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Scriptural Reflections

Openness to God. "In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. He went in and said to her, 'Rejoice, so highly favored! The Lord is with you.' She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, 'Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God's favor. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the house of Jacob forever and his reign will have no end.' Mary said to the angel, 'But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?' 'The Holy spirit will come upon you' the angel answered 'and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.' I am the handmaid of the Lord, said Mary 'let what you have said be done to me'. And the angel left her." (Lk 1:26-38).

God wants the best for us. His love is eager-eager to draw us ever closer to Himself. His love for us is a transforming love. As we surrender to it more and more, this love accomplishes our ongoing conversion. It thrusts us forward to become more deeply Christian. God's love for us contains the absolute capacity to make us happy, to make us fulfilled persons, to make us what in the depths of our beings we really know we should be and want to be.

We can put obstacles in the way of God's transforming designs. We can say no to this love. We can refuse to be open to God's tender, loving touch. We can engage in a process of self-enclosedness. We can determine to map out our own path to happiness, forgetting that plans for happiness which exclude God are ultimately plans for experiencing frustration and emptiness.

At other times it is not so much selfishness which leads us to say no to God, it is rather fear. We hear God's voice calling us higher. We hear His voice asking something which seems very difficult. We hear His voice asking something we had not at all expected. Yes, we hear all this-and we draw back. We draw back because we are afraid. We refuse God because our fear focuses our attention on what we are rather than on what God is. We look too much at our own weakness, rather than at God's power which can transform our inadequacy into a mighty strength.

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".

People are Looking at Us. "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven" (Mt 5:14-16).

Jesus taught by word and action. He talked to huge crowds, to small groups, to various individuals. He talked about love and friendship, about joy and suffering, about life and death. He had a message to spread, His Father's message, and He did not miss His opportunities. It was not enough for Him merely to talk about His Father's message. He was also constantly teaching by the total event of His life, death and resurrection. Not only His words, but also His actions spoke out loud and clear. He not only talked about the love we should have for one another. He incarnated this teaching in the laying down of His own life for the salvation of all. His words spoke eloquently of brotherly love. So also did His bloody and bruised body nailed to a cross. His words sounded so convincing. The way He went about living could also pierce the hardest heart.

Jesus invites us to assist Him in the continuation of His teaching mission. The method of procedure remains the same; we, too, like Jesus before us, are to teach by both word and action. The opportunities for teaching by word are more numerous than we might expect. For it is not only bishops and priests and teachers of religious studies who teach by word. Parents, as they rear their children, have numerous opportunities to teach Jesus' message. Friends talk about all sorts of things. If one is sincerely Christian, his or her friend will eventually know.

The opportunities to teach about Jesus by the way we act are even more numerous than are the occasions for variously speaking about the message of Jesus. People are looking at us. We cannot long hide the life-vision which thrusts us forward, which motivates so much of what we do. If we live according to the pleasure principle, this becomes evident. If we live according to the money principle, this also becomes manifest. If we are close followers and friends of Jesus, this too becomes clear to people. They will know by the way we work and play, by our attitude towards life and death, by our refusing to become bitter despite even great suffering, by the way we treat others, especially those who are poor, or ridiculed, or discriminated against, or passed over as unimportant and of little worth. If we are deeply Christian, Christ's way of thinking and doing will necessarily affect our own way of thinking and doing. We are called to project Jesus and His message through our own humanities. Either we do, or we don't. Either we seize the numerous and daily opportunities for helping to preach Jesus by the way we live, or we do not. Either we respond to Jesus' invitation to be a light for the world, or we do not. This invitation goes out to all, but to priests in a special way. Jesus, through Holy Orders, has given Himself to the priest in a most special way. If the priest, realizing Jesus' precious love for him as this unique priest-companion, surrenders to Christ, this gives Him special joy. For the priest, because of his special union with Jesus, can be a light to the world in a most extraordinary way.

Fr. Carter had a dream.

To Live in Christ Jesus

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 us. Through His life, His brutal and agonizing suffering and death on the cross, and His glorious resurrection, He has achieved new life for us. We truly live a new life in Jesus: "You have been taught that when we were baptized in Christ Jesus we were baptized in His death; in other words, when we were baptized we went into the tomb with Him and joined Him in death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father's glory, we too might live a new life." (Rom 6:3-4).

