| Shepherds of Christ Daily Writing |
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| Shepherds of Christ Daily Writing |
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December 6, 2015
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December 7th Holy Spirit Novena |
The Novena Rosary
Mysteries |
Pray for special intentions.
Pray for Dan & Melanie, Jimmy,
Fr. Joe, Mary, Blue Book 16.
Please pray for funds & grace.
Give the gift that Counts.
Blow Out Sale for Reprinting of Blue Book 1, 2 & 3
While Supplies Last
Blue Book 1 - $4 each plus postage
Blue Book 2 - $4 each plus postage
Blue Book 3 - $3 each plus postageCall 1-888-211-3041 for Doris
New Homily Book - Cycle C
Available $10.00 plus postage
December 17th is the anniversary of Mary's apparition in Clearwater 19 years ago.
Come to the 6:20 Prayer service December 17th.There will be a procession.
December 6, 2015
R. Dear Jesus, please help us to live as You
want us to be.
On this second Sunday of Advent we
see that we must prepare.
Baruch gives us a message to
have hope even after the Babylonian
exile.
We see the devastation of what
is going on today. There is much
suffering in the world, but the
Word of God stands as our
truth.
God is with us and we were
called by God through Fr. Carter
to begin this Movement to
pray for the priests, the Church and
the world.
We have these prayers in 8 languages,
because Jesus told Fr. Carter – He wanted
the whole world to pray these
prayers – with devotion to His
Sacred Heart.
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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)
R. We can't ignore how important
it is to Jesus to pray these prayers
now.
There are also 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
R. Jesus gave Fr. Carter this message – to
spend 2 hours before the Blessed
Sacrament weekly and to pray the Shepherds
of Christ prayers.
Jesus promised to outpour
His grace in these two hours.
Also beginning prayer chapters
helps a group to pray with
tremendous benefits for
themselves and their families.
Mary told me to have the
image glass put in Sacred Heart statues
and Virgin Mary statues and
pray the prayers before the statues.
Praying the prayers before the statues
can help bring down tremendous
healing graces for body, mind
and soul, for families –
Jesus said.
R. They did not listen to the words
of Jeremiah and there was the
Babylonian exile. But we see
that God brought them back
to their own land – in need of
rebuilding – and Baruch
offers hope today.
God has called us to always have
before us the end of our
lives – so we see our actions
in reference to preparing us
for eternal happiness.
Is this action an action of
right reason and preparing me
for eternal happiness?
We cannot give into the
deadly sins – doing so makes
our vision more and more distorted.
God has given us a prescription for
clean living. God has given us the
Commandments to live by –
God has given us the Church and
His Word.
God has given us the Church and
Baptism and the other sacraments.
Through Jesus' pierced Heart
the Church was born. Water
for baptism, blood for the
Eucharist.
We can respond to this marvelous
gift God gives to us as members
of the mystical body of Christ –
with Christ the head.
We can be witnesses of Christ alive
in us both in the Church and in
the world because the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit dwell in a special way, in
our graced, baptized soul.
God wants intimacy with us.
Jesus loves us so much – He came
a little baby in Bethlehem and
He wants our love in return.
The message we receive in
Advent is a hopeful message –
The Era of Peace - is God's Reign.
Mary is the Queen of Peace –
Jesus is the light of the World.
Why walk in darkness? The Christmas
trees remind us of Jesus, the
Light of the World.
In the scriptures we hear there
will be destruction and tribulation
and wars and people would
suffer.
Why make our own suffering?
What is the payoff for pride and
anger and jealousy and envy,
not doing what God asks for in
love and harmony and working
with each other?
What is the pay-off for rebelling against
God's message of peace and love?
We see the destruction of World War II –
We can see the destruction caused
by a cold war of holding out –
passive - aggressive –
Now we see that hatred that we
individually put out there toward
our brother – contributes to the
sin in the world –
God will not be out done in generosity
promising us eternal happiness
for those who loved and served
the Lord.
What a reward for doing what is
loving and being likened more
and more to the Heart of Jesus.
Heaven is a reward.
That means we must do something
to get that reward.
We must always be ready to meet
the Lord – that means our
hearts are to be more and more
in the image of Jesus.
Heaven is for lovers!
We celebrate the Immaculate Conception
on Tuesday.
We see that God gave Adam and
Eve so much and they rebelled
against God.
From the Priestly Newsletter
Pope John Paul II instructs us: "The Church, as a reconciled and reconciling community, cannot forget that at the source of her gift and mission of reconciliation is the initiative, full of compassionate love and mercy, of that God who is love (see 1 John 4:8) and who out of love created human beings (see Wisdom 11:23-26; Genesis 1:27: Psalms 8:4-8)…He created them so that they might live in friendship with Him and in communion with one another.
