- Dear Father Carter,
For years I have received Shepherds of Christ
Newsletter; I do not know who put me on your mailing list, but I’m
grateful to you both. Since I first began to receive the newsletter I
have been assigned as the Director of Formation Advising for the
Pontifical North American College in Rome.
I would like to know if it would be possible to make
a bulk order so that our seminarians could benefit from the newsletter
as well. I will make sure they are distributed to our seminarians. At
present we have about 200 seminarians and student priests on our campus,
all eager for good spiritual reading!
Please let me know if we can make an arrangement for
the delivery of the newsletter here at the college.
Please keep our faculty and seminarians in your
prayers.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Rev. J. Mark Williams
Director of Formation Advising
Pontifical North American College
00120 Vatican City State
[He
then talks about funds for the Newsletter.]
I think I came to speak to you today because I think we’re at a very, very
significant point of the Shepherds of Christ Movement as it marches into the
new era of which was promised by Our Lady of Fatima. And I think the
Movement is basically strong, basically healthy but I think we need a
recommitment of ourselves to the Movement precisely because much more is
being asked of us. We have three centers to staff not only with people but
with materials.
So as we go on in what Our Lord wants us to do, we just need a deeper
commitment to the Movement just like the spiritual life in general. You
never stand still on the spiritual journey. I mean spiritual masters have
always told us this, you either go back or you go forward.
And so it is with the Movement, we just don’t stand still. We have to keep
on deepening our commitment to the Movement individually and collectively or
it’s not going to move forward obviously. So I guess you can say that’s
the main reason I thought it was very important that I come here today to
speak to you to ask you to renew your commitment to Our Lord in the
Movement. And to put some thoughts before (you) which hopefully will
help you to renew your commitment.
I’ll begin by reminding all of us of the great, great privilege it is to
have been called to this Movement. I’ve said this before, I say it now
even with deeper conviction, I really believe that this will go down in
history as one of the great Movements in the history of the Church. And if
you reflect upon what we’ve been called to do, I don’t think it’s hard
to come to that conclusion. I don’t know of any just taking our ministry
to the priests with the newsletter and with the prayer chapters whose
primary duty is to pray for the priests as well as the whole human race. But
I am unaware of any other Movement in the history of the Church which has
tried to reach all priests the world over with the newsletter and the prayer
chapters to the extent that we are trying to do so. So just those two
ministries in themselves I think point to the greatness of this Movement.
Then our many other ministries: the rosaries, the consecration of the
schools, the nursing home, prison ministries are all our various
publications. So much wonderful literature, rosary in the homes, one of our
newest ministries, the couples rosary and the spirituality which comes out
of that and we hope to work more and more nationally to strengthen marriage
and family life through working with couples as couples.
So if you look at what we are doing with the tremendous amount of materials
which are being distributed from the Florida site and through orders from
this site and through other sites.
So again I think this is one of the great, great Movements in the history of
the Church. And we have to pinch ourselves every once in awhile and nudge
ourselves and realize the great calling we have been given to work in this
Movement. I think there has been a certain, despite all the great work which
is being done, I think there is a certain stagnation which has set in to a
certain degree and we have to jolt ourselves out of that and recommit
ourselves.
St. John of the Cross in one of his writings says—of course he is one of
the greatest mystical theologians in the history of the Church and in one of
his writings he says, “What does it profit you to give God one thing if He
wishes for another? Consider what it is God wants and then do it.”
Let’s read that again together “What does it profit you to give God one
thing if He wishes for another? Consider what it is God wants and then do
it.”
[Father Carter is speaking to Servants and Handmaids of the Good
Shepherd—]
[Apostles who dedicate themselves completely to the Shepherds of Christ
Ministries—]
Applying that to our calling to Shepherds of Christ—there’s more work to
this Movement than any of us, individually or all put together can ever
attend to properly. What I am getting at, if you really feel you’ve been
called to this Movement and especially to the apostle's level, I am
suggesting to you very fervently and hopefully, persuasively, the Shepherds
of Christ Ministries can use all the spare time, all the ministerial time
you have to give to the work of the Kingdom. You don’t have to go around
looking for other ministries to contribute your time to. You are free to do
that, you are free to leave the Movement at any time. We are not forcing
anyone to stay, we hope everybody stays but we have had people leave.
So there should always be that, that sense of freedom if you want to lessen
off your commitment or hopefully it would never happen, but if you would
chose to leave the commitment, Jesus respects your freewill.
But looking at it again positively I’m suggesting to you—there is so
much work to be done in the Movement. So this first day of February which
happened to be the month of the feast of St. Claude de la Columbiere,
February the 15th, who has been one of the greatest apostles to the devotion
to the Heart of Jesus in the history of the Church, so in a certain sense
it’s a type of month of the Sacred Heart because of his feast, so I ask
that all of us renew our commitment to the Movement. And again realize the
great privilege, that’s one of the first ways to persevere in the Movement
and to grow in the Movement, everyday to thank God for the great graces He
has given you in the Movement.
And I ask you just briefly to look back over your lives, now compared to
when you joined the Movement. Has not Our Lord through Our Lady drawn you
so, so, so much closer to Them. And He in turn has led you so much closer to
the Father and the Spirit. The chairman of our theology department, the
first departmental meeting when he took over, he said Xavier has been very
good to me, now I feel it’s payback time and I think I should serve the
University being chair of the Theology department. Being chair of a
department, it’s really a pain of any department. But those words stick in
my mind, he says now it is payback time. I should payback Xavier for all the
good Xavier has done to me. I suggest we keep that in mind in reference to
Jesus in His Movement. It’s always payback time. He does not give us
graces and gifts in the Movement just for ourselves. Every gift of Jesus has
a social dimension, it’s meant not only for my own spiritual growth, but
for growth of the Kingdom. And so if we find ourselves becoming somewhat
complacent in our gifts received through the Movement and not properly using
them at least to the full extent that we could and helping to spread the
Movement, helping to spread the Kingdom, then let us resolve here and now to
do better.
Perseverance in the Movement—all vocations, all callings need
perseverance. I pray for perseverance as a Jesuit every day of my life. I
pray for perseverance. I’m suggesting to all of us that we pray for
perseverance in the Movement and not just a status quo type of perseverance,
but pray for a perseverance which will allow us to dynamically grow and be
greater apostles in the Movement. And we have to take the means to
persevere.
First of all, of course, is Mass and communion, then our visit to the
Blessed Sacrament, saying the rosary and listening to at least five minutes
a day to a live rosary which Rita receives, praying the hourly prayers
without feeling overburdened. If you begin to feel overburdened by the
hourly novena just make a 30 second prayer, say Jesus, say the three
invocations, “Lord ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find,
knock and it shall be opened to you, through the intercession of Mary, thy
most holy mother I knock, I seek, I ask that my prayer be granted” and
just say we pray for all needs of the Shepherds of Christ Movement and the
other two invocations. You can do that in about 30 seconds. And then at
times of course when you have the time and you feel moved bring in the
specific intentions. But that hourly prayer has great power to keep our
motivation up but it should not on the other hand feel burdensome to you. If
it feels burdensome to you for any length of time, just use the short form
for quite a while.
