Messenger:        We are going to be broadcasting 
                        live from the Virgin Mary building  
                        tonight (November 5) at 6:20 PM 
                        Eastern time USA.

                            A catholic priest is discerning while
                        we are broadcasting this prayer service.

                            To hear the live audio and to get
                        up to date Virgin Mary Image pictures
                        click on the photo below. To update
                        the image from time to time, hit
                        the refresh button on your web browser.

  
November 5, 2002 message continues

Messenger:            These are the prayers which Jesus
                           requested we pray from the 
                           Prayer Manual and Holy Spirit
                           Novena Booklet at 6:20. He gave the
                           prayers to be in the prayer manual 
                           to Fr. Carter. Rita Ring received the Holy
                           Spirit prayers to be prayed.  

                                Our founder Fr. Carter S.J.
                           with a doctorate in theology and
                           author of 18 books prays the 
                           prayers on the tape.

                                This tape is available with
                           Fr. Carter as you hear him on
                           this tape tonight. Also this is on
                           CD disc.                            

                                These tapes, prayer booklets, 
                           discs, sheets of the prayers
                           can be obtained by calling
                           Shepherds of Christ Ministries 1-513-932-4451
                           or e-mailing us at info@sofc.org 
                           or by writing Shepherds of Christ Ministries
                                                    P.O. Box 193
                                                    Morrow, Ohio
                                                      45152-0193
                                                         U.S.A.

                               Today we are broadcasting
                           from the 2 Hearts Building in
                           Clearwater, Florida.

                                A Catholic priest is discerning
                           what is said here.

                                I, Rita Ring, am conducting
                           this prayer service and evening
                           under the image of Jesus and Mary
                           as you see them on the window of
                           the once finance building as I am 
                           directed here.

                                Usually on the 5th, the images are
                            rainbow-gold — then the gold spreads
                            from where Jesus' face is usually seen
                            in the two bottom left windows 
                            and then covers the entire glass.

                                Mary sometimes has a white
                            veil or hat on top of her head.

                                You can refresh the screen frequently
                            during the prayer service and you will
                            see it live from Clearwater, Florida.

                                All beginning at 6:20PM and ends around
                            10:00PM or sooner or later.

                            From this day forward we will play
                                the 6:20 tape at 6:20 led by
                                our founder.

                            The prayers prayed will be in today's
                                message on the Internet, they
                                also can be printed in a PDF file
                                in 4 languages, so
                                we can all pray united.

English, Spanish, French, Portuguese

                            We feel very sure Our Founder is united
                                with us in heaven.

                            When we pray the prayers we unite
                                deeply in our hearts, praying
                                for the priests, the Church
                                and the world, united to all the
                                Masses going on around the world.

                            As Shepherds of Christ radio becomes
                                established on the Internet you will
                                know there will be the 6:20 
                                prayers daily at 6:20 PM
                                Clearwater, Florida time. Our servants,
                                handmaids and apostles pray nightly
                                beneath the image, before the Blessed Sacrament
                                in China, Indiana and in Morrow, Ohio.

                            Also the Mass, which is on video tape
                                and celebrated for elderly and
                                for all will be broadcast from
                                a live tape. The audio portion
                                will be played. This tape lasts 
                                about 30 minutes.

                            This too can be ordered.

                            This is a wonderful video of Fr. 
                                Mike Paraniuk celebrating
                                the Mass for Nursing Home and 
                                Elderly and all others.
                                This will be  broadcast at 4:00 PM.                            

                            We know of a special Mass that
                                is usually being celebrated at this
                                time on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
                                and Saturday. (4:00PM Florida time)

                            We will unite to this Mass and all Masses
                                being celebrated at 4:00 PM
                                praying for the priests, the Church
                                and the world and the Shepherds of Christ
                                intentions.

                            Please unite with us in one heart
                                praying for these intentions at 
                                4:00 and at 6:20.

                            Even if you are not on the Internet,
                                unite in your hearts wherever
                                you are with us thinking of
                                these intentions.

                            The Shepherds of Christ radio will have a 
                                complete schedule of spiritual renewal
                                every day. So many tapes and videos were
                                discerned by Fr. Ed Carter our founder.
                                Everything published has been discerned
                                by a Catholic priest.

                            We will have a fuller schedule in the 
                                weeks to come.

                            The Sidney rosary 6:20 will be broadcast
                                live in a couple of weeks and
                                sometimes at 12:00 PM on the
                                13th of each month we will have songs,
                                prayers and pre-discerned message 
                                and information given.

                            Please pray for this, our schedule will
                                run on the daily message.

                            We must stay united in our hearts
                                praying for the priests, the Church
                                and the world. Please include the
                                Shepherds of Christ intentions.

                            Today November 5, 2002 we are broadcasting
                                from the Two Hearts building in Clearwater,
                                Florida at 6:20 with the tape of Fr. Carter
                                beginning the prayers.

                            We are all praying together —
                                deeply from our hearts.

                            Another Catholic priest is actively helping
                                us with discerning while we broadcast.

                            In the days to come we will
                                broadcast discerned videos and
                                audio tapes with Fr. Carter
                                delivering the Newsletters on audio.
                            These are the Newsletters Fr. Carter
                                sent to the priests.

                                We will also have other tapes
                            and videos of the rosary led
                            by Fr. Carter and Fr. Mike Paraniuk.

                                The rosary aves being played
                            are available on video tape and 
                            there are coloring books of the
                            rosary to match.

                                Please pray with us for the priests,
                            the Church and the world and the
                            Shepherds of Christ intentions.

                                There are people all over the world
                            united to us now, all over the 
                            United States.
  

November 5, 2002 message continues

Messenger:         We have a very special way of life.
                            All servants, handmaids and apostles
                                go to daily Mass and spend one hour
                                before the tabernacle.

                            We also pray hourly for special Shepherds
                                of Christ intentions, funds and grace and
                                for the priests, the Church and the world.

                            If you want to pray with us, here
                                is what we pray on the hour, at
                                all our centers and our homes
                                when we are awake.

                            Please pray with us ———

                            We pray on the hour.

Infant of Prague Novena

        O Jesus, who said, "Ask and you shall receive, seek 
        and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you," 
        through the intercession of Mary, Your most holy Mother, 
        I knock, I seek, I ask that my prayer be granted. 

        O Jesus, who said, "All that you ask of the Father in My Name 
        He will grant you," through the intercession of Mary, Your most 
        holy Mother, I humbly and urgently ask Your Father in Your Name 
        that my prayer be granted.

        O Jesus, who said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, 
        but My word shall not pass," through the intercession of Mary, 
        Your most holy Mother, I feel confident that my prayer will be granted.

Shepherds of Christ Associates

PRAYER MANUAL

© Copyright 2002 Shepherds of Christ Publications
Rights for non-commercial reproduction granted:
May be copied in its entirety, but neither re-typed nor edited.

The Shepherds of Christ Spirituality Handbook is available from

Shepherds of Christ Ministries
PO BOX 193
Morrow, Ohio 45152-0193

 

Chapter Meeting Prayer Format

The prayer format below should be followed at chapter meetings of Shepherds of Christ Associates. All prayers, not just those said specifically for priests, should include the intention of praying for all the needs of priests the world over.

1. Hymns. Hymns may be sung at any point of the prayer part of the meeting.

2. Holy Spirit Prayer. Come, Holy Spirit, almighty Sanctifier, God of love, who filled the Virgin Mary with grace, who wonderfully changed the hearts of the apostles, who endowed all Your martyrs with miraculous courage, come and sanctify us. Enlighten our minds, strengthen our wills, purify our consciences, rectify our judgment, set our hearts on fire, and preserve us from the misfortunes of resisting Your inspirations. Amen.

