Shepherds of Christ          Daily Writing

December 24, 2006

December 25th Holy Spirit Novena Scripture selection is Day 8 Period II.

The Novena Rosary Mysteries   for December 25th are Joyful

December 24, 2006

Messenger:            God gives us so many gifts and we are like
                        lost children searching for what will
                        fill us, but we can be so blind — for our
                        peace and joy is found in knowing our
                        God — living every moment as God the Father
                        wants us to live. In this lies our treasure.

                            I have lived my life searching to know
                        and do God's will - not once a day, but as
                        a way of life. It is a life long, moment by
                        moment journey living one's life as the
                        Creator desires — He is with us at every
                        moment wanting us to serve Him, love Him
                        and seek our true home in heaven.

                            Gratitude for God's gifts is wisdom.
                            Seeing ourselves as the little child of the
                                Father.

                            Loving and Serving Him —
                            Wanting to obey Him.

                        Readings from today's Mass

Micah 5: 1-4

But you (Bethlehem) Ephrathah,
the least of the clans of Judah,
from you will come for me
a future ruler of Israel
whose origins go back to the distant past,
to the days of old.
Hence Yahweh will abandon them
only until she who is in labour gives birth,
and then those who survive of his race
will be reunited to the Israelites.
He will take his stand
    and he will shepherd them
with the power of Yahweh,
with the majesty of the name of his God,
and they will be secure,
    for his greatness will extend
henceforth to the most distant parts
    of the country.

He himself will be peace!

Hebrews 10: 5-10

Luke 1: 39-45

Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could into the hill country to a town in Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? Look, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’

December 24, 2006 message continues

Messenger:       God is with us now —

                        As I sit in the pew I know His presence
                        and I know Mary is with me.

                        Today we sang Immaculate Mary as the
                            entrance hymn —
                            Mary is such a gift — God the Father wants
                            us to be so grateful for the gift of Mary —
                            our spiritual Mother.
                            God the Father wants us to sing joyfully
                            about the gift of Mary Immaculate.

                        "Yes" I come to do Your will oh God —

                        Gift - loving

                        Our job is to have a heart of love to serve
                            the Lord —

                        I feel connected to those in heaven
                            always.
                            The saints are one with me —

                        Being united to those in heaven is how
                            we should be —
                        Connected to them, loving them —

                        We are always one with the Father,
                            Son and Holy Spirit praying through
                            the intercession of Mary.

                        We want to be one with all the Masses
                            going on around the world —
                            begging for grace to be abundantly
                            outpoured on this troubled earth —

                        Oh God outpour Your grace on us —
                            please forgive our sins —
                            we are sorry for our sins —
                            God have mercy on us.

                        Oh life is to be lived as members of the
                            body of Christ in this constant
                            union —
                            our every breath lived to help souls
                                to get to heaven —

                        Every action — we lay down our lives — living
                            according to God's will in love for
                            helping in bringing down grace for
                            our salvation and the salvation of souls.

                        We say our Morning Offering in the Say Daily card 

                        Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world have mercy on us.
                        Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world have mercy on us.
                        Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world grant us peace.

Messenger:       Our lives are not sterile, dry and inactive —
                        Our life lived in love according to the Father's will
                            is important to the souls of this earth.

                        We are the sons of the Father.
                        Jesus showed us how to be like
                                God the Father wants us to be —
                                to lay down our lives for the
                                precious souls Jesus died for.

                        We are here to think about the Kingdom
                            of God —

                        So many people want to make a palace
                            and a home here below ——

                        Depth —

                        Depth —

                        Depth —

                        Life in Him —

                        Loving the Mysteries —

                        Loving the Church —

                        Loving the priest

                        Loving the Mass

                        Loving being before Jesus truly present
                            in the Eucharist —

                        Jubilation —

                        Shout with Joy

                            "A Savior is born to you"

                            And you shall call Him Emmanuel —

                            God is with us! ! !

                        God loves His people so much!

                        Holy Spirit fill us with wisdom to see!!

                        To not seek to build a little castle
                            here below and act like we will
                            not move on to our real home
                            later — hopefully a home forever
                            in heaven —

                        Shout it — you people —
                            open your ears —
                            let cries of joy come from lips —
                            Your mouths should praise God and
                            sing songs of thanks —

                        A lady had a heavy purse and she kept
                            putting more and more in it — one day
                            as she walked her husband noticed her left
                            shoulder was really down —
                            he said "you are dragging on your left side" —
                            the lady said — "my purse was so heavy
                            I thought the kids put a rock in it,"
                            but she always carried her purse and
                            kept carrying it anyway — she knew
                            it was so heavy her shoulder was
                            sagging —

                        Later she went inside her purse and there was a
                            beautiful white rock with a little
                            burnt orange — it looked like
                            a jewel, but it was a large heavy
                            rock — they had vacationed in Colorado
                            and her son put this beautiful rock
                            in her purse and she had carried
                            it around for at least a week — it was
                            way in the bottom of her big purse —

