| Shepherds of Christ Daily Writing |
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| Shepherds of Christ Daily Writing |
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November 3, 2015
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November 4th Holy Spirit Novena |
The Novena Rosary
Mysteries |
Sidney Rosary
November 3rd - 6:20pm
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November 3, 2015
Jesus: Pray for healing
in body, mind and soul!
R. Jesus gives us the fullness
of life in heaven –
Jesus allows us to suffer –
because of the human condition,
many times, people make their
own suffering, by swimming
against the current of what
God is telling them to do.
Discernment is vital, praying
to do God's will may not be
giving into how we feel.
A person preparing for a
race must work strenuously to
prepare his body for the race.
A person hurt in an accident must
work hard many times in rehab
to bring his body back, if possible,
to function better.
We have a wounded human nature,
people for years having grown-up
in a dysfunctional home – can
learn that, the patterned behavior
they once used, survival tactics
they learned are not working and
their lives are unmanageable.
They could have been in denial for
years, forcing their dysfunctional
ways – ever harder – on those
around them and continued doing
the same thing that had bad
results – over and over and over
again in denial.
Life is to be lived – working
in love with others – all of us
trying to work on God's plan for
renewal and building His Kingdom.
Jesus gives to us His love. We must
focus on Jesus. Jesus came and
taught us. We have the scriptures –
we have the commandments, we
have the Church. God gave us the
Church and the priests and
people to help us grow spiritually.
God is in charge. God has the Plan.
We were created by God and Jesus
came to teach us and we are to
follow in His footsteps – the
focus is Jesus – not what we
feel like doing that we did in
the past and is dysfunctional.
We are to work on relationships
with God, others, ourselves –
When we offend God – we are to
tell God we are sorry and we
want to not offend Him again.
We are accountable and responsible
for our behavior, our actions.
We keep relationships working with
those God has called us to work
with. We are accountable to God!
Children are taught. Children
must be guided and disciplined
in the right ways – in love –
Children are taught about men
and women and marriage.
If the parents are suffering
themselves they can teach things
that children must throw out
to have better relationships in
their lives. But parents are honest
in life, wanting children to know
what is right.
Grandparents and parents can
pray hard for their children and
children can make good and
bad choices that hurt their
lives.
Parents may never change and
expect an adult child to do their
dysfunctional dance. It is in
discernment and help that people
work toward transformation –
God promises the fullness of life
in heaven.
Here below we are working
in truth to be more and more
like Christ. Sometimes this takes
lots of prayer and changing our
old behavior patterns, but we are
a work in progress. Every day an
opportunity to live. To want life,
To want to be a light to others –
To want to do the Father's Plan and
to seek the Father's Plan.
To learn to grow in relationships.
I love this writing Jesus gave me in
Blue Book I.
Cling to Me
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. Jesus wants us to live the Christ-life.
The Church and the world is to be
renewed putting on Christ. So we
can see – the individual Christian,
the Church and the world are in
the state of becoming more and
more in the image of Jesus.
From Fr. Carter's Priestly Newsletter Book I - September/October 1994
The following is an excerpt from notes taken during a retreat given by Fr. Karl Rahner, S.J. The retreat was given to a group of candidates for the priesthood. The notes were edited into book form: “We should not reduce participation in the life of Jesus to some sort of moral relationship. Moral influence coming from Jesus must be made possible by and based on an ontological influence. By reason of the Incarnation of the Word and the whole history of the life and death of Jesus, each of us is already personally involved in the life of Jesus. In fact the whole world including the life of every human being is really affected and determined by His human existence. In a narrower and historically perceptible sense, after being affected by Him we are incorporated by Baptism into that community which is His Body, and by this sacramental-ontological determination of our historical existence, we were drawn even further into His life…
“The imitation of Christ consists in a true entering into His life and in Him entering into the inner life of the God that has been given to us.”5
5. Karl Rahner, S.J., Spiritual Exercises, Herder & Herder, pp. 117-118.
The following words of St. John Eudes remind us of the glorious goal the Christian is called to: the most intimate union with Jesus. We, as priests, have the special privilege and responsibility of seeking this union with Christ in the highest degree:
“I ask you to consider that our Lord Jesus Christ is your true head and that you are a member of his body. He belongs to you as the head belongs to the body. All that is his is yours: breath, heart, body, soul and all his faculties. All these you must use as if they belonged to you, so that in serving him you may give him praise, love and glory. You belong to him as a member belongs to the head. This is why he earnestly desires you to serve and glorify the Father by using all your faculties as if they were his.
