that the more you surrender yourself to Me, the more I live in you and through you and for you. I have taught you that My great love for you longs to draw you more deeply into My Heart. I have shown you that I wish your Mother Mary to place you there within My Heart, and that the more you dwell within her heart, the more deeply she places you within My Heart. Dwelling within Our Hearts, the Holy Spirit fashions you more and more in My likeness. The Father thus looks upon you with greater favor and takes you more closely to Himself. Tell My people all these wondrous truths. I am Lord and Master, and I desire all to listen to My words!"
Reflection: In the above message, Jesus describes what is involved in living our consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. What beautiful truths He puts before us! We know that the living out of our consecration is not always easy. Sometimes it is very difficult. At all times, and especially in most difficult times, we should remind ourselves how much Jesus and Mary love us, and that living out our consecration is our "thank you," our return of love.
Mary, Model and Teacher of Love
Mary: "My beloved priest-son, I have led you to greatly increase your prayers and sacrifices for others. I have often reminded you of my teaching at Fatima—that many souls go to Hell because they have no one to pray and make sacrifices for them. My Immaculate Heart longs that all my little ones be saved. Tell my little ones that they must love their neighbor through prayer, sacrifices, and other ways, too. All should learn from me. My Heart is symbol, not only of my great love for God, but also of my tender love for all my little ones. Imitate my love for God and all my children. If you love Jesus and me, this means you also love all of God's children. Jesus died for all. You cannot exclude anyone from your love.
"My Heart is the perfect imitator of the Heart of my Son. I will teach you how to love the Father and all mankind after the example of Jesus. All my little ones, I long for you to come to my Heart so I can teach you the ways of love! I love you so much! Come to my Immaculate Heart. Pressed against my Heart, I will hold you in my arms. I will clothe you with my motherly and protective mantle. As I hold you close to my Heart, I will teach you the ways of love!"
Reflection: In the above message, our dear mother tenderly reminds us that the following of Jesus is summed up in love of God and neighbor.
"What I say to you in the dark, tell in the day-
light; what you hear in whispers, proclaim
from the housetops." (Matthew 10:27)The Two Hearts and Sanctity
Jesus: "My beloved priest companion, I and My Mother have given you a consuming desire to spread devotion to Our Hearts. Tell My people about the great riches contained in My Sacred Heart and Mary's Immaculate Heart! Tell My people that they live in the age of the Two Hearts. What I and My Mother said at Fatima has been gradually unfolding. The Fatima message is centered in devotion to Our Hearts. The triumph of Mary's Immaculate Heart, foretold at Fatima, is soon to take place. This triumph will coincide with the era of peace for the world which My Mother foretold at Fatima. This great new age of peace for the Church and the world will be characterized by the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart.
"Because this is the age of the Two Hearts, the quickest and surest way to sanctity is through devotion to My Heart and Mary's Heart. Such devotion reaches its highest point in consecration to Our Hearts. Within Our Hearts My people will be clothed with great graces! Their love for God and neighbor will deepen tremendously! They will be fired with a holy and burning desire to love God and neighbor in all their daily activities as guided by the Holy Spirit. Dwelling within Our Hearts, My people will long to help bring back an alienated world to conform to My Father's will.
"My friend, I and My Mother have allowed you to experience in an extraordinary way the riches contained in Our Hearts. Tell My people about these riches! Tell them that I and Mary long for them to come within Our Hearts! I am Lord and Master. Please listen to My words. Come to Our Hearts!"
Reflection: Jesus tells us that we live in the age of the Two Hearts, and that within His Heart and Mary's Heart we receive graces to raise us to great sanctity. What is sanctity? It is doing God's will out of love, and God's will is summed up in love of God and love of neighbor. In the above message Jesus refers to this love of God and neighbor. In the Gospel, Jesus expressed it in this way:
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question, "Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?" Jesus said, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also" (Matthew 22:34-40).
Sanctity, then, is centered in love of God and neighbor. Thus, to grow in sanctity is to grow in love of God and neighbor. Jesus tells us in the above message that within His Heart and Mary's Heart we find the graces to achieve great sanctity. Dwelling within the Two Hearts, we receive the capacity to become tremendous lovers!
Surrender to the Heart of Jesus
Jesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people how I want them to surrender to My Heart. I have taught you that the more you surrender to Me, the greater is your peace, joy, and happiness. I have shown you that the more you allow Me to control your life, to direct your life, the happier you become. I have shown you how fruitless it is for a person to want to control one's own life. A person has a choice: as a finite, weak creature to try to control things himself, or in humility to throw himself into my arms, the arms of One Who is all-loving and all-powerful.
"I give you the grace to increasingly surrender to My Heart. In doing so you experience My love and power in an extraordinary way. Teach My people these lessons. Tell them to listen to My words. I am Lord and Master, and I desire all to heed My request! I give this message out of My great love for My People!"
Reflection: We have a tendency to want to control our own destiny. We find it difficult at times--sometimes very difficult--to abandon ourselves to God. We find it difficult to let go and to surrender completely to Christ, to trust Him completely.
And yet, this is what we must do to achieve our ongoing sanctification. Why should we be afraid to surrender? As Jesus tells us above, who would you rather depend on--a weak, finite self, or the loving and omnipotent God?
St. Paul tells us:
So I shall be very happy to make my weaknesses my special boast so that the power of Christ may stay over me, and that is why I am content with my weaknesses, and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and the agonies I go through for Christ's sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
Jesus Asks for Our Love
Jesus: "My beloved companion, tell My people how I long for them to say that they love Me! When they do this, it gives Me great joy. When they tell Me they love Me, I take them close to My Heart. I give them the desire to love Me more and more. I clothe them with fresh graces, increasing their capacity to love God and neighbor. Tell My people to express their love for Me often! I am Lord and Master. Please do as I request!"
Reflection: What a gracious invitation Jesus extends to us! He tells us how much He wants our expressions of love for Him. Perhaps a person has to admit that his or her spouse, or children, or friends, receive expressions of love from him or her more often than does Jesus. This should not be! Jesus has first command on our love. To love Jesus, to tell Him we love Him--this is our privilege and our duty.
Mary as Our Mediatrix
Mary: "My beloved priest-son, I have given you a profound conviction of how necessary it is to realize I am your motherly mediatrix with Jesus. I have been appointed by the Triune God. Constantly remind all my little ones of this great truth! The more my little ones give themselves to my maternal and Immaculate Heart, the more I bring them to the Heart of Jesus!"
Reflection: Some mistakenly think that Mary "gets in the way" of their relationship with Jesus. How far from the truth is this erroneous attitude. Mary's role in our salvation has been willed by God. Enough said!
I Have Died for All -
You Must Love AllJesus: "My beloved companion, tell My people that all in the human race have been marked with My Precious Blood! I died a brutal death for all! Since all have been touched and redeemed by My Precious Blood, no one can be excluded from your love. My people must love each and every one. They must look beyond the exterior of a person and see the God-image of each. Each one has been created in God's image. Each one has been raised to a new dignity through My redemption.
"Tell My people to be conscious of all this in their dealings with others—especially those marginalized little ones who are so forgotten and abandoned by many. Each person is precious to My Sacred Heart! Treat everyone accordingly. Be kind, and patient, and, above all, loving toward everyone. In union with Mary, come to My Heart each day and I will give you the light and strength to love your neighbor with a mighty love! I am Lord and Master! Please heed My request. In My great love for you, I give you this message!"
Reflection: If we are consistently conscious of this teaching of Jesus, it becomes relatively easy to love everyone--even those who, for various reasons, are not particularly attractive to us in the external order of things. Let's remember that Jesus has told us that we must love all--even our enemies: "You have learned how it was said: You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..." (Matthew 5:43-44).
Come to Our Hearts
Mary: "My beloved priest-son, how I love you! You give me such great joy because you love to dwell in my Immaculate Heart. In my great love for you, I have obtained this grace for you—that you love to dwell in my Heart! In my Heart, I caress you as a little child. I shower you with expressions of my motherly love. I take you each day to the Heart of Jesus and place you deeply within His Heart. How you love for me to do this, and how I love to do it! Tell all my little ones of the riches you have discovered in my Heart and Jesus' Heart. Tell them to come to Our Hearts in order to experience similar riches. Oh, how I love all my little ones, and how I long for them to come to me!"
Reflection: Again, we are reminded that we live in the age of the Two Hearts. Great graces are given to those who practice devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. These Two Hearts are given to us as our special refuge during this most critical stage of human history.
Live Your Consecration
Jesus: "My beloved friend, I have taught you what is involved in living out your consecration to My Heart and to My Mother's Heart. I have taught you to renew your consecration each day. I have led you to be aware of your consecration many times during the day. I have taught you to pray frequently during the day for the grace to grow in the life of consecration. I have impressed upon you that your consecration to Our Hearts includes your being aware of how much I and Mary love you! I have given you a great desire to respond to Our love. I have greatly increased your desire to love Me, the Father, the Holy Spirit, Mary, and all your fellow human beings! I have taught you that to grow in your consecration you must surrender more and more to My Heart and My Mother's Heart—that you must give yourself completely to Us. And I have given you a great desire to do so! I have given you a great trust in Our Hearts. This trust is so important in making the act of consecration and living it.
"My beloved companion, tell My people about these lessons I have taught you. Lead them to consecrate themselves to My Sacred Heart and to Mary's Immaculate Heart. Tell them of the great love, peace, and joy they will experience if they make this consecration and live it! I am Lord and Master. I urgently request that My people listen to My messages and live them! I love My people with a tremendous love, and, out of this love, I give My messages through you and others in these most critical times!"
Reflection: At Baptism we are consecrated to the Triune God. To consecrate means to make holy. At Baptism Father, Son, and Holy Spirit consecrate us with Their own holiness. This sharing in divine holiness is our life of grace. Through our Baptismal consecration we are called to live a God-like existence according to the teaching and example of Christ.
In our times, God has given us a most attractive way to live out our baptismal consecration--through consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. As we strive to give ourselves totally to Jesus each day with the assistance of Mary our Mother, Christ continues to lead us to the Father under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Yes, each moment of each day we are called to live our consecration. This is our privilege. This is our responsibility.
