R. Christ is the King – over men
                and over the world. Men are to die
                to their ways not likened to Christ,
                to rise to the victory Christ has
                given to us to help in
                the work of redemption in the
                world.

                    Fr. Carter says the Christian
                is a pilgrim in exile. God
                gives us a sharing in His life.
                God gives us grace.
                This grace gives us the desire
                for greater intimacy with God,
                to reach more that fullness
                of life – but to know we will
                be full of grace in heaven.

                    Mary is full of grace –
                We model our lives after the lives
                of Jesus and Mary. Mary is the most
                perfect disciple of Jesus.

                    Jesus came to teach us about
                our roles in this life – of
                living our Christ-life, of
                living life in the Spirit and
                knowing Mary – Mother at our side.
 

Prayer for Union with Jesus

Come to me, Lord, and possess my soul. Come into my heart and permeate my soul. Help me to sit in silence with You and let You work in my heart.

    I am Yours to possess. I am Yours to use. I want to be selfless and only exist in You. Help me to spoon out all that is me and be an empty vessel ready to be filled by You. Help me to die to myself and live only for You. Use me as You will. Let me never draw my attention back to myself. I only want to operate as You do, dwelling within me.

    I am Yours, Lord. I want to have my life in You. I want to do the will of the Father. Give me the strength to put aside the world and let You operate my very being. Help me to act as You desire. Strengthen me against the distractions of the devil to take me from Your work.

    When I worry, I have taken my focus off of You and placed it on myself. Help me not to give in to the promptings of others to change what in my heart You are making very clear to me. I worship You, I adore You and I love You. Come and dwell in me now.

-God's Blue Book, January 17, 1994

   

                R. God is our love. We seek not to
                displease Him with the slightest sin –
                God is infinite perfection.

                    We need to die to our selfish ways
                and to rise in Him. We are to put
                on Christ.

                    God is all powerful – without
                limits –
                When we rebel against God we
                show God how we think we
                are equal to God.
                (like Eve in the Garden)

                    We are to change. We are to die to
                our selfish ways not like Christ
                and live to be more and more
                Christ-like. Only a fool sees
                himself as right all the time and
                in trying to prove he is right –
                he makes his life a folly –
                for it is not true he is perfected
                as he sees himself –

                    God is perfect. We are here
                to die to the ways that are
                wrong and to rise in God –
                to grow in greater perfection
                in Him –
 

Matthew 5: 48

...You must therefore be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.’

 

                R. God is. We cannot even fathom
                what heaven is – to live forever
                in unity with God – embraced
                by God in the beatific vision.

                    How pompous for man to
                try to fight to prove his perfection
                when, indeed, he is in need
                of conversion and his heart is
                to grow like the Heart of Jesus.

                This is what this Movement is about –
                    giving ourselves to the Heart of Jesus
                    and letting God work in our
                    hearts that need to be made
                    more and more pure –

                Giving our heart to our Mother and
                    quit acting like we are
                    equal to God, but being
                    docile children of the
                    Father and allowing the
                    Holy Spirit to work in the Heart
                    of our Mother Mary – to ask
                    the Holy Spirit to form
                    us more and more in the
                    image of Jesus –

                Jesus was formed in the womb
                    of Mary through the power
                    of the Holy Spirit.

                God is the King of all ages!
                God is above us –
                We are under God!
                God is Creator –
                We are creatures!
                God is infinite –
                    We are limited –

                    Is not this the sin of the fallen
                angels – They would not
                worship God –

                    The sin of pride to spend ones
                whole life proving you are on top –

                It is folly to argue with men life-long
                    so you can reach a place where
                    you know-it-all and they
                    should put the know-it-all
                    on the platform he is trying
                    to build for himself.

                Docility is found in worshipping
                    God and knowing He is over
                    and we are under –
                    God is the Creator –
                    We are the creatures –

                We need to be formed more and more
                    in the image and likeness of
                    Jesus, who gave His life –
                    teaching us about the Pascal
                        mystery of death/resurrection –

                God is Supreme –

                God is not divided –

                The word devil comes from divided.

                We are beautiful as we see ourselves
                    in Him –

                As Mary said –

 

Luke 1: 46-55

And Mary said:

My soul proclaims
    the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit rejoices
    in God my Saviour;
because he has looked upon
    the humiliation of his servant.
Yes, from now onwards
    all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty
    has done great things for me.
Holy is his name,
and his faithful love extends age after age
    to those who fear him.
He has used the power of his arm,
he has routed the arrogant of heart.
He has pulled down princes
    from their thrones
        and raised high the lowly.
He has filled the starving with good things,
    sent the rich away empty.
He has come to the help
    of Israel his servant,
        mindful of his faithful love
—according to the promise
    he made to our ancestors—
of his mercy to Abraham
    and to his descendants for ever.

