Mary has requested that the daily message be given each day to the world. It is read nightly at the prayer service from her Image Building in Clearwater, Florida, U.S.A. This is according to her request. All attempts will be made to publish this daily message to the world at 11p.m. Eastern time, U.S.A.
   

We acknowledge that the final authority regarding these messages rests
with the Holy See of Rome.


I appear my children on this former bank building in Florida, Our Lady Clothed with the Sun.

December 30, 2003

December 31st Holy Spirit Novena
Scripture selection is Day 7 Period I.
The Novena Rosary Mysteries for December 31st are Sorrowful.

                                   

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.

    


    

Schedule for December 31, 2003

     
4:00 a.m. - Mass

4:37 a.m. - Morning Offering & Prayers

4:49 a.m. - Sorrowful Rosary March 17, 1995

5:41 a.m. - Christmas Songs

6:20 a.m. - 6:20 prayers led by Father Carter
                 Holy Spirit Novena
                 Shepherds of Christ Prayer Manual
                 Rosary

7:24 a.m. - Morning Offering

7:27 a.m. - Mary's Message

7:34 a.m. - Sidney Rosary from December 2, 2003

10:10 a.m. - Mass celebrated by Father Carter July 5, 2000

11:00 a.m. - Children's Rosary from December 25, 1994

11:34 a.m. - Christmas Songs

12:52 p.m. - Rosary July 15, 1995 in Spanish led by Fernando

1:40 p.m. - Choose Life

2:42 p.m. - Nursing Home #6

3:20 p.m. - Mysteries of Light from November 2, 2002

4:00 p.m. - Mass

4:37 p.m. - Christmas Songs

5:19 p.m. - Joyful Rosary Aves

5:48 p.m. - Songs in Spanish sung by Fernando

6:20 p.m. - 6:20 prayers led by Father Carter
                 Holy Spirit Novena
                 Shepherds of Christ Prayer Manual
                 Rosary

7:24 p.m. - Christmas Songs piano only

8:30 p.m. - Newsletter 1999 Issue 4 (God With Us)

9:58 p.m. - Christmas Songs

10:30 p.m. - Tell My People read by Father Carter

12:02 a.m. - Christmas Songs piano only

12:39 a.m. - Special Messages from Jesus given to 
                    Father Carter and Songs from Jesus

1:58 a.m. - The Spirituality of Fatima read by 
                     Father Carter & Rita Ring

2:41 a.m. - Mary's Message

2:47 a.m. - Christmas Songs piano only

3:42 a.m. - Christmas Songs

4:00 a.m. - Mass

          

          

December 30, 2003

Messenger:    Dear Jesus,

    I want to be close to you. I want to have that

oneness with you that is so deep. I want to act

as You act in me at every second. I want to do

Your holy will I want to be one in You in my

every breathe.

    I give myself to You. I give You the Movement

and the people — it is Your Movement to run as You

desire. I give you the building and the people

who come and go. Help us to do as you desire

always, always maintaining the purity of the

Movement. Help the Church to recognize us

and help us to begin prayer chapters all

over the world. Help us to reach the priests

with the writings you have given. Help people

to recognize Mary's image.

  

    I want to talk about the Spiritual Exercises
of St. Ignatius.

    We are to see this retreat as a time to be alone
with God. To be in silence, to be only with Him,
to see His plan for us in helping to bring about
what He wants to do in us as we live out our
vocation. Here it is to live the Shepherds of
Christ way of life.

    Our life is lived every moment in union
with our Divine God. We center our day daily
around the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We,
who are servants, handmaids and apostles attend
daily Mass when able and center our day around
that Mass, united to all the Masses going on around
the world all day, being special intercessors
praying for the priests, the Church and the world.

    We spend, as servants, handmaids and apostles,
at least one hour daily before the Blessed Sacrament
in adoration as far as we are able and we try to stop
on the hour and pray, especially united for the needs
of the Movement and our needs.

    We pray nightly (or at least daily) the Shepherds of
Christ Prayers and the rosary, along with the Holy
Spirit Novena. Most of us try to pray daily at 6:20
united at all the centers and the sub-centers
for the priests, the Church, and the world, for healing
for ourselves, our family and all mentioned above
and for special grace for us.

    Why do we make this particular retreat in
China, Indiana? When retreats are given the
silence will begin on the 10th of that month at 
night with the individual reading the discernment of
spirit sections from St. Ignatius Spiritual Exercises
and the beginning parts about the retreat.
The first meditation will be given on the 10th.

The Spiritual Exercises will be conducted with
    this purpose in mind.

   

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

  

    We will begin with a preparatory prayer.

  

From The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius
    by Louis J. Puhl, S.J.  p. 25

46. PRAYER.  In the preparatory prayer I will beg God
our Lord for grace that all my intentions, actions, 
and operations may be directed purely to the 
praise and service of His Divine Majesty.  