The Cross Leads to Life
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, tell My people that they must keep the lesson of the cross fresh in their consciousness. Remind them that I am the Christ of the Cross as well as the Christ of the Resurrection. I suffered tremendously on My way to death on the cross. My sacred flesh was so cruelly lacerated by the scourging. My sacred head was so cruelly and mockingly crowned with thorns. I was spat upon and made fun of. Exhausted by terrible suffering, I still had to carry the heavy cross to Calvary. There My sacred hands and feet were mercilessly pierced with nails. Oh, what pain this caused Me!
"I suffered all this most willingly—out of love for My Father and for all My people! Through My cross, through My suffering, I obtained new life for My people. Through My cruel and brutal death, I achieved Resurrection for Myself and all My people. My suffering was not an end in itself. It was a necessary passageway to obtain the life I came to give.
"My people must share in My cross, so that they may share more and more in My life. Remind My people, My dear friend, that suffering, when embraced according to My Father's will, leads to greater life here and hereafter. The cross, properly carried, always leads to a greater share in My Resurrection.
"Tell My people that the more they are united with Me in love, the easier is the carrying of the cross. The more one dwells in Me, the more I help that person to carry the cross. In this way, even the heaviest cross becomes relatively light.
"Carrying the cross does not mean to be in misery. Carrying one's cross in union with Me always allows a person to remain in peace. The cross does not take away peace and joy. Despite the pain involved, the cross gives increased peace and joy. I am Lord and Master. I eagerly desire that all listen to My words and live them!
"My people, come each day to My Heart and I will give you the light and strength to carry your cross according to Father's will! I love My people with an overwhelming love, and in this great love I give them this message."
Reflection: One does not have to reflect on the human condition for very long to be reminded of how much suffering exists in all parts of the world. And yet, the great tragedy concerning human suffering is not that there is so much of it, but rather that so much of it is apparently wasted. In God's plan, suffering is meant to lead to greater life, a greater share in Christ's Resurrection here and hereafter. Suffering does just that, if we relate to it according to God's will. To the extent we don't relate to the cross as God's will would have us, we miss the opportunity for suffering to be growth-promoting.
Jesus tells us about the cross and its linkage to life in the Gospel: "Then to all he said: 'If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross everyday and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it'" (Luke 9:23-24).
And St. Paul tells us: "We are in difficulties on all sides, but never cornered; we see no answer to our problems, but never despair; we have been persecuted, but never deserted; knocked down, but never killed; always, wherever we may be, we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may always be seen in our body" (2 Corinthians 4:8-10).
Come to My Heart
Jesus: "My beloved companion, how I love to hold you against My Heart! Each day, as you dwell in Mary's Heart, she places you against My Heart, and within My Heart. I have given you a great desire to allow your mother to do this. As you dwell within My Heart, I tell you how much I love you! I give you a great desire to love God and neighbor. I increase your trust in Me—something so necessary for your growth in Me. Within My Heart I make you feel so loved, so secure, so strengthened, so much at peace!
"Tell My people I wish them to come to My Heart each day, in union with Mary, in order to experience similar riches! Oh, how I love for My people to come to My Heart! How I desire to tell them how much I love them! How much I desire to ask for their return of love! I am Lord and Master. I give this message out of My great love for My people, and I request that they listen to My words."
Reflection: How much Jesus loves us! He shows us His Heart as symbol of this love. He asks us each day, united with Mary our Mother, to come to His Heart. There He inflames our hearts with love for God and neighbor. There He gives us the conviction that we can do whatever He asks us to do--and He gives us the desire to act on this conviction.
My Father's Will
Jesus: "There is so much disunity, hatred, and lack of love which covers the face of the earth today. My Father's will is being seriously violated in all sorts of ways. There are so many murders—including all the ones killed by abortion—thefts, all kinds of violence, all kinds of impure actions, lies, blasphemies, and much more.
"My Father's will is so much violated because there is so little love. The more one loves God and neighbor, the more My Father's will is being accomplished. Love and conformity to God's will are inseparable.
"Tell My people, My beloved friend, to come to My Heart each day. The more they come to My Heart, the more I will inflame their hearts with a burning love to do My Father's will. The more they come to My Heart, the more I will teach them concerning My Father's will. The more they come to My Heart, the more I will allow them to realize that happiness consists in doing My Father's will out of love in all things. The more one does My Father's will out of love in union with Me and My Mother, the more I lead them to the bosom of the Father in the Holy Spirit. Safe in My Father's arms, they experience great happiness, peace, and joy.
"I am Lord and Master. In My great love for My people, I give this message. I desire that all hear My words and live them!"
Reflection: The more we do the Father's will out of love, the more we are at peace. Peace is the tranquility of order. The more we do God's will--the more we conform to the order He has established--the more we are at peace. Jesus has told us: "It is not those who say to me, 'Lord, Lord,' who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).
The Present Moment
Jesus: "My beloved companion, tell My people to concentrate on living in the present moment. Tell them to depend on Me from moment to moment. My people should want to fill each moment with as great a love of God and neighbor as possible! So many of My people fail to concentrate properly on the present.
"Come to My Heart each day, My people, and I will give you the light and strength to more and more realize the greatness of the present moment. The more you dwell in My Heart, the more content you will be to live in the present. I am Lord and Master. I want to fill you with ever greater peace and joy! But to experience this, you must listen to My words and live them!"
Reflection: We can't relive the past, although we are meant to profit from it in various ways. We must make plans for our future on this earth, but how much of it can we be sure will be ours? Literally, one's life could end in the coming moment. The saints knew the secret of living in the present moment. That's why they became saints. Let's always remember the words of Jesus: "So do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself" (Matthew 6:34).
How Much I Love You!
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, how often I tell you how much I love you! And what great joy and peace I give you when I tell you this! How often I press you closely to My Heart! Daily I draw you ever more deeply within My Heart! There I allow you to experience the overwhelming riches of My Heart. I have shown you, as you dwell within My Heart, the secret of finding amazing peace, joy, and happiness. I have shown you that to dwell within My Heart is to experience a foretaste of Heaven!
"I allow you to dwell so deeply within My Heart because I have given you the gift of dwelling within My Mother's Heart. The more one dwells within Mary's Immaculate Heart, the more she places that person within My Sacred Heart.
"My beloved friend, keep telling My people about all the wondrous riches contained in Our Hearts! Keep reminding them that they live in the age of the Two Hearts. Keep telling them that the quickest and most secure path to the highest sanctity is to dwell within Mary's Heart and My Heart!
"I am Lord and Master. I plead with My people to listen to My words and to live them! I love My people with a tremendous love, and in this love I give them this message."
Reflection: Jesus again begs us to come and experience the riches contained in His Heart and Mary's Heart. How foolish we are if we fail to accept His invitation! How many pursue the false riches of this world, and refuse the true riches which Jesus offers. We must determine each day, with God's help, not to be included among those who reject the riches which Jesus offers in order to pursue the false promises of happiness which the world holds before us. The world can't give us happiness. Jesus can.
Spiritual Childhood
Mary: "My beloved priest-son, how I love to enfold you in my arms as my little child! Enfolded in my arms in my maternal embrace, I press you against my Immaculate Heart. I draw you within my Heart. There, through my maternal intercession, I clothe you with Jesus' graces. As you dwell in my Heart, I place you ever more deeply within Jesus' Heart and there the Holy Spirit fashions you increasingly in the image of my Son. As you grow in the likeness of Jesus, He takes you ever closer to the Father.
"Thus, as you grow in the sense of your helplessness without God, the stronger you become in Jesus. Childlike thus becomes strength. The smaller you become in living out spiritual childhood, the taller you stand beside Jesus. Weakness becomes strength, your sense of helplessness becomes spiritual maturity!
"Tell all my children about the wonders of spiritual childhood! Tell them to come to me and I will school them in its ways. How I love all my children! Oh, how I love to exercise my motherhood toward them all!"
Reflection: In the Gospel, Jesus speaks emphatically to us about spiritual childhood: "At this time the disciples came to Jesus and said, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them. Then he said, 'I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven'" (Matthew 18:1-4).
Humility
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, keep telling My people of the great necessity of humility in the spiritual life. My saints, oh, how they realized the importance of this virtue!
"The world is filled with pride. Pride is the refusal to serve God. It is the refusal to do My Father's will. There is so much sin in today's world because there is so much pride.
"Tell My people to come to My Heart each day. There I will teach them the lesson of humility. There I will show them the riches which flow from humility! There I will teach them that the more they grow in humility, the more peace and joy and happiness they experience. Yes, let My people come to My Heart and learn these lessons. I am Lord and Master, and I desire that all respond to My request. I love My people with a tremendous love, and in this love I give them this message!"
Reflection: Humility is an important aspect of the Gospel message. Following are three such examples:
"Come to me, all you who labor and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light" (Matthew 11:28-30).
"Anyone who chooses the world for his friend turns himself into God's enemy. Surely you don't think scripture is wrong when it says: the spirit which he sent to live in us wants us for himself alone? But he has been even more generous to us, as scripture says: God opposes the proud but he gives generously to the humble" (James 4:4-6).
"What do you have that was not given to you? And if it was given, how can you boast as though it were not?" (1 Corinthians 4:7).
Depend on Me
Jesus: "My beloved friend, I have been teaching you how necessary it is to depend upon Me completely. I teach you to keep your focus on Me, to do everything in union with Me, with complete dependence on Me. I give you the light to see how strong you are when you surrender to Me and depend completely on Me. I allow you to share in a special way in My power. I greatly enhance your ability to do so many things in My service.
"I draw you into My Heart, and as you depend on Me completely, I allow you to draw forth from the riches of My Heart. You become clothed more and more in My likeness. With an ever greater love you give yourself to the service of God and neighbor. I also allow you to realize that your growing dependence on Me is proportionate to your growing dependence on Mary your Mother. The more you live out your consecration to her Heart in giving yourself to her, the more she leads you to live out your consecration to My Heart. This consecration includes and demands an ever greater surrender and dependence upon Me.