And again Paul speaks to us: "...wherever we may be, we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may always be seen in our body." (2 Cor 4:10).

Christ has come to give us a share in Trinitarian life. In Baptism the Persons of the Trinity have given Themselves to us in an extraordinary fashion. The intimacy of this Trinitarian communication imprints upon us the image of the Trinity. Because Christ as man mediates this Trinitarian gift, this image also possesses a Christ-like dimension. This Christ-like, Trinitarian image within us is our life of sanctifying grace. This life of grace, this Christ-life, allows us to communicate with Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the divine Persons who dwell within us. This Christ-life allows us to pour ourselves out in love of God and neighbor.

The life that Christ has given us is not a type of superstructure which is erected atop our human nature. Although nature and grace are distinct, they are not side by side as separate entities. Rather, grace permeates nature. The Christian is one graced person. He or she has been raised up into a deeper form of life in Christ Jesus. Nothing that is authentically human has been excluded from this new existence. Whatever is really human in the life of the Christian is meant to be an expression of the Christ-life. The simple but deep joys of family life, the joy of being accepted by another in deep friendship, the wonderment at nature's beauty, the agony of crucial decision-making, the success or frustration that is experienced in one's work, the joy of being well received by others and the heartache of being misunderstood-all these human experiences are intended to be caught up in Christ and made more deeply human because of Him.

Christ, has come, then, not to destroy anything which is authentically human, but to perfect it by leading it to a graced fulfillment.
There follows various ideas concerning our life in Our Savior, our life in Christ Jesus Our Lord.

end of excerpts from pnl

Scriptural quotations are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, Doubleday & Co.

William Johnston, Christian Mysticism Today, Doubleday Harper and Row, p. 88.

Edward Leen, C.S. Sp., In The Likeness of Christ, Sheed & Ward, pp. 198-199.

Edward Leen, C.S. Sp., Why the Cross? Sheed & Ward, pp. 46-47.

Pope John-Paul II, On Human Work (Laborem Exercens), United States Catholic Conference, No. 27.

Pope John-Paul II, On the Christian Meaning of Suffering (Salvific Doloris), United States Conference, No. 23.

St. John Eudes, Lib. 1,5: opera omnia 6, 107. 113-115 as in The Liturgy of the Hours, Catholic Book Publishing Co., Vol. IV, p. 1331.

Supplement to the Divine Office for the Society of Jesus, published by the English Province of the Society of Jesus, pp. 21-22.

From Blue Book 14

January 5, 1997

R. On January 5, 1997, I was wakened by Our Lord and He was mumbling as He was around my bed as He did on October 8, 1997, when He delivered the "Seedless, Barren, No Fruit on the Vine" message.

I heard Him and He repeated the words over and over again. I had a copy of the all-night message on the floor, I jumped from the bed and began to write around the message, for it was the only paper available and He was speaking very plainly and direct. I wrote this message in the margins of the paper. He kept repeating "BABY, BARE BABY, LAID BARE".

Jesus: Open yourself, Oh Jerusalem, your time is come you will be a light to the people in darkness, many will walk whence you come and the earth will be shakened and the light will come across a dark sky and enlighten their minds.

Oh stiff-necked people, you are so stiff in your ways, let the spirit envelope you and lead you on your way.

A country of stiffs, a people of planning and prodding, of deliberating and wondering—you lack faith, Jerusalem, you lack faith in God.

Oh walk naked into the cold night, you are cold in your hearts and naked in your clothing—I cloth you with glory, I light your face with light, but you turn your cheeks to the darkness and stay stiff-necked in your hearts. Oh cold and dark hearts, reach for the light that you may know the glory that awaits the sinners and enlightens their minds.

end of excerpt

Sing: Proclaim the Joyful Message

                R. Being at peace with myself means
                I am able to admit my faults
                about myself. Telling the truth
                about myself, about what I
                need to change, about what I
                can do to be more the person
                God wants me to be –

Knowing myself –

                    This will help me to be more and
                more the person I could be –
                growing more in the image and
                likeness of Jesus –

                    Why justify myself – when
                the ways in which I need to
                change are imperfections
                that lead to division, isolation,
                loneliness.