   

    The first meditation on the evening of the 10th will 
        be to meditate on this principle.

  

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.

 

 

11th day of the month

    There will be breakfast then on the morning of the 
        11th it will be necessary to meditate on the 
        first exercise.

 

Excerpt from Response to God's Love, 
  
by Father Edward Carter, S.J.

1

The Mystery of Christ and
            Christian Existence
 

   ...In reference to Christianity, God himself is the ultimate mystery. Radically, God is completely other and transcendent, hidden from man in his inner life, unless he chooses to reveal himself. Let us briefly look at this inner life of God.

    The Father, in a perfect act of self-expression, in a perfect act of knowing, generates his son. The Son, the Word, is, then, the immanent expression of God's fullness, the reflection of the Father. Likewise, from all eternity, the Father and the Son bring forth the Holy Spirit in a perfect act of loving.

    At the destined moment in human history, God's self-expression, the Word, immersed himself into man's world. God's inner self-expression now had also become God's outer self-expression. Consequently, the mystery of God becomes the mystery of Christ. In Christ, God tells us about himself, about his inner life, about his plan of creation and redemption. He tells us how Father, Son, and Holy Spirit desire to dwell within us in the most intimate fashion, how they wish to share with us their own life through grace. All this he has accomplished and does accomplish through Christ. St. Paul tells us: "I became a minister of this Church through the commission God gave me to preach among you his word in its fullness, that mystery hidden from ages and generations past but now revealed to his holy ones. God has willed to make known to them the glory beyond price which this mystery brings to the Gentiles—the mystery of Christ in you, your hope of glory. This is the Christ we proclaim while we admonish all men and teach them in the full measure of wisdom, hoping to make every man complete in Christ" (Col 1:25-28).

  

We are to do God's will.
God is the creator —
We are the creatures
We are dependent on God.
We are to praise God and
    love Him.
  

  

  

  

  

    

Salvation is our goal.

Song from Jesus.

Adam and Eve sinned

We have sinned.

     

FIRST Principle

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

 

 

    Our next meditation will follow:

    We will try to have Mass

    20 minute silent prayer after Mass

  

Other meditations will follow.

The song Take Lord Receive and Come to Me Lord and Possess My Soul 
will be sung throughout the whole retreat.

Every meditation will be preceded by a preparatory prayer.

Here is a prayer from the St. Ignatius Spiritual Exercises.

  

    ETERNAL LORD OF ALL THINGS

    Eternal Lord of all things, in the presence of Thy
    infinite goodness, and of Thy glorious mother, and
    of all the saints of Thy heavenly court, this is the
    offering of myself which I make with Thy favor
    and help. I protest that it is my earnest desire and
    my deliberate choice, provided only it is for Thy
    greater service and praise, to imitate Thee in bear-
    ing all wrongs and all abuse and all poverty, both
    actual and spiritual, should Thy most holy majesty
    deign to choose and admit me to such a state and
    way of life

 

The 6:20 prayers will follow and 
    a rosary from the Hearts of Jesus 
    and Mary.

The Joyful Mysteries will be said.

These scriptures will be read after the rosary.

  

                THE MYSTERIES OF THE LIFE OF OUR 
                LORD

                    Luke 1: 26-38

                    Luke 1: 39-56

                    Luke 2: 1-14

                    Luke 2: 8-20

                    Matthew 2: 1-12

                    Luke 2: 22-39

 

Before bed there should be a review of all meditations 
        that day and reflection of 5 minutes on each.

 

Read aloud in Church p. 65-71

  

Priestly Newsletter May/June 1997 Issue

Incarnational Perspectives

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)

    The Son of God be-came man for our salvation. Yes, He became incarnate. He took to Himself a real human nature. Because Jesus possessed a real human nature, He could die for us. As the Good Shepherd, He has laid down His life for us, His sheep.

    There are many thoughts which come to us when we reflect upon the truth that the Son of God took to Himself a human nature and dwelt among us. Some of these are as follows:

  • The Word Was Made Flesh. St. John puts it very simply in his Gospel: "The Word was made flesh, he lived among us..." (Jn 1:14). Yes, John states it so succinctly, yet these few words contain a wealth of meaning and mystery. We should expect nothing else, since this brief statement of the fourth Gospel points out the central event of all human history. These words sum up God's creative and redemptive activity. They sum up God's process of Self-communication to us. Let us briefly examine some of the implications of the Son of God becoming man.