"Tell My people of the joy and peace and security which results from this growing dependence on Me. Tell them I wish them to come each day to My Heart and surrender themselves to Me. Tell them to trust Me, and to depend on Me for all their needs. In My great, burning love for them I will care for them to the extent they trust Me and depend on Me! Oh! how I long to care for all My people! Many refuse My help. To those who accept Me, I give them peace and joy and happiness to the degree they surrender to Me and depend on Me.
"I am Lord and Master. I desire that My people listen to My words and live them! I love My people with a tremendous love, and in this love I give them this message!"
Reflection: The above message of Jesus ties in beautifully with what He tells us in the Gospel of John:
I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing (John 15:5).
How beautifully Jesus points out our utter dependence on Him! This is not always an easy lesson to live. We have a deep-rooted tendency to try to be our own masters. We have a tendency to want to feel in control so that we might feel secure. Jesus tells us that the only real control and security we have is to allow Him to control our lives! The more we live this truth, the more secure we feel, for we are thus living more within the loving Heart of Jesus!
Pray, Pray, Pray!
Mary: "My beloved priest-son, I have taught you many times the great importance of prayer. I have obtained for you the gift to love to pray—not only during your set periods of prayer, but also during the day in a manner which permits you to perform your daily duties. I have taught you to always be aware that all prayer should be made in union with the Mass. Indeed, the Eucharistic sacrifice is itself the greatest prayer. All other prayers should be consciously united with the Mass which is constantly being offered throughout the world. I have taught you the great importance of praying before the tabernacle. My Son is really present there in the Eucharist—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Special graces are given to those who pray before the Blessed Sacrament.
"There is so much to pray for in this most critical era! The Church and the world exist in most difficult times. I desire that all my children pray daily for all the needs of the Church and the world. I ask special prayers for the conversion of sinners.
"I ask that my children pray the Rosary each day. Very special graces are given to those who do so. During these times of great purification, I promise special protection to those who regularly pray the Rosary. I also promise protection to their loved ones.
"The more one is united with me, the more I lead them to make their prayer in the Heart of my Son, Jesus. He, in turn, places all prayer in the bosom of the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
"My dear son, please keep reminding all my little ones of the great importance of prayer for their own needs and the needs of all others! Keep telling them of the great necessity of prayer for growth in love of God and neighbor! I love all my children with the most tender love. I desire that all listen to my words and live them in their daily lives!"
Reflection: All the great spiritual masters throughout the history of the Church have echoed the words of Mary in stressing the great necessity of prayer for growth in the spiritual life. Prayer is becoming aware in a special way of our relationship with the Triune God. In prayer we open ourselves once again to the awareness of God's great love for us. In prayer, we respond to this great love with our own love, telling God that whatever He wills for us, we want to do with all our hearts.
All prayer, in one way or another, should be centered in Christ. He is our Mediator with the Father. As our Mother tells us above, we should also include her in our prayers to Christ, Who leads us ever closer to the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
Build up My Church
Jesus: "My beloved friend, remind My people that the Church was born from My Heart, pierced with the soldier's lance on Calvary. From My pierced Heart the Church with her sacraments was born. Two of these sacraments, the Eucharist and Baptism, were symbolized by the Blood and Water which flowed forth from My pierced side.
"As the Church was born from My pierced Heart, so does the Church's life grow from the graces I continually give her from My pierced Heart—this Heart which is now glorified. "I call all the members of My Church to help build up My Body, the Church, by coming to My pierced Heart. United to My Heart, and dwelling within It, I will give to each one the light and strength to carry out My Father's will in the building up of My Church.
"Mary is Mother and Model of the Church. As 'Mother of the Church,' she intercedes for all the graces the members need to contribute to the building up of My Church. As Model—as perfect imitator of Me—she shows the children of the Church how all, individually and collectively, are to be increasingly formed in My image. As all come to My Heart for the building up of the Church, let them do so united to the Heart of Mary.
"My Church is experiencing critical and very difficult times. There are many divisions. There are many false teachings, including some put forth by certain theologians. These false teachings occur because those responsible are not in proper union with My vicar, the Pope, and the Church Magisterium. I want all My children to pray daily for the cure of the many and serious ills of the Church. With increased prayer and sacrifices for the health of the Church, that day will soon come when the Church will be purified and revitalized. When that day comes, the Church will be a light to all nations as never before. When that day comes, the renewed Church will be characterized by the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. Thus the message of Fatima will have reached fulfillment.
"I am Lord and Master. I request that all My people listen to My words and respond to them. I love My people with a tremendous love, and in this great love I give them this message!"
Reflection: In speaking of the Church, St. Paul tells us:
"Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptized, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink....
"Now you together are Christ's body; but each of you is a different part of It. In the Church, God has given the first place to apostles, the second to prophets, the third to teachers; after them, miracles, and after them the gift of healing; helpers, good leaders, those with many languages. Are all of them apostles, or all of them prophets, or all of them teachers? Do they all have the gift of miracles, or all have the gift of healing? Do all speak strange languages, and all interpret them?" (1 Corinthians 12:12-30).
In His message above, Jesus reminds all of us that we have a responsibility to help in the building up of the Church. St. Paul reminds us that we each have our own role. He names many of these roles and there are many who share in them. For example, there are many teachers of various kinds in the Church. But each teaches according to his or her personal uniqueness. Consequently, we can truly say that each one has a mission, has a role, in the life of the Church which no one else can fulfill. To the extent each of us gives his or her life to Christ, we continue His work upon earth through the visible, tangible humanity each of us possess. To the extent each of us fails to surrender to Jesus, to that extent we refuse Him the opportunity to live through our personal uniqueness. What an awesome privilege has been given to each of us! And what an awesome responsibility!
Your Protection Against Satan
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, tell My people to take special means in these present times to guard against the snares of Satan and his followers. He is more active now than at any stage of human history.
"He is leading many of My people away from the path of the Gospel. Never before has sin blemished the face of the earth as it does today. Satan and his forces are leading many along the path to perdition. Many souls are being lost each day. Satan is helping to create divisions everywhere within My Church, among nations, within nations, within families, within individuals themselves. He does this by leading many to refuse to love God and neighbor. In place of love, he is sowing the seeds of hatred. Divisiveness is caused by a lack of love. The less love, the more divisiveness, the greater lack of unity.
"As a remedy against the snares of Satan, I call all to the refuge of My Heart and My Mother's Heart. The more you dwell in Our Hearts, the less influence Satan has over you. In Our Hearts, you are more and more clothed with the power to love God and neighbor. The more you love, the safer you are from the snares of Satan. The more you love, the more you help bring about the great era of a renewed Church and a renewed world. This era will be characterized by the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. In this new era of splendor, love will reign in the hearts of My people as never before!
"I am Lord and Master! Please listen to My words and carry out My requests. I love My people with a tremendous love and in this love I give them this message!"
Reflection: In The First Letter of Peter we read: "Be calm but vigilant, because your enemy the devil is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to eat. Stand up to him, strong in faith and in the knowledge that your brothers all over the world are suffering the same things" (1 Peter 5:8-9).
In the above message, Jesus tells us that the efforts of Satan and his followers are greater now than ever before. If this is the time of great satanic influences, it is also the time of great grace. As we head for the great new era of peace for the Church and the world, foretold by Our Lady of Fatima, the merciful love of God is being showered upon us in great abundance. In His great love for us, the Father is offering to us the Hearts of Jesus and Mary as the safest refuge against the snares of Satan. Their Hearts, bulwark against the attacks of Satan, are the source of the great graces God is offering in these critical times. Within the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the Holy Spirit deepens the image of Christ within us, strengthening us increasingly for the great battle being waged between the forces of Satan and the followers of Jesus.
"What I say to you in the dark, tell in the day-
light; what you hear in whispers, proclaim
from the housetops." (Matthew 10:27)The Two Ways
Jesus: "My beloved friend, remind My people of the seriousness of life. Two paths stretch before them. One way is My way, the way which leads to eternal happiness in Heaven. The other way is the way of Satan, the path which leads to everlasting punishment in Hell.
"I have laid down My life for each of My people so that they could possess eternal life. I paid a great price to do this! But I did so gladly because of My great love for My Father and all My people. As I was suffering the excrutiating pain of My brutal passion and death, My Sacred Heart beat with overwhelming love for each of you! I knew each of you by name. How I long for each of you to love Me in return, and to follow Me on the path to eternal life! Do not waste the graces which cost Me such a great price. Resolve each day to grow in knowledge and love of Me. Resolve each day to make use of the precious opportunities to love God and neighbor. Resolve each day to become saints! Oh! how much the Church and the world need saints in these the most critical of times!
"Be in communion with those in Heaven and Purgatory. They have successfully completed their earthly journey. They followed My way, and now eternal life in Heaven is theirs, or will be. Pray that those in Purgatory may soon join the blessed in Heaven. Pray to the blessed in Heaven and the souls in Purgatory that they in turn, may help you in all your needs.
"I am Lord and Master. Listen to My words! United to My Mother's Heart, come to My Heart each day for the light and strength to follow the path of life I hold before you—the path which leads to eternal bliss.
"I love My people with an overwhelming love, and in this great love, I give them this message!"
Reflection: Here are some Scripture passages which speak to our subject at hand!
"... you will reveal the path of life to me, give me unbounded joy in your presence, and at your right hand everlasting pleasures" (Psalms 16:11).
"Yahweh, make your ways known to me, teach me your paths. Set me in the way of your truth, and teach me, for you are the God who saves me" (Psalms 25:4-5).
"Let the wicked man abandon his way, the evil man his thoughts. Let Him turn back to Yahweh who will take pity on him, to our God who is rich in forgiving" (Isaiah 55:7).
"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
The Indwelling of the Trinity
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, I have given you a great desire to pray to the Divine Persons many times during the day. This can be done in a way which does not interfere with your daily duties. Rather, you have learned that this prayerful contact with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit enhances your ability to work for God and neighbor. Remind My people that when one is in the state of grace, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dwell within that person in a most special way. We are within those in the state of grace to receive their acts of faith, hope, and love.