[Note: servants and handmaids and apostles of the Good Shepherd of the
Shepherds of Christ Movement go to daily Mass and spend one hour before the
tabernacle and pray hourly for the priests, the Church and the world.]
Reading the Blue Book messages, at least just a few minutes a day, can do
wonders to help us persevere in the Movement. Renew your love and commitment
to the Movement. Included in that renewed love and commitment I think should
be a resolution that we don’t bad mouth the Movement, certainly not to
those outside the Movement, certainly not even to those within the Movement.
We have problems, we always have had some, we always will, the universal
Church has monumental problems. But we have to learn how to handle the
problems responsibly. If you have a significant problem please contact John
or Rita, talk it over with them, with me if you feel so called. They usually
report problems to me. I’m in constant contact with them. Currently I talk
to them each day about the Movement, what’s going on, strong points, weak
points and so forth. If you have problems with the Movement, don’t spread
your problem with the problems to somebody else who starts to think
negatively also.
I mean go to Jesus, of course, first of all, but then bring your problem to
somebody who has the authority in the Movement to handle it. That’s very,
very important, 'cause our loyalty and love for the Movement, I think are
significantly harmed when we don’t take that approach. Obedience in the
Movement is going to become more and more important as the Movement grows.
Any organization needs a certain structure, a hierarchy of command,
obedience to legitimate authority. When John asks you to do something,
please try to answer his request. If you can’t, just tell him I can’t do
it now. When he directs you to do something, which is stronger than a
request, don’t give him a hard time. Jesus wants obedience in the
Movement. No Movement can survive or progress without obedience, without a
structure of command. John has a terrifically difficult job. Don’t make it
more difficult for him by, as I say, giving him a hard time or by never
answering his request for help.
I understand that the level of volunteerism here at the center has gradually
slackened off over recent months, and it is very difficult to get people
together to do our mailings. We can’t keep depending on just a few people
all the time. Here again it’s payback time. I mean everyday is payback
time. You can never fully repay Jesus for what He has done for us or what He
continues to do for us. Now we have to use Christian prudence in all this,
we’ve got family duties; we’ve got other duties that’s God’s will
for us. We have to take care of those. But granting all those other calls on
our time and our energy, if Jesus has called you to this Movement, He’s
called each and every one of you, then He expects you to live up to your
commitment. And if it’s always looked upon, if you feel it’s always more
of a burden than a privilege, then I think a person has to consider, 'Shall
I stay in the Movement?' Jesus loves a cheerful giver. Suffering is
involved, is it not? Any following of Christ involves suffering. Any non
following of Christ brings suffering, and a greater suffering—those who
don’t believe, who don’t have any religious faith or conviction. They
end up suffering much more than we who suffer in the following of Christ.
I would like to read you something that I’ve written on suffering that
will appear in the next newsletter—
FATHER
CARTER'S VOICE WAS VERY SAD
and VERY LOVING.
Excerpt from Priestly Newsletter 1998 Issue 1
To
follow Jesus entails a willingness to suffer for Him and His cause. The
furthering of any worthwhile cause demands a spirit of sacrifice, a
willingness to endure a variety of hardships and difficulties. We cannot
expect it to be otherwise regarding the cause of Christ. To help further the
process of ongoing redemption demands a price.
There
is an almost endless variety of pains, sufferings, and difficulties which
can arise in following Jesus and promoting His cause. At times seeing few,
if any, visible results of our labors, feeling unappreciated, experiencing
opposition, sometimes comprehending that we are being hated precisely by
some of those whom we are striving to help, at times being laughed at and
ridiculed—these are some of the ways we experience the sufferings of an
apostle.
The
suffering involved in contributing to the process of ongoing redemption is
not, however, the complete picture. The happiness resulting from commitment
to Christ and His mission far outweighs the hardships. To be aware that one
is so intimately loved by Jesus, to experience the satisfaction that one is
contributing to a cause that cannot fail, to play a role in helping to bring
to others the love and peace of Jesus—all of this makes for a life that
has no equal. The committed follower of Christ, experiencing what it means
to be closely associated with Jesus, realizes why St. Peter said, Lord,…it
is wonderful for us to be here. (Mt. 17:4).
Father
Carter's talk continues
So in God’s plan in
the following of Christ, suffering is always meant to lead to greater life
here and hereafter, not only greater life for us as we grow in Jesus through
the proper handling of suffering, but also greater life in the sense that we
become more apt instruments for channeling His life to others, as we are
purified by His suffering, so that we may more and more allow Him to live in
and through and for us. One of the greatest Apostles of all times of
suffering showing us the place of suffering in the Christian dispensation is
St. Paul. He brings out this theme of death-resurrection of Jesus and our
participation in it in various places in his writing. I think one of the
most dramatic of those places is in
2
Corinthians 4: 7-11
The
hardships and hopes of the apostolate
But
we hold this treasure in pots of earthenware, so that the immensity of the
power is God’s and not our own. We are subjected to every kind of
hardship, but never distressed; we see no way out but we never despair; we
are pursued but never cut off; knocked down, but still have some life in
us; always we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus so that the
life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our body. Indeed, while we are still
alive, we are continually being handed over to death, for the sake of
Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our mortal flesh.
Father
Carter's talk continues
So we suffer with Jesus, so that here below and in eternity, so that we may
live more with Him, and that we may become more fit instruments for helping
to channel His life to others. We have a particular way of doing that, a
magnificent way within the Shepherds of Christ Movement. He hung upon a
cross on a hill called Calvary. He had already suffered so much, had He not?
He had been brutally scourged at the pillar, crowned with thorns, laughed
at, ridiculed, without sleep. He had to carry the heavy cross up the hill,
upon reaching the hill He was mercilessly nailed to the cross. He hung there
in that agonizing suffering until death came. His side was pierced and from
His pierced Heart flowed blood and water, symbols of sacramental life in the
Church, Baptism and the Eucharist. And as He hung on that cross nearing
death in that brutalized suffering, St. Francis de Sales, who was a Doctor
of the Church—a Doctor of the Church means that the Church recognizes not
only the great holiness of the person, but the great learning, the great
wisdom—in one of his classic works, St. Francis de Sales, his work Treatise
on God's Divine Love, he says, “As Jesus hung upon the cross there in
that brutal suffering each of us was present to Him. He knew each of us
intimately and the perfect one gave His last drop of blood for you and for
me.” So if we ever have problems with our motivation in the Movement, I
suggest that we come to the foot of the cross and we realize what Jesus has
done for me and continues to do. It is payback time. St. Ignatius Loyola,
founder of the Jesuits, has left us this beautiful prayer,
“Lord teach me to be generous, teach me to serve you as you deserve, to
give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil
and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for reward save that of
knowing that I do your will.”