        Adequately to explain the intimacy of the way of redemption which is the Incarnation is beyond the human powers of articulation. Jesus is Emmanuel-God with us. How tremendously more approachable God is to us because we have Jesus. The more the mind dwells on the meaning of the Incarnation, the more one is stricken with wonder at this unfathomable mystery of love. And yet, for one reason or the other, we are tempted to allow the mystery of the Son becoming man to be a fact we take for granted. Our sense of appreciation becomes dulled, and our feeling of enthusiasm about Jesus becomes so tragically mediocre. If our enthusiasm concerning Jesus is less than it should be, what are the reasons? We are speaking of a deep-rooted penetrating kind of enthusiasm centered in our graced wills. Some-times this enthusiasm has deep emotional overtones. If properly controlled, this enthusiasm involving the human emotions can be a tremendous asset in one's commitment to Jesus. But we just do not have it within our power to turn the emotions on whenever we wish. The more fundamental enthusiasm for Jesus which is rooted in the human will can and should always be substantially with us.
     
  • Realizing Jesus' Love for Us. One reason our commitment to Jesus can lose its ardor is that the realization of how much Jesus loves each of us becomes a kind of peripheral or notional assent. We intellectually assent to the fact that Jesus loves us, but at times such an assent does not have much more effect on our lives than admitting that Caesar crossed the Rubicon.

        We are meant to assent with our entire being to the fact that Jesus loves each of us so uniquely, so intimately, so unreservedly. This truth of Jesus' love for us is supposed to transform our lives. It is supposed to so grip our imagination so that we can say in the spirit of St. Paul: "For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rm 8:38-39)

        Giving ourselves over to Jesus' love does not remove pain and suffering from life. But, through the prism of Jesus' love for us, suffering is seen in proper perspective. We see the pain and suffering as being able to lead to something greater, just as it did in Jesus' life. His suffering led to resurrection. We realize that if we relate to suffering properly, we become persons with a deepened capacity to love God and man - persons sharing more fully in Jesus' resurrection. With such an attitude, this pain dimension of life can at times become hardly noticeable because we are so taken up with Jesus and His cause.
     
  • The Cause of Christ. What is this cause? Some two thousand years ago Jesus walked this earth preaching His Father's message, healing the sick, forgiving sins, extending His kindness and mercy, training the apostles. In all His varied activity, Jesus was accomplishing the redemption. Today, Jesus still walks the earth. He teaches the Father's truth. He is concerned with the sick and the ignorant. He administers the sacraments. He manifests the Father's love in many different ways. But, unlike that time of two thousand years ago, Christ Himself is not visible. He is visible only through us, His members. He extends to us the great privilege-and responsibility-of assisting Him in the continuation of His redemptive work. The total Christian community and each individual Christian are, then, certain extensions and continuations of the Incarnation. So close is this union between the Christian and Christ that St. Paul speaks very strikingly that it is more Christ than Paul who now lives: "I have been crucified with Christ, and I live now not with my own life but with the life of Christ who lives in me. The life I now live in this body I live in faith: faith in the Son of God who loved me and who sacrificed himself for my sake." (Ga 2:19-20)

        Each of us has the privilege of offering Jesus his or her own unique person, one's own humanity, one's own human existence. As with St. Paul we are asked to allow Jesus to live within us. Each Christian has the opportunity to allow Jesus to live through the uniqueness which is this particular Christian. To the extent the Christian does offer himself to Jesus in this manner, to that extent Jesus has a unique opportunity of continuing His redemptive work. To the extent the Christian holds back and does not allow Jesus to live in oneself, to that degree Jesus loses this unrepeatable opportunity.
     
  • Historical and Cultural Awareness. If we are to carry forth the salvific mission of Jesus properly, the People of God, individually and collectively, must be aware of the Incarnation's principle of historical and cultural awareness. Jesus, through His enfleshment, became situated within an historical situation. He lived at a particular stage of history, in a particular geographical locale, amid a particular kind of culture. Jesus respected this historical conditioning. Without compromising His Father's message, Jesus was aware of His historical milieu. He lived like a good Jewish man of the time. He talked in language which respected the linguistic idiom and thought patterns of the then existent Jewish culture. He accepted the Jewish people as conditioned by a certain historical and cultural milieu, and dealt with them accordingly.

    The members of the Christian community must follow the example of Jesus. In living and proclaiming the Gospel message, the People of God must be aware of the particular historical and cultural milieu in which they find themselves. But, also after the example of Jesus, they must strive for this awareness without compromising the Gospel. We immediately see that the Christian community is consequently open to a double danger. On the one hand, there is the danger that the People of God will not read the signs of the times properly. On the other hand, in the effort to be aware of their historical setting there is the danger of compromising the Gospel message. But the Christian community has to face these dangers and not surrender to them.
     
  • The Temporal Order. Another truth connected with the Incarnation - another incarnational perspective - leads us to a discussion of the Christian's responsibility toward the secular or temporal order of things. Through His enfleshment Christ has assumed, or united to Himself, not only the human race but the entire world or temporal order. The world literally belongs to Christ. The Christian's attitude toward authentic temporal values should therefore be obvious. He or she should love the world as redeemed by Jesus more than does the non-believer. The Christian should be the first to love all authentic human values. He or she should be the first to promote these values. Obviously, the real progress of these values must be according to their Christic design, however hidden this design may be at times. Very importantly, the Christian should be the first to be willing to suffer for the authentic progress of the world. And why? We reiterate-because it all belongs to Christ.

