Daily Writing
| Shepherds of Christ Daily Writing |
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October 19, 2006
October 20th Holy Spirit Novena
Scripture selection is Day 5 Period I.The Novena Rosary Mysteries
for October 20th are Sorrowful.
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October 19, 2006
Messenger:
If I speak to those blinded by deep sin,
stubbornness and willful then I cease to
talk of the reality of the mystical lights
He imparts to me.
For I am here as one who speaks of
the reality of the mystical, the lights of
heaven, the gifts of knowing more to prepare
me for that heavenly embrace of the beatific
vision.
I have seen the purity of one so
fair, our heavenly mother and her precious
love for her children, but I can explain
to you this mission and the hope of my
heart and soul to help reach the precious
souls Jesus gave His life for or try to
penetrate the hearts choosing sin,
disobedience to the commandments —
living not according to their vocation —
One thing seems clear to me from
the greatest commandment it is
love of God and love of one another
as our self —
So the sum total is in this if our
hearts are not focused on others, but
paralyzed by selfish sin we will not
be that light as God intends.
Selfishness against God's will,
willfulness blinds our vision. I tried
to reach a pure tone with the chromatic
note finder, but I was first too high, then
too low and in trying to find the note and
correct it, I rolled over to a new note.
Oh we have a life time to set our
eyes on heaven, to try to fine tune
our willful ways, to learn to live in
the truth and still be more like
the Divine God in learning to love
as He desires and I say — Oh Jesus,
Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus help me to be
an instrument of love — one of light —
one of truth —
Let me never stoop to write anything,
but your truth to lead souls to you —
A garden can be consumed with weeds,
a garden well cared for, the ground
can be fertile and the yield of good
food plentiful.
One can go to the rocks, stick in a
seed and watch little grow.
Like going to a rock pile and putting
in a sign that says Jesus, planting
seeds and watching nothing grow.
How do Christians look today —
Do we put in a sign that says "Jesus"
in a rock pile and when people
look they do not see fruit or light,
but barrenness and darkness.
Disciplining one's thoughts is majorly
important. If we turn on the television
today — we can be shocked — very few
shows to tell us the truth of Jesus,
yet some can play it day long contaminating
their minds.
Our hearts are made for Jesus, why
fill our minds and hearts with lies and
the ways of the world, but what about
our thoughts — do we allow negative
tapes to play — like an old spook movie
with scenes we remember when we
try to sleep — footprints outside the
window of one about to break in.
Why let that go on in our precious
mind, when we can choose God's light
alive in us, His love filling us and empowering
us to be a light with others and build
His Kingdom.
Song: I Love You Jesus
I love the Mass so much. Jesus gave
me this prayer December 27, 1995 in two
minutes as the priest walked the little
isle in the Cathedral chapel, Cincinnati, I
stooped to write the lines on a scribbled
up cardboard back of my notebook — I
had to put (1), then (2), then (3) to fill in the
limited spaces.
October 19, 2006 message continues
Messenger: I LOVE THIS PRAYER!
Every time I pray it I get so much grace
at Mass. We have this on prayer cards.
A Prayer before the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
Let me be a holy sacrifice and unite with God in the sacrament of His greatest love.
I want to be one in Him in this act of love, where He gives Himself to me and I give myself as a sacrifice to Him. Let me be a holy sacrifice as I become one with Him in this my act of greatest love to Him.
Let me unite with Him more, that I may more deeply love Him. May I help make reparation to His adorable Heart and the heart of His Mother, Mary. With greatest love, I offer myself to You and pray that You will accept my sacrifice of greatest love. I give myself to You and unite in Your gift of Yourself to me. Come and possess my soul.
Cleanse me, strengthen me, heal me. Dear Holy Spirit act in the heart of Mary to make me more and more like Jesus.
Father, I offer this my sacrifice, myself united to Jesus in the Holy Spirit to You. Help me to love God more deeply in this act of my greatest love.