3. The Rosary.

4. Salve Regina. "Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To you do we send up our sighs, our mourning, our weeping in this vale of tears. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy toward us and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary."

5. The Memorare. "Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To you I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but, in your mercy, hear and answer me. Amen."

6. Seven Hail Marys in honor of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Mary has promised very special graces to those who do this on a daily basis. Included in the promises of Our Lady for those who practice this devotion is her pledge to give special assistance at the hour of death, including the sight of her face. The seven sorrows are:

(1) The first sorrow: the prophecy of Simeon (Hail Mary).

(2) The second sorrow: the flight into Egypt (Hail Mary).

(3) The third sorrow: the loss of the Child Jesus in the temple (Hail Mary).

(4) The fourth sorrow: Jesus and Mary meet on the way to the cross (Hail Mary).

(5) The fifth sorrow: Jesus dies on the cross (Hail Mary).

(6) The sixth sorrow: Jesus is taken down from the cross and laid in Mary's arms (Hail Mary).

(7) The seventh sorrow: the burial of Jesus (Hail Mary).

7. Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, pray for us (repeat after each invocation).
Holy Mother of God,
Holy Virgin of virgins,
Mother of Christ,
Mother of the Church,
Mother of divine grace,
Mother most pure,
Mother most chaste,
Mother inviolate,
Mother undefiled,
Mother most amiable,
Mother most admirable,
Mother of good counsel,
Mother of our Creator,
Mother of our Savior,
Virgin most prudent,
Virgin most venerable,
Virgin most renowned,
Virgin most powerful,
Virgin most merciful,
Virgin most faithful,
Mirror of justice,
Seat of wisdom,
Cause of our joy,
Spiritual vessel,
Vessel of honor,
Singular vessel of devotion,
Mystical rose,
Tower of David,
Tower of ivory,
House of gold,
Ark of the Covenant,
Gate of heaven,
Morning star,
Health of the sick,
Refuge of sinners,
Comforter of the afflicted,
Help of Christians,
Queen of angels,
Queen of patriarchs,
Queen of prophets,
Queen of apostles,
Queen of martyrs,
Queen of confessors,
Queen of virgins,
Queen of all saints,
Queen conceived without original sin,
Queen assumed into heaven,
Queen of the most holy rosary,
Queen of families,
Queen of peace,

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: Grant, we beseech You, O Lord God, that we Your servants may enjoy perpetual health of mind and body and, by the glorious intercession of the blessed Mary, ever virgin, be delivered from present sorrow, and obtain eternal joy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

We fly to your patronage, O holy Mother of God. Despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

8. Prayer to St. Joseph. St. Joseph, guardian of Jesus and chaste spouse of Mary, you passed your life in perfect fulfillment of duty. You supported the Holy Family of Nazareth with the work of your hands. Kindly protect those who trustingly turn to you. You know their aspirations, their hardships, their hopes; and they turn to you because they know you will understand and protect them. You too have known trial, labor, and weariness. But, even amid the worries of material life, your soul was filled with deep peace and sang out in true joy through intimacy with the Son of God entrusted to you, and with Mary, His tender Mother. Amen. --(Pope John XXIII)

9. Litany of the Sacred Heart, promises of the Sacred Heart.

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us (repeat after each invocation).
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God the Holy Spirit,
Holy Trinity, one God,
Heart of Jesus, Son of the eternal Father,
Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mother,
Heart of Jesus, substantially united to the Word of God,
Heart of Jesus, of infinite majesty,
Heart of Jesus, sacred temple of God,
Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High,
Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of heaven,
Heart of Jesus, burning furnace of charity,
Heart of Jesus, abode of justice and love,
Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love,
Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues,
Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise,
Heart of Jesus, king and center of all hearts,
Heart of Jesus, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,
Heart of Jesus, in whom dwells the fullness of divinity,
Heart of Jesus, in whom the Father is well pleased,
Heart of Jesus, of whose fullness we have all received,
Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills,
Heart of Jesus, patient and most merciful,
Heart of Jesus, enriching all who invoke You,
Heart of Jesus, fountain of life and holiness,
Heart of Jesus, propitiation for our sins,
Heart of Jesus, loaded down with opprobrium,
Heart of Jesus, bruised for our offenses,
Heart of Jesus, obedient even to death,
Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance,
Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation,
Heart of Jesus, our life and reconciliation,
Heart of Jesus, victim of sin,
Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who hope in You,
Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in You,
Heart of Jesus, delight of all the saints,
Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto Yours.

Let us pray: O almighty and eternal God, look upon the Heart of Your dearly beloved Son and upon the praise and satisfaction He offers You in behalf of sinners and, being appeased, grant pardon to those who seek Your mercy, in the name of the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen.

Promises of Our Lord to those devoted to His Sacred Heart
(these should be read by the prayer leader):

(1) I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.

(2) I will establish peace in their homes.

(3) I will comfort them in all their afflictions.

(4) I will be their refuge during life and above all in death.

(5) I will bestow a large blessing on all their undertakings.

(6) Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy.

(7) Tepid souls shall grow fervent.

(8) Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.

(9) I will bless every place where a picture of My Heart shall be set up and honored.

(10) I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.

(11) Those who promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.

(12) I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the first Friday in nine consecutive months the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving their sacraments; My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.

10. Prayer for Priests. "Lord Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the Flock, we pray that in the great love and mercy of Your Sacred Heart You attend to all the needs of Your priest-shepherds throughout the world. We ask that You draw back to Your Heart all those priests who have seriously strayed from Your path, that You rekindle the desire for holiness in the hearts of those priests who have become lukewarm, and that You continue to give Your fervent priests the desire for the highest holiness. United with Your Heart and Mary's Heart, we ask that You take this petition to Your heavenly Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen"

11. Prayer for all members of the Shepherds of Christ Associates. "Dear Jesus, we ask Your special blessings on all members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. Continue to enlighten them regarding the very special privilege and responsibility you have given them as members of Your movement, Shepherds of Christ Associates. Draw them ever closer to Your Heart and to Your Mother's Heart. Allow them to more and more realize the great and special love of Your Hearts for each of them as unique individuals. Give them the grace to respond to Your love and Mary's love with an increased love of their own. As they dwell in Your Heart and Mary's Heart, abundantly care for all their needs and those of their loved ones. We make our prayer through You to the Father, in the Holy Spirit, with Mary our Mother at our side. Amen"

12. Prayer for the spiritual and financial success of the priestly newsletter. "Father, we ask Your special blessings upon the priestly newsletter, Shepherds of Christ. We ask that You open the priest-readers to the graces You wish to give them through this chosen instrument of Your Son. We also ask that You provide for the financial needs of the newsletter and the Shepherds of Christ Associates. We make our prayer through Jesus, in the Holy Spirit, with Mary at our side. Amen"

13. Prayer for all members of the human family. "Heavenly Father, we ask Your blessings on all Your children the world over. Attend to all their needs. We ask Your special assistance for all those marginalized people, all those who are so neglected and forgotten. United with our Mother Mary, we make this petition to You through Jesus and in the Holy Spirit."

14. Prayer to St. Michael and our Guardian Angels:

"St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen."

"Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen."

15. Pause for silent, personal prayer. This should last at least five minutes.

16. Act of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

"Lord Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock, I consecrate myself to Your most Sacred Heart. From Your pierced Heart the Church was born, the Church You have called me, as a member of Shepherds of Christ Associates, to serve in a most special way. You reveal Your Heart as a symbol of Your love in all its aspects, including Your most special love for me, whom You have chosen as Your companion in this most important work. Help me to always love You in return. Help me to give myself entirely to You. Help me always to pour out my life in love of God and neighbor! Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You!