Now I will give the blessing. May the blessing of Almighty God, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit descend upon you and remain forever. Amen.
end of Father Carter's talk February 1,
1998
CAN YOU HELP US?
As you know, we distribute the Newsletter
free of charge. We have been publishing the Newsletter for six years. Although
the fine print on the last page of each Newsletter says that donations are
always welcome, we have, to this date, only made one major appeal for
donations.
Now we come to you again and ask for your
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With the help of God’s grace, the
Newsletter seems to be accomplishing much good. The numerous letters we
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If you share with us our belief that the
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If you are financially able, we would be
extremely grateful to receive your donation -- whether it is small, large, or
medium-sized! We thank all of you who have previously sent donations.
Some of you may know of possible
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believe that a ministry which offers an aid for spiritual growth to priests
especially, but to others also, is a most worthy endeavor.
For your convenience, we have enclosed a
self-addressed donation envelope.
Very importantly, we also ask for your
prayers that we may obtain the funds necessary to continue publication of the
Newsletter and that the Newsletter will be spiritually beneficial to its
readers. We hope to continue to publish it four to six times a year. The
number of issues will depend upon various factors. Thank you very much for
your attention to our urgent plea.
WE ARE EXPANDING OUR READERSHIP!
We are expanding our circulation by
explicitly inviting to our readership those who are not priests, but who are
interested in the spiritual life.
The Newsletter will still be written
for priests in a special way. Yet we feel much of the material will also be
of interest to those who are not priests.
Chief Shepherd of the Flock
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays
down his life for his sheep. The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and
the sheep do not belong to him, abandons the sheep as soon as he sees a wolf
coming, and runs away, and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep; he
runs away because he is only a hired man and has no concern for the sheep. I
am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father
knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep.
(Jn 10:11-151)
-
In his encyclical, On Human Work,
Pope John Paul II observes: "The Church is convinced that work is a
fundamental dimension of man’s existence on earth. She is confirmed in
this conviction by considering the whole heritage of the many sciences
devoted to man: anthropology, paleontology, history, sociology,
psychology, and so on; they all seem to bear witness to this reality in an
irrefutable way. But the source of the Church’s conviction is above all
the revealed word of God, and therefore what is a conviction of the
intellect is also a conviction of faith. The reason is that the Church --
and it is worthwhile stating it at this point -- believes in man: she
thinks of man and addresses herself to him not only in the light of
scientific knowledge, but in the first place in the light of the revealed
word of the living God. Relating herself to man, she seeks to express the
eternal designs and transcendent destiny which the living God, the creator
and redeemer, has linked with him.
"The Church finds in the very first
pages of the Book of Genesis the source of her conviction that work is a
fundamental dimension of human existence on earth..."2
-
Again, let us listen to the words of
Pope John Paul II: "The Church considers it her duty to speak out on
work from the viewpoint of its human value and of the moral order to which
it belongs, and she sees this as one of her important tasks within the
service that she renders to the evangelical message as a whole.
"At the same time she sees it as her
particular duty to form a spirituality of work which will help all people to
come closer, through work, to God, the creator and redeemer, to participate
in his salvific plan for man and the world and to deepen their friendship
with Christ in their lives by accepting, through faith, a living
participation in his threefold mission as priest, prophet and king, as the
Second Vatican Council so eloquently teaches."3
"Whether it is engaged in
independently or paid for by someone else, this labor comes immediately from
the person. In a sense, the person stamps the things of nature with his seal
and subdues them to his will. It is ordinarily by his labor that a man
supports himself and his family, is joined to his fellow men and serves
them, and is enabled to exercise genuine charity and be a partner in the
work of bringing God’s creation to perfection. Indeed, we hold that by
offering his labor to God a man becomes associated with the redemptive work
itself of Jesus Christ, who conferred an eminent dignity on labor when at
Nazareth He worked with His own hands.
"From all these considerations there
arise every man’s duty to labor faithfully and also his right to work. It
is the duty of society, moreover, according to the circumstances prevailing
in it, and in keeping with its proper role, to help its citizens find
opportunities for adequate employment. Finally, payment for labor must be
such as to furnish a man with the means to cultivate his own material,
social, cultural, and spiritual life worthily, and that of his dependents.
What this payment should be will vary according to each man’s assignment
and productivity, the conditions of his place of employment, and the common
good."4
-
Fr. Edward Leen, C.S.Sp., speaks to us
about Jesus and His work as a carpenter at Nazareth: "Not even after
Joseph’s death did the existence of Our Lord undergo much change, unless
that it became more laborious. For the support of the family and its care
of the poor devolved, then, entirely on His shoulders. He had to work hard
in order to keep Himself and His Mother and to have something to give to
others less favoured than themselves. Unremitting toil became His lot, and
the soft hands of the boy became roughened and hardened with the constant
pressure of the tools of His trade. Work could not have been plentiful in
the confines of that narrow village and it is likely that He had, often,
to go abroad to look for employment. He had to face rebuffs from those who
needed not His services, and discourtesy and rudeness from those who
employed Him. The Nazarenes were not a polite people. As He handed over to
His grumbling clients the accomplished tasks, He had to hold forth His
hand to receive His wages...There is something inexpressibly touching in
this picture of God receiving from His creatures the wages He earned in
their employment!...
"A monotonous life, one would say,
but this would be a very superficial judgment; monotony consists in the dull
repetition of acts, uninteresting, devoid of significance and all stamped
with the character of sameness. But there is no monotony in the soul’s
relations with God. Each act in which it expresses its love for its Creator
is fresh with the freshness of novelty; each communication of the love of
the Creator to the creature comes with all the charm of a new revelation.
Each step forward in the knowledge of God makes it seem to us as if we had
never known Him before. And the external material acts which proceed from
the soul enjoying this intimacy with the Lord partake of this quality of
freshness and novelty. Although to the senses each little task of the day
resembles in all respects that of the day before, yet, in reality, these
tasks that recur are not the same. The newness and freshness given by a
greater love in the doing far surpasses the newness given by a material
change in the occupation. The love of God is never stationary. It grows with
each act done in the fullness of actual charity possessed by the soul. Hence
for the saint the task of today, which materially resembles the task of
yesterday, is clothed with all the charm of novelty, for it is transmuted
and transfigured by a greater love. All men naturally desire to be great. To
achieve greatness it is not necessary to seek it afar or to ascend into the
heights in its pursuit. It lies at our door and is within the reach of all.