                    God has called us to be a beautiful
                person. Reflecting His light in us –
                Living more and more the Christ-life.
                Living in the Holy Spirit, being counseled
                by Him to be all the Father intends
                us to be – Living in holiness,
                in gratitude, in kindness,
                being like Jesus more and more.

                    This Christmas, make room
                for Jesus in our hearts. Tell
                Jesus you want a bed of love
                for Him –

                    Not making a bed in our
                hearts of jealousy, pride,
                selfishness, envy, untruthfulness.

                    It is a joy to work to be more
                and more loving, like Jesus, to have
                harmony with those God is
                calling us to work with –

                    It is a joy to watch myself
                grown in my heart – more and
                more in the image of Jesus –

                    Jesus came to this earth - took on
                a human nature to teach us
                how He is. God loves us so
                much – the message of the
                Blue Books –

22 Years Ago

October 5, 1992 - 3:30am

R. Dear Jesus, Give me Your hand to write this book for you. I am your servant. I want to be Your hand to this world. If you, Lord Jesus, would write a book, what would you say?

Jesus: My dear children,

   Today I come to deliver a message to each of you. I want to tell you of each person's dignity, of their beauty and their self-worth. Each child is, oh, so uniquely precious to My Most Sacred Heart. Each child is full of the talents I have given to them. Each person is divinely created by God and given all these gifts to be happy and love one another.

   The problem comes when you feel you will be left out. That you will be left by another who has trodden on you and will do it again. I see you all as My most precious children. I watch your every move and know all pain and anguish in your heart. My Heart aches, you have insecure feelings about yourself. I came to this earth I died for you. I felt cold, hungry, lonely on this earth. You need not worry that no one knows the pain and anguish in your heart. God created you with such special gifts and talents. It is important for you to raise above your wound and forgive those who hurt you.

   You need only turn your will and your life over to Me and I will guide you in all your ways. I have all the Power. Many are not of My ways. The key to life is to recognize your faults, but still know you are this precious gift of My Father a gift to this world. This world is in need of your strength. Running yourself down, blaming others hurting them can cause you misery and pain. At this very moment, you are the precious creation of God!! You must operate with Me in your heart.

   You need not run yourself down. I am with you every day guiding your ways, lest your foot stumble and you lose your way. You will not wander far from your path if every day you keep bringing your focus back to Me. If you dare let Me be at the helm, if you dare to really let Me run your life, I will do with you such wonders that you yourself would be amazed. But you will know with such ease when you did these things that you did not do them alone. You will know My power, moving the mountain, My power chipping at the stone, My power working on your hardest problem and you will be set free.

   Oh yes, you will be set free and know a serenity that only comes from letting go and letting Me run your life. To you, My child, I have given all that is good. I made you My holy soldier, My warrior in a world of pain and hatred. You are the light that shines in the darkness, you are the coat to a cold child, you are the smile that warms a troubled and lonely heart. You are the comfort for everyone you meet, because My most precious Heart powers you, smiles through you, understands and loves through you.

   Love your fellows for Me. There are so many troubled hearts that need to know My love. I can love through you if you let Me, I can be their friend through you if you let Me. I am He who comforts you and you are he who comforts them. My power is endless, it never runs out, there is not a power failure EVER. In your darkest hour, My light shines in the darkness and I say to you, "Oh blessed of My Father, look at yourself with awe, you are My creation, you are indeed so precious to Me, you are My light to this world, you are My hands and My feet and most of all My Heart."

   Oh, you are My loving Heart, to those who are bowed down, to those who are lost in the darkness, you carry My smile and wear My armor in a world that is trying to tear one another down with hate and ugliness. There is gentleness, there is love, there is hope in you, if you open yourself up to Me. Be My knight to the world, wear My armor. I am your God and I will protect you from the darkness. Plug into My power, be not afraid, I go before you always and you can rest in My arms when you feel weary. You can put your head in My lap and weep, you will know, I am truly with you and you are My light to this world. I created you so special - to cast out fear in the darkness, to clothe the naked, to give hope to the oppressed, to be as I live in you and love through you and you are My smile and I touch My hurting ones through your love.

   You are he who loves this world. You must stay plugged into My power-source. This world is hungry for My love. It needs My love, I give to them through you. I am your God and I made you as a gift to the world. You are filled.