"So many of My people are not aware of the precious treasure which dwells within them! Tell My people to pray for a growing awareness of this marvelous truth! Through the graces which flow from the great love of My pierced Heart, My people are called to develop the greatest intimacy with the Divine Persons. Please, do not waste these graces! I am Lord and Master, and in My great love, I ask that all comply with My request!"
Reflection: In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells us:
"If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him" (John 14:23).
Jesus does not explicitly mention the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in this particular passage. However, we know that, where the Father and Son reside, so also does the Spirit.
In the above message from Jesus, He speaks to us about this truth of the Indwelling of the Blessed Trinity in the souls of the just. What a tremendous gift! How much do we appreciate this gift? Do we take the means to develop our relationship with the Divine Persons Who dwell within? Many would go all out for the opportunity to receive one of the world's dignitaries into their homes. When we are in the state of grace, the Divine Persons grace us with Their presence. What a tremendous dignity is bestowed upon us! Sadly, many seem to be more enthused about being in the presence of this world's dignitaries than they are regarding the presence of the Triune God!
The Power to Love
Jesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people how much I long to draw all of them to My Mother's Heart and to My Heart! I do this to the extent they allow Me to do so. The more My people come to Our Hearts, the more I empower them to love God and neighbor.
"I desire that all within the human family be united through deep bonds of love. Many refuse to enter into this union of love with their neighbor. That is why there is so much hatred and division in today's world between nations, within nations, within families, between individuals.
"There are, however, many of My people who, because of their growing union with Me, are increasing their capacity to love each other. There is being developed a strong core who are helping to spread love around the world. As these people dwell in Mary's Heart and My Heart, they are helping to bring about the great new era of the renewed Church and world. When the purification of Church and world is completed, this great era of peace and love, predicted by My Mother at Fatima, will be characterized by the triumph of her Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart, and love will pervade the earth as never before.
"I am Lord and Master. Listen to these words I am giving to you. Live these words! As you dwell in Mary's Heart and My Heart, love one another with the deepest love! I love My people with a tremendous love, and in this love I give them this message."
Reflection: In Christ, God calls us to the most profound union with the Persons of the Trinity and with each other. In The First Letter of John we see the enormity of this calling:
"We can be sure that we know God only by keeping his commandments. Anyone who says, 'I know him,' and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, refusing to admit the truth. But when anyone does obey what he has said, God's love comes to perfection in him. We can be sure that we are in God only when the one who claims to be living in him is living the same kind of life as Christ lived....
"Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the dark. But anyone who loves his brother is living in the light and need not be afraid of stumbling; unlike the man who hates his brother and is in the darkness, not knowing where he is going, because it is too dark to see" (1 John 2:3-11).
Scripture Nourishes You
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, tell My people that I wish them to read Scripture every day. They should read a passage from the Gospel each day and should read from other sections of the New Testament as time permits. They should also read from the Old Testament as time allows.
"The writings of Scripture guide you according to the way My Father wants you to live. Since I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, all Scripture centers around Me. Scripture converges on the teaching contained in My life, death, and resurrection."
"Many of My people say they do not have the time to read from the Bible each day. Do they have time to read newspapers and magazines and to watch TV? Yes! And much of what they read and watch is harmful to their souls! People have time for what they think is important. If a person says he does not have time to read from the Bible daily, what is he actually saying?
"Come to My Heart each day and ask Me to give you a deeper appreciation of the Bible. Ask Me to give you a deeper love of Scripture. The more you prayerfully read the Bible, the more closely you are united to Me.
"I am Lord and Master. I desire that all heed My requests. I love My people with an overwhelming love, and in this great love I give them this message!"
Reflection: In giving us the writings of Scripture, God has given us a great, great gift. What is our attitude toward this great gift? If we rarely take up the Bible and read from it, we have our answer!
Let's resolve here and now to respond to Jesus' request by reading from the Bible on a daily basis.
Mother of Our Christian Virtues
Mary: "My beloved priest-son, I wish all my children to come to my Immaculate Heart each day. I cooperate with the Holy Spirit in helping all my little ones to grow in the life of the Christian virtues. As my children dwell within my maternal Heart, the Holy Spirit leads them along the path of the virtues. Faith, hope, love, prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, humility, chastity, and the other virtues take deeper root in the hearts of my children. Above all, the queen of the virtues, love, increasingly rules the lives of my little ones.
"I am ever at the side of my children to help them grow in the life of the virtues. As I do so, I place them more deeply within the Heart of Jesus, the source of growth in all the virtues. The Holy Spirit, then, desires that my children dwell both within my Heart and Jesus' Heart. Within Our Hearts He clothes you with growth in the life of the virtues. The more you dwell in my Heart, the more ready you are for my placing you deeply within the Heart of Jesus where the Holy Spirit clothes you more and more with the splendor of all the virtues. Thus you grow in the likeness of Christ, and Jesus unites you more closely to the Father."
Reflection: Since Mary is our spiritual Mother, she has a special God-given role in helping us grow in the life of the Christian virtues. As she tenderly and lovingly leads us in the life of the virtues, she is our great model in how to follow Christ. She lived the Christian virtues perfectly. She is so eager to help us increasingly put on Christ through a more dynamic living of the Christian virtues, especially the virtue of love.
Work to Make Your World Better
Jesus: "My beloved companion, remind My people of their responsibility toward the world. They have a duty to try to make this a better world for all to live in.
"Today there is much which is wrong with the world. Sin covers the face of the earth. Sins of all kinds blemish the goodness of My Father's creation.
"However, My Mother and I are increasingly gathering our forces for the battle against Satan and his followers. We are more and more forming Our followers to wage the battle to win back that part of the world dominated by Satan's influence. We are forming our followers in the ways of love. We are forming Our followers with the grace which flows from the bosom of My Father, through My Heart, given in the Holy Spirit, and distributed through the intercession of the maternal and Immaculate Heart of Mary.
"We are forming Our followers to give themselves in the greatest love for God and neighbor. We are bringing them ever more closely to Our Hearts so that they may draw from the flames of love of My Heart and Mary's Heart! The more My followers dwell in Mary's Heart and My Heart, the more they are enlightened and strengthened to give themselves for the salvation of the world.
"I am Lord and Master. I ask all to follow Me and My Mother to help us bring forth the great age of love and peace for the world. This age will emerge after the phase of purification has been completed. This age will be characterized by the triumph of Mary's immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. In this great new age, soon to come, My people will love and praise My Father, with Mary and through Me and in the Holy Spirit, as never before!
"I love My people with a tremendous, burning love, and in this love I give them this message!"
Reflection: The world belongs to Christ. St. Paul tells us about this:
As he is the Beginning, he was first to be born from the dead, so that he should be first in every way, because God wanted all perfection to be found in him, and all things to be reconciled through him and for him, everything in heaven and everything on earth, when he made peace by his death on the cross (Colossians 1:18-20).
Since the world belongs to Christ, we, who are His followers, must have a great love for the world as created and redeemed by God. We must labor through our participation in the Mass and through all our other prayers and good works to more and more help the Christic image of the world to shine forth in ever greater splendor. This is our duty and our privilege. Out of love for God and neighbor, let's resolve to get on with the task!
Follow the Way I Have Given You
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, I have given you this book of messages for the spiritual instruction of My people. I have put before My people the path I wish them to follow. The messages I and My Mother have given all converge upon devotion to Our Hearts, and, in particular, upon consecration to Our Hearts. Ideally, devotion to Our Hearts culminates in the act of consecration to My Heart and My Mother's Heart. Living out this consecration day by day leads to the highest sanctity.
"My people who make and live out the consecration to Our Hearts are helping to bring about the great new era of peace which the Church and the world will experience after the period of purification has been completed. This period of splendorous peace will be characterized by the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart!"
Reflection: Jesus and Mary, in Their great love for us, have put before us this book of messages for our spiritual instruction. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary ask for our response of love. They ask us to live the messages. They ask us to incorporate all the messages into the living out of our consecration to Their Hearts. Who would want to refuse Their invitation?
Act of Consecration to the Hearts
of Jesus and MaryLord Jesus, I consecrate myself to Your most Sacred Heart. You reveal Your Heart as symbol of Your love in all its aspects, including Your most special love for me as this unique individual. Help me to always love You in return. Help me to give myself entirely to You. Help me always to pour out my life in love of God and neighbor. Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You!
Dear Blessed Virgin Mary, I consecrate myself to your maternal and Immaculate Heart, this Heart which is symbol of your life of love. You are the Mother of my Savior. You are also my Mother. You love me with a most special love as this unique child of yours. In a return of love, I give myself entirely to your motherly love and protection. You followed Jesus perfectly. You are His first and perfect disciple. Teach me to imitate you in the putting on of Christ. Be my motherly intercessor so that, through your Immaculate Heart, I may be guided to an ever closer union with the pierced Heart of Jesus, this Jesus Who leads me ever closer to the Father in the Holy Spirit.
Shepherds of Christ
Jesus has asked that chapters be formed to pray for the needs of priests around the world. The chapters are to pray in a special way for the spiritual success of the priestly newsletter, as well as to aid in the financial support of this publication. The chapters and members are to be called Shepherds of Christ Associates.
Our Lord has stressed that Shepherds of Christ Associates become an international movement.
Words for Members of
Shepherds of Christ AssociatesJesus: "My beloved priest-companion, I intend to use the priestly newsletter, Shepherds of Christ, and the movement, Shepherds of Christ Associates, in a powerful way for the renewal of My Church and the world.
"I will use the newsletter and the chapters of Shepherds of Christ Associates as a powerful instrument for spreading devotion to My Heart and My Mother's Heart.
"I am calling many to become members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. To all of them I will give great blessings. I will use them as instruments to help bring about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. I will give great graces to the members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. I will call them to be deeply united to My Heart and to Mary's Heart as I lead them ever closer to My Father in the Holy Spirit."