It is found by bringing a great love of God to bear on the doing of the most
ordinary of life’s tasks. Our Lord in His hidden life has shown how we may
attain to greatness and perfection in the accomplishment of the humblest of
life’s duties."5
Upon reflection, we can see the
consequences of this. When work, for whatever reason, is interfering with
our relationship with God and others, something is obviously wrong. For
example, an upward-moving professional becomes so absorbed in his work, so
taken with the idea of promotion and salary increase, that he becomes
extremely narrow-minded. Concern for God and others is relegated to the far
recesses of consciousness where it has little effect upon the person’s
thoughts and activities.
Even though we claim such an extreme
situation does not describe our own, we nevertheless can fall prey to lesser
faults. For instance, we diminish the time we should rightfully be spending
with family members and friends. Perhaps we become so absorbed with our work
that we claim we have little time for prayer. If we find ourselves in such
circumstances, we must make an effort to confront ourselves with this
question, "What is the God-given purpose of work?" Surely, if we
are honest, we must say that our work should first be done for the love of
God. If we work from this proper motive, we are acting for our own benefit
also, for what is done for God and others promotes our own good also. And
work done for God must be accomplished according to His will.
Much of our contemporary society places
great emphasis on external success, the recognition of one’s work, and the
earning of more and more money -- and all of this, in a very secularistic
manner with little regard for God and neighbor. In such an atmosphere, it is
not easy to maintain the Christian perspective of work. In many ways we must
go counter-culture. If we do so, we will be following One Who Himself was
not afraid to go against certain cultural aspects of His own times. His name
is Jesus.
-
Thomas
Merton observes: "All Christian life is meant to be at the same time
profoundly contemplative and rich in active work. This must not be
mistaken for a kind of semipelagian productivism which is obsessed with
visible results and enamoured of technological prowess. It is true that we
are called to create a better world. But we are first of all called to a
more exalted task: that of creating our own lives. In doing this, we act
as co-workers with God. We take our place in the great work of mankind,
since in effect the creation of our own destiny, in God, is impossible in
pure isolation. Each one of us works out his own destiny in inseparable
union with all those others with whom God has willed us to live. We share
with one another the creative work of living in the world. And it is
through our struggle with material reality, with nature, that we help one
another create at the same time our own destiny and a new world for our
descendants. This work of man, which is his peculiar and inescapable
vocation, is a prolongation of the creative work of God Himself. Failure
to measure up to this challenge and to meet this creative responsibility
is to fail in that response to life which is required of us by the will of
our Father and Creator."6
-
His
answer to them was, ‘My Father still goes on working, and I am at work,
too.’ (Jn 5: 17)
-
Here are
words of St. Paul: We urged you when we were with you not to let anyone
eat who refused to work. Now we hear that there are some of you who are
living lives without any discipline, doing no work themselves but
interfering with other people’s. In the Lord Jesus Christ, we urge and
call on people of this kind to go on quietly working and earning the food
that they eat. (2 Th. 3: 10-11)
- St. Paul himself was no stranger to hard work: You
remember, brothers, with what unsparing energy we used to work, slaving
night and day so as not to be a burden on any one of you while we were
proclaiming the gospel of God to you. (1 Th 2: 9)
-
Cardinal
Newman tells us: "Christ Himself vouchsafes to repeat in each of us
in figure and mystery all that He did and suffered in the flesh. He is
formed in us, born in us, suffers in us, rises again in us, lives in us;
and this not by a succession of events, but all at once."7
-
The following words emphasize the
profound union that is meant to exist between Jesus and the Christian:
"The mysteries of the life of Jesus are not dead, static, historical
happenings that have been. They are living and dynamic. They have been
lived for the members of Christ. All the states that the Saviour
traversed, all the human experiences that He willed to go through, have
for their purpose the sanctification of all that enters into a man’s
deliberate life. These mysteries of His have accumulated vast reservoirs
of merit in order to communicate this human-divine quality to the
Christian’s doings and sufferings...The events of the New Testament give
us life. Into these latter has passed the vitality of the Incarnation.
That vitality is ever ready to communicate itself to all parts of the
Mystical Body, vivifying them with the divine life of Christ.
"That this divinizing process take
place, there is required a willed contact between the individual and Christ.
This contact is effected by the activity of the virtue of faith. It is
perfected by sympathy and love. The Christian who wills to have the life of
Christ develop in himself, must consent to ‘steep’ mind, imagination and
heart in the earthly career of Jesus. He must aim at a sympathy with
the Saviour in all that He went through. He must strive to identify himself
with the Divine Master, to think with Him, to feel with Him, to judge with
Him, to see with His eyes and to speak with His tongue. He must will to be
as the Saviour was in all these incidents."8
-
Romano Guardini speaks about Jesus.
"Love proceeded from Him everywhere. We encounter love all about Him.
But we want to seek it out in the flaming, radiant center. Love is what He
shows toward the delicate blossoming of His Father’s creation, when He
speaks of the lilies of the field, and how God has clothed them more
magnificently than Solomon in all his glory. He shows love toward all
things...
"...Love is what seizes Our Lord when
He sees the obscure, abandoned masses of the people, and takes pity on
them...There is something heroic, strong, in this love for people forsaken,
in distress... It is love again when He receives the sick; when He lets that
great sea of misery wash up to Him; when He lifts up, strengthens, heals...
Oh, this tremendous Lover and the might and majesty of His heart taking up
arms against the massive world-force of sorrow, magnificently sure of His
inexhaustible power to comfort, to strengthen, to bless!"9
St. Alphonsus Ligouri, Doctor of the Church,
speaks to us concerning the Father’s love for us manifested in the gift of
His Son to us: "All holiness and perfection of soul lies in our love for
Jesus Christ our God, who is our redeemer and our supreme good. It is part of
the love of God to acquire and to nurture all the virtues which make a man
perfect.
"Has not God in fact won for himself a
claim on all of our love? From all eternity he has loved us. And it is in this
vein that he speaks to us: ‘Oh man, consider carefully that I first loved
you. You had not yet appeared in the light of day, nor did the world yet
exist, but already I loved you. From all eternity I have loved you.’
"Since God knew that man is enticed by
favors, he wished to bind him to his love by means of his gifts: ‘I want to
catch men with the snares, those chains of love in which they allow themselves
to be entrapped, so that they will love me.’ And all the gifts which he
bestowed on man were given to this end. He gave him a soul, made in his
likeness, and endowed with memory, intellect and will; he gave him a body
equipped with the senses; it was for him that he created heaven and earth and
such an abundance of things. He made all these things out of love for man, so
that all creation might serve man, and man in turn might love God out of
gratitude for so many gifts.