"God is faithful to His eternal plan even when man, under the impulse of the evil one (see Wisdom 2:24) and carried away by his own pride, abuses the freedom given to him in order to love and generously seek what is good, and (instead) refuses to obey his Lord and Father. God is faithful even when man, instead of responding with love to God’s love, opposes Him and treats Him like a rival, deluding himself and relying on his own power, with the resulting break of relationship with the One who created him. In spite of this transgression on man’s part, God remains faithful in love.
"It is certainly true that the story of the Garden of Eden makes us think about the tragic consequences of rejecting the Father, which becomes evident in man’s inner disorder and in the breakdown of harmony between man and woman, brother and brother (see Genesis 3:12 ff; 4:1-16). Also significant is the Gospel parable of the two brothers (the parable of the ‘prodigal son’; see Luke 15:11-32) who, in different ways, distance themselves from their father and cause a rift between them. Refusal of God’s fatherly love and of His loving gifts is always at the root of humanity’s divisions.
"But we know that God…like the father in the parable (of the prodigal son), does not close His heart to any of His children. He waits for them, looks for them, goes to meet them at the place where the refusal of communion imprisons them in isolation and division. He calls them to gather about His table in the joy of the feast of forgiveness and reconciliation.
"This initiative on God’s part is made concrete and manifest in the redemptive act of Christ, which radiates through the world by means of the ministry of the Church." 13
Pope John Paul II, as in Celebrate 2000!, Servant Publications, pp. 140-141.
R. We know Jesus is the New Adam,
Mary is the New Eve.
This mission is to teach people
about the purity of these two pure
and perfect Hearts of love.
Mary is full of grace. If
we go to heaven we will be full
of grace, have the fullness of
life, but we must serve God
in love and do what He wants –
Heaven is a reward, we must
do something to get the reward.
Mary shows us holiness.
She gave us the Magnificat.
Luke 1: 46-55
And Mary said:
My soul proclaims
the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit rejoices
in God my Saviour;
because he has looked upon
the humiliation of his servant.
Yes, from now onwards
all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty
has done great things for me.
Holy is his name,
and his faithful love extends age after age
to those who fear him.
He has used the power of his arm,
he has routed the arrogant of heart.
He has pulled down princes
from their thrones
and raised high the lowly.
He has filled the starving with good things,
sent the rich away empty.
He has come to the help
of Israel his servant,
mindful of his faithful love
—according to the promise
he made to our ancestors—
of his mercy to Abraham
and to his descendants for ever.
R. In St. Paul's second reading he tells us
"God has chosen us to be holy
and blameless in His sight."
We are to strive for holiness
to get to heaven – we are called
to be holy, Fr. Joe says, not
just try to get in the door.
We have a specific vocation God
calls us to, like Mary was called
to her vocation and she said
"yes".
Call – Response –
Priestly Newsletter Book II - September/October 1997
In all this Mary offers an example. Selfishness was totally foreign to her. She did not belong to herself. She belonged to God. She was not closed in upon herself. She was completely open to God. When God spoke, she listened. When God pointed the way, she followed. She realized that life is not a process a person masters by carefully mapping out one's own self-conceived plans of conquest, but a mystery to be gradually experienced by being open to God's personal and loving guidance.
Selfishness, then, did not close Mary off from God's call. Neither did fear. God asked her to assume a tremendous responsibility. He asked her to be the Mother of Jesus. Mary did not engage in a process of false humility and say that such a great role was above her. She did not say that she did not have the proper qualifications for this awesome mission. Briefly, she did not waste time looking at herself, making pleas that she was not worthy, telling the angel he had better go look for someone else. No, Mary did not look at herself. Her gaze was absorbed in God. She fully realized that whatever God asked of her, His grace would accomplish. She fully realized that although she herself had to cooperate, this work was much more God's than hers.
Mary's words, then, truly sum up what is the authentic Christian response at any point of life, in any kind of situation: "I am the handmaid of the Lord," said Mary, "let what you have said be done to me".
R. Mary was holy and always
ready to do God's will.
Mary is the Queen of Peace –
Mary appeared in Clearwater
to tell the world this message.
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All 5ths -
Our Lady of Clearwater Florida
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 November 5, 2003 |
 December 5, 2003 |
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R. We are called to prepare –
To keep in mind the second
coming of Jesus –
In our health we learn to
constantly prepare our
bodies if we want to
be healthy –
In our spiritual health we
must prepare ourselves
for eternal life.
Prepare, prepare –
We know how we must live,
eating and taking care of
our health –
We prepare our hearts
if God calls us.