-Message from Jesus to Father Edward J. Carter, S.J., the Spiritual Director, as given on July 31, 1994, feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola, Founder of the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits).
end of Tell My People
Meeting Format
The following format should be followed at chapter meetings of Shepherds of Christ Associates.
Prayers
All of the following, not just the prayer which is said specifically for priests, should include the intention of praying for all the needs of priests the world over.
Hymns. Hymns may be sung at any point of the prayer part of the meeting.
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.
The Rosary.
Salve Regina. "Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To you do we send up our sighs, our mourning, our weeping in this vale of tears. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy toward us and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary."
The Memorare. "Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To you I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but, in your mercy, hear and answer me. Amen."
Seven Hail Marys in honor of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Mary has promised very special graces to those who do this on a daily basis. Included in the promises of Our Lady for those who practice this devotion is her pledge to give special assistance at the hour of death, including the sight of her face. The seven sorrows are:
(1) The first sorrow: the prophecy of Simeon (Hail Mary).
(2) The second sorrow: the flight into Egypt (Hail Mary).
(3) The third sorrow: the loss of the Child Jesus in the temple (Hail Mary).
(4) The fourth sorrow: Jesus and Mary meet on the way to the cross (Hail Mary).
(5) The fifth sorrow: Jesus dies on the cross (Hail Mary).
(6) The sixth sorrow: Jesus is taken down from the cross and laid in Mary's arms (Hail Mary).
(7) The seventh sorrow: the burial of Jesus (Hail Mary).Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of heaven,
have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world,
have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit,
have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God,
have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us (repeat after each invocation).
Holy Mother of God,
Holy Virgin of virgins,
Mother of Christ,
Mother of the Church,
Mother of divine grace,
Mother most pure,
Mother most chaste,
Mother inviolate,
Mother undefiled,
Mother most amiable,
Mother most admirable,
Mother of good counsel,
Mother of our Creator,
Mother of our Savior,
Virgin most prudent,
Virgin most venerable,
Virgin most renowned,
Virgin most powerful,
Virgin most merciful,
Virgin most faithful,
Mirror of justice,
Seat of wisdom,
Cause of our joy,
Spiritual vessel,
Vessel of honor,
Singular vessel of devotion,
Mystical rose,
Tower of David,
Tower of ivory,
House of gold,
Ark of the Covenant,
Gate of heaven,
Morning star,
Health of the sick,
Refuge of sinners,
Comforter of the afflicted,
Help of Christians,
Queen of angels,
Queen of patriarchs,
Queen of prophets,
Queen of apostles,
Queen of martyrs,
Queen of confessors,
Queen of virgins,
Queen of all saints,
Queen conceived without original sin,
Queen assumed into heaven,
Queen of the most holy rosary,
Queen of the families,
Queen of peace,
Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,
spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,
graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray: Grant, we beseech You, O Lord God, that we Your servants may enjoy perpetual health of mind and body and, by the glorious intercession of the Blessed Mary, ever virgin, be delivered from present sorrow, and obtain eternal joy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
We fly to your patronage, O holy Mother of God. Despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and Blessed Virgin.Prayer to St. Joseph. St. Joseph, guardian of Jesus and chaste spouse of Mary, you passed your life in perfect fulfillment of duty. You supported the Holy Family of Nazareth with the work of your hands. Kindly protect those who trustingly turn to you. You know their aspirations, their hardships, their hopes; and they turn to you because they know you will understand and protect them. You too have known trial, labor, and weariness. But, even amid the worries of material life, your soul was filled with deep peace and sang out in true joy through intimacy with the Son of God entrusted to you, and with Mary, His tender Mother. Amen. -(Pope John XXIII)
Litany of the Sacred Heart, Promises of the Sacred Heart.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of heaven,
have mercy on us (repeat after each invocation).
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God the Holy Spirit,
Holy Trinity, one God,
Heart of Jesus, Son of the eternal Father,
Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mother,
Heart of Jesus, substantially united to the Word of God,
Heart of Jesus, of infinite majesty,
Heart of Jesus, sacred temple of God,
Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High,
Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of heaven,
Heart of Jesus, burning furnace of charity,
Heart of Jesus, abode of justice and love,
Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love,
Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues,
Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise,
Heart of Jesus, king and center of all hearts,
Heart of Jesus, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,
Heart of Jesus, in whom dwells the fullness of divinity,
Heart of Jesus, in whom the Father is well pleased,
Heart of Jesus, of whose fullness we have all received,
Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills,
Heart of Jesus, patient and most merciful,
Heart of Jesus, enriching all who invoke You,
Heart of Jesus, fountain of life and holiness,
Heart of Jesus, propitiation for our sins,
Heart of Jesus, loaded down with opprobrium,
Heart of Jesus, bruised for our offenses,
Heart of Jesus, obedient even to death,
Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance,
Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation,
Heart of Jesus, our life and reconciliation,
Heart of Jesus, victim of sin,
Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who hope in You,
Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in You,
Heart of Jesus, delight of all the saints,
Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world,
spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world,
graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Jesus, meek and humble of heart,
make our hearts like unto Yours.
Let us pray: O almighty and eternal God, look upon the Heart of Your dearly beloved Son and upon the praise and satisfaction He offers You in behalf of sinners and, being appeased, grant pardon to those who seek Your mercy, in the name of the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen.
Promises of Our Lord to those devoted to His Sacred Heart (these should be read by the prayer leader):
(1) I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.
(2) I will establish peace in their homes.
(3) I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
(4) I will be their refuge during life and above all in death.
(5) I will bestow a large blessing on all their undertakings.
(6) Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy.
(7) Tepid souls shall grow fervent.
(8) Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.
(9) I will bless every place where a picture of My Heart shall be set up and honored.
(10) I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
(11) Those who promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.
(12) I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the first Friday in nine consecutive months the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving their sacraments; My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.Prayer for Priests. "Lord Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the Flock, we pray that in the great love and mercy of Your Sacred Heart You attend to all the needs of Your priest-shepherds throughout the world. We ask that You draw back to Your Heart all those priests who have seriously strayed from Your path, that You rekindle the desire for holiness in the hearts of those priests who have become lukewarm, and that You continue to give Your fervent priests the desire for the highest holiness. United with Your Heart and Mary's Heart, we ask that You take this petition to Your heavenly Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen."
Prayer for all members of the Shepherds of Christ Associates. "Dear Jesus, we ask Your special blessings on all members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. Continue to enlighten them regarding the very special privilege and responsibility you have given them as members of Your movement, Shepherds of Christ Associates. Draw them ever closer to Your Heart and to Your Mother's Heart. Allow them to more and more realize the great and special love of Your Hearts for each of them as unique individuals. Give them the grace to respond to Your love and Mary's love with an increased love of their own. As they dwell in Your Heart and Mary's Heart, abundantly care for all their needs and those of their loved ones. We make our prayer through You to the Father, in the Holy Spirit, with Mary our Mother at our side. Amen."
Prayer for the spiritual and financial success of the priestly newsletter. "Father, we ask Your special blessings upon the priestly newsletter, Shepherds of Christ. We ask that You open the priest-readers to the graces You wish to give them through this chosen instrument of Your Son. We also ask that You provide for the financial needs of the newsletter and the Shepherds of Christ Associates. We make our prayer through Jesus, in the Holy Spirit, with Mary at our side. Amen."
Prayer for all members of the human family. "Heavenly Father, we ask Your blessings on all Your children the world over. Attend to all their needs. We ask Your special assistance for all those marginalized people, all those who are so neglected and forgotten. United with our Mother Mary, we make this petition to You through Jesus and in the Holy Spirit. Amen."
Prayer to St. Michael and our Guardian Angels.
"St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen."
7
"Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen."Pause for silent, personal prayer. This should last at least five minutes.
Act of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
"Lord Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock, I consecrate myself to Your most Sacred Heart. From Your pierced Heart the Church was born, the Church You have called me, as a member of Shepherds of Christ Associates, to serve in a most special way. You reveal Your Heart as a symbol of Your love in all its aspects, including Your most special love for me, whom You have chosen as Your companion in this most important work. Help me to always love You in return. Help me to give myself entirely to You. Help me always to pour out my life in love of God and neighbor! Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You! Amen.
"Dear Blessed Virgin Mary, I consecrate myself to your maternal and Immaculate Heart, this Heart which is symbol of your life of love. You are the Mother of my Savior. You are also my Mother. You love me with a most special love as a member of Shepherds of Christ Associates, a movement created by your Son as a powerful instrument for the renewal of the Church and the world. In a return of love, I give myself entirely to your motherly love and protection. You followed Jesus perfectly. You are His first and perfect disciple. Teach me to imitate you in the putting on of Christ. Be my motherly intercessor so that, through your Immaculate Heart, I may be guided to an ever closer union with the pierced Heart of Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock. Amen."- Daily Prayers. All members should say the Holy Spirit prayer daily and make the act of consecration daily. They should also pray the rosary each day. They are encouraged to use the other above prayers as time allows.
end of prayer manual
Asociados
de los Pastores de Cristo
MANUAL DE ORACIONES Espańol/Spanish
Formato para la Oración en las Reuniones de los Grupos
El siguiente es el formato de oración que se deberá seguir en las reuniones de los capítulos de los de los Asociados de los Pastores de Cristo. Todas las oraciones-y no solo las que se hacen específicamente por los sacerdotes-deberán hacerse con la intención de orar por todas las necesidades de los sacerdotes del mundo entero.
1. Himnos. Los himnos podrán ser cantados en cualquier momento del tiempo dedicado a la oración en la reunión.
2. Oración al Espíritu Santo. "Ven, Espíritu Santo, Santificador todopoderoso, Dios de amor, que llenaste a la Virgen María de gracias, que cambiaste admirablemente los corazones de los apóstoles, que le comunicaste a tus mártires un milagroso valor, ven y santifícanos. Ilumina nuestras mentes, fortalece nuestras voluntades, purifica nuestras conciencias, rectifica nuestro juicio, pon fuego en nuestros corazones, y presérvanos de la desgracia de no hacerle caso a tus inspiraciones. Amén."