"But he did not wish to give us only
beautiful creatures; the truth is that to win for himself our love, he went so
far as to bestow upon us the fullness of himself. The eternal Father went so
far as to give us his only Son. When he saw that we were all dead through sin
and deprived of his grace, what did he do? Compelled, as the apostle says, by
the superabundance of his love for us, he sent his beloved Son to make
reparation for us and to call us back to a sinless life.
"By giving us his Son, whom he did not
spare precisely so that he might spare us, he bestowed on us at once every
good..."10
Archbishop Luis M. Martinez instructs us:
"Consecration to the Holy Spirit must be total: nothing must draw us away
from His loving possession. Undoubtedly vacillations and deficiencies are part
of our imperfection, but even so, our love must not be extinguished. Rather,
it must lift its divine flame toward infinite love in the midst of all human
vicissitudes.
"True devotion to the Holy Spirit,
therefore, is not something superficial and intermittent, but something
profound and constant, like Christian life itself; it is the love of the soul
that corresponds to the love of God, the gift of the creature who tries to be
grateful for the divine Gift, the human cooperation that receives the loving
and efficacious action of God. As divine love is eternal, its gift without
repentance and its action constant, it is our part to have our heart always
open to love, ready to receive the unspeakable gift, and to keep all our
powers docile to the divine movement."11
Here are inspiring words concerning Mary
from Fr. Joseph Dean, SCJ:
Blessed Virgin Mary,
by faith and the power of the Spirit,
you bore God for our salvation.
In your days on earth,
you pointed to Jesus, your Son, and said:
"Do whatever he tells you."
With your Son’s beloved disciple,
you stood at the foot of the cross.
You believed in the midst of the night.
You loved with a pierced soul.
Mary, my mother,
pray for me today.
May I follow Jesus as you did,
welcoming the Holy Spirit,
responding to your Son’s love,
living in communion with his love for the Father,
cooperating with his work of redemption in the
midst of the world.
In this way, may my heart be joined with yours.
May I follow your example of faith and love
bringing the Heart of your Son to the
heart of the world.
Amen.
-
At the
Last Supper, on the night He was betrayed, our Saviour instituted the
Eucharistic Sacrifice of His Body and Blood. He did this in order to
perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the centuries until He
should come again, and so to entrust to His beloved spouse, the Church, a
memorial of His death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of
unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is consumed,
the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to
us. (Vatican II, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, No. 17) 12
-
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.
(Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, No. 48) 13
-
Through
the Eucharistic Sacrifice Christ the Lord desired to set before us in a
very special way this remarkable union whereby we are united one with
another and with our divine Head, a union that no word of praise can ever
sufficiently express. For in this sacrifice the sacred ministers act not
only as the representative of our Saviour, but as the representative of
the whole Mystical Body and of each one of the faithful. Again, in this
act of sacrifice, the faithful of Christ, united by the common bond of
devotion and prayer, offer to the eternal Father through the hands of the
priest, whose prayer alone has made it present on the altar, the
Immaculate Lamb, the most acceptable victim of praise and propitiation for
the Church’s universal need. Moreover, just as the divine Redeemer,
while dying on the Cross, offered Himself to the eternal Father as Head of
the whole human race, so now, ‘in this clean oblation’ He not only
offers Himself as Head of the Church to His heavenly Father but in Himself
His mystical members as well. He embraces them all, yes, even the weaker
and more ailing members, with the deepest love of His Heart. (Pope
Pius XII, Mystici Corporis AAS. XXXV, 232-233) 14
-
The Sacrifice of Calvary is
sacramentally made present in the Mass. When we pray the Morning Offering
Prayer, united to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we act as intercessors,
pleading to God that great graces be released all day through our
prayerful actions as we act in love according to the Father’s will.
Whether we are eating, taking care of a sick parent, enjoying time spent
with a friend, working at our job, we can help bring down great graces for
the world.
When we pray the Morning Offering Prayer
we offer our lives to the Father, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit, with
the prayerful assistance of Mary, our Mother. Let us pray together united in
our hearts in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. There follows a Morning
Offering Prayer.
"My dear Father, I offer You this
day all my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings in union with Jesus in the
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in the Holy Spirit.
"I unite with our Mother, Mary, all
the angels and saints, and all the souls in purgatory to pray to the
Father for myself, for each member of my family, for my friends, for all
the people throughout the world, for all the souls in purgatory, and for
all other intentions of the Sacred Heart.
"I love You, Jesus, and I give You
my heart. I love you, Mary, and I give you my heart. Amen."
-
From a spiritual journal we are given
these words: "When a priest is filled with the love of Jesus, he
unites more deeply with Christ in the great sacrifice being offered to the
Father. The faithful more easily see Jesus, through the priest, offering
sacrifice to the Father. They more easily experience, at this great
sacrifice, the presence of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
"At the Mass we unite in offering
sacrifice to the Father. We all unite as one and give ourselves in such
oneness with Jesus, in such love to the Father, in the Holy Spirit. We
desire to die to all the things that are not of God and join in the great
miracle taking place. The Father looks down and He sees the sacrifice of His
Son being offered through His priest. Heaven unites to earth. Earth cries
out in such jubilation at the great gift of the Almighty God, and we unite
as creatures giving ourselves as a sacrifice to our beloved Creator. Do we
experience the presence of God as His power flows through His priest, who
takes bread and wine, and changes them into the Body and Blood of our Lord?
Do we hear Jesus speak, as He did at the Last Supper, with the intensity in
His voice reflecting the knowledge of the upcoming events of His passion and
death?
"Do we hear the priest say the words
of consecration with the emotion of Jesus about to give His life for His
beloved ones? And the earth stands still. There is, at that moment, the
sacrifice of Calvary sacramentally made present through the words of the
priest. Oh, that God so loved the world to give His only Son as a sacrifice,
and that God wants us in this deep oneness with Him! I give You myself, my
Savior, my beloved Jesus, as You so willingly gave Yourself to me on
Calvary. I want to die and rise more and more with You in the deepest
possible love for You and for those for whom You died a brutal, bloody death
on the cross, and for whom You rose gloriously from the dead!"
-
The Directory on the Ministry and
Life of Priests tells us: "The command of the Lord: go to all the
nations (Mt 28: 18-20) definitively expresses the place of the priest in
front of the Church. Sent -- missus -- by the Father by means of
Christ, the priest pertains in ‘an immediate’ way to the universal
Church...