    Focus on Me and your life will be abundant and whole, joy in suffering, freedom — but you can take the knocks because you will know you do not go it alone, but with Me. I love you My precious child.

end of October 5, 1992

                R. Remember the examine St. Ignatius
                talks about. Fr. Carter sat 10 minutes
                twice a day to examine his
                conscious.

                    We are to take a spiritual
                inventory – to tell ourselves
                if we are deviating from what
                God wants of us – to take a
                spiritual pulse – to see where
                we are and to ask for grace to
                help us to be where He wants
                us – more loving, more giving,
                thinking of what He is calling
                us to -
                    rather than the old bad habits,
                of thinking selfish thoughts,
                prideful thoughts.

From a Lenten Homily, March 24, 2000

Live in the Moment

Today’s Gospel in its story certainly points ahead to Jesus in His Passion and death. And as we read passages such as this during the Lenten season, we are reminded once again that the Church in her Liturgy of the Word gives us an opportunity to undergo a purification, an ever deepening cleansing of ourselves so that we may be a more fit instrument for receiving the great graces which are to be given to us at the time of the Resurrection memorial on Easter. And so all in all, Lent is a time of purification to prepare us for ever-greater gifts of the Lord. It’s a time of self-discipline, a time to renew our efforts to be self-disciplined in the service of the Lord. Self-discipline is an aspect of purification. And I suggest that one of the most difficult acts of self-discipline in the spiritual journey is to concentrate on the present moment. We have a very strong tendency to disregard the importance of the present moment by focusing in a wrong way on the past or in a wrong way on the future. There are proper occasions for thinking of the past and the future. For example, we have to learn from the past and we have to prepare for the future, but our great emphasis has to be upon the present. There is a Latin axiom which says, age quod agis, age quod agis, which means: do what you are doing, concentrate on the present. And of course we are familiar with that term in the history of spirituality: the sacrament of the present moment. And so the discipline of Lent certainly encourages us to include in a deeper self-discipline a greater determination to get as much as we can out of the present moment. People with a terminal illness have an opportunity as they prepare for death for increased prayer, contrition, love of God. However, some are taken very, very quickly. But for those who have the opportunity of knowing with some certainty the time of their death, I’m sure as they look back on their lives, they are saddened by the many times they did not use time and opportunities for the service of the Lord properly, and are overjoyed at those times in which they did use the present opportunity properly. A great means we have of living in the present properly is a greater focus upon our Lord. For if I have that awareness of the fact I am united with Jesus here and now, why should I be concerned so much about the future or the past? Yes, a great help in living in the present and deriving all the good we can from it for ourselves and others is an ever greater focus upon Jesus, because the more I focus upon Jesus and the more I live with Him in the present moment, the more I am satisfied with the present moment. And so let us in our Lenten activity resolve to grow in that self-discipline - which is very difficult at times - to really live in the presence with the fullness of our being as much as is possible, with the help of God’s grace. Now is the day of salvation. Now is the day of salvation.

end of Father Carter's homily

R. We are to be living in the moment.
To know ourselves –

                    Here is the purpose of the
                spiritual exercises.

From The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius,
    by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. p.11

21.                     SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

    Which have as their purpose the conquest of self
    and the regulation of one's life in such a way that
    no decision is made under the influence of any
    inordinate attachment

R. Mary is our Spiritual Mother –

                Ask yourself
                why did I do that - when
                it is not the way God the
                Holy Spirit wanted me to act?

                Why did I do this – this will
                help us to think right to
                be the person God wants us
                to be –
                to bring unity and love to
                relationships not selfishness,
                division –

Love - Hate relationships –

                Ask yourself –
                Why when someone is kind to
                me would I do something
                hateful to cause division.

                Jesus: You were created in My
                    image and likeness – In
                    baptism you receive a
                    sharing in Divine-life –

                Your knowing and loving capacity
                    is elevated – You are to pray
                    for an increase in the virtues
                    of faith, hope and love. You
                    are a work in progress –
                    You are to live the Christ-life.
                    You are to be witnesses of
                        My life in you –

You are to be loving and live
the Father's will –

                The Holy Spirit wants to fill your
                    heart with love –
                    I am God –
                    I am Love –

From Tell My People by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J.