"Dear Blessed Virgin Mary, I consecrate myself to your maternal and Immaculate Heart, this Heart which is symbol of your life of love. You are the Mother of my Savior. You are also my Mother. You love me with a most special love as a member of Shepherds of Christ Associates, a movement created by your Son as a powerful instrument for the renewal of the Church and the world. In a return of love, I give myself entirely to your motherly love and protection. You followed Jesus perfectly. You are His first and perfect disciple. Teach me to imitate you in the putting on of Christ. Be my motherly intercessor so that, through your Immaculate Heart, I may be guided to an ever closer union with the pierced Heart of Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock."

17. Daily Prayers. All members should say the Holy Spirit prayer daily and make the act of consecration daily. They should also pray the rosary each day. They are encouraged to use the other above prayers as time allows.

        end of prayer manual
  

Holy Spirit Novena

For additional copies, contact us:

Shepherds of Christ Ministries
P.O. Box 193
Morrow, OH 45152-0193
(toll free number) 1-888-211-3041
(phone) 1-513-932-4451
(fax) 1-513-932-6791

Copyright © 1998 Shepherds of Christ Ministries

Rights for non-commercial reproduction granted: May be copied in its entirety, but neither re-typed nor edited.

  

DAILY NOVENA PRAYERS

Opening Prayer

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dear Father, we come to You in the name of Jesus, in union with Him in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in the Holy Spirit. We come to You united to the Child Jesus of Good Health and the Infant of Prague. We come to You in the perfect, sinless heart of Our Mother Mary, asking her powerful intercession, uniting ourselves to her holy tears. We come to You united to all the angels and saints, and the souls in purgatory.

Prayer for Holy Spirit

We pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on us, to be baptized by the Holy Spirit, that He will descend mightily on us as He did on the Apostles at Pentecost. That the Holy Spirit will transform us from fear to fearlessness and that He will give us courage to do all the Father is asking of us to help bring about the Reign of the Sacred Heart and the triumph of Mary's Immaculate Heart. We pray for the Holy Spirit to descend mightily on the Jesuits and the Poor Clares on the Shepherds of Christ leaders and members and on the whole Body of Christ and the world.

Protection by the Blood of Jesus

We pray that the Blood of Jesus will be spread on us, everyone in our families, and the Shepherds of Christ Movement, that we will be able to move steadfastly ahead and be protected from the evil one.

Healing

We pray for healing in body, mind, and soul and generational healing in ourselves, in all members in our families, and in all members of the Shepherds of Christ Movement, the Jesuit Community, the Poor Clares, the Body of Christ, and the world.

Prayer for Strength and Light

We adore You, oh Holy Spirit. Give us strength, give us light, console us. We give ourselves entirely to You. Oh Spirit of light and grace, we want to only do the will of the Father. Enlighten us that we may live always in the Father's will.

Eternal Spirit fill us with Your Divine Wisdom that we may comprehend more fully insight into Your Divine Mysteries.

Give us lights, Oh Holy Spirit that we may know God. Work within the heart, the spiritual womb of the Virgin Mary, to form us more and more into the image of Jesus.

Prayer to Be One with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit

We long for You, Oh Spirit of Light, we long to know God, we want to be one with Him, our Divine God. We want to be one with the Father, know Him as a Person most intimately. We want to know the beloved One, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and live and dwell in Him at all times, every moment of our lives. We want to be one with You, Oh Spirit of Light, that You move in us in our every breath.

Prayer to Be One in Jesus

Let us experience life in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, so we can say as Saint Paul, "I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me...." Let us live, united to the Mass, all through the day being one in Him. Let us be able to love and know in this elevated state of oneness with our God. We long for Thee, oh beauteous God, we love You, we love You, we love You. We praise You, worship You, honor You, adore You, and thank You, our beloved God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Prayer to Dwell in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary

We seek to be one in God, to live and dwell in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, our little heaven on earth, to experience life in the all perfect, pure, sinless heart of our Mother. We want the Holy Spirit to move in us and to be united to Jesus as the Bridegroom of our souls and be a most perfect sacrifice offered to the Father at every moment as we unite in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass around the world to help in the salvation of souls.

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.

Prayer for the Word Alive in Our Hearts

We know, dear Holy Spirit, the Word in His human nature was brought forth within the womb of the woman. We pray that His word will be brought forth in our hearts as He lives and dwells in us. We want the incarnation to go on in our lives. Dear Holy Spirit, work in us.

Little Prayers to the Holy Spirit

Dear Holy Spirit, help us not to be ignorant or indifferent or weak, help us to be strong with the love of God.

Dear Holy Spirit, please pray for our needs for us.

Dear Holy Spirit, help us to respect God and to avoid sin. Help us to live in the Father's will.

Dear Holy Spirit, help us to keep Your commandments and to respect authority. Help us to love all things as You will us to love them. Help us to want to pray and always serve God with the greatest love. Help us to know the truth. Help us to have the gift of faith, hope, and love. Help us to know what is right and what is wrong.

A Prayer for Intimacy with the Lamb, the Bridegroom of the Soul

Oh Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, come and act on my soul most intimately. I surrender myself, as I ask for the grace to let go, to just be as I exist in You and You act most intimately on my soul. You are the Initiator. I am the soul waiting Your favors as You act in me. I love You. I adore You. I worship You. Come and possess my soul with Your Divine Grace, as I experience You most intimately.

First Period
Meditations Nine Days

1. Romans 8:14-17
   
   All who are guided by the Spirit of God are sons of God; for what you received was not the spirit of slavery to bring you back into fear; you received the Spirit of adoption, enabling us to cry out, 'Abba, Father!' The Spirit himself joins with our spirit to bear witness that we are children of God. And if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, provided that we share his suffering, so as to share his glory.
2. Romans 8:5-9
   
   Those who are living by their natural inclinations have their minds on the things human nature desires; those who live in the Spirit have their minds on spiritual things. And human nature has nothing to look forward to but death, while the Spirit looks forward to life and peace, because the outlook of disordered human nature is opposed to God, since it does not submit to God's Law, and indeed it cannot, and those who live by their natural inclinations can never be pleasing to God. You, however, live not by your natural inclinations, but by the Spirit, since the Spirit of God has made a home in you. Indeed, anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
3. 1 John 4:12-16
   
   No one has ever seen God, but as long as we love one another God remains in us and his love comes to its perfection in us. This is the proof that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us a share in his Spirit. We ourselves have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as Saviour of the world. Anyone who acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God. We have recognised for ourselves, and put our faith in, the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
4. 1 John 4:17-21
   
   Love comes to its perfection in us when we can face the Day of Judgement fearlessly, because even in this world we have become as he is. In love there is no room for fear, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear implies punishment and no one who is afraid has come to perfection in love. Let us love, then, because he first loved us. Anyone who says 'I love God' and hates his brother, is a liar, since whoever does not love the brother whom he can see cannot love God whom he has not seen. Indeed this is the commandment we have received from him, that whoever loves God, must also love his brother.
5. 1 John 4:7-11
   
   My dear friends, let us love one another, since love is from God and everyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. Whoever fails to love does not know God, because God is love. This is the revelation of God's love for us, that God sent his only Son into the world that we might have life through him. Love consists in this: it is not we who loved God, but God loved us and sent his Son to expiate our sins. My dear friends, if God loved us so much, we too should love one another.
6. Acts of the Apostles 1:1-5
   
   In my earlier work, Theophilus, I dealt with everything Jesus had done and taught from the beginning until the day he gave his instructions to the apostles he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. He had shown himself alive to them after his Passion by many demonstrations: for forty days he had continued to appear to them and tell them about the kingdom of God. While at table with them, he had told them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for what the Father had promised. 'It is', he had said, 'what you have heard me speak about: John baptised with water but, not many days from now, you are going to be baptised with the Holy Spirit.'
7. Acts of the Apostles 1:6-9
   
   Now having met together, they asked him, 'Lord, has the time come for you to restore the kingdom to Israel?' He replied, 'It is not for you to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority, but you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit which will come on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to earth's remotest end.'
   