Give me the grace to grow in my knowledge, love and service of You and for this to be my greatest participation in the Mass. Give me the greatest graces to love You so deeply in this Mass, You who are so worthy of my love.
-God's Blue Book, December 27, 1995
October 19, 2006 message continues
Messenger:
The great love affair with our God for the
poor banished children of Adam and Eve —
John 3: 16
For this is how God loved the world:
he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him
may not perish
but may have eternal life.
October 19, 2006 message continues
Messenger:
Yes! God loved us first.
And man sinned.
And Jesus came as Savior for the
fallen race.
October 19, 2006 message continues
Messenger: Savior —
When we want somebody to love us and we
do a lot and we don't think they
even care we say
"Well, I did this . . . , . . . "
Jesus says in this song
I come to you in greatest love (He does
truly present in the Eucharist)
then He says I am your loving Savior
I am your God I died for you
He says
I am here
I am your Savior
I died for you
What else do you want.
Well let me focus on You my God —
my love for you —
my growing in greater holiness —
mountain - tops
fruitful gardens
Trying to live against God's commandments
and then saying, but I do good
work —
brings (contamination) lack of purity
to our actions — tainted ——
We can't say —
I will be my own god —
I will do this God,
But not obey this law and
think it will work.
God wants us to walk in purity
To be fine tuned —
God has called us to be in the light.
Today I watch the trees of red, green and gold
against a blue sky and it looks like it is
snowing beautiful leaves. So awesomely beautiful.
Even though we are given such gifts from God
we can be led into negative thinking.
Inside of me is a center to always live
according to His truth. I went to a music teacher
and he had a chromatic tuner. When I sang the
note requested the light was green and it was
difficult to have the pure tone, to stay on pitch.
I was surprised how my tone went to either side
and if I went too low or too high it would roll
over to another note entirely.
I have been playing the piano for 53 years and
singing most of my life and working hard to do it
right, taking organ lessons, but I was amazed
how far I could be from the pitch. I always had my
pianos tuned every year before — the one in Florida
inside is old and we need to work on the job
of tuning our pianos — I see, after 53 years of
playing music — you would think I could sing
a pure pitch and stay on the mark — Well I was
surprised. The old piano was passed on — all the others
new, but the Florida piano outside — the inside
old — regular maintenance to keep them in tune.
Music is an art, fed by the sincerity of the soul —
filled with the love of the spirit — working harder
to keep the notes pure.
Our bodies are like that too. If I am squeezed
with anger and pride (things I don't touch)
jealousy — what is that doing to my vessels and
my heart.
A person filled with love seems to have an
endless source of energy. What does God want
from us? To be likened to God we must
(1) love God
(2) love one another
(3) love ourselves
ALWAYS Seeking HIS TRUTH
"Trees do bend though straight and tall"
When a person is not obeying the commandments
and asked to sing a tune — they will be off —
deviating from the green light of truth.
Hardened hearts — God speaks of this all
through the Word
Psalm 95: 7-8
If only you would listen to him today!
Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,
as at the time of Massah in the desert,
when your ancestors challenged me,
put me to the test, and saw what I could do!
Genesis 6: 5-8
Yahweh saw that human wickedness was great on earth and that human hearts contrived nothing but wicked schemes all day long. Yahweh regretted having made human beings on earth and was grieved at heart. And Yahweh said, ‘I shall rid the surface of the earth of the human beings whom I created–human and animal, the creeping things and the birds of heaven–for I regret having made them.’ But Noah won Yahweh’s favour.
October 19, 2006 message continues
Messenger:
With the flood of Noah God allowed much
of the contaminating sin being passed down to stop —
and He gave to us Noah and his descendents.
Look at all the ancestors and the ways
of doing things being passed down.
Then Christ comes and as Fr. Carter says
in the Spirituality Handbook
Excerpt from the Spirituality Handbook
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.
October 19, 2006 message continues
Messenger: Fr.