                            Well we can do that with big black
                        rocks of unforgiveness and anger we stash
                        in our hearts and it weighs on our
                        whole body — tightness we carry, clenched
                        teeth — anger over little details —
                        what about all our vessels — if we worry
                        about grease, what about - constricting
                        ourselves because of tension we keep —
                        judging our brothers — not looking with
                        love — jealousies, anger, envy —

                            Dear God help us to fly on eagle's wings this
                        Christmas and the rest of our lives —
                            to see the vision of the manger and
                            the purity of the Hearts of Jesus and
                            Mary — LOVE — LOVE of the Christ-child
                            depth — not seeking to carry big rocks in our
                            heart - we have ignored for years that
                            are keeping us from loving —

                            A room had no light, but big windows —
                        on the windows were roller shades that
                        were "black-out" shades — little light came
                        in — It was good for sleeping, but in the
                        morning a lady would get up - put up her
                        "black-out" shades and guess what —
                        streams of warm sunny light would
                        pour in the window — you could see
                        little things in the light — almost like little
                        specks of white — the light was dense and
                        so very beautiful.

                            The woman could have got up — sat on
                        her bed and begin to discourse of dark things
                        all day. The sun would have shown, but she
                        would have missed it — at night she wouldn't
                        see the light disappear and darkness
                        come — she missed it all —

                            Every day she would have missed 364 or
                        365 days every year staying in her dark
                        room for all the years of her life —

                            Why would somebody chose darkness
                        to light you say — how could they do that —

                            Every time we let day after day go by
                        without focusing on God and His gifts for
                        us — it is like this.

                            We can carry around years and days of
                        unfinished anger, hurts, from early
                        childhood until we die that keeps our
                        vessels constricted — our blood pressure up
                        and keeps us in a dark - dark room —

                            Then where we should have been spreading
                        God's light to others — we can be consumed
                        with darkness — thinking maybe — at some
                        point someone may come and pour some light
                        in us.

                            Our hearts are our hearts — like the lady
                        who had her room — nobody came in and
                        "messed-with" her shades. She could see
                        darkness her life long if she so chose.

                            People who feel bad inside many times
                        want to be argumentative to feel justified
                        for their angry - dark - room inside — or they
                        just may try to provoke others with a
                        long face and passive-aggressive remarks —

                            I speak of depth - of openness - of
                        life in Him - of going to the Eucharist and
                        being filled with His grace — saturated
                        with His life —

                            I speak of choice —
                            not old habits that keep our rooms
                                dark and we are even afraid to look
                                in there.

                        A woman got up every night in the dark and
                            ran into a great big boudoir —
                            every morning she had a big bruise —
                            but she was afraid of seeing some
                            old hurts - that were so bad for her
                            she couldn't even talk about them
                            10 years later —
                            while they stopped her every minute of
                            her life - like being wrapped in a
                            mummy cloth — they stopped her from
                            spontaneity and love and joy and closeness in
                            love to Jesus and others —

                        Her own room — her heart was a place she
                            locked up with this big old piece
                            of furniture and she wouldn't even
                            look in there to move it, it hurt
                            too bad —

                        Knowing how to forgive is so important —
                            recognizing hurts and crying may help
                            free us from blaming innocent others the
                            rest of our lives for big hurtful
                            furniture-— taking up our whole
                            heart —

                        Do you have reactions — so big to someone
                            moving your coffee cup an inch to
                            wipe the table — if so there may
                            be a need for moving some "big-clunky"
                            old hurts in our heart —
                            Big clunky hurts and unforgiveness,
                        bitterness, act like burial cloths we
                        tie ourselves up in and crawl in a
                        tomb —

                            Jesus dropped the cloths
                            Jesus died on the cross
                            We need to die to the old ways
                                that are not like Jesus.

                        AND LET THE LIGHT —

                            like specks of gold come
                            pouring in —
                            making way for love ——

                        God fill us with Your love —
                        Let our hearts sing with gratitude —
                        Let every day be a day to celebrate
                            the gifts given —

                        God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit live and dwell
                            in the graced baptized soul.

                        God impart to me the gift of
                            knowing how much You love
                            me — You gave me the gift of
                            baptism and the Eucharist to
                            nourish Your life in me and
                            confession to keep me "squeaking
                            clean" full of joy to be saturated
                            with Your grace and renewed.

                            Oh God I love You so much.

                        Let us have a heart likened to
                            that of the Christ-child —

December 24, 2006 message continues

Messenger:       To have joy in dwelling in
                            the pure Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

                        To keep the birth of this beauteous
                            love ever growing in our hearts —

                        To not give into the temptations of satan
                            to overlook our weaknesses and ask God
                            to forgive us for all the sins of our
                            past life —

                        We are on a journey and the eyes open to
                            truth will be able to unite deeply
                            in His love.