   As he said this he was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight.
8. Acts of the Apostles 1:12-14
   
   So from the Mount of Olives, as it is called, they went back to Jerusalem, a short distance away, no more than a Sabbath walk; and when they reached the city they went to the upper room where they were staying; there were Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Jude son of James. With one heart all these joined constantly in prayer, together with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
   
9. Acts of the Apostles 2:1-4
   
   When Pentecost day came round, they had all met together, when suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of a violent wind which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and there appeared to them tongues as of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak different languages as the Spirit gave them power to express themselves.

Second Period
Meditations Nine Days

1. John 14:21-31
   
   Whoever holds to my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me; and whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and reveal myself to him.'
   
   Judas-not Judas Iscariot-said to him, 'Lord, what has happened, that you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?' Jesus replied:
   
   Anyone who loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make a home in him. Anyone who does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not my own: it is the word of the Father who sent me. I have said these things to you while still with you; but the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you. Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace which the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me say: I am going away and shall return. If you loved me you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe. I shall not talk to you much longer, because the prince of this world is on his way. He has no power over me, but the world must recognise that I love the Father and that I act just as the Father commanded. Come now, let us go.
2. John 17:11-26
   
   I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep those you have given me true to your name, so that they may be one like us. While I was with them, I kept those you had given me true to your name. I have watched over them and not one is lost except one who was destined to be lost, and this was to fulfil the scriptures. But now I am coming to you and I say these things in the world to share my joy with them to the full. I passed your word on to them, and the world hated them, because they belong to the world no more than I belong to the world. I am not asking you to remove them from the world, but to protect them from the Evil One. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world, and for their sake I consecrate myself so that they too may be consecrated in truth. I pray not only for these but also for those who through their teaching will come to believe in me. May they all be one, just as, Father, you are in me and I am in you, so that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me. I have given them the glory you gave to me, that they may be one as we are one. With me in them and you in me, may they be so perfected in unity that the world will recognise that it was you who sent me and that you have loved them as you have loved me.
   
   Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they may always see my glory which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Father, Upright One, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me. I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them.
3. I Corinthians 15:20-28
   
   In fact, however, Christ has been raised from the dead, as the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep. As it was by one man that death came, so through one man has come the resurrection of the dead. Just as all die in Adam, so in Christ all will be brought to life; but all of them in their proper order: Christ the first-fruits, and next, at his coming, those who belong to him. After that will come the end, when he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father, having abolished every principality, every ruling force and power. For he is to be king until he has made his enemies his footstool, and the last of the enemies to be done away with is death, for he has put all things under his feet. But when it is said everything is subjected, this obviously cannot include the One who subjected everything to him. When everything has been subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to the One who has subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.
4. Revelation 3:1-3,12,16-19
   
   'Write to the angel of the church in Sardis and say, "Here is the message of the one who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know about your behaviour: how you are reputed to be alive and yet are dead. Wake up; put some resolve into what little vigour you have left: it is dying fast. So far I have failed to notice anything in your behaviour that my God could possibly call perfect; remember how you first heard the message. Hold on to that. Repent! If you do not wake up, I shall come to you like a thief, and you will have no idea at what hour I shall come upon you.
   
   Anyone who proves victorious I will make into a pillar in the sanctuary of my God, and it will stay there for ever; I will inscribe on it the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which is coming down from my God in heaven, and my own new name as well.
   
   '...but since you are neither hot nor cold, but only lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth. You say to yourself: I am rich, I have made a fortune and have everything I want, never realising that you are wretchedly and pitiably poor, and blind and naked too. I warn you, buy from me the gold that has been tested in the fire to make you truly rich, and white robes to clothe you and hide your shameful nakedness, and ointment to put on your eyes to enable you to see. I reprove and train those whom I love: so repent in real earnest.'
5. Revelation 5:9-14
   
   They sang a new hymn: You are worthy to take the scroll and to break its seals, because you were sacrificed, and with your blood you bought people for God of every race, language, people and nation and made them a line of kings and priests for God, to rule the world.
   
   In my vision, I heard the sound of an immense number of angels gathered round the throne and the living creatures and the elders; there were ten thousand times ten thousand of them and thousands upon thousands, loudly chanting:

Worthy is the Lamb that was sacrificed to receive power, riches, wisdom, strength, honour, glory and blessing.

Then I heard all the living things in creation-everything that lives in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, crying:

To the One seated on the throne and to the Lamb, be all praise, honour, glory and power, for ever and ever.

And the four living creatures said, 'Amen'; and the elders prostrated themselves to worship.

6. Revelation 7:14-17
   
   I answered him, 'You can tell me, sir.' Then he said, 'These are the people who have been through the great trial; they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb. That is why they are standing in front of God's throne and serving him day and night in his sanctuary; and the One who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. They will never hunger or thirst again; sun and scorching wind will never plague them, because the Lamb who is at the heart of the throne will be their shepherd and will guide them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.'
7. Revelation 12:1-8
   
   Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, robed with the sun, standing on the moon, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant, and in labour, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth. Then a second sign appeared in the sky: there was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and each of the seven heads crowned with a coronet. Its tail swept a third of the stars from the sky and hurled them to the ground, and the dragon stopped in front of the woman as she was at the point of giving birth, so that it could eat the child as soon as it was born. The woman was delivered of a boy, the son who was to rule all the nations with an iron sceptre, and the child was taken straight up to God and to his throne, while the woman escaped into the desert, where God had prepared a place for her to be looked after for twelve hundred and sixty days.
   
   And now war broke out in heaven, when Michael with his angels attacked the dragon. The dragon fought back with his angels, but they were defeated and driven out of heaven.
8. Revelation 14:1-7
   
   Next in my vision I saw Mount Zion, and standing on it the Lamb who had with him a hundred and forty-four thousand people, all with his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. I heard a sound coming out of heaven like the sound of the ocean or the roar of thunder; it was like the sound of harpists playing their harps. There before the throne they were singing a new hymn in the presence of the four living creatures and the elders, a hymn that could be learnt only by the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the world. These are the sons who have kept their virginity and not been defiled with women they follow the Lamb wherever he goes; they, out of all people, have been redeemed to be the first-fruits for God and for the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths and no fault can be found in them.
   
   Then I saw another angel, flying high overhead, sent to announce the gospel of eternity to all who live on the earth, every nation, race, language and tribe. He was calling, 'Fear God and glorify him, because the time has come for him to sit in judgement; worship the maker of heaven and earth and sea and the springs of water.'
   
   Revelation 19: 7-8
   
   let us be glad and joyful and give glory to God, because this is the time for the marriage of the Lamb. His bride is ready, and she has been able to dress herself in dazzling white linen, because her linen is made of the good deeds of the saints.'
9. Revelation 21:1-10
   
   Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared now, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride dressed for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice call from the throne, 'Look, here God lives among human beings. He will make his home among them; they will be his people, and he will be their God, God-with-them. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness or pain. The world of the past has gone.'
   