 

                R. The man in competition, constant
                    combat with his brothers
                    for the high seat for himself
                    is not understanding
                    God's program at all –

                    It is the sin of pride to always
                be arguing about being on the
                high seat. Did we not learn from
                the garden of Eden –

                    What are the motives
                behind the secrets of one's
                actions that are so involved
                in their own dominance to
                be on top –

                    Look at Jesus hanging on
                the cross. His clothes were the
                flesh wounds bleeding with
                red blood – all over His body
                for our sins.

                Jesus: Are you afraid you will be left
                    and not have enough?
                    Do you see that My love
                        never runs out and the
                        man of love – sacrifices
                        and gives to others –
                        Did you not learn from
                        My life given for your
                        sins of pride and anger
                        and even - Stephen?

                Do you want a trophy here below
                    for your division –
                    when I gave you a rose garden and
                    you were created to love –

                My message is love –

                My Movement is to teach men to
                    give their hearts to My Heart
                    and the Heart of My Mother,
                    but you need conversion.
                    You need to die to your sins –

                Do you not understand the Mass
                    and the Pascal Mystery
                    Death/Resurrection?

                At every moment of your live –
                    you should be united to
                    the Mass to grow in your
                    life in Me –
                    So you must die to your
                        selfish, prideful,
                        controlling ways to
                        live a new life in Me –

                You are to live a virtuous
                    life and pray for the gifts
                    of the Holy Spirit and experience
                    of joy the Holy Spirit brings –

                Clinging to your deadly sins and
                    witnessing to others these
                    faults will bring down the
                    house –

                I am calling you to perfection –
                    to change your evil - ways,
                    to help in the work of redemption
                    by living holy lives.

                Doing a bunch of work and
                    saying
                    "I'm perfect, I'm not
                        changing."

                Fighting and arguing, negative behavior
                    is a good sign that you are
                    not working on virtues,
                    but stuck in the same-old,
                    same-old bad habits of
                    pride, anger, jealousy,
                    envy, lust, gluttony
                    and slothfulness.

 

Say: Come to me, Lord, and possess my soul. Come into my heart and permeate my soul. Help me to sit in silence with You and let You work in my heart.

         

Cling to Me

May 13, 1993 

Jesus: My dear child, if you stay close to Me, then I live in you and you live in Me. I am He Who created you and I love you with such an intensity that you will never know. My words are your truth. You must abide in My heart in all things. There is no room for doubt. My ways are steadfast, direct, and without error.

    You must stay rooted in Me to ward off the power of the evil one. His grip is paralyzing and crippling. His power is stronger every day.

    When you live in Me, I am in your heart and he has no power over Me. I am your God. I am your true lover. I want to protect you. I want to guard you from this force. Stay rooted firmly in Me and he will have no power.

    I am He Who comforts you. My hand is upon you. Hold tight to Me, My child. My eyes are fixed right on you. You are My most precious child. I love you as no other can. My arms are about you. My tenderness surrounds you. My love is in your heart. You go not alone. I walk with you.

    I share every aspect of your life with you. Cling to Me, feel My presence. It is warm and secure within your chest. There is no room for fear, for I cast out fear and bring you comfort and joy.

end of May 13, 1993

                R. God is our Father and we are in
                the Father's family. We can live
                our whole life trying to prove
                we are right, we have a wounded
                human nature and tendencies
                toward sin, we are not perfect
                and we make mistakes, and
                when we do things wrong we
                need to tell God we are sorry
                for our sins and tell others
                we are sorry. God calls us to
                make reparation for our sins,
                not trying to live our whole life
                trying to prove we are perfect,
                always right, when we are not
                always right.

                    But there are struggles in
                life. We know we will have
                struggles and we want to do
                what God wants us to do in
                these struggles and move on.
                We have a conscience that helps
                us to know what is right and
                wrong. We want to try to have
                a well informed conscience that
                will help us in making these
                decisions.

                    The thing we need to do
                is to know there are problems
                and to be able to work through
                them as God helps us and wants
                us to do.

                    Life is a journey and we are
                growing more and more, hopefully,
                to be likened to Christ.

                    God has given us the great gift
                of baptism of sharing in His
                life.

               

 

Excerpt from Response in Christ by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J.