3. El Rosario.
4. La Salve. "Dios te salve, Reina y Madre, Madre de Misericordia, Vida y dulzura y esperanza nuestra. Dios te salve, a ti llamamos los desterrados hijos de Eva. A Ti suplicamos gimiendo y llorando en este valle de lágrimas. Ea, pues, Seńora y abogada nuestra. Vuelve a nosotros Tus ojos misericordiosos, y después de este destierro muéstranos a Jesús, fruto bendito de Tu vientre. ˇOh clemente! ˇOh piadosa! ˇOh dulce Virgen María! Ruega por nosotros, santa Madre de Dios. No desprecies las súplicas que te dirigimos en nuestras necesidades. Antes bien, líbranos de todo peligro, Virgen gloriosa y bendita. Ruega por nosotros, santa Madre de Dios para que seamos dignos de alcanzar las promesas de nuestro Seńor Jesucristo. Amén."
5. El Acordados. "Acordaos, oh piadosísima Virgen María, que jamás se ha oído decir que ninguno de los que han acudido a vuestra protección, implorando vuestro auxilio, reclamando vuestra asistencia, haya sido desamparado. Animado por esta confianza, a vos acudo oh Madre Virgen de las Vírgenes, y gimiendo bajo el peso de mis pecados me atrevo a comparecer ante Vos, Madre de Dios. No desechéis mis súplicas, antes bien escuchádlas y acogedlas benignamente. Amén."
6. Siete Avemarías en honor de los siete dolores de María. María ha prometido gracias muy especiales para aquellos que la honran de esta manera diariamente. Incluida entre estas promesas de Nuestra Seńora para aquellos que practican esta devoción, está su compromiso de otorgar especial asistencia a la hora de la muerte, incluso de ver su faz. Los siete dolores son:
(1) Primer dolor: La profecía de Simeón (Ave María).
(2) Segundo dolor: La huida a Egipto (Ave María).
(3) Tercer dolor: La perdida del nińo Dios en el Templo (Ave María).
(4) Cuarto dolor: Jesús y María se encuentran en el camino a la Cruz (Ave María).
(5) Quinto dolor: Jesús muere en la Cruz (Ave María).
(6) Sexto dolor: Jesús es bajado de la Cruz y puesto en los brazos de María (Ave Maria).
(7) Séptimo dolor: Jesús es enterrado (Ave María).
7. Letanías de la Santísima Virgen.
Seńor, ten piedad de nosotros. Cristo, ten piedad de nosotros.
Seńor, ten piedad de nosotros. Cristo, óyenos.Cristo, escúchanos.
Padre Celestial, ten piedad de nosotros.
Dios Hijo, Redentor del mundo, ten piedad de nosotros.
Dios Espíritu Santo, ten piedad de nosotros.
Santísima Trinidad, que eres un solo Dios, ten piedad de nosotros.
Santa María, ruega por nosotros (se repite despuéde cada invocación).
Santa Madre de Dios,
Santa Virgen de las vírgenes,
Madre de Cristo,
Madre de la Iglesia
Madre de la divina gracia,
Madre Purísima,
Madre castísima,
Madre siempre virgen,
Madre inmaculada,
Madre amable,
Madre admirable,
Madre del Buen Consejo,
Madre del Creador,
Madre del Salvador,
Madre de la Iglesia,
Virgen prudentísima,
Virgen digna de veneración,
Virgen digna de alabanza,
Virgen poderosa,
Virgen clemente,
Virgen fiel,
Espejo de justicia,
Trono sabiduría,
Causa de nuestra alegría,
Templo del Espíritu Santo,
Templo lleno de gloria,
Modelo de entrega a Dios,
Rosa mística,
Torre de David,
Torre de marfil,
Casa de oro,
Arca de la Nueva Alianza,
Puerta del cielo,
Estrella de la mańana,
Salud de los enfermos,
Refugio de los pecadores,
Consoladora de los afligidos,
Auxilio de los cristianos,
Reina de los ángeles,
Reina de los patriarcas,
Reina de los profetas,
Reina de los apóstoles,
Reina de los mártires,
Reina de los confesores,
Reina de las vírgenes,
Reina de los santos,
Reina concebida sin pecado original,
Reina elevada a los cielos,
Reina del Santísimo Rosario,
Reina de familias
Reina de la paz,
Cordero de Dios, que quitas el pecado del mundo, perdónanos, Seńor.
Cordero de Dios, que quitas el pecado del mundo, ten piedad de nosotros.
Ruega por nosotros, Santa Madre de Dios, para que nos hagamos dignos de las promesas de Cristo.
Oración: Concede, Seńor y Dios nuestro, a tus siervos gozar de perpetua salud de alma y cuerpo; y por la gloriosa intercesión de la bienaventurada siempre Virgen María, líbranos de las tristezas presentes y llévanos a gozar de las alegrías eternas. Te lo pedimos por Cristo Nuestro Seńor. Amén.
Bajo tu amparo nos acogemos, oh Santa Madre de Dios, no desprecies las súplicas que te dirigimos en nuestras necesidades, antes bien, líbranos siempre de todos los peligros, oh Virgen gloriosa y bendita. Amén.
8. Invocación a San José. "San José, guardián de Jesús y casto esposo de María, tu empleaste toda tu vida en el perfecto cumplimiento de tu deber. Tu mantuviste a la Sagrada Familia de Nazaret con el trabajo de tus manos. Protege bondadosamente a los que se vuelven confiadamente a ti. Tu conoces sus aspiraciones y sus esperanzas. Ellos se dirigen a ti porque saben que tu los comprendes y proteges. Tu también supiste de pruebas, cansancio y trabajo. Pero, aun dentro de las preocupaciones materiales de la vida, tu alma estaba llena de profunda paz y cantó llena de verdadera alegría debido al íntimo trato que gozaste con el Hijo de Dios que te fue confiado a ti a la vez a María, su tierna Madre. Amén." -- El Papa Juan XXIII
9. Letanías al Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, Promesas del Sagrado Corazón.
Seńor, ten piedad de nosotros. Cristo, ten piedad de nosotros.
Seńor, ten piedad de nosotros. Cristo, óyenos. Cristo, escúchanos.
Dios, Padre Celestial, ten piedad de nosotros (se repite despué de cada invocación).
Dios Hijo, Redentor del mundo,
Dios, Espíritu Santo,
Santísima Trinidad, que eres un solo Dios,
Corazón de Jesús, Hijo del Eterno Padre,
Corazón de Jesús, formado en el seno de la Virgen Madre por el Espíritu Santo,
Corazón de Jesús, unido sustancialmente al Verbo de Dios,
Corazón de Jesús, templo santo de Dios,
Corazón de Jesús, tabernáculo del Altísimo,
Corazón de Jesús, casa de Dios y puerta del cielo,
Corazón de Jesús, horno ardiente de caridad,
Corazón de Jesús, santuario de la justicia y del amor,
Corazón de Jesús, lleno de bondad y de amor,
Corazón de Jesús, abismo de todas las virtudes,
Corazón de Jesús, digno de toda alabanza,
Corazón de Jesús, formado en el seno de la Virgen Madre por el Espíritu Santo,
Corazón de Jesús, unido sustancialmente al Verbo de Dios,
Corazón de Jesús, templo santo de Dios,
Corazón de Jesús, tabernáculo del Altísimo,
Corazón de Jesús, casa de Dios y puerta del cielo,
Corazón de Jesús, horno ardiente de caridad,
Corazón de Jesús, santuario de la justicia y del amor,
Corazón de Jesús, lleno de bondad y de amor,
Corazón de Jesús, abismo de todas las virtudes,
Corazón de Jesús, digno de toda alabanza,
Corazón de Jesús, Rey y centro de todos los corazones,
Corazón de Jesús, en quien se hallan todos los tesoros de la sabiduría, y de la ciencia,
Corazón de Jesús, en quien reside toda la plenitud de la divinidad,
Corazón de Jesús, en quien el Padre se complace,
Corazón de Jesús, de cuya plenitud todos hemos recibido,
Corazón de Jesús, deseado de los eternos collados,
Corazón de Jesús, paciente y lleno de misericordia,
Corazón de Jesús, generosos para todos los que te invocan,
Corazón de Jesús, fuente de vida y santidad,
Corazón de Jesús, propiciación por nuestros pecados,
Corazón de Jesús, triturado por nuestros pecados,
Corazón de Jesús, hecho obediente hasta la muerte,
Corazón de Jesús, traspasado por una lanza,
Corazón de Jesús, fuente de todo consuelo,
Corazón de Jesús, vida y resurrección nuestra,
Corazón de Jesús, paz y reconciliación nuestra,
Corazón de Jesús, víctima por los pecadores,
Corazón de Jesús, salvación de los que en ti esperan,
Corazón de Jesús, esperanza de los que en ti mueren,
Corazón de Jesús, delicia de todos los santos,
Cordero de Dios, que quitas el pecado del mundo, perdónanos Seńor.
Cordero de Dios, que quitas el pecado del mundo, ten piedad de nosotros.
Jesús, manso y humilde de Corazón, haz nuestro corazón semejante al tuyo.Oración: Oh Dios todopoderoso y eterno, mira el Corazón de tu amantísimo Hijo, las alabanzas y satisfacciones que en nombre de los pecadores te ofrece y concede el perdón a éstos que piden misericordia en el nombre de tu mismo Hijo, Jesucristo, el cual vive y reina contigo por los siglos de los siglos. Amén.
Promesas de Nuestro Seńor para los devotos de su Sagrado Corazón
(deberán ser leídas por el que guía la oración):(1) Les daré todas las gracias necesarias en su estado de vida.
(2) Estableceré la paz en sus hogares.
(3) Los consolaré en todas sus aflicciones.
(4) Seré su refugio en su vida y sobre todo en la muerte.
(5) Bendeciré grandemente todas sus empresas.
(6) Los pecadores encontrarán en Mi Corazón la fuente y el océano infinito de misericordia.
(7) Las almas tibias crecerán en fervor.
(8) Las almas fervorosas alcanzarán mayor perfección.