        The Christian should grieve because all is not well with the temporal order. He or she should be duly disturbed that there is so much violence, murder, social injustice, lust for power, drug peddling, pursuit of hedonism, increasing Godlessness. These and other evils sadly mar the name and image of Jesus which He imprinted upon the universe through His life, death, and resurrection. The Christian should grieve because the face of Christ is thus so often covered by the sinful dust of the market place.

        But the market place, the temporal order, is not all evil. Far from it. It is basically good with the creative goodness of God. It's basic goodness and beauty have been deepened by the grandeur of Jesus' redemptive effort. There is so much good in so many human hearts. This goodness manifests itself in countless ways. There are so many ways that many allow us to see their love for neighbor. There are those who selflessly give of themselves for the good of others in the field of medicine and nursing, in the political arena, in education, in science and technology, in laboring for justice for the consumer, in striving for pollution control. The list only be extended indefinitely. Some of these services of so many for the good of neighbor command national attention. Many, many more services are so hidden, hardly noticed.

        Each Christian, grieving at the world's evil, but rejoicing in its goodness and potential for greater good, must be inspired to action. He or she should deeply love the world because it belongs to Christ. He or she should deeply love the people who cover the face of this world, because they too belong to Christ. His blood has touched them and redeemed them. The love of the Christian for others must be an operative, an efficacious love. It must be willing to do, to accomplish, and, in rare cases, to die. Whatever one's state of life, be it activist or cloistered contemplative, this is the privilege and the responsibility of the Christian. He or she cannot be committed to Jesus in love without concomitantly being dedicated to the human family and the temporal order. Through the Incarnation, all this is interlinked.

        If the Christian is to promote the good of the temporal order, one must be free in regards to it. One must be free, even to the extent that he or she is willing to renounce certain temporal values, good in themselves, for the service of others. The one who really loves the world is the person who is willing to forego its use at times. To love the world and to love the things of the world are not always one and the same. A person can love the things of the world- selfishly - and consequently, not love the world in itself. This selfishness is an obstacle to helping the temporal order to progress as it should.
     
  • The Human Condition. As we continue a survey of some of the truths or perspectives connected with the Incarnation, we notice that Jesus has taught us that redemption occurs within the human condition. The Father could have redeemed us in a number of ways. He chose that setting which was the Incarnation of His Son. Jesus saved us by being fully man, a man who exercised His manhood perfectly in the self-libation which was His. Although His mission led Him to give up certain human values, He saved us through real human acts. He saved us by loving Mary and Joseph, by eating with friends, by teaching, by loving the little children, by thrilling to the beauty of nature, by bearing properly insult and abuse, and, of course, by dying and rising. Summarily, Jesus saved us by living that kind of human life which was in harmony with His Father's will.

        Jesus did not rebel because He found the human condition less than perfect. He had come to change things, to give a new release to the goodness of man. He was a revolutionary in the best sense. His effort was to turn things around, to reorientate the human race toward God. But Jesus was by no means always the recipient of the goodness He had come to preach. Although He taught that one should love his or her neighbor, He himself was not always loved. He suffered, and He suffered mightily, because of the mean streak, the sinful streak in others. He Who had done nothing wrong, Who had showed His love for others in so many different ways, this man was the one they beat, insulted, scourged, crowned with thorns, and nailed to the cross.

        Jesus redeemed us within the human condition. We receive His redemption, and help channel it to others, within that same human condition. We are redeemed by living the authentically human in the way indicated by the Father's will. Although we are led by that will to renounce various human values at various times in various ways, we are saved by living a human existence, or we are not saved at all. We have often heard that grace does not destroy nature. But, perhaps, we do not too often penetrate the depths of this theological truth. Perhaps we do not very often have a firm realization that grace elevates nature, gives it a deepened capacity for fulfillment, and that grace needs nature. Grace must work through nature if it is to save. Consequently, we are not saved and sanctified by becoming less human. We are saved and sanctified by being very human-by allowing grace to perfect the various dimensions of our human nature. Grace inspires us to the fullest exercise of our humanity. Grace inspires to a Spirit-directed way of living, of eating and drinking, of working and playing, of enjoying sense pleasure, of experiencing joy and suffering.