   Then the One sitting on the throne spoke. 'Look, I am making the whole of creation new. Write this, "What I am saying is trustworthy and will come true."' Then he said to me, 'It has already happened. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water from the well of life free to anybody who is thirsty; anyone who proves victorious will inherit these things; and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the legacy for cowards, for those who break their word, or worship obscenities, for murderers and the sexually immoral, and for sorcerers, worshippers of false gods or any other sort of liars, is the second death in the burning lake of sulphur.'
   
   One of the seven angels that had the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came to speak to me and said, 'Come here and I will show you the bride that the Lamb has married.' In the spirit, he carried me to the top of a very high mountain, and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down out of heaven from God.
   
   Revelation 22:20
   
   The one who attests these things says: I am indeed coming soon.
   
   Amen; come, Lord Jesus.

Scriptural quotations are taken from The New Jerusalem Bible, Doubleday & Co.
Imprimatur granted by Cardinal Hume.
   

end of Holy Spirit Novena

Excerpt from August 8, 2000 

Baptism of Our Lord

1.  Christ came, Christ walked the earth,

         Christ gave Himself to us.

2.  Christ called His apostles to help Him.

3.  Christ calls us today.

4.  Look at all He did in three years.

5.  Look at all He did through Fr. Carter in 
           6 years.

6.  Excerpt from October 18, 1998 daily message

Messenger:  I heard about Conyers in March of '93, and went there in April of '93. At that time, in the prayer room in the apparition house April 14-15, my family and I saw a man clothed in a burlap type sack which looked very strange. The man's eyes were focused upward and then he disappeared. There were only about two people besides my family in the apparition house. Later, as we were taking photos, we almost tripped over the man. His burlap garment blended in with the floor, and he was bent over as in a ball, praying on the floor.

I thought later that it could have been St. John the Baptist. This was my first experience at Conyers.
  

7.  Entry 50 from Now is the Time, by Father Edward J. Carter, S.J.

50.  Now Links Up With Eternity

The sum of a man's days is great
   if it reaches a hundred years:
Like a drop of sea water, like a grain
   of sand,
so are these few years among the
   days of eternity.
                                              (Sir 18:7-8)

    Some people do not believe in eternity. They admit this to themselves; they may or may not admit it to others. For such people life upon earth is an absolute. There is nothing which follows. For such people, death is completely final, nothing follows except complete darkness, absolute nothingness. Some who believe in no eternity look upon life as an absurdity, a fathomless and absurd mystery which will never yield understanding. The most one can hope for is courageously to face the absurdity as best as possible, hoping to reduce suffering and despair to a minimum. Others, who likewise believe in no after-life, but who by nature are endowed with a more cheerful and positive disposition, may well live this earthly life with a great deal of zest and expectation. But even for these people, the spectre of death tends to cast a shadow across the rest of life.

    There is a thrust toward immortality lodged within every human heart, a thrust which rebels against the thought of complete extinction, even though one has tried to stamp out such a desire by proclamations of disbelief in eternal life. This conflict between the innate desire for immortality and intellectual disavowal of eternal life inevitably adds a share of bitterness to the nonbeliever’s quest for earthly happiness.

    It is a constant challenge for us who believe in eternal life to live accordingly. We have to maintain our desire to live dynamically the life Jesus came to give; otherwise, there is the imminent danger that our days will unfold not too differently than those of the non-believer.

    We speak of the age-old mountains, the deathless stars, and the eternal hills. Yet these expressions of timelessness are only a faint indication of eternity's timelessness. Each day we have a fresh opportunity to shape our own eternities. Each day we also have a renewed opportunity to help others fashion their eternities. There is, then, this inevitable link between now and eternity. The way we live the now will determine the way we live the eternity.

Excerpt from October 19, 2000 daily message

Messenger:  Our founder is battling cancer and Jesus wants the souls of the earth praying for him.

Here is a picture of our founder from the back book cover of his book written in the seventies, with a small article about  him.
  

  

Today he has finally retired his teaching at Xavier University after more than 30 years of teaching because of the cancer. He was unable to complete this semester. 

Please pray for him. It is because of his help that the Shepherds of Christ is where it is today.
 

8.  Excerpt from October 19, 2000 daily message

I saw John the Baptist in Conyers, Georgia April 14 or 15, 1993. I had experienced the loss of my voice, I was struck speechless.

The voice that came forth was His to prepare the way for the Lord of Hosts.

His voice speaks in these teachings, the voice of the Good Shepherd in Father Carter's and my revelations.

Here is John's testimony: '...Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.' (John 1: 29)
  

9.   Excerpt from October 4, 2000 daily  message 

Excerpt from July 20, 2000, daily message (for Mass Book II)

Messenger: Our mission is this, to give our lives to God, united to the Mass for souls, with consecrated hearts.

Our mission is to reach souls so that they offer up their lives united to the Mass for the Church and the world - for all souls. (our own included)
  

  
Messenger: Christ came as Savior.

WE WALK IN HIS FOOTSTEPS.

WE HELP IN THE ACT OF REDEMPTION.

OUR LOVE IS SO GREAT FOR HIS SOULS.

HE LOVED THEM SO MUCH HE GAVE HIMSELF TO HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS.

WE LAY OUR LIVES DOWN FOR OUR OWN SALVATION AND FOR THE SAKE OF SOULS.

Isaiah 12: 2A, 3A

Look, he is the God of my salvation:
I shall have faith and not be afraid,

Joyfully you will draw water 
from the springs of salvation
 

10.  Luke 9: 18-26

Now it happened that he was praying alone, and his disciples came to him and he put this question to them, 'Who do the crowds say I am?' And they answered, 'Some say John the Baptist; others Elijah; others again one of the ancient prophets come back to life.' 'But you,' he said to them, 'who do you say I am?' It was Peter who spoke up. 'The Christ of God,' he said. But He gave them strict orders and charged them not to say this to anyone.

He said, 'The Son of man is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.'

Then, speaking to all, he said, 'If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, will save it. What benefit is it to anyone to win the whole world and forfeit or lose his very self? For if anyone is ashamed of me and of my words, of him the Son of man will be ashamed when he comes in his own glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.

    

  

  

  

  

Marriage at Cana

1. Timothy l: 12-17        

    I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength. By calling me into his service he has judged me trustworthy, even though I used to be a blasphemer and a persecutor and contemptuous. Mercy, however, was shown me, because while I lacked faith I acted in ignorance; but the grace of our Lord filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus. Here is a saying that you can rely on and nobody should doubt: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I myself am the greatest of them; and if mercy has been shown to me, it is because Jesus Christ meant to make me the leading example of his inexhaustible patience for all the other people who were later to trust in him for eternal life. To the eternal King, the undying, invisible and only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

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

   The Father's will touches everything in my life. It wants to make all contribute to my growing maturity in Christ. Joy and sorrow, success and failure, work and play, ecstatic happiness and deep suffering, all of these are to be related to my Father's will. If I correspond to God's grace, His will as it permeates my total being and existence will unfailingly transform me.

   As the Father's will transforms me, it thereby makes my life a success for myself and others. The only true measure of a successful life, despite possible appearances to the contrary, is whether or not it is conformed in love to the Father's will. The degree of success depends upon the degree of conformity. " 'It is not those who say to me, "Lord, Lord", who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. When the day comes many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?" Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men!' " (Mt 7:21-23).