"The spiritual gift received by
priests in Ordination prepares them for a wide and universal mission of
salvation. In fact, through Orders and the ministry received, all priests
are associated with the Episcopal Body and, in hierarchical communion with
it, according to their vocation and grace, they serve the good of the entire
Church. Therefore, the membership to a particular church, through
incardination, must not enclose the priest in a restricted and
particularistic mentality, but rather should open him to the service of
other churches, because each church is the particular realization of the
only Church of Jesus Christ, such that the universal Church lives and
fulfills her mission in and from the particular churches in effective
communion with her. Thus, all the priests must have a missionary heart and
mind and be open to the needs of the Church and the world."15
-
Pope John Paul II speaks to his brother
priests: "The priest always, and in an unchangeable way, finds the
source of his identity in Christ the Priest. It is not the world which
determines his status, as though it depended on changing needs or ideas
about social roles. The priest is marked with the seal of the Priesthood
of Christ, in order to share in his function as the one Mediator and
Redeemer.
"So, because of this fundamental
bond, there opens before the priest the immense field of the service of
souls, for their salvation in Christ and in the Church.
"This service must be completely
inspired by love of souls in imitation of Christ who gives his life for
them. It is God’s wish that all people should be saved, and that none of
the little ones should be lost...
"The priest is for the laity: he
animates them and supports them in the exercise of the common Priesthood of
the baptized -- so well illustrated by the Second Vatican Council -- which
consists in their making their lives a spiritual offering, in witnessing to
the Christian spirit in the family, in taking charge of the temporal sphere
and sharing in the evangelization of their brethren. But the service of the
priest belongs to another order. He is ordained to act in the name of Christ
the Head, to bring people into the new life made accessible by Christ, to
dispense to them -- the Word, forgiveness, the Bread of Life -- to gather
them into his Body, to help them to form themselves from within, to live and
to act according to the saving plan of God. In a word, our identity as
priests is manifested in the ‘creative’ exercise of the love for souls
communicated by Christ Jesus.
"Attempts to make the priest more
like the laity are damaging to the Church. This does not mean in any way
that the priest can remain remote from the human concerns of the laity: he
must be very near to them, as John Mary Vianney was, but as a priest, always
in a perspective which is that of their salvation and of the progress of the
Kingdom of God. He is the witness and dispenser of a life other than earthly
life. It is essential to the Church that the identity of the priest be
safeguarded, with its vertical dimension. The life and personality of the
Curé of Ars are a particularly enlightening and vigorous illustration of
this."16
-
Fr. Jean Galot, S.J., gives us these
words: "By tracing our steps back to the origin of the priestly
ministry, we can find in the very words of Christ a principle of unity by
reference to which all the priestly functions can be grasped as a unity.
This is the quality of the shepherd. Jesus defines himself as a shepherd,
thus suggesting what constitutes the ministry of his own priesthood. Since
his priesthood is a new and original creation, and loftier than the Jewish
priesthood, it is the shepherd’s quality that best epitomizes the
priestly functions.
"Christ the shepherd leads the flock
by the word he speaks and guarantees the truth of his teaching by the
supreme testimony which is the gift of his own self. He offers himself in
sacrifice in order to impart to his sheep a bountiful life, especially
through the Eucharist. By leading the flock, he makes it one. The three
functions -- preaching, worship, and leadership -- become the expression of
the shepherd’s love, and from that love they draw their inspiration."17
-
Henri Nouwen,
one of the most popular spiritual writers of our times, observes:
"Prayer is often considered a weakness, a support system, which is
used when we can no longer help ourselves. But this is only true when the
God of our prayers is created in our image and adapted to our own needs
and concerns. When, however, prayer makes us reach out to God, not on our
own but on his terms, then prayer pulls us away from self-preoccupation,
encourages us to enter into a new world which cannot be contained within
the narrow boundaries of our mind and heart. Prayer, therefore, is a great
adventure because the God with whom we enter into a new relationship is
greater than we are and defies all our calculations and predictions. The
movement from illusion to prayer is hard to make since it leads from false
certainties to true uncertainties, from an easy support system to ...
surrender, and from the many ‘safe’ gods to the God whose love has no
limits."18
-
Nouwen spent a number of months in a
Trappist monastery. During his stay in the monastery, he derived this
insight concerning the life of contemplation, a life all are called to
share according to their state of life and particular occupation:
"Contemplative life is a human response to the fundamental fact that
the central things in life, although spiritually perceptible, remain
invisible in large measure and can easily be overlooked by the
inattentive, busy, distracted person that each of us can so readily
become. The contemplative looks, not so much around things, but through
them into their center."19
"I asked them, ‘Where did you get
so much money?’
"They answered, ‘We got married two
days ago. Before we got married we had decided not to celebrate the wedding,
not to buy wedding clothes, not to have a reception or a honeymoon. We
wanted to give you the money we saved.’
"I know what such a decision meant,
especially for a Hindu family.
"That is why I asked them, ‘But how
did you think of such a thing?’
" ‘We love each other so much,’
they answered, ‘that we wanted to share the joy of our love with those you
serve.’
"To share: what a beautiful
thing!"20
"Of those who have died in our
houses, I have never seen anyone die in despair or cursing. They have all
died serenely.
"I took a man I had picked up from
the street to our House for the Dying in Calcutta.
"When I was leaving, he told me, ‘I
have lived like an animal on the streets, but I am going to die like an
angel. I will die smiling.’
"He did die smiling, because he felt
loved and surrounded by care.
"That is the greatness of our
poor!"21
The well-known and respected theologian,
Avery Dulles, S.J., has rendered a distinct service to us all in summarizing
much of Pope John Paul II’s theological thought in his book, The Splendor
of Faith: The Theological Vision of Pope John Paul II. Dulles points out
the great importance for our times of John Paul II as theologian: "Among
the Catholic theologians of the second half of this century, John Paul II
holds a place of special eminence. Perhaps more than any other single
individual he has succeeded in comprehensively restating the contours of
Catholic faith in the light of Vatican II and in relation to post-conciliar
developments in the Church and in the world. With his keen interest in
contemporary culture, philosophy, economics, and international affairs, he has
been able to give fresh relevance to the Catholic tradition. Avoiding the
pitfalls of compromise and polemics, he has offered a serene and balanced
presentation of what Catholics may and should believe on a multitude of
questions. No private theologian, however brilliant, speaks with comparable
authority."22
In his concluding words to the book, Dulles
says: "This final summary, which restates themes more fully explained in
the preceding chapters, may be warranted because of the breadth and complexity
of the teaching of John Paul II. He has written so voluminously on so many
topics that it is easy to lose sight of the unity and coherence of his
thought. His theological vision reaches back to the origins of revealed
religion and outward to the furthest reaches of human communication. While
making himself the faithful guardian of the deposit of faith, this pope shows
an astonishing openness to dialogue with other churches, other religions, and
the secular worlds of science and technology. Guided by his philosophical
studies and his experience of the Second Vatican Council, he has forged a
Christocentric humanism and a dynamic personalism capable of encountering and
respectfully challenging all opposing ideologies and spiritual movements. The
Catholic Church and, I submit, the world at large have been greatly blessed by
the intellectual leadership of this brilliant, energetic, and prayerful
successor of Peter."23
Pope John Paul II tells us: "Love for
others, and in the first place love for the poor, in whom the Church sees
Christ himself, is made concrete in the promotion of justice. Justice
will never be fully attained unless people see in the poor person, who is
asking for help in order to survive, not an annoyance or a burden, but an
opportunity for showing kindness and a chance for greater enrichment. Only
such an awareness can give the courage needed to face the risk and the change
involved in every authentic attempt to come to the aid of another. It is not
merely a matter of ‘giving from one’s surplus,’ but of helping entire
peoples which are presently excluded or marginalized to enter into the sphere
of economic and human development. For this to happen, it is not enough to
draw on the surplus goods which in fact our world abundantly produces; it
requires above all a change of lifestyles, of models of production and
consumption, and of the established structures of power which today govern
societies. Nor is it a matter of eliminating instruments of social
organization which have proved useful, but rather of orienting them according
to an adequate notion of the common good in relation to the whole human
family."24
"Jesus, You show us Your Heart as
symbol of Your life of love in all its aspects, including Your most special
love for each of us as unique individuals. Out of Your great love for us, You
died a brutal death, nailed to the wood of the cross. Out of Your great love
for us, You rose gloriously from the dead.