        Participation in the human condition, then, offers us a marvelous opportunity of developing all our human capacities in the work of ongoing redemption. Yet the human condition is not by any means a completely pleasant situation. As Jesus before us suffered because of the human condition, so also must we. The human condition can be the occasion of suffering in so many different ways. For instance, a person can suffer because others treat him or her unjustly. One can suffer also precisely because someone loves him or her and he or she loves in return. This love makes one vulnerable to pain, not because the other intends it, but merely because to love within the human condition means a certain amount of inevitable suffering. We suffer also because we are to a certain extent pilgrims in exile. We have not yet arrived at our final destiny, a destiny which will be achieved only in eternity. Because we are still on the way, we are not yet completely alive, completely fulfilled. And because all this is so, we suffer, and sometimes deeply so. But, again looking to Jesus, we must learn how to encounter suffering properly. He encountered the human condition perfectly, whether it meant great joy or deep anguish. The Spirit asks us to live by the same attitude.
     
  • Bodily Values. Another perspective very close to the heart of the Incarnation is the concept of bodily values. The connection is obvious. The Son of God assumed a human nature with its bodily dimensions. He has given a great new dignity to the human body. Any attitude which deprecates the body is consequently totally un-Christian. There have been numerous such attitudes which have influenced Christian thought and practice, unofficially, of course. There have been Manichaeism, Gnosticism, Neo-Platonism, and Jansenism, to name some. Each of these has in one manner or other failed to see the beauty, dignity, and purpose of the human body.

        The body, despite its basic goodness and grandeur, still has sinful tendencies, tendencies toward laziness, lust, unbridled pursuit of all kinds of sense pleasure. If the body is to achieve its purpose, it must obviously be properly disciplined. The one who loves his body the most is, quite obviously, not the one who gives to it all its desires. He or she is the one who takes the necessary means, however painful, to ensure that the body serves its wonderful and God-given purpose.
     
  • Incarnationalism and Transcendence. In a quick survey of some of the important truths consequent upon the Son of God becoming man, certainly one to be mentioned is the fact that Incarnationalism leads to transcendence - to that which is invisible, to that which is above material limitation. At the offertory of the Mass, as the priest adds a drop of water to the wine to be offered, he says: "By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity." The Son has come to draw us to God - to the ultimate Transcendent Reality.

        Even though we would not have been given a supernatural destiny, we would have had a thrust toward the transcendent. Our graced nature has an even greater thrust toward transcendence. The ultimate Transcendent is God, and, as St. Augustine said long ago, our hearts will not rest until they rest in God.

        Christ, in His human nature, points to that which is beyond His humanity and everything else created. Christ ultimately points to God alone. Through His enfleshment, the Son was marvelously immanent in this world. But this very immanence of God pointed to the otherness, the transcendence of God. Jesus taught us that there is something beyond the material, something beyond marriage, and riches, and culture, something beyond all earthly values.

        Jesus told us to relate to these values in so far as they lead to God. He told us to renounce them in so far as this would be more conducive to union with God. Jesus told us something which we all have experienced - the created in itself cannot radically satisfy us. Only God can, and the created takes an ultimate meaning, and renders authentic satisfaction, only when it leads us to God. The Son became man to lead us to transcendence-indeed, to ultimate Transcendence, God Himself.

end of excerpt from Priestly Newsletter May/June 1997 Issue

 

  

the incarnation goes on in us

 

 

meditate for ten minutes —

 

 

 

12th day of the month

  

Breakfast

        Meet in Church 9:00 Preparatory Prayer

        Sing:  Take Lord Receive

        Sing:  Come to Me Lord and Possess My Soul

 

                   EIGHT-DAY RETREAT

                     Based on The Spiritual Exercise of St. Ignatius
                     by Francis Xavier McMenamy S.J. 
                     edited by William J. Grace, S.J. 

  

3.   The Supernatural Life

    It is likely to be of much help to us in our succeeding meditations if at this time we recall something of the significance of the supernatural life. For the real end and purpose that God proposed in creating angels and men was that He might be glorified in time and in eternity by their filial love and that they might share in His own happiness. But to give God their filial love and to share in His happiness angels and men must first participate in His divine life. This share in the being of the Deity is what we call our supernatural life. It comes to us in the gift of sanctifying grace.

  

Excerpt from Response to God's Love, 
  
by Father Edward Carter, S.J.

1

The Mystery of Christ and
            Christian Existence
 

   ...In reference to Christianity, God himself is the ultimate mystery. Radically, God is completely other and transcendent, hidden from man in his inner life, unless he chooses to reveal himself. Let us briefly look at this inner life of God.

    The Father, in a perfect act of self-expression, in a perfect act of knowing, generates his son. The Son, the Word, is, then, the immanent expression of God's fullness, the reflection of the Father. Likewise, from all eternity, the Father and the Son bring forth the Holy Spirit in a perfect act of loving.