3. John 2: 1-11

    On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited. And they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the feast had all been used, and the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ Jesus said, ‘Woman, what do you want from me? My hour has not come yet.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ There were six stone water jars standing there, meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could hold twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water,’ and they filled them to the brim. Then he said to them, ‘Draw some out now and take it to the president of the feast.’ They did this; the president tasted the water, and it had turned into wine. Having no idea where it came from—though the servants who had drawn the water knew—the president of the feast called the bridegroom and said, ‘Everyone serves good wine first and the worse wine when the guests are well wined; but you have kept the best wine till now.’ This was the first of Jesus’ signs: it was at Cana in Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

4. John 3: 31-36

He who comes from above 
is above all others; 
he who is of the earth 
is earthly himself 
    and speaks in an earthly way. 
He who comes from heaven 
bears witness to the things 
    he has seen and heard, 
but his testimony 
    is not accepted by anybody; 
though anyone 
    who does accept his testimony 
is attesting that God is true, 
since he whom God has sent 
speaks God’s own words, 
for God gives him the Spirit 
    without reserve. 
The Father loves the Son 
and has entrusted everything to his hands. 
Anyone who believes in the Son 
    has eternal life, 
but anyone who refuses 
    to believe in the Son 
        will never see life: 
God’s retribution hangs over him.’

5.  I am being more aware of the Trinity
            at every moment as I meditate on
            these mysteries.

6.  I love to think about Christ's power
            and the Miracle He performed.

7.  He gave power to the apostles.

8.  He accomplished so much in 3 short years.

9.  The Sacred Heart of Jesus is my King.

10.  I am deeply aware of how powerful 
            Mary's intercession is.

    

  

  

  

The Kingdom of God

1.  Excerpt from Response in Christ, Chapter 2

     To extend this kingly influence of Christ over creation is the task now of both Christ and His Church. We have long been aware that this means deepening and extending Christ's kingdom as regards man himself. But we are just beginning to realize what it means to extend His kingdom to everything which pertains to man. Vatican II, in opening up the Church to everything which is good in the world, has impressed upon us the fact that the Church, in prolonging Christ's kingly mission, must be deeply involved not only with man himself, but with everything which is of authentic concern to man. The council unmistakably tells us this: "The faithful, therefore, must learn the deepest meaning and the value of all creation, as well as its role in the harmonious praise of God. They must assist each other to live holier lives even in their secular occupations. In this way the world may be permeated by the spirit of Christ and it may more effectively fulfill its purpose in justice, charity and peace."⁸

 Note: 8. Constitution on the Church, No. 36.
 

2.  Excerpt from Response in Christ, Chapter 2

     All within the Church are called to extend the influence of Christ as king. Each member of the People of God has a share in this kingly mission. Each must fulfill his role according to his vocation, talents, opportunities and graces. But fulfill his role he must. No one but the individual Christian in question can fulfill the particular role which God has intended for that individual. The Christian's quest for holiness is thus intimately connected with his response to Christ the king. The more ideally each Christian responds to this call of Christ, the more the entire Church can fulfill her mission of continuing Christ's kingly mission. This mission consists in imprinting the name of Jesus Christ more deeply upon the entire universe, men and matter alike.
  

3.  Excerpt from Response in Christ, Chapter 2

Christ is prophet, king, and, finally, He is priest. Consequently, the Church must prolong the priestly mission of Christ as well as His prophetic and kingly offices. But because of the centrality of Christ's priestly office in His own life and that of His Church, this theme will receive detailed treatment in the chapter devoted exclusively to the liturgy.  
 

4.  Excerpt from Response in Christ, Chapter 2

The three great offices of Christ as prophet, king and priest are not exclusive of one another. Each of them contains the other. This is so because they are part of the overall mystery of Christ which is radically indivisible. What is this mystery of Christ?  It is God's concrete plan of our redemption in Christ. It is the ultimately mysterious, transcendent, wholely other God desiring to communicate Himself to us in love. It is this same God asking for our response in love. All of this - God's gift of self to man and His request for man's response - all of this is centered in Christ and mediated by Christ. Therefore, we have the term, mystery of Christ.
 

5.  Excerpt from Response in Christ, Chapter 2

This mystery of Christ can be approached under the headings of Christ as prophet, king and priest. We have taken this approach thus far in this present chapter because, among other reasons, it is one of the dominant ways in which Vatican II presents the mystery of Christ to us. But Again we emphasize that the mystery of Christ with its various offices and individual mysteries is profoundly one. When we speak of the Church as prolonging Christ's Incarnation, or of prolonging His threefold mission, or of prolonging the mystery of Christ, we are really expressing the same basic reality.

6.  Excerpt from Response in Christ, Chapter 2

No one group or component part within the Church can perfectly relive and continue the Incarnation. Even the total Church cannot perfectly continue the Incarnation with its prophetic, kingly and priestly offices. We can therefore understand why various spiritualities or spiritual "schools" have arisen throughout the history of Christian spirituality. All these spiritualities are basically the same. All of them are aimed at reproducing and continuing the life of Christ in their adherents. But each of the various spiritualities - Franciscan, Benedictine, Dominican, Ignatian, Carmelite, to give leading examples - is in its own way somewhat different. Each reproduces in its members the mystery of Christ in a slightly different fashion.
 

7.  Excerpt from Response in Christ, Chapter 2

What we have just said concerning the divergent spiritualities within the Church can be applied even more so to the various vocations. All states of life radically aim at one and the same Christian holiness. This is so because we all receive the same life of grace in Christ. All relive and continue the Incarnation in the same basic manner. Yet it is still true that there are differences according to which the various states of life within the Church prolong Christ's prophetic, kingly and priestly missions. God has destined that there be various vocations within His Church in order that the richness of Christ may be more perfectly projected.

8. Excerpt from Response in Christ, Chapter 2

In considering the incarnational aspect of the Church in continuation of Christ's redemptive work, the vocation of the laity is most significant. The lay state, because of its intimate connection with temporal, terrestrial values, is best able to witness to the incarnational dimension of Christianity. From this particular point of orientation, let us consider the Incarnation itself.
 

9. Excerpt from Response in Christ, Chapter 2

Through the Incarnation of the Word, God has immersed Himself into this world of men with all its created values. In assuming a real human nature Christ has united all men to Himself. But man in his human nature is not an isolated being. Man's human nature situates him in a created order, which, despite its great complexity, is profoundly united. The individual man is united with all other men and with the rest of creation. Through His Incarnation the Son of God thrusts Himself into this unified situation of man and becomes the center of it.⁹

9. Cf. Second Vatican Council, Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, No. 5.
  

10. Excerpt from Response in Christ, Chapter 2

Christ has become the center of the world of man in order to elevate it to a higher level of existence through His redemptive work. He has come to give a new life to man and his world. This new life affects not only man himself, but the whole of material creation over which man is meant to have dominion. It is not only man who is to be further Christianized but this entire world order with all its authentic values. ¹⁰

 10. Cf. Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Church, No 36.

    

 

  

  

The Transfiguration

1. Excerpt from August 11, 2000 Daily Message

Messenger: And He gave us the wonders of the earth.

Why do we not see how good He is to us?

Why do we not trust Him?
  

    

Messenger: To have His life so deeply planted in our soul should be our desire.

As St. Paul says:

Galatians 2: 19-20

...I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me.
  

Messenger:  We gaze at the beauty of snow-capped mountains and gape at the lily pads on a glistening lake. Our eyes behold a falls of enormous proportion and beauty. We love Him and He is the Creator, and these things, the beauty, He has created for us to enjoy.

The depth of knowing Him increases as we are penetrated more and more with His grace.

The depth of loving increases as we are saturated with His life.