"From Your pierced Heart the Church
with her life-giving Sacraments was born. In the Eucharist, Crown and Center
of the Church’s life, You continue to give Yourself to us with the deepest,
most tender, most on-fire, most complete love.
"Jesus, since in Your great love You
give Yourself so completely to us, it is only fitting that we make a gift to
You in return. It is entirely fitting that we give ourselves completely to
You. Yes, we consecrate ourselves to Your most loving Heart. Each of us says
to You, O Lord, our Savior and our Friend: ‘Jesus, take me wholly, take me
completely to Your magnificent Heart. Out of love I give myself to You. Live
in and through me. In love You give Yourself completely to me. In love and in
a spirit of reparation, I want to give myself, with the help of Your grace,
entirely to You. Take me, Jesus, to an ever closer union with the Father, in
the Holy Spirit, with Mary my Mother at my side. Pierced, Glorified,
Eucharistic 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, including your most special love for me as this unique individual. You
are the Mother of my Savior. You are also my Mother. 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,
Glorified, Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock."
Many of the laity pray for us priests, and
consistently so. Is it not also fitting that we priests pray for all our
brothers in the priesthood, and consistently so? There follows a prayer that
can aid us in this endeavor.
"Lord Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the
Flock, we pray that in the great love and mercy of Your Sacred Heart that
You attend to all the needs of Your priest-shepherds throughout the world.
We ask that You draw back to Your Heart all those priests who have seriously
strayed from Your path, that You rekindle the desire for holiness in the
hearts of those priests who have become lukewarm, and that You continue to
give Your fervent priests the desire for the highest holiness. United with
Your Heart and Mary’s Heart, we ask that You take this petition to Your
heavenly Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen".
The above prayer is taken from the prayer
manual of Shepherds of Christ Associates, a facet of Shepherds of Christ
Ministries. The associates are members of prayer groups which meet regularly
to pray for all the needs of the entire human family, but most especially for
priests. If you would like a copy, or copies, of this prayer manual, and
further, if you would like information on how to begin a Shepherds of Christ
prayer chapter, contact us at:
Shepherds of Christ
P.O. Box 193
Morrow, Ohio 45152-0193 U.S.A.
Phone (toll free): 1-888-211-3041,
Phone: 1-513-932-4451
Fax: 1-513-932-6791
The latest special issue of Shepherds
of Christ is very good (Issue 3, 2000). I like the idea that you are
expanding it so that although aimed for the needs of priests it is an
available resource for lay people as well. It will keep it more viable in
the long run. But the choice of articles and topics in the issue are an
excellent thematic list of the major spiritual topics of today.
My best,
Lawrence Boadt, CSP
Paulist Press
Mahwah, NJ
Please let me tell you how much I am
grateful for your "Shepherds of Christ" newsletter. I received the
Issue 3, 2000, manual from a long-time family friend and monk who handed it
along to my family. The articles are interesting and inspirational!
I am a 20-year old college student and I
attend a private, secular school. The prayers and articles in
"Shepherds of Christ" help me understand the Eucharist and live a
life focused on Jesus. I especially like the Act of Consecration prayer. It
is so beautiful! I say it daily.
Thank you again and may God bless all
those involved in the "Shepherds of Christ" ministry.
Sincerely,
Bonnie Deignan
Farmingdale, New Jersey
I just finished reading the Special Issue
"Overview of the Spiritual Life" Excellent! Please send me the
book form of the 1st 12 issues.
Thank you.
In Christ
Fr. Gerald Sherer
Hermosa, SD
Mabuhay! Greetings from the Philippines!
Please allow me to congratulate you for the expansion of your readership. It
is indeed true that even the laity would benefit from your spiritual
publication. As for my case, I am not yet a priest yet I found your notes to
be helpful in my personal spiritual journey. Thus, I am asking for a
personal copy of Shepherds of Christ. The ones that I had been reading were
given by a fellow seminarian. May I also request the audiocasette recording
of your previous issues. Thank you very much for your dedication. May
Mary’s protection never leave you in your life.
In Christ
Sem. Nono Acompanado
Holy Rosary Major Seminary
Concepcion Heights, Naga City
Philippines
Greetings in the name of the Risen Lord! I
hope you had a good Lent and a joyful celebration of Easter. Here at St.
Anne the Vigil and the Easter Sunday celebrations were memorable.
Father, since the time I started receiving
these spiritual newsletters through my Vicar General Mons. Joseph Kimu of
St. John the Baptist Major Seminary in the diocese of Mangochi here in
Malawi, I feel my spiritual life has been enriched tremendously.
On the other side, I would like to welcome
most gratefully the idea of extending the readership to the laity.
I think there could be some food for them too. We as priests, and they as
the flock need each other’s assistance.
Sincerely in the Risen Christ
Rev. Fr. Lucious Kamwana
St. Anne Catholic Parish
Balaka - Malawi - AFRICA
I have been receiving your newsletters for
over a year now and have enjoyed it immensely. Every issue I read from front
to back. I am now 48 years ordained and each newsletter renews me
spiritually.
Enclosed is a little donation. I enjoy
each issue very much.
Yours in Christ and Mary,
Father John Graham, C. SS. R
St. Cecilia’s Rectory
New York, NY
-
Scripture quotations are taken from The
New Jerusalem Bible, Doubleday.
-
Pope John Paul II, Encyclical
Letter. On Human Work, United States Catholic Conference, No. 4.
-
Ibid., No. 24.
-
The Documents of Vatican II,
"The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World",
No. 68. America Press edition.