“He belongs to you, but more than that, he longs to be in you, living and ruling in you, as the head lives and rules in the body. He desires that whatever is in him may live and rule in you: his breath in your breath, his heart in your heart, all the faculties of his soul in the faculties of your soul, so that these words may be fulfilled in you: Glorify God and bear him in your body, that the life of Jesus may be made manifest in you.
“You belong to the Son of God, but more than that, you ought to be in him as members are in the head. All that is in you must be incorporated into him. You must receive life from him and be ruled by him. There will be no true life for you except in him, for he is the one source of true life. Apart from him you will find only death and destruction. Let him be the only source of your movements, of the actions and the strength of your life. He must be both the source and the purpose of your life, so that you may fulfill these words: None of us lives as his own master and none of us dies as his own master. While we live, we are responsible to the Lord, and when we die, we die as his servants. Both in life and death we are the Lord’s. That is why Christ died and came to life again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
“Finally, you are one with Jesus as the body is one with the head. You must, then, have one breath with him, one soul, one life, one will, one mind, one heart. And he must be your breath, heart, love, life, your all. These great gifts in the follower of Christ originate from baptism. They are increased and strengthened through confirmation and by making good use of other graces that are given by God. Through the holy eucharist they are brought to perfection.”4
4. St. John Eudes, from a treatise on the Admirable Heart of Jesus, as in The Liturgy of the Hours, Catholic Book Publishing Co., Vol. IV, pp. 1331-32.
Fr. Henri Nouwen has been one of the most influential spiritual writers of our times. His following words emphasize the overwhelming importance of the Christian leader—and as priests we are certainly called to be leaders—to be intimately united with Jesus:
“Christian leaders cannot simply be persons who have well-informed opinions about the burning issues of our times. Their leadership must be rooted in the permanent, intimate relationship with the incarnate Word, Jesus, and they need to find there the source for their words, advice, and guidance. Through the discipline of contemplative prayer, Christian leaders have to learn to listen again and again to the voice of love and to find there the wisdom and courage to address whatever issue presents itself to them. Dealing with burning issues without being rooted in a deep personal relationship with God easily leads to divisiveness because, before we know it, our sense of self is caught up in our opinion about a given subject. But when we are securely rooted in personal intimacy with the source of life, it will be possible to remain flexible without being relativistic, convinced without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle and forgiving without being soft, and true witnesses without being manipulative.”3
3. Henri Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus, pp. 31-32.
“One of the most beautiful images of Christ is that of shepherd. In chapter 10 of John’s gospel Jesus calls Himself the good shepherd and explains what this means. The good shepherd, He says, finds pasture for his sheep; he brings back to the fold those who have strayed; if necessary, he lays down his life for them…
“The image of shepherd supports and enriches the concept of priest as servant. The Bishop’s Committee on Priestly Life and Ministry strongly emphasized this concept in As One Who Serves. The priest, the committee stated, ‘is to be a servant of the People of God, holding them accountable for what they have been and can be. He serves them by calling forth leadership and coordinating ministries. His is a service which calls the people to remember and to celebrate the presence and power of the Risen Lord. In the fullest sense, he is a servant of the human family.’
“Our hearts must be moved with pity when we see people who are suffering, whose lives are empty, who are searching vainly for meaning. Through our ministry and our presence, we must do all we can to bring them the riches of the gospel, so that they will come to know the Lord and experience His love and peace in their lives. This is the shepherd’s work. This is our work as priests who follow in the footsteps of the Good Shepherd and carry on His mission.