Every moment of this life we live more fully as we exist more and more in Him through a deeper penetration of His grace.

I see the mountains and the transfigured Lord. Let our eyes behold His vision. He is a God of goodness and He loves us so.

Let us experience insight into the divine mysteries more and more and taste the beauty of those who know they are loved by God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Where before we knew so little of the Trinity, we relate more fully with each Person and we know the oneness and the trinity of God.

What a gift to know more fully our Divine, Beautiful, all loving God.

God is Creator, we are His creatures. All that He creates reflects His goodness and His love. He is just and right. We must honor Him and love Him and thank Him for His gifts given to us.

Alleluia, praise Him, Our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
  

2. Matthew 17: 1-7

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There in their presence he was transfigured: his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as dazzling as light. And suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them; they were talking with him. Then Peter spoke to Jesus. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘it is wonderful for us to be here; if you want me to, I will make three shelters here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ He was still speaking when suddenly a bright cloud covered them with shadow, and suddenly from the cloud there came a voice which said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.’ When they heard this, the disciples fell on their faces, overcome with fear. But Jesus came up and touched them, saying, ‘Stand up, do not be afraid.’ And when they raised their eyes they saw no one but Jesus.
 

3.  Excerpt from December 22, 1998 Daily Message

On January 9, 1996, I went to pray. The snow was so bad the street was blocked to Holy Cross-Immaculata. I finally managed to find a place to park and trudged through the snow, panting with joy to be with Our Lord in the tabernacle there. When I arrived all I could do was kneel before the Sacred Heart statue and pour out myself to Him.
  

      

4.   From my writings of January 9, 1996, I write:

"I was engulfed again in my love of God and cried so hard because I love Him so much. In this intimate act of giving myself totally to Him, my whole act was in emptying myself, wanting only to be lost in Him and united forever to Him in this most blissful moment. I turned myself over and was lost in Him, knowing His presence with me and knowing His deep love. The world stopped and I existed in Him, longing to forever stay there, so this moment would never end."

"I touched you, God and in this embrace I knew your unending love. I saw Your Body as if it was transfigured and glowing in light and I was lost in Thee."

This is how it began. I would see a great reflective light, as if from a mirror, on the eaves of the church in the front of Holy Cross-Immaculata and His Body was changed in the most brilliant light before my eyes. I cannot describe what I saw, nor have I ever seen it except in this vision and two that would follow the next two days. Jesus was transfigured before my eyes.

The date of January 9, 1996, when it first happened, was the same date January 9, 1994, when I genuflected before the crucifix and the altar at St. Gertrude's and the Father spoke; Blue Book II-page 18, January 9, 1994: "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."

On January 9, 1996, I would see Jesus transfigured before me in the statue.

At the end of December, on the 5th of the month, 1996, I would see Him in the back of the church on the crucifix at the point of death.

On August 20, 1997, I would see the glorified Lord as He appeared in magnificent light transfigured on the crucifix at St. Gertrude's church in Madeira, Cincinnati, Ohio.
  

5.  August 11, 2000 - Second Message

 Walk in the TRUTH

 Messenger:

The blue of the sky we cannot capture exactly. The white of the snow. The color of the smoke of the geyser. Do we not see the fire of the stars, the light of the sun, the denseness of the black night. It is the creation of God and we cannot describe it exactly as it is.

 God speaks:

Oh, open your eyes, men, and see the softness of the skin of the baby, the intricacies of a human ear, the complexities of a human eye and the master mind of the Creator in the function of a human heart. Oh, blind men, those who are so prideful, bow to God your Creator. See with the eyes of faith. It is I who paint the hills with My mystical wand. It is reality. So, too, the things you do not see, they are real. It is your perception that is off. God Is and He is Divine and you cannot create as I do. Get off your pedestals and live in reality. I am Supreme, you are under Me, but I elevate you to such  heights. Oh, men of the earth, worship God your Creator, be humble, live in the truth. If you are intelligent it is because of My grace and My goodness. Huffy little men. Let Me see you produce the beauty of a sunlit field, from sun to flower. My men, you are limited, you are human, you are My creatures and I am your God. Recognize Me and live in the truth. Be docile to the hand of God in your life. Oh, children of the light, hear Me, I am God. I am the Light of the World. In Me you live in the light.

  Messenger:

My eyes beheld the beauty of the night, the stars, the moon. My eyes beheld the sunlit day and the wonders of the lake and heard the trickle of the falls. First, faintly, and then as I approached, the sound of roaring water. Why do men not comprehend the goodness of God? Why do they abuse Him with slang and slanting remarks? The forest can burst into flame in the heat of the day and what was once a beauteous field, a garden of fruit, a forest of fir trees, can become lands of waste at the hands of the elements or what have you. A home of lustrous beauty, ravaged by a violent wind of enormous proportion and you cry and then when the reality sets in you say, "Oh, but I have my life and the life of my children." Oh, what is it that man can be so blind and then when health is taken away from a man, he sees those things that are transcendent, he sees the glory of God and the promise of everlasting life to those who love and serve the Lord. We do not see and we do not understand the ways of God and yet in it all, He is attempting to lead us to Him, and He gives us the gifts of the universe. He gives us love.

6. 

A PLEDGE FROM AN APOSTLE
OF THE SACRED HEART

Messenger:

          I am but a little speck on this earth,
                 but with His might He can use me
                 to spread the devotion to His
                 Most Sacred Heart.

          Oh dear and precious Heart of Jesus
                 I give myself as completely as
                 possible to Thee so you will use
                 me to spread the devotion to the
                 ends of the earth for Your most
                 precious Heart.

          I am Rita your precious soul.

          Use me to help to spread this burning
                 devotion to the souls of this earth.

          I am yours, take me, use me as you
                 will.

          I surrender myself to you.

          It is your might behind me, your power
                 that sends me. I am an Apostle of
                 the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I give
                 myself as completely as possible to
                 Thee.             

          Sacred Heart of Jesus I place my
                 trust in Thee.

          Father hear us please. We beg through
                the  intercession of Father Carter
                and Our Lady of Clearwater that 
                prayer chapters are started all over
                the world and the Priestly Newsletter
                gets there immediately with the
                Prayer Manual.

    
7.  Words of Surrender of a Soul

Today Lord, (today's date), I give You my entire will-

I give You all my liberties, I want to love and serve You as You desire.

I surrender myself to You.

I ask You to run my life.

I ask You to help me act like You, Jesus, and like Your Mother Mary.

God, this day I consecrate myself to You.

I am  (name) , Your beloved child, guide me on my way now as I go about my day (or if in Church) as I leave Your Eucharistic presence.

 
8. Excerpt from June 30, 2002 message 

Mary speaks:    

   

June 30, 2002 message continues

Mary speaks:    

 

  

June 30, 2002 message continues

Mary speaks:    

   

9. 

  

10. Jesus is the light of the world-
  

  

  

  

  

  

The Last Supper

1. Excerpt from Priestly Newsletter, 2000 Issue 1

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) ⁵

Note: 5. The Documents of Vatican II, "Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy", America Press Edition, No. 47.

2. Excerpt from Priestly Newsletter, 2000 Issue 1

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) ⁶

Note: 6. The Documents of Vatican II, "Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy", America Press Edition, No. 48.

3.   Excerpt from Priestly Newsletter, 2000 Issue 1

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) ⁷

Note: 7. Pope Pius XII, Encyclical Letter, Mystici Corporis, AAS, XXXV, pp. 232-233.
 

4.  Excerpt from Priestly Newsletter, 2000 Issue 1

Romano Guardini observes: "The gift of the Eucharist and Our Lord’s death are in the deepest sense one and the same mystery.