(9) Bendeciré el hogar o sitio donde esté expuesto Mi Corazón y sea honrado.
(10) Daré a los sacerdotes el don de tocar a los corazones más empedernidos.
(11) Los que propaguen esta devoción, tendrán sus nombres escritos en Mi Corazón, y de El, nunca serán borrados.
(12) Yo les prometo, en el exceso de la infinita misericordia de mi Corazón, que Mi amor todopoderoso le concederá a todos aquellos que comulguen nueve primeros viernes de mes seguidos, la gracia de la penitencia final; no morirán, en Mi desgracia ni sin recibir los sacramentos; Mi divino Corazón será su refugio seguro en este último momento.
10. Oración por los Sacerdotes. "Seńor Jesús, Pastor Supremo del rebańo, te rogamos que por el inmenso amor y misericordia de Tu Sagrado Corazón, atiendas todas las necesidades de tus sacerdotes, pastores del mundo entero. Te pedimos que retomes en Tu Corazón todos aquellos sacerdotes que se han alejado de tu camino, que enciendas de nuevo el deseo de santidad en los corazones de aquellos sacerdotes que han caído en la tibieza, y que continúes otorgando a Tus sacerdotes fervientes el deseo de una mayor santidad. Unidos a tu Corazón y el Corazón de María, te pedimos que envíes esta petición a Tu Padre celestial en la unidad del Espíritu Santo. Amén."
11. Oración por todos los Asociados de los Pastores de Cristo. "Amado Jesús, Te pedimos tus bendiciones especiales sobre todos los Asociados de los Pastores de Cristo. Continua iluminándolos sobre el privilegio y responsabilidad tan especial que les has otorgado a los miembros de este movimiento tuyo: Asociados de los Pastores de Cristo. Atráelos todavía más cerca de Tu Corazón y del de tu Madre. Permíteles que comprendan más y más el gran y especial amor de Sus Corazones por cada uno de ellos como individuos únicos. Concédeles la gracia de corresponder a tu amor y al amor de María con un mayor amor de parte suya. Al habitar en tu Corazón y en el Corazón de María, atiende abundantemente todas sus necesidades y las de sus seres queridos. Hacemos esta plegaria por Ti al Padre, en el Espíritu Santo, con María nuestra Madre a nuestro lado. Amén."
12. Oración por el éxito espiritual y financiero del Boletín Sacerdotal. "Padre, te pedimos tu bendición especial sobre el Boletín Sacerdotal, Pastores de Cristo. Te pedimos que abras los corazones de los sacerdotes que lo lean a las gracias que deseas concederles a través de este instrumento escogido de Tu Hijo. También te pedimos que nos proporciones los medios económicos necesarios para editar el boletín y Asociados de los Pastores de Cristo. Hacemos nuestra oración por Jesús, en el Espíritu Santo con María a nuestro lado. Amén."
13. Oración por todos los miembros de la familia humana. "Padre Celestial, te pedimos tus bendiciones sobre todos los nińos del mundo entero. Atiende todas sus necesidades. Te pedimos tu especial asistencia para todos los marginados, los que están descuidados y olvidados. Unidos con nuestra Madre María, te hacemos esta petición a Ti, por Jesús, en el Espíritu Santo. Amén."
14. Oración a San Miguel y nuestros Angeles de la Guardia:
"San Miguel Arcángel, defiéndenos en la lucha. Sé nuestro amparo contra las asechanza y perversidad del demonio. Reprímale Dios, pedimos suplicantes, y tu príncipe de la milicia celestial arroja al infierno a Satanás y a demás espíritus malignos que vagan por el mundo para la perdición de las almas. Amén."
"Ángel de mi Guardia, mi dulce compańía, no de desampares ni de noche ni de día. Amén."
15. Pausa para oración personal y en silencio. Que tenga una duración de al menos cinco minutos.
16. Acto de consagración al Sagrado Corazón de Jesús y al Inmaculado Corazón de María.
"Seńor Jesús, Supremo Pastor, yo me consagro a tu Sagrado Corazón. De tu Corazón traspasado nació la Iglesia, la Iglesia a la cual me has llamado, como miembro de los Asociados de los Pastores de Cristo, a servir en una forma muy especial. Tú revelas Tu Corazón como un símbolo de Tu amor en todos los aspectos, incluyendo Tu amor muy especial hacia mi, a quien has escogido como Tu compańero en éste tan importante trabajo. Ayúdame a corresponder siempre a Tu amor. Ayúdame a entregarme totalmente a Ti. Ayúdame siempre a derramar mi vida en amar a Dios y mi prójimo! Corazón de Jesús, pongo mi confianza en Ti!
"Amada y bendita Virgen María, yo me consagro a tu maternal e inmaculado Corazón, este Corazón que es símbolo de tu vida de amor. Tú eres la Madre de mi Salvador. Tú eres también mi Madre. Tú me amas con amor muy especial como miembro de Asociados de los Pastores de Cristo, una cruzada creada por Tu Hijo, como un instrumento poderoso para la renovación de la Iglesia y el mundo. Correspondiendo al amor, yo me entrego totalmente a tu amor maternal y protección. Tú seguiste a Jesús perfectamente. Tú eres Su primer y perfecto discípulo. Enséńame a imitar en ante poner a Cristo. Sé mi maternal intercesora, para que, a través de tu Corazón Inmaculado, sea conducida a una unión más cercana al Corazón herido de Jesús, Pastor Supremo del rebańo."
17. Oraciones diarias. Todos los miembros deberán hacer el acto de consagración diariamente. También deberán rezar el rosario cada día. Los exhortamos a que recen las oraciones aquí mencionadas, si el tiempo lo permite.
end of manual de oraciones
October 10, 2003 message continues
God the Father speaks: -
What sign should I give you?
You will not even help support
this Movement after this sign.
So many movements and people
and you won't listen -
An Afternoon with Mary
September 7, 2003
September 5, 2001
September 5, 2001
September 5, 2001
September 5, 2001
September 5, 2001
October 10, 2003 message continues
Messenger:
5 days before September 11, 2001
when we did not have
money for the building
Excerpt from September 6, 2001
Jesus speaks: You must pray for your donors.
I appeared and my mother appeared
for the whole world.
The apparition is not appreciated.
The fact you cannot even make
the rent payment for the
building is proof.
So much money in the world and the
state of Florida.
Look at your news on television.
Look at what the news is on the
television.
MARY HAS APPEARED ON THE
BUILDING FOR 5 YEARS AND
YOU DO NOT EVEN TAKE
NOTICE.
It is not the responsibility of 100
people to support such a vision.
It is a gift from God.
This shows you the focus of men
and your news.
Your eyes are blind.
I ask today September 6, 2001 to
see Our images and to help
do what We have asked you to do.
These messages are important.
You have ignored Me.
THE PRAYER CARDS, Prayer for Union
with Jesus, Prayer Before the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass, Say daily card,
morning offering, Shepherds of Christ
Prayer manuals, Holy Spirit Novena book,
rosary meditations are gifts from God.
Messenger: Jesus also said "All materials
used for the school rosary program
printed by B&M have helped the
school children."
Jesus speaks: The Priestly Newsletter is a gift from God.
Because of these prayers your world
is a better place.
If B&M closes and the printing stops -
your world will be affected.
Again I repeat, these revelations and
materials are for the world.
Mary appears the Lady clothed in gold
for the world.
Very, very few are helping to do what I ask.
My movement is to help the priests, the
Church and the world, it is a gift.
Because of My movement, the world is a
better place.
You will feel the effects if the printing stops.
I am the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I speak here.
end of excerpt from September 6, 2001
October 10, 2003 message continues
Jesus speaks: My dear people,
You are in a fog, like the
fog that comes in the morning
and you cannot see. The air
seems heavy and misty and you
hear the sound of a boat in the
distance but cannot see -
My Mother and the Eucharist -
The pope and the Church -
man the rutter -
let go you foolish ones -
pray the fog is lifted -
it is getting thicker and you will
never see in the darkness to
get on the boat -
Oh foolish ones -
I appear in the garden in
Clearwater - the Son of Justice
I AM A JUST GOD -
I will judge the nations with an
iron hand -
I am the Son of God -
the New Adam -
I come to this world to deliver
this message -
pray and sing as I have dictated
on the 13ths and 5ths -
Come to China for the retreat
to pray this fog is lifted
October 10, 2003 message continues
Jesus speaks: Oh people -
Oh My people -
Listen to Me -
My hand is raised and I love
you so much -
What sign should I give you -
How can you ignore this sign
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October 10, 2003
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October 10, 2003 message continues
Jesus speaks: My hand is raised
86 years since the sun appeared
to come crashing to the earth
on October 13, 1917
Excerpt from The Spirituality of Fatima
by Father Edward J. Carter, S.J.
October 13, 1917
On October 13, 1917, there were more than 70,000 people gathered in the Cova da Iria in Fatima, Portugal. They had come to observe a miracle which had been foretold by the Blessed Virgin to three young visionaries: Lucia dos Santos, and her two cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto. (1) Shortly after noon, Our Lady appeared to the three visionaries:
As the Lady was about to leave, she pointed to the sun. Lucy excitedly repeated the gesture, and the people looked into the sky. The rain had ceased, the clouds parted, and the sun shone forth, but not in its usual brilliance. Instead, it appeared like a silver disc, pale as the moon, at which all could gaze without straining their eyes. Suddenly, impelled by some mysterious force, the disc began to whirl in the sky, casting off great shafts of multicolored light. Red, green, blue, yellow, violet—the enormous rays shot across the sky at all angles, lighting up the entire countryside for many miles around, but particularly the upturned faces of those 70,000 spellbound people.
After a few moments the wonder stopped, but resumed again a second and a third time—three times in all—within about 12 minutes. It seemed that the whole world was on fire, with the sun spinning at a greater speed each time.
Then a gasp of terror rose from the crowd, for the sun seemed to tear itself from the heavens and come crashing down upon the horrified multitude.... Just when it seemed that the ball of fire would fall upon and destroy them, the miracle ceased, and the sun resumed its normal place in the sky, shining forth as peacefully as ever.