The Holy Spirit

Jesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people to pray daily to the Holy Spirit. They are to pray for an increase in His gifts. My people must realize that the Holy Spirit comes to transform them. The Spirit desires to transform you more and more according to My image. Those who are docile to His touch become increasingly shaped in My likeness. He performs this marvel within Mary's Immaculate Heart. The more one dwells in My Mother's Heart, the more active are the workings of the Spirit. The Spirit leads Mary to place you within My own Heart. In both Our Hearts, then, your transformation continues. The more you are formed after My own Heart, the more I lead you to the bosom of My Father. Tell My people all this. Tell them to pray daily for a greater appreciation of these wondrous gifts. I am Lord and Master. All who come to My Heart will be on fire to receive the gifts of the Spirit in ever greater measure! I love and bless My people!"

Reflection: The Holy Spirit is given to us to fashion us ever more according to the likeness of Jesus. And the more we are like Jesus, the more Jesus leads us to the Father. Do we, each day, pray to the Holy Spirit to be more open to His transforming influence? Do we strive each day to grow in union with Mary? The greater our union with our Mother, the spouse of the Holy Spirit, the greater is the transforming action of the Holy Spirit within us.

end of excerpt

Jesus: You can change –

You are to be transformed more
and more likened to Me –

Meditate on the Mystery the
Transfiguration –

Meditate on My Miracles of
healing –

                Meditate on your vocation of
                    leading people to be
                    consecrated to My Heart and
                    helping to build the Kingdom of God.

Why do you listen to satan?

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

Jesus: Do you want healing –

                Then focus on healing that
                    needs to take place in
                    your hearts –

Ask for forgiveness for your
past sins –

                Make a fearless inventory
                    of your life and
                    be sorry for all you
                    have wronged!

From The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius,
by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. p. 12

23. FIRST PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION

Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God
our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.

From The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius,
    by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. p.11

21.                     SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

    Which have as their purpose the conquest of self
    and the regulation of one's life in such a way that
    no decision is made under the influence of any
    inordinate attachment

THE TWELVE STEPS OF AA

Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery:

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol,
that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than
ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives
over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human
being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all
these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed,
and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible,
except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we
were wrong promptly admitted it.

                    11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our
                            conscious contact with God as we understood Him,
                            praying only for knowledge of His will for us and
                            the power to carry that out.

                    12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps,
                            we tried to carry this message to alcoholics,
                            and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Jesus: I give you a bed of roses –

Why do you focus on the
thorns –

                Do you see yourself as
                    a beautiful flower –
                    preparing your hearts to
                    bring love and sweetness
                    to the earth –

                    Every day is a day I
                call you to be My
                instrument to the world –
                Every day a beautiful gift
                you bring to your Heavenly
                Father - of greater love
                and being more and more in
                My image and likeness –
                When a garden is full of
                weeds - they must be
                removed to see the beautiful
                flowers –

                    Why do you want selfishness
                and anger, jealousy, pride
                as big weeds in your
                heart.

                    Christmas is a time to
                sweep your hearts of debris and
                prepare for My birth –

Guiding Light Homily Book - B Cycle
By God Through Me

First Sunday of Advent

November 27, 2011

INTRODUCTION: (Isaiah 63, 16b-17. 19b; 64, 2-7) In all the events of our daily lives, a true prophet has the ability to see God more profoundly than anyone else can. In our first reading taken from Isaiah, the prophet recognized that when the Babylonians invaded and destroyed Israel, it was a disaster that God's people brought upon themselves for having ignored the direction God had tried to give them. When they returned home after 50 years of captivity, the job of rebuilding what they had lost was enormous. The prophet laments how God's people are now suffering and, in the name of God's wayward people, the prophet prays for their heavenly Father to forgive them and help them. It is an extremely beautiful prayer.