    At the destined moment in human history, God's self-expression, the Word, immersed himself into man's world. God's inner self-expression now had also become God's outer self-expression. Consequently, the mystery of God becomes the mystery of Christ. In Christ, God tells us about himself, about his inner life, about his plan of creation and redemption. He tells us how Father, Son, and Holy Spirit desire to dwell within us in the most intimate fashion, how they wish to share with us their own life through grace. All this he has accomplished and does accomplish through Christ. St. Paul tells us: "I became a minister of this Church through the commission God gave me to preach among you his word in its fullness, that mystery hidden from ages and generations past but now revealed to his holy ones. God has willed to make known to them the glory beyond price which this mystery brings to the Gentiles—the mystery of Christ in you, your hope of glory. This is the Christ we proclaim while we admonish all men and teach them in the full measure of wisdom, hoping to make every man complete in Christ" (Col 1:25-28).

  

                    John Chapter 1 

                    meditation 30 minutes

                    meet 45 minutes later

  

Preparatory Prayer
Review yesterday

Same as at the end of yesterday

  

Sing:    Silent Night
            Song From Jesus
            Angels we have Heard on High
            Hark the Herald Angels Sing

 

 

Mass

20 minutes silent prayer after Mass

Lunch

  

                JESUS GOES UP TO THE TEMPLE AT THE
                         AGE OF TWELVE

                            Luke 2: 41-50

  

                    THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST 

                            Matthew 3: 13-17

 

                    THE VOCATION OF THE APOSTLES 

                 THE FIRST MIRACLE PERFORMED AT
                     THE MARRIAGE FEAST OF CANA IN GALILEE

 

Do Rosary Mysteries of Light October 24, 2002

Afternoon 3:00   Divine Mercy

 

Other Meditations continue

 A MEDITATION ON TWO STANDARDS

The one of Christ, our supreme leader and lord,
the other of Lucifer, the deadly enemy of our
human nature

 

Dinner

6:20 prayer tape

Rosary Mysteries of Light November 1, 2002

 

Before bed the following scriptures will be used with
    a short meditation

 

read in Church

 

    John 2: 13-22    meditate 15 min

            Matthew Chapter 5    meditate 1/2 hour

            Matthew 8: 23-27    meditate 15 min

   

   

     13th of the month

     Breakfast

     8:15   

     Take Lord Receive

     Come to Me Lord and Possess My Soul

 

        CHRIST WALKS UPON THE WATER

     Matthew 14: 22-33    15 minute meditation

     another meditation

     Preparatory Prayer

     meditate for 20-25 minutes

     LIGHT LUNCH MUST BE DONE BY 11:30

     11:45   Take Lord Receive

                 Prayers

     12:30    Mass        Hail Mary Gentle Woman
                             Song From Jesus

     20 minutes silent prayer after Mass

 

     after Mass

     Matthew 10: 1-16    15 minute meditation

     Songs
     We are called We are chosen
     Apostle Songs
     Here I am Lord

 

     Read aloud   165-168    THREE KINDS OF HUMILITY

     Fr. Carter on humility —

Humility

Humility is a very important virtue given to us for the spiritual journey.

Humility is both the realization of what we are as creatures of God and the concrete implementation of this realization in our Christian lives. Humility, therefore, is not an exercise in self-depreciation; it is not telling yourself that you are no good, that you really have nothing of any significance to contribute to the service of God. Humility is based on truth. It is compatible with the recognition that God has given a person certain gifts, even great gifts, of nature and grace. If we do not recognize our God-given gifts, we do not thank God for them as we should, nor properly develop these gifts according to His will. God wants us not only to recognize the good that is in us, but also to realize the source of this goodness. Although we have a responsibility to cooperate with His graces, God is the One Who is chiefly responsible for what we are. If one person has advanced to a level in the Christian life that is beyond the level of another, it is ultimately because God has given that person greater graces.

If humility is based on truth and, consequently, allows us to properly recognize our gifts, it also necessitates that we admit to the evil within us, which is also part of the truth and must be acted upon. Humility not only bids us to admit that there is evil in us, but also tells us that, as creatures of God, we should conform to His will and work against this evil side of our persons. In summary, humility allows us to properly evaluate both the good and evil within ourselves.

Here is a quotation from St. Paul which helps us to preserve, and grow in, humility: Who made you so important? What have you got that was not given to you? And if it was given to you, why are you boasting as though it were your own? (1 Cor 4:7).

And in the Letter of James we read: Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up. (Jm 4:10)

 

    meditation 15 minutes

   Songs of humility   Mary
                                Magnificat 

  

Luke 1: 46-55

                    The Magnificat

And Mary said:

My soul proclaims
    the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit rejoices
    in God my Saviour;
because he has looked upon
    the humiliation of his servant.
Yes, from now onwards
    all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty
    has done great things for me.
Holy is his name,
and his faithful love extends age after age
    to those who fear him.
He has used the power of his arm,
he has routed the arrogant of heart.
He has pulled down princes
    from their thrones
        and raised high the lowly.
He has filled the starving with good things,
    sent the rich away empty.
He has come to the help
    of Israel his servant,
        mindful of his faithful love
—according to the promise
    he made to our ancestors—
of his mercy to Abraham
    and to his descendants for ever.