Carter really put the Spirituality Handbook
in with the Shepherds of Christ Prayer Manual,
because he said Shepherds of Christ Associates
needed to keep it with them and read it over
and over again.
If you do not have an Apostle Manual or an old
prayer manual, as a member of Shepherds of Christ
you need to have the Spirituality Handbook and read it
over and over again as Jesus told Fr. Carter
when he started the Movement.
October 19, 2006 message continues
Messenger:
Now this is what Shepherds of Christ is all about —
to walk in the truth — I am sticking to the Church
documents, the Catechism, the Scripture —
the words of the Mass, the 10 commandments,
the prayers of the rosary, the Our Father, Hail Mary,
Glory Be etc.
This is not to approach the spiritual life
like a text book class in economics — that
can change —
God is unchangable
God is to be alive in our hearts —
We are to love God — have deep relationship
with Him — not like the Math I taught —
I liked the students, they liked me —
we thought math was fun, but
learning economics, facts is different
then allowing God to live in me as
St. Paul says
Galatians 2: 19-20
I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me. The life that I am now living, subject to the limitation of human nature, I am living in faith, faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
October 19, 2006 message continues
Messenger:
So lets go back to the perfect tone of the
note G — he played it and I was all over —
high, low, when I got tired — falling off —
energy I said, Rita, like Julie Andrews who
once sang so beautiful in the Sound of Music —
energy to hit every note right on.
Not just the first note, then slip down with
the rest. Are we like that in the spiritual life —
Say "yes, I am a Christian" and then not act
like Christ being loving, forgiving, living by
the Commandments — slipping up and down —
letting in little lies — wearing clothes that tempt
others, cheating, giving into anger and jealousy
and not taking time for our relationship with
God — really prime time with the one we love —
do we do things for our honor or the honor and
glory of God — do we sing the first note
like yesterday —
Alleluia — Alleluia — Alleluia for the honor
and glory of God and then
allow the concupiscence of the flesh to taint
our motives —
Humility is truth —
Truth — the Truth of Jesus is the goal
the faith that God is with us always — loving
us so deeply so we believe —
we love —
we are empowered —
we are a light —
As soon as somebody intimately loves us —
do we try to get back to the baby with
a billion wounds to be healed —
God is calling us in Shepherds of Christ to be living firmly
rooted in God's will — loving God deeply —
loving one another as He wills us to do —
loving ourselves because He loves us and
wants us loving Him and building His Kingdom.
I asked somebody once years ago for some funds when Fr. Carter
was trying to get out the Newsletter and they said —
"that is your truth - this is my truth — you
live in your truth - I live in mine" —
I like what Fr. John refers to in Bible
Study — we are living in the image and likeness
of God - but we can make ourselves the god —
and then we do what we want.
Genesis 1: 27
God created man in the image of himself,
in the image of God he created him,
male and female he created them.
Genesis 3: 1-7
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.
October 19, 2006 message continues
Messenger:
How many people of this world are making themselves
their own god — doing what they want — not living
by the truth of Jesus. Jesus came the Son
of God — Jesus came to teach us to be sons
of God.
The Shepherds of Christ has servants and
handmaids for almost ten years and apostles
for 12 years dedicated to this mission to
help renew the Church and the world by
sending the Priestly Newsletter in some
form for over 12 years now and having
Prayer Chapters praying for the priests,
the Church and the world.
This is a Movement of hope with
answers to live in deeper holiness —
loving the priests and the Church and the world —
loving the souls Jesus died for and praying
for them.
Spreading the Morning Offering and
the consecration to the Hearts of Jesus
and Mary so Catholics will be united
all day to the Masses going on around the
world and living in the Hearts of Jesus and
Mary.
from Tell My People
Jesus speaks: "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!"
end of excerpt from Tell My People
Excerpt from The Spirituality of Fatima
July 13, 1917
But in the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph, the Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, Russia will be converted, and a certain period of peace will be granted to the world. (13)
NOTES:
13. 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).
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