“A priest, because of the Person he represents and the message he brings, is one whose ministry is expected to bring people joy, consolation, and hope. Admittedly, a priest cannot remove all the pain and frustration which are part of the human condition. But this ministry can help people cope better with trials and sufferings by seeing them in the light of the Transcendent. While we are obliged to do all we can to promote a better life in this world by building a society rooted in justice and love, in the final analysis our earthly accomplishments and their immediate joys and sorrows are transitory. The ultimate fulfillment of all we attempt, the lasting remedy for all we suffer, lies in life eternal.
“My personal experience convinces me that what people actually want and need is usually much less complex and spectacular than we sometimes imagine. People are not looking for religious leaders who can solve all their problems or answer all their questions. Often they know the answers already; or they know their problem has no immediate solution. More than anything else, people look to us who minister to them for our presence as loving, caring, and forgiving people. They want our help in their efforts to handle pain and frustration. They look to us for understanding; they seek a sensitive and consoling response to their hurt feelings; they need the spiritual comfort we can bring through our ministry of word and sacrament. They want someone who will pray with them, whose presence will remind them that, no matter what their difficulties might be, God really loves them and cares for them. They want assurance that God will never abandon them. This is the preferred style of spiritual leadership in our day.”2
2. Archbishop Joseph Bernardin, Called To Serve, Called To Lead, St. Anthony Messenger Press, pp. 17-20.
A very popular spiritual writer of our time, Fr. John Powell, S.J., gives us thoughts concerning saying “yes” to God’s will. His words easily follow the above thoughts of St. Teresa:
“There have been quite a few times in my life when I have felt the winds of God’s grace in the sails of my small boat. Sometimes these graces have moved me in pleasant and sunlit directions. At other times the requested acts of love were born in darkness of struggle and suffering. There have been springtimes and there have been long, cold winters of struggle for survival. God has come to me at times with the purest kindness, at times with the most affirming encouragement, and at other times with bold and frightening challenges. I think that all of us have to watch and pray, to be ready to say ‘yes’ when God’s language is concrete and his request is specific—‘yes’ in the sunlit springtimes and ‘yes’ in the darkness of winter nights.”8
8. John Powell, S.J., The Christian Vision, Argus Communications, p. 147.
From Fr. Carter's Priestly Newsletter Book I - November/December 1994
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd is one who 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 and runs away as soon as he sees a wolf coming, and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep; this is 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)
Yes, the Good Shepherd has laid down His life for His sheep. The Good Shepherd’s magnificent Heart, overflowing with love for His Father and all of us, was pierced so that the waters of our salvation might flow forth: “It was Preparation Day, and to prevent the bodies remaining on the cross during the sabbath—since that sabbath was a day of special solemnity—the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then of the other. When they came to Jesus, they found he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance. And immediately there came out blood and water.” (Jn 19: 31-34).
Bonaventure, the Franciscan saint and doctor of the Church, comments on the pierced Heart of the Good Shepherd: “Then, in order that the Church might be formed out of the side of Christ sleeping on the cross…the divine plan permitted that one of the soldiers pierce open His sacred side with a lance. While blood mixed with water flowed, the price of our salvation was poured forth, which gushing forth from the sacred fountain of the heart gave power to the sacraments of the Church…”2
Another doctor of the Church, St. Augustine, also refers to the source of life which is the pierced Heart of Jesus: “On the cross he made a great exchange. There the purse which held our price was opened, for when the soldier’s spear opened his side, the price of the whole world flowed forth.”3
Finally, we have the words of the Church herself concerning the pierced Heart of Jesus. In the preface for the Mass of the Sacred Heart we read in part: “Lifted high on the cross, Christ gave his life for us, so much did he love us. From his wounded side flowed blood and water, the fountain of sacramental life in the Church. To his open heart the Savior invites all…to draw water in joy from the springs of salvation.”4
Yes, the Church reminds us that Jesus the Good Shepherd invites all to come to His open Heart, this Heart which symbolizes His love and calls for our love in return. The Church invites all to come to Jesus’ pierced Heart in order to be clothed with the graces which the Heart of Jesus longs to give us in abundance. We priests have the privilege and responsibility to lead the members of Jesus’ flock to the pierced Heart of Jesus in order that they may be showered with the graces which are necessary for their salvation and ongoing sanctification. As a good shepherd under Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the Flock, the priest has to lead the sheep to the only source of true nourishment, the pierced Heart of Christ. The more we priests ourselves dwell within the pierced Heart of Jesus, as the Church invites all to do, the more we are able to lead others to this sacred refuge and source of all spiritual nourishment. As we ourselves dwell within the pierced Heart of Jesus, Christ gives us an increased awareness of how much He loves each person with the most special and unique love. Jesus has chosen each priest to be a most special ambassador to spread the message of this overwhelming love of His Heart for each individual. The more we priests ourselves grow in the awareness of how much Jesus loves each of us as His priest-companions, the more we are able to teach to others the truth of Jesus’ special love for each individual. And the more we priests realize how much Jesus wants the love of each individual, the more we are also able to teach His truth to others.