HOMILY: (Mark 13, 33-37) Today begins a new Church Year - designated as Cycle B. I might point out that our gospel today was written by St. Mark. Most of our gospels in Church Year Cycle A came from St. Matthew. Now this year we'll hear mostly from St. Mark. For many people that may not seem significant, but each gospel has its own unique features. Mark is the oldest gospel, written most probably in Rome sometime between the years 64-67. Tradition describes Mark as the interpreter of Peter. That is, he wrote down whatever he remembered of Peter's proclamation of the good news (that's what gospel means) about Jesus Christ. Matthew and Luke, who wrote for their own faith communities, borrowed heavily from Mark and included additional materials of their own. Today's gospel passage comes from Jesus' final days in Jerusalem. Mark is encouraging his community of believers to be strong in the face of persecution and to resist the temptations of the pagan world they lived in. He tells them Jesus is going to come again. Evil will be destroyed and those who have remained faithful will be rewarded with eternal life. Thus, when Jesus comes he will expect his followers to be living according to his teachings. If we remain aware that he might return at any time, perhaps when we least expect him, then we will be watchful. It is a message Mark is giving us as we begin the season of Advent. All that Jesus had to say to the people of his day, all that Mark wrote for his faith community, is a message that holds just as true for us today for it is more than human words. It is God's inspired Word.

    Once there was a man who had a store and in order to protect his store he bought a big watchdog. His watchdog loved to curl up right across the doorway of the store to keep watch over the store. Unlike many watchdogs who are alerted at the slightest noise, this dog often fell asleep and kept sleeping even as people stepped over him to enter the store. Outside the store was a big sign: "Beware of dog." Visitors to the town would often ask why they had to beware of that dog sleeping in the doorway. The owner said, "well, before I put up the sign, people kept tripping over him." (taken from Preaching Resources, Nov. 27, 2011, pg 3) Not a good example of being watchful. A better example would be families who had a loved one serving in Iraq or Afghanistan for many months and who are now waiting for their loved one to come home in the near future. You can imagine their excitement and anticipation. Or perhaps you can think of the excitement and anticipation of a child who is waiting for Santa Claus, not knowing exactly when he might arrive.

    We will soon celebrate Jesus' coming to us as an infant, but that was only the beginning of God's coming to us. Jesus continues to come through prayer, through charity toward others, through sacraments and Scripture and at the time of our death. Finally, he will come in glory at the end of the world. Advent is more than just to prepare us to celebrate Jesus' birth, it is a time for renewed awareness of God in our lives now and a time to be sure we are ready to meet him when he comes to take us into his eternal kingdom.

    There are dozens of things a person might do to prepare themselves better spiritually. I will leave you with one suggestion: read the gospel for each day of Advent and think about it for several minutes. Where will you find the gospel? Get out your Bible, and look it up using the references in the bulletin each week or the references on the insert in today's bulletin. Amen.

Second Sunday of Advent

December 4, 2011

INTRODUCTION – (Isaiah 40: 1-5, 9-11; 2 Peter 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8) For the history behind today’s first reading, we have to go back almost 600 years before Christ (587 years to be precise). We cannot imagine the devastation the Jewish people suffered under the Babylonians. It would have been the annihilation of any other nation, but since the Jews were God’s special people, they were not to be exterminated. Their cities, their homes, their farms and the great temple built by Solomon almost 400 years earlier were all destroyed. Most of the Jews that weren’t killed were taken as captives and slaves to Babylon, almost a 1000–mile trip, on foot, through modern day Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. They slowly realized, through the words of the prophets, how they had abandoned their God and how that set the stage for this great disaster. But God promised not to abandon them; he assured them, through the prophets, that he would restore them to their homes and their lands. Roughly fifty years later the kingdom of the Babylonians was conquered and destroyed by the Persians (people who lived in Iran). The king of Persia, Cyrus, immediately gave the Jews permission to return to their land. Today’s reading from Isaiah begins a large 16–chapter section of Isaiah known as the “Book of Consolation.” The prophet is instructed by God to bring this good news to God’s people. The route by which the Lord would lead his people home is referred to as “the way of the Lord.” Attention must be given to preparing the way. This is the important theme in today’s liturgy. John the Baptist takes up this theme five centuries later when he calls the people of his own day to prepare for the Messiah. The liturgy uses today’s Scriptures to call us to prepare not only for Christmas but also for the various ways in which Christ comes to us in our daily lives as well as for the day when Christ will call us into his eternal kingdom.

HOMILY – Almost everything in life that is of any great importance requires preparation beforehand: getting an education, getting married, getting a job, moving, having a family (although sometimes the family accidentally turns out to be bigger than a person had planned on). When the pope or heads of state go to visit a place, preparations are made, often far in advance.