The Sacraments and the Mass (excerpt)

       d) The Christian's Participation in the Mass

God has created man a social being. This fact has relevance as regards man's salvation and perfection. Man does not go to God alone, but rather is saved and perfected with and through others. This is evident in the study of salvation history as one observes God communicating Himself to man in the framework of community. As we have seen, this social dimension is also readily evident in the liturgy.

     As we now discuss the individual's participation in the liturgy, we in no way intend to underestimate the communal aspect of the eucharistic sacrifice. We constantly presuppose it and its importance. Liturgy as communal is the indispensable framework and background for any discussion of the individual's liturgical participation.

     Granted all this, it is still useful and necessary to speak of the individual's participation in the Mass.³³ Ultimately it is the individual as individual who accepts or rejects God's offer of salvation and sanctification. Therefore, to speak of the individual's response to God in the liturgy is highly significant. Despite all the communal helps the individual receives in the liturgy, despite the fact that the individual must always be deeply aware that he is a member of the community, the People of God, it is still true to say that it is within the depths of his own mysterious, individual personality that the Christian either becomes a mature Christian through the liturgy or fails to do so. With such preliminary ideas established, let us now consider the Christian and his role in the Mass.

       1) The Baptized Christian and the Mass

Once again the reader is reminded that through baptism the Christian becomes incorporated into Christ and His Church. Confirmation perfects this incorporation. Although baptism incorporates us primarily into Christ's death and Resurrection, we again stress that it also unites us with Christ in all His mysteries. This is so because all Christ's mysteries are essentially one mystery, for none of them stands separately by itself. Consequently, one cannot be initiated into Christ's paschal mystery without simultaneously being incorporated into all of His mysteries.

     The fact that all of Christ's various mysteries are contained in the total mystery of Christ enables the Christian to encounter the entire Christ in the liturgy. Mention of this fact brings us to our next point.

     In baptism the Christian first encounters and relives the mystery of Christ. He thereby receives a new life. But this life must be nourished. The Christian must constantly re-encounter the mystery of Christ, and this he does chiefly through the eucharistic liturgy. Here the Christian is daily privileged to encounter Christ in the most intimate fashion. Here above all he exercises his priesthood and consequently grows in supernatural vitality. We use the word exercise purposely, since the liturgy is primarily an action, an exercise of the priestly office of Christ.

     Since the baptized Christian is sacramentally participating in the mystery of Christ at the Mass, his priestly act must be modeled after that of Christ's. This is true because the life of grace flowing out of the seals of baptism and confirmation is structured according to certain modalities or characteristics based on the life of Christ. This truth was developed at some length in the previous chapter. There we stated that Christ, the head of the Mystical Body, has determined, through His own life of sanctifying grace, the general lines of development according to which His members' lives of grace grow and mature.

     Therefore it is evident that the whole of the Christian's life must be orientated to the Mass and be centered about it; for in Christ we see His entire life centered around His priestly act of Calvary. This is true because His interior sacrificial disposition, the essence of His priestly act, permeated everything in His life.

     The baptized Christian should also bring his daily life, his whole life, to the eucharistic sacrifice. The Church which assembles about the altar is not a nebulous, ethereal entity, but the Church of this earth. It is the Church of men and women who are immersed in the work of this world. As they gather for the eucharistic sacrifice, they are therefore not removed from the world of their ordinary daily lives to an unreal world of ritual which has no connection with their temporal cares and activities. Rather it is the reality of this ordinary daily life which they bring to offer as priests and victims in union with Christ, priest and victim. In such a manner, then, the eucharistic sacrifice looks to the past life of the Christian.³⁴

     Yet the Mass also looks to the future of the Christian. By his participation in the Mass he receives grace to assimilate in a more perfect manner the mystery of Christ. Ideally, each Mass participated in by the Christian should mean that he leaves the eucharistic assembly with a greater Christ-likeness. Thus he takes up his daily life as a more fervent Christ-bearer.