                        Blindness to sin, jealousies, envy,
                            keep us from growing closer to
                            our beloved God.

                        Addictions can be from not wanting
                            to face past hurts — numbing pain —
                            we must focus on how Jesus loved us so
                            much that He came to this earth a baby
                            and died for our sins —

                            People unhappy do not realize God's
                        love most of the time and are seeking —
                        seeking satisfaction in some other
                        way.

                            But nothing but God fills us —
                            We were created for Him.

December 24, 2006 message continues

Messenger:       Pray for the love of the Christ-child
                            to be realized by many suffering
                            this Christmas — God is love — Jesus
                            died on a cross for us and remains in the
                            Eucharist this day — truly present.

I am the Perfect Pair of Shoes

February 3, 1994 5:40 a.m.

R. Oh, Lord, show me Your ways. Mold me, fashion me into your instrument. Empty my mind of anything that is not for Your work. I am Your servant. This is my job. Oh, how I love Thee, my all.

6:30 a.m.

R. I feel like an empty shoe box. The box looks good but is no longer providing the purpose for which it was created. The box needs to be filled with a pair of shoes and then it is realizing fully the reason for its existence.

I am an empty shoe box that was created to be filled by God. If God is not in me, then I feel I have no reason for my existence. I can fill myself with other things, like putting junk in the shoe box, but the form and the way it was created is only meaningful when it contains a pair of shoes.

I can fill myself with other things, but my life is only meaningful when it is filled by God. In You, Lord, I have peace.

I sat here and was in love with Jesus for about 50 minutes and I felt like this empty shoe box. I had not a letter to start. I know that only in You, Lord, do I have meaning. When You come and fill me with Your presence, I am as You created me to be. Without You I might as well be filled with junk. I am empty!

Jesus: Let Me fill you. I am a pair of shoes to the shoe box. A shoe box is at its ultimate when it is filled with shoes. It is only in Me that you have any meaning at all. You were created by Me to be filled by Me. If you do not have My life, vibrant and as your main purpose inside you, you will find all kinds of things to fit inside you, but you are missing why you were created as you are. You reach your ultimate purpose in Me.

This is My teaching: your main concern is to know, love and serve Me. All else is useless and frustrates the very reason for your existence. You were created with special talents. You have all you need to accomplish My work.

To try to be a good carpenter without any talent for that work is a disaster. It takes inborn talent to do that work. It takes inspiration and know—how to learn from a Master carpenter.

You, My child, have talents just right to do My work. If you do other things, it does not bring you harmony. You and My work for you fit like a glove. My work for you is not the way of the world. Your glory is not attained in this world. He who seeks the glory of the world as his end is missing the boat. Only when you seek God as your end do you find the perfect glove. You fit into a glove that was created by Me. You and the glove are a perfect match. If you try to put yourself into someone else's glove, you have lots of trouble. Their glove was made for them. Your glove is the only glove that brings you peace and comfort.

You find your glove when you are doing My will. If you do your own will, you are trying to squeeze yourself into someone else's glove, or maybe it is very baggy on you. Either way, you are very uncomfortable with a tight glove or a loose glove. Your glove fits just right.

Seek the Lord and He will be found. Call to Him and He will come! You must forever listen to the promptings in your heart. I am ever present there and ready to tell you exactly what I want you to do. It is you, in your willfulness and in your desire for control, who do your own things. My work fits you like a glove. It may not be anything you want to do at first, but if you do your own will, it is like putting your hand into someone else's glove. It just isn't right.

Open up your hearts to Me. Sit in silence and be with Me. Make your whole day a day to be in harmony with Me. Do not get anxious and up-tight. I, in My time, make My will very clear to you. At this moment I may want you praying or being very still. I may want you to learn patience. I will never let you down. When you seek the Lord, He will be found. When you call to Him, He will harken, but in His time.

My hand is in everything you are experiencing. Pray for openness to know My will. Pray for harmony with Me. I do not want you ever to be so busy you are missing your time with Me. This is to go it alone. I am the center of your life. I am He Who gives you directions. If you are busy to the point of not having time to come to Me, you are missing the most important part of your life. I must come first in your life. Your personal relationship is with Me! All else takes its place after this. My ways I make clear to you in the silent whispers of your heart. You cannot go it without Me. I must be your top priority.

Come to Me, My babies. I have all the answers. Satan wants you to miss your time with Me. He is always working to stop you so you do not have time to be with Me. I must be first in your life. I give you your directions. I tell you My ways. I give you peace and love and joy. I am your refuge in a busy world. I am He Whom you crave. Your union with Me is your top concern. Come and let Me fill you. You are the empty box. I am the perfect pair of shoes.

I love you, sweet ones. Come to Me and let Me make your paths right. I am He Who never steers you wrong. Nobody can tell you what I can. Your life is full only in Me.