  

     Break snack dinner 

     THE RAISING OF LAZARUS

     John 11: 1-45

     Reflection

             Servants & handmaids should keep silence
                as much as possible —

                                FROM THE LAST SUPPER TO THE
                                          AGONY INCLUSIVE


                                    Matthew 26: 30-46
                                    Mark 14: 32-44

     6:20 prayers
     Meditation

     Rosary Sorrowful Mysteries from the Hearts of Jesus and Mary

 

     IN CHURCH

     break snack

     before bed

                         Read scripture

                             Matthew 27
                             Luke 23
                             Mark 15
                             John 19

     meditate 5 minutes

                         Read scripture

                             John 19: 13-22

     meditate 5 minutes

                         Meditation on the Crucifixion

                         JESUS DIES UPON THE CROSS

                        Read

                     Candles, lights low —

  

 

                        John 19: 23-37
                        Matthew 27: 35-52
                        Mark 15: 24-38
                        Luke 23: 34-46

                        FROM THE CROSS TO THE SEPULCHER
                                INCLUSIVE

 

14th of the month

Breakfast

Meet in Church

Take Lord Receive

Come to Me Lord and Possess My Soul

Sing: Glory, Glory, Glory Lord

Preparatory Prayer

9:00

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.’

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.

Rosary October 13, 1996

Snack - light lunch

 

Songs before Mass   Here I Am Lord
                                You are Mine
                                Commitment for Servants & Handmaids Prayer from
                                    October 13, 2003

Mass

20 minutes after Mass

 

Mark 16: 1-11

Luke 24: 13-35

Sing:  Take Lord Receive

Sing:  Come to Me Lord and Possess My Soul
 

CONTEMPLATION TO ATTAIN THE 
     
  LOVE OF GOD

 

Sing:  Take Lord Receive

Read message Jesus in front of Blue Book II April 13, 1994

  

Picture of the Sacred Heart of JesusI Love You

(Letter for Front of B.B. II)
April 13, 1994

How, child, do I, Jesus, tell you I love you? You hold on to silly things, when God is in your midst and is ardently loving you. I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I am writing to each precious child this day. I am on fire for love of you. I remain in the Eucharist to be with you with My ardent love. I did not want to leave My beloved ones at the Last Supper. I love you so, My dear and ardently loved children. I remain with you this day in the Blessed Sacrament, the same Jesus Who died a brutal death on the cross.

Do you know I am truly present there? Do you know that God waits every day for you in the tabernacle? Do you comprehend even a minute amount of My love? You will never on earth know how I love you.

I, Jesus, truly the Son of God, came to earth a man and suffered a brutal death for love of you. I love you so much! I remain with you this day. I long for your love. I want you to come and be with Me in front of the tabernacle. I wait, I yearn for you to come and whisper your love to Me. I am a Person and I love you this day with such an ardent, on-fire love. No human could ever compare a speck to My love for you.

I wait, little ones, in the tabernacle. I wait for you to come and receive Me in Communion. I want you to want Me so much that you cannot wait to come and receive Me. I want to be the love, the Center of your life!

I am Jesus. I am the Son of God. I am writing to you this day. I want to possess your very soul and live in you. I have all you need, sweet ones. Oh, you are so blind! I long for your union with Me. I wrote the book on love. I instituted it, yet you go to the world for your love and do not even come to Me! Oh, I love you, little ones. Little ones, beloved of the Father, loved by the Holy Spirit, mothered by My very own mother, what more can I say? The rest is up to you!

I give you your will with such love and I want your love, freely given. I am God. What do you think you could ever need that I do not give you? I am the Savior of this world. I am Jesus, the Son of God. I am waiting for you. I am longing for you. I am yearning for you. I am God. I have all you ever will need!

Surrender this life to Me. Pray My prayer for union with Me. I want to possess your soul and operate from your very being. I am Jesus. I am the Son of God. I am the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I am Who am. I died and rose on the third day.

Harken to My call, harken to My pleading. Spend your days in love with Me. Nothing matters unless it is rooted in Me and rooted in My love. I am the Son of God. I am the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I love you with the tenderest love. I am waiting this day for you, My beloved one. Come to Me for I am the tenderest of all hearts. I am the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

    
 

   15 minutes

Read message May 13, 1993
 

Picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Cling to Me

May 13, 1993 

Jesus speaks:  My dear child, if you stay close to Me, then I live in you and you live in Me. I am He Who created you and I love you with such an intensity that you will never know. My words are your truth. You must abide in My heart in all things. There is no room for doubt. My ways are steadfast, direct, and without error.