     The Mass as it looks to both the past and future embraces the Christian's entire life. It is meant to be lived each minute of the Christian's life. Durrwell says: "The Mass is said in order that the whole Church and the whole of our life may become a Mass, may become Christ's sacrifice always present on earth. St. Francis of Sales resolved that he would spend the whole day preparing to say Mass, so that whenever anyone asked what he was doing, he might always answer, 'I am preparing for Mass'. We also could resolve to make our whole lives a participation in the divine mystery of the Redemption, so that when anyone puts the question to us, we can always answer, 'I am saying Mass'."³⁵

       2) The Mass lived out

As the Christian lives out the Mass, he is consequently daily laboring with Christ in furthering the work of the subjective redemption. This is so because Christ's sacrifice was a redemptive act, and the Church's reliving of this act in the Mass is also redemptive. In this regard we must remember that the entire universe – not merely man – has been redeemed. The nonrational and rational world alike await the furthering of the redemption. St. Paul tells us: "From the beginning till now the entire creation, as we know, has been groaning in one great act of giving birth; and not only creation, but all of us who possess the first-fruits of the Spirit, we too groan inwardly as we wait for our bodies to be set free." (Rm 8:22-23).

     How does the Christian help Christ redeem the world? (Henceforth the term "world" is to be understood as including both rational and nonrational creation.) As previously stated, the Christian helps Christ redeem the world by reliving Christ's mysteries. The same "events" or mysteries which accomplished the objective redemption further the subjective redemption also. Since at the heart of Christ's mysteries are His death and Resurrection, it is especially these that the Christian must relive. As the Christian dies mystically with Christ through loving conformity with the Father's will, he rises with Christ to an ever greater share in the Resurrection, in the newness of life, in the life of grace. As the Christian in this manner relives the paschal mystery of Christ, he is accomplishing not only his own redemption, but he is also, in a mysterious yet real manner, helping Christ redeem the world.

     Although Christ's life was summed up in death-resurrection, it also included various other "events" or mysteries. Each of these in its own manner contributed to the redemption. So it is with the Christian's life. His participation in Christ's death-resurrection must be "broken down" into the other mysteries of Christ's life.

     The Christian must always remember that he carries away from the Mass not only the Christ of the death and the Resurrection, but also, for example, the Christ of the hidden life and the Christ of the public life. As the Christian lives out his Mass in the exercise of his Christ-life, all these various mysteries should therefore be present.

     Before we give examples of how the Christian can relive these saving events of Christ's life, it is well that we first distinguish the two different levels on which the Christian assimilates the mystery of Christ.

 

     Christ, through His death and Resurrection, has transformed us. This transformation is a "new creation," a new life of grace. Through our baptism we are initiated into this life and consequently we exist as new creatures. As long as we possess the life of sanctifying grace, which is our share in the mystery of Christ, we are living according to this new existence whether or not this life here and now incarnates itself in a concrete, supernatural act. In this sense the life of grace, the "new creation," is fundamental, radical and transcendent, a share in the transcendent holiness or mystery of God Himself.

     However, God expects that our life of transcendent holiness incarnate itself in concrete supernatural acts. It is in this respect that we speak of reliving the various mysteries of Christ through specific supernatural attitudes and acts. This may also be called imitation of Christ, but with a certain precaution, namely, that the imitation in question is to be considered primarily as interior rather than exterior. By this we mean that although the Christian can to a certain extent imitate Christ according to what was His external mode of conduct, it is primarily through adopting the mind of Christ – His interior dispositions – that the Christian puts on Christ. With this said we now offer suggestions as to how the Christian relives the mysteries of Christ whose presence and transforming influences have been encountered in the eucharistic liturgy.

     For instance, each member of Christ, whether he be bishop, priest, religious or layman, can accomplish much of his redemptive work by an intense reliving of Christ's hidden life. Certainly our heavenly Father would have us learn a great lesson from this fact, namely, that His Christ lived out so many years of His earthly life in a hidden manner, doing the ordinary tasks of the ordinary man. In assimilating this particular mystery of Christ the Christian must say with Rahner: "Let us take a good look at Jesus Who had the courage to lead an apparently useless life for thirty years. We should ask Him for the grace to give us to understand what His hidden life means for our religious existence."³⁶

     Christ did not lead only a hidden life, but a public life also. All vocations within the Church are likewise called upon to reproduce this part of Christ's life in some manner. One aspect of Christ's public life that should be common to all Christian vocations is the selflessness, the constant concern and love for others which Christ constantly and vividly displayed. This concern for others cost Christ much in fatigue of body and mind. Nevertheless, He continuously gave Himself completely to others.