    When God was about to send his only Son to earth to teach us and guide us into God’s kingdom of unending peace and joy, he sent someone to prepare for that coming. St. Mark, as he begins his gospel, gets right to that point by telling us about John the Baptist. Actually, through the words of the prophets, God prepared for his Son’s coming long before starting with Moses (Acts 3:22) and King David (Acts 2:25). He prepared for his Son’s coming by preserving Jesus’ mother from all sin, even original sin, which is the feast we celebrate this Thursday in the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

    John the Baptist told God’s people, and he tells us through the gospel, that even though God made many preparations beforehand for the coming of Jesus, we must prepare also. John called people to repent of their sins and change their ways if they were not living as God wanted. His baptism was a symbol of their starting a new way of life. John himself, although a holy man, adopted the lifestyle of the great prophet Elijah and his garments reflected his call to do penance. Many people thought maybe he was the Messiah, but John knew his role; he was only a voice calling people to prepare for One so much greater than he was that he was not worthy even to kneel down before him and untie his shoes.

    We get very busy this time of the year preparing for Christmas and that’s all very nice, but for many of us perhaps what we need to do to prepare is to become less busy and take time to reflect on what Christ’s birth is all about. Last week I recommended that a very good way to prepare would be to read the gospel for the day, picture it, think about it for several minutes. Sometimes we can experience the Lord speaking to us in a powerful way through his Word. Or we could say the rosary during the week, or come to morning Mass or Holy Hour, or do some spiritual reading. There are hundreds of things we can do for other people too, but sometimes we need to take time to do something for ourselves in such a way that we are fed spiritually. As I said, perhaps we need to do less rather than more so we can use our time more efficiently. There’s no substitute for quiet time. Taking quiet time for ourselves helps us to remain peaceful during such a busy time and helps us to keep our priorities in order. Don’t just prepare for Christmas, prepare for Christ. Amen.

Blue Book Blow Out for Christmas

Give the gift that keeps giving this Christmas

6 different Blue Books for $30.00 including postage

$6.00	$5.00	$4.00	$2.00	$2.00
$3.00	$3.00	$3.00	$3.00	$3.00
$3.00	$3.00	$3.00	$3.00	$3.00

Books available in limited supply for this sale.

Blue Book Blow Out for Christmas

Blue Book 1 – $6.00 each plus postage

Blue Book 2 – $5.00 each plus postage

Blue Book 3 – $4.00 each plus postage

Blue Books 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6A, B, C –
$3.00 each plus postage

Blue Books 4 & 5 –$2.00 each plus postage

The more you use the Blue Books and
    become one with Jesus – more
    intimate with Jesus –
    the more your lives are a blessing and
    everything you do in life can help
    to bring down great grace for the world
    because of your being so
    one with Jesus.

Guiding Light Homily Book Series

Fr. Joe’s Books

Cycle A –
Steadfast to the Son

Cycle B –
Focusing on the Word

Cycle C –
Feed My Soul

Cycle A –
Inspired to be Genuine

4 for $20 plus postage of $5.95

These books can be given to:

1) All Priests

       2) Good for Music Ministers
       3) Good for DRE's
       4) Good for Deacons
       5) Good for Principals of Schools
       6) Good for Teachers
       7) Good for Mom and Dads

Give the gift that keeps giving this Christmas!!

This statue was handmade and hand-painted
and has a little piece of the glass
from the image face of Mary –

PV-Fatima
w/glass - 27

PV-Fatima
w/glass - 18

PV-Fatima
w/glass - 15

OL-Fatima
w/glass - 18

PV-Fatima
w/glass - 12

OL-Fatima
w/glass - 11

OL-Guadalupe w/glass - 28	OL-Grace w/glass - 24	OL-Mt. Carmel w/glass - 24	OL-Lourdes w/glass - 24	IH-Mary w/glass - 24	IH-Ivory w/glass - 24
SH-Jesus w/glass - 24	SH-Blessing w/glass - 24	Sorrow M w/glass - 24	Inf.-Prague w/glass - 24	OL-Lourdes w/glass - 18	OL-Mt. Carmel w/glass - 18
I Heart w/glass - 18	I Heart - Ivory w/glass - 18	OL-Grace w/glass - 18	SH-Jesus w/glass - 18	OL-Guadalupe w/glass - 12

We cannot get these statues any more –
the men making them were from
Portugal and no longer do so