    You must stay rooted in Me to ward off the power of the evil one. His grip is paralyzing and crippling. His power is stronger every day.

    When you live in Me, I am in your heart and he has no power over Me. I am your God. I am your true lover. I want to protect you. I want to guard you from this force. Stay rooted firmly in Me and he will have no power.

    I am He Who comforts you. My hand is upon you. Hold tight to Me, My child. My eyes are fixed right on you. You are My most precious child. I love you as no other can. My arms are about you. My tenderness surrounds you. My love is in your heart. You go not alone. I walk with you.

    I share every aspect of your life with you. Cling to Me, feel My presence. It is warm and secure within your chest. There is no room for fear, for I cast out fear and bring you comfort and joy.

end of May 13, 1993 message

   
 

Read Fr. Carter message July 31, 1994
 

July 31, 1994

Words of Jesus to Members of
Shepherds of Christ Associates:

"My beloved priest-companion, I intend to use the priestly newsletter, Shepherds of Christ, and the movement, Shepherds of Christ Associates, in a powerful way for the renewal of My Church and the world.

"I will use the newsletter and the chapters of Shepherds of Christ Associates as a powerful instrument for spreading devotion to My Heart and My Mother's Heart.

"I am calling many to become members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. To all of them I will give great blessings. I will use them as instruments to help bring about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. I will give great graces to the members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. I will call them to be deeply united to My Heart and to Mary's Heart as I lead them ever closer to My Father in the Holy Spirit."

- Message from Jesus to Father Edward J. Carter, S.J., Founder, as given on July 31, 1994,
feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola, Founder of the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits)

end of July 31, 1994 message given to Fr. Carter

    
  

Read Fr. Carter message October 13, 1994
    

October 13, 1994

The Birth of the Full Ministries
of the Shepherds of Christ

    "I wish to share with you part of a message which Jesus gave us on October 13, 1994. The message tells us about the expansion of the Shepherds of Christ movement:

    'My beloved priest-companion, today I come to you with another mission. I am asking you to establish Shepherds of Christ Ministries. At My request you have already begun the priestly newsletter, "Shepherds of Christ", and the prayer chapters, Shepherds of Christ Associates...

    'I am giving you this message on this day, the 77th Anniversary of the Great Apparition at Fatima, because of the close connection between the Shepherds of Christ movement and the Fatima message. The Fatima message is centered in devotion to My Heart and My Mother's Heart, especially in consecration to Our Hearts. Shepherds of Christ Ministries is also centered in devotion to Our Hearts. I will use Shepherds of Christ Ministries as a great instrument in helping to bring about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. When this occurs, My Church and the world will be experiencing the great era of peace promised by My Mother at Fatima.

    'Today, then, October 13, 1994, the 77th Anniversary of the Great Apparition at Fatima, marks the birth of Shepherds of Christ Ministries. I pour forth the great love of My Sacred Heart to all. I am Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock.'

end of October 13, 1994 message given to Fr. Carter

  
  

Read Fr. Carter message Apostles of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus
    

Apostles of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus

My dear fellow Associate Members,

Jesus is calling special apostles to join a new division of the Shepherds of Christ Movement. Here is a message from Jesus given to Father Carter:

    My beloved priest-companion, I am requesting that a new prayer movement be started under the direction of Shepherds of Christ Ministries. I am asking for volunteers who are willing to pray before the Blessed Sacrament for one hour, twice-weekly. Members of the Shepherds of Christ prayer chapters, as well as others, are to be invited to join this movement.

    These apostles are to pray for the intentions I am giving you. For part of the hour they are to use the prayers of the Shepherds of Christ Associates Handbook. They may spend the rest of the hour as they so choose.

    I will use this new prayer movement within My Shepherds of Christ Ministries in a powerful way to help in the renewal of My Church and the world. I will give great graces to those who join this movement. The name, Apostles of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, is to be given to this movement.

    I am inviting My beloved Rita Ring to be coordinator for this activity.

    I pour out the great love of My Sacred Heart to all. I am Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock.

    This is indeed a special calling for us to unite in one heart with His Eucharistic Heart and pray for the following intentions:

  1. For the spread of the devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary culminating in the reign of the Sacred Heart and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart.
  2. For the Pope.
  3. For all bishops of the world.
  4. For all priests.
  5. For all sisters and brothers in the religious life.
  6. For all members of the Shepherds of Christ Movement, and for the spread of this movement to the world.
  7. For all members of the Catholic Church.
  8. For all members of the human family.
  9. For all souls in purgatory.

end of Apostles of the Eucharistic Heart message

  

5 minutes

 

Consecrations out of prayer manual
  

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."

 

Prayer from October 13, 2003
  

   

    You are Mine
    Song From Jesus
    I Love You Jesus

  

        

 

  

Please remember us in your will.

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

  
(toll free) 1-888-211-3041
1-513-932-4451

                


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