     Another characteristic of the public life which all can imitate is that of Christ as witness. Here, then, we reemphasize within our present context that which was stated in an earlier chapter concerning the Church's continuation of Christ's prophetic role. Christ was a witness to the Father, a perfect manifestation of the Father's truth and love. He bore this witness not only through His formal teaching but also through His actions, His attitude, His gestures. All members of Christ are called to give witness also. The Christian's entire life should be a witness to the truth he holds. The world comes to know Christ through the Christian. Schillebeeckx comments on this aspect of being witness: "Our life must itself be the incarnation of what we believe, for only when dogmas are lived do they have any attractive power. Why in the main does Western man pass Christianity by? Surely because the visible presence of grace in Christians as a whole, apart from a few individuals, is no longer evident."³⁷

     St. Paul sums up the redemptive work of Christ under the mysteries of death-resurrection.³⁸ These are the principal mysteries which the Christian must assimilate from the eucharistic liturgy and reproduce in his own life. More and more the Christian spiritual life is being considered as a process of death-resurrection. It is obvious why this is so, for if Christ's entire life was summed up in His death-resurrection, so also is that of His members.

     Christ's death and Resurrection are so closely united that they are two facets of one mystery rather than two separate mysteries.³⁹ It is likewise with the Christian. The death aspect of his supernatural life is intimately connected with his life of resurrection, and in various ways. For instance, his very life of grace is his life of resurrection, but his continual growth in spiritual death – death to selfwill in all its numerous manifestations – is achieved through grace. Consequently, the Christian's life of resurrection always accompanies his life of death. We also see the two connected more obviously in the sense that a growth in the death element always results in a growth in the resurrection element.

     The daily life of the Christian, then, is a combination and antithesis of death-resurrection. As he gives himself in love to the Father's will, manifested to him in so many ways, the Christian is achieving both death and resurrection. Christ's ultimate goal, as man, was His Resurrection. Resurrection, a greater share in the divine life through grace, is also the goal of the Christian.

     These few remarks give examples of how each member of the People of God is called upon to relive Christ's entire life as centered in death-resurrection. More could be said. But we think our remarks have sufficed to indicate how the Christian is to live out these various mysteries of Christ. Moreover, let it be recalled that all the mysteries ultimately make up the one mystery of Christ.

     What we have said thus far applies in general to all vocations. But since there are different vocations within the Church, we must also say that each of these projects Christ in a somewhat different manner. Each Christian must study how in particular he is called to put on Christ. Essentially, of course, all put on Christ in the same manner. Yet there are accidental differences according to the vocation, work and individuals involved. For instance, the lay person, in general, is called to a deeper involvement in temporal affairs than is the religious.

     Each member of Christ, according to his particular vocation, work and personality, has something special to take away from the Mass.⁴⁰ Each Christian, as he lives out the mystery of Christ, projects Christ to the world in his own way. Each Christian, as he himself grows in Christ-likeness, is also helping Christ to redeem the world in a manner commensurate with his total Christian person. For holiness is necessarily apostolic whether the Christian at any particular time is engaged in an external apostolate or not.

     Each Christian, according to God's plan for him, must have a vital and dynamic desire to help Christianize the whole world. Perhaps he can do very little through direct, external apostolate. But his prayers and sacrifices – indeed, his entire life – can touch the whole world. Through an intense Christian life the individual can help Christ further the redemption of the family, the business world, the social structure and the like. The Christian is called to have this deep desire: to see the whole universe imprinted with the name of Christ. How true it is to say that the Christian's vocation, rooted in the liturgy, calls for deep involvement in this sacred activity.⁴¹

     In schematic outline we have discussed the manner in which the baptized Christian extends his Mass to his daily existence. As he so lives out his Mass, he is becoming more Christlike. He becomes a more perfect priest and victim for his next participation in the eucharistic sacrifice.⁴² The beautiful cycle which the Mass contains lies exposed before us. As part of this cycle the Christian is intimately involved in the process of continued redemption. The Mass is the center of the Christian life: ". . . the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the fount from which all her power flows."⁴³

^_______

34. Cf. Jungmann, "Eucharistic Piety" in Worship, Vol. 35 (1961), p. 419.
35. F. X. Durrwell, In the Redeeming Christ (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1963), p. 63.
36. Karl Rahner, Spiritual Exercises (New York: Herder & Herder, 1965), p. 160.
37. Schillebeeckx, Op. cit., p. 209.
38. Cf. L. Cerfaux, Christ in the Theology of St. Paul (New York: Herder & Herder, 1959), pp. 190-192.
39. Durrwell, The Resurrection, p. 48.
40. Cf. Karl Rahner, The Christian Commitment (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1963), p. 168.
41. Cf. Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Church, No. 36.
42. For a current treatment of the varied richness of the Eucharist, cf. J. Wicks, "The Movement of Eucharistic Theology" in Chicago Studies, Vol. 10 (1971), pp. 267-284.
43. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, No. 10.