-
Edward Leen, C.S. Sp., In the
Likeness of Christ, Sheed and Ward, pp. 126-128.
-
Thomas Merton, Love and Living,
Harcourt Brace and Company, pp. 177-178.
-
John Henry Cardinal Newman,
"Parochial and Plain Sermons", v, pp 139-40, as in The
Heart of Newman, A Synthesis Arranged by Erich Przywara, S.J.,
Ignatius Press, pp. 171- 172.
-
Edward Leen, C. S. Sp., The True
Vine and Its Branches, P. J. Kenedy & Sons, pp. 25-26.
-
Romano Guardini, Jesus Christ,
Henry Regnery Publ., as in Daily Readings in Catholic Classics,
edited by Rawley Myers, Ignatius Press, p. 85.
-
St. Alphonsus Ligouri, Tract, de
praxi amanda Jesum Christum, edit. latina, Romae, 1909, pp. 9-14, as
in the The Liturgy of the Hours, Catholic Book Publishing Co.,
Vol IV, pp. 1264-1265.
-
Archbishop Luis M. Martinez, The
Sanctifier, Pauline Books & Media, p. 48
-
The Documents of Vatican II,
"Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy", America Press edition,
No. 17.
-
Ibid., No. 48
-
Pope Pius XII, Encyclical Letter, Mystici
Corporis, AAS, XXXV, 232-233.
-
Directory on the Ministry and Life
of Priests, as in special supplement, Inside the Vatican,
November 1994, No. 14.
-
Pope John Paul II, Holy Thursday
Letters to My Brother Priests, edited by James P. Socias, Scepter
Publishers and Midwest Theological Forum, pp. 147-148.
-
Jean Galot, S.J., Theology of the
Priesthood, Ignatius Press, p. 137.
-
Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out,
Doubleday, pp. 89-90.
-
Henri Nouwen, Genesee Diary,
Doubleday, p. 361.
-
Mother Teresa, In My Own Words,
Ligouri Publications, p. 19.
-
Ibid., p. 71.
-
Avery Dulles, S.J., The Splendor of
Faith: The Theological Vision of Pope John Paul II, Crossroad
Publishing Company, pp. 1-2.
-
Ibid., p. 196.
-
Pope John Paul II, Encyclical
Letter, On the Hundredth Anniversary of Rerum Novarum, St. Paul
Books & Media, No. 58.
end of Priestly Newsletter 2000 - Issue 4
October 1, 2004
We
have had many trials in
Florida.
Mary appeared 7 years every day before her image head was knocked off.
We pray from
Clearwater
and all our centers for the priests the Church and the world united on the
internet and with many others.
Fr. Carter our founder circulated the Priestly Newsletter for over 8
years.
A Jesuit of over 40 years and who can teach in the Gregorian colleges
in
Rome
and all pontifical colleges has written the new Priestly Newsletter to
continue the work Jesus gave to Fr. Carter 10 years ago. Fr. Carter died.
The day he
accepted was Pentecost Eve - here is the picture taken.
At
6:20
our prayer time. He accepted with the blessing of his provincial and rector.
Here is a message from Jesus to Fr. Carter when Fr. Carter began the
Newsletter that finally went to 85,000 priests.
July 31, 1994
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., Founder, as given on July 31, 1994,
feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola, Founder of the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits)
August 1, 1994
Pray For The
Success Of The Priestly Newsletter - Shepherds of Christ
Messenger: The following is the first official
message I received before the statue of Mary at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit
Center. It is a personal message for Father Carter.
Mary speaks: (in front of the glowing statue of Our
Lady of Sorrows) I am the Immaculate Heart. My Heart is glowing for love of
all my beloved children. I am your most loving Mother. I am with you this day.
Pray for the success of the priestly newsletter Shepherds of Christ. I am
guarding your way. You will receive such graces to accomplish this task! Grace
from God is so abundantly bestowed on you and will lead to the success of this
endeavor! Pray for this cause at the Center. The priests will lead the people
to the love of My beloved Son. This is no little task. It will take many
prayers and graces. Pray hard, little one. Your prayers will change many
hearts.
I am Mary, your Immaculate Mother. I bring this message to
My beloved priest-son.
end of
August 1, 1994
message
The New Priestly Newsletter will be ready to mail in about one week. It
is so very awesome. The new Jesuit edited it and quotes from scripture and the
writings of the Church.
For the 87th anniversary of the last Apparition at
Fatima
October 13, 2004
we ask if you can help with the postage.
April 5, 2004
Also we must spend thousands and thousands of dollars to protect
Jesus’ face with the proper structure. We are presently repairing the sink
hole under Mary's image and Jesus’ face and then we will put up the bullet
proof glass for protection from vandals and hurricanes.
Here are some
of our ministries -
1) Supply priestly Newsletter to 75,000 priests centered
in Consecration to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart.
2) Send about 50,000 homemade rosaries to
the schools twice a year with
consecration cards to the 2 Hearts and meditations.
3) Prayer Chapters to pray for the priests, the
Church and the world - all over the
world in 6 languages.
4) Monthly retreats before the exposed Eucharist
in our Church from the diocese for
for 4 days, with Masses from priests
who support the ministry daily -
praying for the priests, the Church and the world.
5) People praying in
China
,
Indiana
before the
tabernacle for the priests, the Church and
the world - 24 hours a day, live
on TV web camera.
6) Live radio - 24 hours praying for the
priests, the Church and the world.
7) Prayer daily at all centers at
6:20
daily
8) Apostles of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus - all over
the world praying before Blessed Sacrament.
9) Nursing Home Ministry
10) Prison Ministry
11) 10 years of service in all of our ministries-
including supplying 75,000 priests regularly
6 times a year with the priestly Newsletter.
Come to
Florida
October 5, 2004
for a special prayer service praying and singing for special grace to be
outpoured on the priests, the Church and the world.
Excerpt
from
October 1, 2004
message
God
the Father speaks:
I sent Mary as a messenger to
you --
You ignored her
You defaced the rainbow image
Remember Noah's arch --
Remember the sign of the rainbow
Genesis
9: 12-15
And this’, God said, ‘is the sign of the covenant which I now make
between myself and you and every living creature with you for all ages
to come: I now set my bow in the clouds and it will be the sign of
the covenant between me and the earth. When I gather the clouds over the
earth and the bow appears in the clouds, I shall recall the covenant
between myself and you and every living creature, in a word all living
things, and never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all
living things.
God
the Father speaks:
I sent the rainbow 1996.
Florida
has had to deal
with many hurricanes
and floods.
I am God the Father -- you refuse to
listen to Mary. …
This is My sign sent to you --
the sign of the rainbow
You will not listen --
peace is found in
listening to Mary
Mary's
Peace Plan
Copyright © 2004 Shepherds of Christ.