Jesus suffered and died for the entire human race, but He did it in a manner which makes it true to say He also did it for each individual in a most special way. Notice how personalized St. Paul makes the redemptive suffering and death and love of Jesus. In the letter to the Galatians he does not use the plural, but the singular: “I have been crucified with Christ, and the life I live now is not my own; Christ is living in me. I still live my human life, but it is a life of faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2: 19-20).
Scriptural quotations are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, Doubleday & Co.
Bonaventure, tr. by E. Cousins, Paulist Press, pp. 154-155.
The Liturgy of the Hours, Catholic Book Publishing Co., Vol. IV, 1727.
The Sacramentary, Catholic Book Publishing Co., p. 463.
Our personal relationship with Christ is characterized by the realization of the great, special love of His Heart for each of us and of our need to love Him in return. The chief source for growth in this personal relationship with Jesus is the Eucharist. The New Catechism tells us: “The Eucharist is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life.’ The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical mysteries and work of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.”6
6. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 397.
end of excerpts
R. Yes the incarnation goes on in us –
Promises of Our Lord to those devoted to His Sacred Heart:
1. I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.
2. I will establish peace in their homes.
3. I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
4. I will be their refuge during life and above all in death.
5. I will bestow a large blessing on all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall grow fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.
9. I will bless every place where a picture of My Heart shall be set up and honored.
10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
11. Those who promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.
12. I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the
first Friday in nine consecutive months the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving
their sacraments; My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.
Prayer for 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 has given us much here to teach
us to put on Christ –
prayers to pray –
Joyful Mysteries
The Annunciation
(1) Mary said "yes" to the call of God
Call – Response
(2) Jesus showed us He obeyed His
Father's will –
He suffered –
He loved –
(3) Mary loved the will of the Heavenly
Father
(4) Priestly Newsletter Book II - September/October 1997
In all this Mary offers an example. Selfishness was totally foreign to her. She did not belong to herself. She belonged to God. She was not closed in upon herself. She was completely open to God. When God spoke, she listened. When God pointed the way, she followed. She realized that life is not a process a person masters by carefully mapping out one's own self-conceived plans of conquest, but a mystery to be gradually experienced by being open to God's personal and loving guidance.
Selfishness, then, did not close Mary off from God's call. Neither did fear. God asked her to assume a tremendous responsibility. He asked her to be the Mother of Jesus. Mary did not engage in a process of false humility and say that such a great role was above her. She did not say that she did not have the proper qualifications for this awesome mission. Briefly, she did not waste time looking at herself, making pleas that she was not worthy, telling the angel he had better go look for someone else. No, Mary did not look at herself. Her gaze was absorbed in God. She fully realized that whatever God asked of her, His grace would accomplish. She fully realized that although she herself had to cooperate, this work was much more God's than hers.
Mary's words, then, truly sum up what is the authentic Christian response at any point of life, in any kind of situation: "I am the handmaid of the Lord," said Mary, "let what you have said be done to me".