"The love that drove Him to die for us was the same love that made Him give us Himself as nourishment. It was not enough to be giving us gifts, words, instructions; He gave us Himself as well. Perhaps we must seek out Woman, the loving-mother, to find someone who understands this kind of longing; to be giving not some thing, but rather oneself — to give oneself, with all one’s being. Not only the spirit, not only one’s fidelity, but body and soul, flesh and blood, everything — this is indeed the ultimate love, to want to feed others with the very substance of one’s own self. And for that Our Lord went to His death, so He might rise again in the resurrection, in that condition wherein He desired to give Himself to all mankind for evermore.

"And now He who died for us lives again, within us." ⁸

Note:  8. Romano Guardini, Jesus Christ, Henry Regnery, as in Daily Readings in Catholic Classics, edited by Rawley Myers, Ignatius Press, p. 102.
 

5.   Excerpt from Priestly Newsletter, 2000 Issue 1

St. John Vianney, Curé of Ars, movingly says: "What does Jesus Christ do in the Eucharist? It is God who, as our Savior, offers himself each day for us to his Father’s justice. If you are in difficulties and sorrow, he will comfort and relieve you. If you are sick, he will either cure you or give you strength to suffer... If the devil, the world, and the flesh are making war against you, he will give you the weapons with which to fight, to resist, and to win the victory. If you are poor, he will enrich you with all sorts of riches for time and eternity. Let us open the door of his sacred and adorable Heart, and be wrapped about for an instant by the flames of his love, and we shall see what a God who loves us can do. O my God, who shall be able to comprehend...

"How great was the charity of Jesus Christ in choosing for the institution of the Eucharist the eve of the day he was to be put to death!... Men are weaving the blackest plots against him, and he is only occupied in giving them the most precious gift he has. They are only thinking of setting up an infamous cross for him that they may put him to death, and he is only thinking of setting up an altar that he may immolate himself every day for us. They are preparing to shed his Blood, and Jesus Christ wills that this same Blood shall be to us a draught of immortality for the consolation and happiness of our souls" ⁹

Note:  9. St. John Vianney, "Sermon for Holy Thursday", in Eucharistic Meditations, Source Books, as in Adoration, Ignatius Press, pp. 92-93.
 

6.   Excerpt from Priestly Newsletter, 2000 Issue 1

Here are words from a spiritual journal: "This is how I am with Jesus. I am empty. I want Him to make Himself known to me. I didn’t have much theological knowledge when I started sitting in front of the tabernacle. I was looking for love from Jesus. Nobody loved me the way my soul wanted to be loved. I craved to be with Jesus. I wanted my heart filled. I wanted the craving I felt inside satisfied. I thirsted for love. I sat with Him present in the tabernacle and He filled me. He revealed Himself to me. He was the Bridegroom of my soul and I His bride. As I became more intimately united to Him, sitting there in silence and going to Him, I cried. I was so filled with love. I found what I was looking for all my life. He wrote the knowledge of Himself on my soul. He wrote this knowledge in the intimate moments I spent with Him at Mass after Communion and before the tabernacle."
  

7.   Excerpt from Priestly Newsletter, 2000 Issue 1

How much do we appreciate the great opportunity of participating in the Eucharistic Sacrifice? Here is a story which should inspire us all: "A priest who was in the German prison camp Dachau describes the Mass after all the German guards were in bed. He said, ‘Our lives were in danger if we were ever discovered. A young priest had to memorize the names of all of those who had received Communion. After night call and bed check, we would set our guards, darken the windows, and the lucky one to be chosen to celebrate for this momentous occasion would carefully brush his pathetic garb, put the stole over his shoulders, and by the small light of his smuggled candle begin the commemoration of that great passion... We could understand the Mass. All that could crowd into the room were there, tears of joy running down our cheeks. Christ the Lord, who knew what suffering was, was coming... to bring us strength and consolation. The small hosts were broken into as many particles as possible so that the greatest number could communicate. We had to keep a secret roster of those who received. We missed some of the liturgy perhaps, but I think that God looked down into that prison room and found a particularly refreshing response to his cry of love from the cross, ‘I thirst.’ There was nothing that could keep us from doing all in our power to be closer to God.’ " ¹⁰

Note: 10. Through the Year with Fulton Sheen, Servant Books, pp. 99-100.
 

8.    Excerpt from Priestly Newsletter, 2000 Issue 1

From a spiritual journal: "I struggle intently to do His work, and I am weary from running the race. I am tired, I am truly human, but the unquenchable love I have for Him in my heart is at the core of my existence. It is in Him I exist and in Him I love. I love Him so intently and yet I am so unworthy of His gifts given to me. I long more for the desire to help souls, and His desires become mine through my deep union with Him especially after the reception of the Eucharist. On this day (Feast of the Assumption), I felt the unquenchable purity of the Heart of Mary and the joy of dwelling deeply in His Heart in her pure love. It was a special gift He gave to me, to be wrapped in Mary’s Heart despite my faults. He gave Himself so completely to me. I only long for this, knowing this presence."
 

9.   Excerpt from August 27, 1994 Rosary

Agony in the Garden

7. Jesus suffered so for the indifference, rejection, disrespect and lack of love He receives in the Eucharist, the Sacrament of His great love for us.
  

10.   Excerpt from August 27, 1994 Rosary

        Agony in the Garden

8. Jesus did not want to leave us . He gives us Himself in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

9. ... 'This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.' ..... 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood poured out for you.' (Luke 22:19-20)

           

Christmas cards available

To order cards on the internet click here

call Morrow   1-513-932-4451

Suggested Donation of at least $2.00

     

   

inside of card

   
 

Rosary Books for sale

   
Shepherds of Christ Ministries
P.O. Box 193
Morrow, OH 45152-0193
USA

to use a credit card call Morrow at 1-513-932-4451
  

Red Rosary Book $10 + shipping

Blue Rosary Book $10 + shipping

Parents and Children's Rosary Book $10 + shipping

Little People and Elderly Rosary Book $10 + shipping

  

(English)
 

(Spanish)

Rosary Coloring Books
$5 each book + shipping

     

  

From September 5, 2002
during the special prayer service
in Clearwater, Florida
during the 6:20 prayers.

The images looked exactly like this.

This was taken without a flash.

  

There have been physical healings
on the 5ths and at other times.

      

Excerpt from September 17, 2002

                                I wish the store to carry the Christmas
                                    materials immediately, coloring
                                    books, Blue Books, Spanish Coloring
                                    Books.

                                I wish image rosaries be made available in
                                    the store and on Tom's farm.

                                These must also be ordered, it takes
                                    months for their delivery, the requirement
                                    has been made the materials are covered
                                    before the order.

                                I ask you to have Christmas presents that
                                    reflect Mary's image.

                                What a gift I give to the earth, you
                                    should tell people about this especially at
                                    Christmas.

end of excerpt from September 17, 2002

        

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Please pray for the Cardinal
Our Lord has asked us to pray for.

    

We desperately need funds.

   

We need funds desperately.

We need funds to send out
the retired Bishop's mailing.
  

Please pray for the Cardinal
Our Lord has asked us to pray for.

    

---

 

It is difficult for us every month to make the
Virgin Mary payment.

We cannot keep the store stocked
because of the shortage of money.

Our Lord has asked us to stock the store
for Christmas.

He has asked all to come and buy
Christmas presents from the store.

Can you help us in any way?

     

       
Credit card donations accepted.

  Shepherds of Christ Ministries
P. O. Box 193
Morrow, Ohio 45152
1-888-211-3041