We will have a limited number
until they are gone –

These statues are a treasure, a work of art

At the end of this message are healings
from statues and the Jesus
and Mary waters –

                Given March 21, 2014

                R. Pray for These Things

                1) Pray for the Pope & hierarchy to help us start prayer chapters.
                2) Pray for Dan, Sally Jo, Richard, Carol, Margaret, Sue,
                    Jack, Jean, Amanda, Matthew, Special intentions.
                3) Pray for the priests, the Church and the world!
                4) Pray for the spread of prayer chapters,
                    also for the spread of priests doing prayer chapters.
                5) Pray for the spread of Blue Books.
                6) People going to Florida and China.
                7) Vocations to all 7 categories.
                8) Pray for spread of Consecration and Rosary.
                9) Pray for pope helping us.
               10) Pray for Jeff - sales & health. Pray for Nick.
               11) Blue Book 14 cover; Blue Book 13 – all involved.
                    For our Publisher and all involved
               12) All intentions on my list, Jerry's list.
               13) Priests getting Fr. Joe's book.
               14) Pray for Fr. Joe's new book, cover & funds for printing & postage.
               15) Donors and members and their families.
               16) Healing of the Family tree.
               17) Dan & Melanie, Catherine & mom, Gary, Mary Jo,
                    Jim & statues, Fr. Ken, Monsignor, Kerry, Tom & wife.
               18) All who asked us to pray for them.
               19) All we promised to pray for.
               20) Rita, John, Doris, Sheila, Jerry, Regina, Sanja,
                    Betty, Sophie, Lisa, Eileen, Fr. Mike, Louie, Laverne,
                    2 Dons, Mary Ellen, Fr. Joe, all priests helping us,
                    Ed, Jimmy, Steve, a special couple, Rosie & all involved.
               21) 2 babies and moms.
               22) Funds and insurance.
               23) Jerry's garage.
               24) In thanksgiving for gifts, graces, & blessings received.
               25) Spread the Blood of Jesus on all of us here.
               26) Consecrate all hearts.
               27) Cast the devil out of all of us here and all in Movement.

We need money for
Fr. Joe's new homily book
(we sent almost 40,000 to priests,
cardinals, bishops)
Can you please help us?
888-211-3041



The Wedding Rosary

Crystal Image Rosary

$40 plus shipping

Special First Communion Rosary with Image Center

in a gift box

white     blue     red

and an 8 x 10 picture of Our Lady of Clearwater
and a 4 x 6 picture of Our Lady of Clearwater

$10 plus postage

Original Image Rosary

8mm glass beads
in a matching gift box

$40 plus shipping

Special Sale Statues with image glass

15" Pilgrim Virgin Fatima – $85

12" Our Lady of Fatima – $75

plus shipping
while supplies last

Call Regina 1–727–776–2763
Call Rosie 888–211–3041

In Spanish with the Imprimatur

Also we are ready to print
5000 copies of the
Parents and Children's Rosary Book
in SPANISH.
Can you help with a donation?



Give the gift that counts.
                Give to your priests Fr. Carter's Books plus postage.

Tell My People                    $5.00
Response to God's Love    $8.00
Response in Christ              $8.00



    God's Blue Books 4, 5, 6A, 6B, 6C, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
        $4.00 each plus postage

Blue Book 4

Blue Book 5

Blue Book 6A

Blue Book 6B

Blue Book 6C

Blue Book 7

Blue Book 8

Blue Book 9

Blue Book 10

Blue Book 11

Blue Book 12 & 13

Old Mass Books with the Imprimatur
$2.00 plus postage

New Mass Book with Imprimatur
$8.00 plus postage

New Parents & Children's Book with the Imprimatur
$8.00 plus postage

Fr. Joe's Cycle A – Steadfast to the Sun – Starts in Advent
$5.00 plus postage

Give the gift that keeps on giving!

Give to your priest.

Fr. Carter's Priestly Newsletters Book II
$6.00 plus postage



Special sale statue with glass

27" Statue of Our Lady of Fatima
$175 plus postage

Get a canvas print of Mary's image
with a sliver of glass and a little
bottle of Jesus and Mary water.
The glass will be fixed behind the
back of the picture.
$200.00 plus postage

Dan called and gave the report to me, when I hung up I saw this rainbow and took a picture for him.

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