(5) From the Priestly Newsletter Book III - 2000 Issue 3
The Father's Will for Us - Our Source of Peace
Pope John Paul II instructs us: "The Church, as a reconciled and reconciling community, cannot forget that at the source of her gift and mission of reconciliation is the initiative, full of compassionate love and mercy, of that God who is love (see 1 John 4:8) and who out of love created human beings (see Wisdom 11:23-26; Genesis 1:27: Psalms 8:4-8)…He created them so that they might live in friendship with Him and in communion with one another.
"God is faithful to His eternal plan even when man, under the impulse of the evil one (see Wisdom 2:24) and carried away by his own pride, abuses the freedom given to him in order to love and generously seek what is good, and (instead) refuses to obey his Lord and Father. God is faithful even when man, instead of responding with love to God’s love, opposes Him and treats Him like a rival, deluding himself and relying on his own power, with the resulting break of relationship with the One who created him. In spite of this transgression on man’s part, God remains faithful in love.
"It is certainly true that the story of the Garden of Eden makes us think about the tragic consequences of rejecting the Father, which becomes evident in man’s inner disorder and in the breakdown of harmony between man and woman, brother and brother (see Genesis 3:12 ff; 4:1-16). Also significant is the Gospel parable of the two brothers (the parable of the ‘prodigal son’; see Luke 15:11-32) who, in different ways, distance themselves from their father and cause a rift between them. Refusal of God’s fatherly love and of His loving gifts is always at the root of humanity’s divisions.
"But we know that God…like the father in the parable (of the prodigal son), does not close His heart to any of His children. He waits for them, looks for them, goes to meet them at the place where the refusal of communion imprisons them in isolation and division. He calls them to gather about His table in the joy of the feast of forgiveness and reconciliation.
"This initiative on God’s part is made concrete and manifest in the redemptive act of Christ, which radiates through the world by means of the ministry of the Church." 13
___________
13. Pope John Paul II, as in Celebrate 2000!, Servant Publications, pp. 140-141.
(6) We pray for conversion –
(7) We want to go to heaven and
have the fullness of His life –
(8) Life can be very difficult in
the struggle with relationships –
that is okay –
we keep praying to do the
right thing –
(9) We are accountable and
responsible for our actions –
(10) We are to focus on Jesus –
and be a light –
These are the joyful days of
our lives –
even in suffering –
The Visitation
(1) 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.
(2) We are given the Eucharist –
We receive Jesus!
(3) The child in Elizabeth's womb
leapt for joy at the sight
of Mary and Jesus in her
womb –
(4) These are the joyful mysteries –
(5) Mary lived the Plan of the Father –
She loved the Heavenly Father –
(6) Mary said "yes"
(7) We keep our focus on God –
(8) We pray to the Holy Spirit to give us
His gifts –
(9) From the Holy Spirit Novena
Prayer for the Holy Spirit and His Gifts
Come Holy Spirit, come, come into our hearts, inflame all people with the fire of Your love.
Leader: Send forth Your Spirit and all will be reborn.
All: And You will renew the face of the earth.We pray for the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, we ask for perfection in our souls to make us holy, holy souls likened to God.
Dear Holy Spirit, we give ourselves to You soul and body. We ask You to give us the Spirit of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord.
(10) We live
"Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven"
The Nativity
(1) Sing: Silent Night
(2) We want Peace on Earth –
(3) Sing: Let There Be Peace on Earth
(4) Sing: 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.
(5) Sing: A Song from Jesus
(6) We all have guardian angels to
help us.
(7) Think of all the angels in this
room –
(8) We pray for the world to be
like God wants –
(9) We pray for the Church to be
like God wants –
(10) We pray
Father, united to Jesus in the
Mass, through the intercession
of Our Lady of Clearwater, the angels
and saints and souls in purgatory, in the
Holy Spirit, please hear our prayer.
The Presentation
(1) Sing: Angels We Have Heard on High
(2) Sing: Oh Lord Hear My Prayer
(3) Simeon told Mary and Jesus They
would suffer.
(4) Sing: Oh Lord Hear My Prayer
(5) Sing: Little Baby Hands and Feet
(6) Mary suffered under the
cross of Jesus.
(7)
Copyright
© 2014 Shepherds of Christ.