When the people arose from the ground, cries of astonishment were heard on all sides. Their clothes, which had been soaking wet and muddy, now were clean and dry. Many of the sick and crippled had been cured of their afflictions. (2)
NOTE:
2. For background material on Fatima, I am particularly indebted to
Our Lady of Fatima's Peace Plan from Heaven (Rockford:
TAN Books and Publishers, Inc., 1983). pp.7-8.
end of excerpt
from The Spirituality of Fatima
October 10, 2003 message continues
Jesus speaks: More time? You want more time to
become more numb -
Oh people you cannot help with
the building payment and
the school rosary fund and
helping to begin the prayer chapters -
the nursing homes -
pray that the fog is lifted -
FOR YOU ARE BLIND
AND SO MANY
SO WILLFUL.
I love you so much -
I gave My life for you.
I remain with you today
in the Eucharist -
Do you act like a son and daughter
of God?
I came to this earth to show you
the way.
LISTEN TO ME -
MY SOLDIERS IN
THIS SHEPHERDS OF CHRIST
I CALL YOU
DON'T TURN A
DEAF EAR -
LEAD THE
STRAYED ONES
HOME TO MY HEART -
Many do not want to speak if they
know the truth -
What is the truth -
I am the way, the truth and the
life -
I can rock the heavens and the
earth -
I can rock you off your
rockers -
I come to your earth a baby in
the womb of Mary
I washed the feet of My
apostles -
You do not act like servants
to serve Me -
So many are out for their own
vain glory.
Oh China people pray
October 10-14 and recommit
your lives to this mission.
Don't let the devil take you
out -
You have a few years in this life -
that is all -
then you die -
October 10, 2003 message continues
Jesus speaks: Oh My people-
Why do you think Mary and I appear
and you ignore Me.
October 10, 2003 message continues
Jesus speaks: PLEASE SUPPORT MY MOVEMENT
I AM JESUS THE
SON OF GOD -
The time is nigh -
You have ignored your God
1 Corinthians 15: 20-25
In fact, however, Christ has been raised from the dead, as the first–fruits of all who have fallen asleep. As it was by one man that death came, so through one man has come the resurrection of the dead. Just as all die in Adam, so in Christ all will be brought to life; but all of them in their proper order: Christ the first–fruits, and next, at his coming, those who belong to him. After that will come the end, when he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father, having abolished every principality, every ruling force and power. For he is to be king until he has made his enemies his footstool,
Message from October 8, 1997
Jesus speaks: Seedless, barren, not bringing forth fruit on the vine. I come to be heard and who pays Me heed. To a people of stiffs I address this issue, what think you when the water is gone from the trough?
Do you think you will then worship the molten calf or will you be ready for surrender then?
Oh, you thankless race, anger and wrath is the mind of your God. You do not worry, My messenger, for I am God and I speak to you. You think you are alone and I have chosen you. Your money is your god, oh people of Zion - your money in the pockets is the sound that brings you joy.
What brings Me joy is the songs of the faithful, praising and worshipping God, but I go to the tent and there is the molten calf and an abased nation of stiffs, heartless and filled with fear. I beg of you to stop now before it is too late, but you do not know of the chastisement I have in store for you - it is under the plan of the Father.
The children who walk in darkness carried a molten calf in their arms and the God of justice struck the earth.
He struck you, senseless people, because you would not listen.
I did not put you on the earth and then leave you to yourselves. I dwelt amongst you to guide you in all your ways and the people today spit on Me as they did 2,000 years before. For all these years I waited for the likes of you, My people, and why should you have more time for false joy? Joy is not in the molten calf. It is in the words of the Savior.
My Words are your truth, yet you try to wash them away as hearsay and of no importance.
My Word is the Word of God mighty and true. I have been ignored and defiled in My Word. I smite you, My senseless race. I allow the dragon to devour your young for you are the senseless race. I allow the dragon to devour your young for you are the senseless children of Eve.
Debased, proud and dead, really dead in your hearts.
I give you sunshine and rain and you want flowers and glory.
The glory is Mine or I will have to continue to listen to the wailing widow, a barren branch, a company of stiffs.
Ignore Me no longer senseless ones. My hand is upon you. It will come down and wipe out the senseless virgins, the ones singing to the molten calf.
Rachel could hear the slaughter of her children and she wept such bitter tears. The Lady Clothed as the Sun bore the barren race; they did not come to her grace-filled womb.
The thankless race marched into a pit of doom and destruction.
As I was pressed in the garden watching the days at hand, as I was squeezed, what came forth from My pores was the saving Blood for the children of Zion and when they ate from the land they feasted on rich food and strong drinks, the candy of the earth and it made them sick - sick to the death of their souls and the Lady Clothed as the Sun heard the cries of her sick children. I give you the medicine for the sick children in these writings and they chase you and make you fall to the ground. I watched you skin your knees when you carried the scrolls that contained My letters of love, My words from the depths of My Heart. You fell as I once did on the way to Calvary. I fell, I skinned My knees, My Body burned and I got up and went to the end.
The end was the beginning for the children of Zion for at that hill My cross was planted erect, a tree of life, and the juice that was squeezed 'till there was no more from the one "Son of Man, the Son of God", was the juice of the Man. It was His saving Blood.
They pressed Me in the Garden of Olives and I bled for the thankless race. They hung Me on a tree on the hill of Calvary. When I gave them the New Eve they chose the molten calf. They spit on My Mother, they ignored the visitations. She came and gave to the children to remind them of their covenant with God.
Oh senseless ones, so many will now fall, for I hung there and to the right was one and to the left another. The one was saved; the other was cursed. You picked from the tree when you should have obeyed your Father. He gave you His will. He said, "You may eat of all the trees in the garden but not this one." and you continually ate of the forbidden fruit. I warned you, My children, and you chased My messengers and made them run. I gave to you My Book of Life, My Bible, and you ate the sick fruit and it made you so sick you wanted to die but you kept eating when I told you the end was near and now that the end has come, what do you say for yourself? You ignored the Lady Clothed as the Sun. She appeared in all glory and splendor and so many months later so few go to her site to even see her. So is it My fault or yours our money does not come to publish your books and tell the world about the Woman in Florida? It is not My fault, I am God. I am the faultless One.
You want joy. I have no joy for the likes of you, My children of Zion, you have usurped My thrones and treated My body as rubbish. I am God. I come in the Eucharist and I am ignored. I speak no longer. The days that follow will be the days to cleanse this earth.
I am angered beyond all anger for the way My Mother has been treated in Florida by the thankless race. They have worshipped the molten calf and ignored the Lady of Light, the Lady Clothed as the Sun, the Lady of Fatima in the Americas, Our Lady of Guadalupe, bringing forth her children. The good will suffer with the bad; the wheat will be separated from the darnel (weeds). You walked like little stiff men with your haughty hearts. Your heads were your gods. I gave you great minds to comprehend My mysteries and you used your minds to worship false gods and make movies that defile My priesthood. What of your minds? I do not even have energy to tell you how unworthy you used the mind, the intellect I gave you. You used this great faculty to commit the worst sins, and My head was crowned with the sharpest thorns for your sick earth. Oh, you squeezed the Blood from the Son of Man. You pressed that Man in the garden, when He knew this race of this day.
I now see the Woman on the building, My Mother, so loving to the children I gave her and the mean ones threw acid on her face. Oh, you race of vile hearts and thankless ways. I will clothe the holy ones in the white robes of glory. The thankless ones I will turn over to the red men that will hand them over to the keeper of the pit and their bodies will be burned in the burning sulfur of the pool of death. Come, My children of light, your Mother called you through the consecration. She showed you the way home to My Heart. She carried a lighted lamp and lighted your way in the darkness. You were not foolish like the virgins that carried a lamp without a light. Your light for the lamp was My life alive in your hearts. When the darkest night comes you will know the flames of My love alive in your lighted hearts, burning with the fire from the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I give you the fuel, My faithful virgins. I gave you the fuel to light your lamps that in the dark night that lies ahead, you will still shine as a beacon light, a light of intense brightness no matter how dark the night. You will not die for your refuge is the fire of the Sacred Heart and you gave your heart to the New Eve, the pure and Immaculate One and she took you to the Heart of your Savior. She took you home and you dwelt within the chamber of My Heart and you were protected from the evil one in these last days. You tried to spread this consecration. It is the key that leads to the place of refuge. So many camps the devil told men to prepare and they labored in vain, for the Word was had in dwelling in Our Hearts. You would find refuge and they missed the message and busied themselves with the work of the evil one.
I say to you what refuge survived when Noah built his ark? Only those on the ark survived the great flood. You prepare your earth. When My Word was to prepare your hearts. Then again, they worshipped the church building, the grounds and the wood and their hearts were left as cold vaults. I beg you, My beauteous ones, to beg the men to prepare their hearts before it is too late. Only the Ark of the Covenant will be the means of survival in this dark age. When the moon turns to blood they will run away frightened and their buildings will be like cold vaults - only the hearts consecrated to Our Hearts will survive.
You were willful and too busy to know the story. The story is this: There is but one home; it is the Heart of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. My Mother is the gatekeeper. It is through her Immaculate Heart you enter. She is the singular vessel, a New Eve, a Woman Clothed as the Sun, a doorway to the everlasting abyss of Light, the Light of the World, the Sacred Eucharistic Heart of the Son of Man.
There was not room for Me in the Inn and there is not room for Me in the hearts of many and what can I say - they will die. I gave them the book of life. I gave them the Man who hung on a tree to save them. I gave them Myself, truly present in the Eucharist, the Eucharist and My Word I gave them. I gave to them My Mother - the way to enter into My Heart and they were haughty and proud. I was born in a stable in Bethlehem for you, My men. I am the Light of the World. The foolish virgins had no oil for their lamps and they went out. And you could hear the wailing cries of her children being slaughtered in the dark night. Oh, the Lady Clothed as the Sun warned them to come to her heart and the Heart of her Son (the Light of the World) and they went to the molten calf and they died a brutal death.
end of October 8, 1997 message
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Revised: October 10,
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