Prepare – prepare – prepare
This is an old message from Jesus
June 5, 2014.
Given June 5, 2014
Jesus: Love is a state of being – a man
can be asked by God to help and to
do what his boss asks of him and
he is being watched by God of his
performance.
You have so long in this life to
live to be more pure in your
heart, likened to My Heart to
prepare yourself for heaven.
A man was asked to report what
he found to the one above him,
why would he ignore what the
one above asks and report nothing.
God has called you to His service
to some they learn to perfect traits
that are holding back needed information
for the building of My Kingdom and
to argue as to how their ways
are then the right ways.
I am pure and meek in Heart –
your whole life is to live to be pure,
to be as God is calling you to be.
A man had some land and was
asked by God to care for it –
instead he made friends with
those who came to work and reported
nothing to the owner and left the
work the owner told him to do
undone.
So when the owner expected the
loyalty of the man in serving
him, he found only disloyalty
and anger from an impudent
servant who seized the time for
his own vain glory, which was
as it was, of not serving where
the owner in charge of it all
asked him to report upward.
Why would a man be so
neglectful of what really was asked
of the one over them.
I have given you so many gifts
to love and to serve your God and
it is a very strong defect in one,
needing healing to ignore the ones
I call to lead and to withhold
what I ask for.
A man went out to a field and
in loyalty to his master he wanted
to serve him and do all he could
to promote the Kingdom.
Another man worked against
the owner – no matter how the owner
called him to serve – he continually
withheld the important information
he was being called to deliver. At
long last there was an enormous
storm brewing which could tear
the land apart. The unworthy servant
because of his bad ways withheld
from the owner what information
he asked of him.
Now the storm came and it
took out the barn and the livestock
and much of the possessions on the
land were destroyed.
When the unworthy servant was
asked by the owner – why he did
this and there by caused the destruction
of the place because they were unprepared,
the unworthy servant was obstinate
and denied any wrong on his part
and further infuriated the suffering
owner by his untruthfulness, deception
and pride.
I have given to you gifts and
land and love and the building
of My Kingdom is the concern. The
unworthy servant stoops to
manipulate men in ways of obstinacy
and argumentation –
While the just man seeks the ways
of the building of the Kingdom, obedience
to those God calls in His place over you.
When asked why the man disobeyed
the authority and did not do as he
was told – he became obstinate,
angry and further infuriated the
man who having lost patience with
the man's constant untruthfulness
and manipulation for no reason but
dominancy over his superior.
Now a man will stand before Me
on the last day and I will see how
he served the will of God, how
the man chose to do God's will
over his own.
... thy will be done on earth as
it is in heaven.
Obedience to the Father's will is
to be learned on this earth.
One can spend their whole life
trying to be in charge over those
they needed to obey.
... Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
Pope John Paul II instructs us: "The Church, as a reconciled and reconciling community, cannot forget that at the source of her gift and mission of reconciliation is the initiative, full of compassionate love and mercy, of that God who is love (see 1 John 4:8) and who out of love created human beings (see Wisdom 11:23-26; Genesis 1:27: Psalms 8:4-8)…He created them so that they might live in friendship with Him and in communion with one another.
"God is faithful to His eternal plan even when man, under the impulse of the evil one (see Wisdom 2:24) and carried away by his own pride, abuses the freedom given to him in order to love and generously seek what is good, and (instead) refuses to obey his Lord and Father. God is faithful even when man, instead of responding with love to God’s love, opposes Him and treats Him like a rival, deluding himself and relying on his own power, with the resulting break of relationship with the One who created him. In spite of this transgression on man’s part, God remains faithful in love.
"It is certainly true that the story of the Garden of Eden makes us think about the tragic consequences of rejecting the Father, which becomes evident in man’s inner disorder and in the breakdown of harmony between man and woman, brother and brother (see Genesis 3:12 ff; 4:1-16). Also significant is the Gospel parable of the two brothers (the parable of the ‘prodigal son’; see Luke 15:11-32) who, in different ways, distance themselves from their father and cause a rift between them. Refusal of God’s fatherly love and of His loving gifts is always at the root of humanity’s divisions.
"But we know that God…like the father in the parable (of the prodigal son), does not close His heart to any of His children. He waits for them, looks for them, goes to meet them at the place where the refusal of communion imprisons them in isolation and division. He calls them to gather about His table in the joy of the feast of forgiveness and reconciliation.
"This initiative on God’s part is made concrete and manifest in the redemptive act of Christ, which radiates through the world by means of the ministry of the Church." 13
Pope John Paul II, as in Celebrate 2000!, Servant Publications, pp. 140-141.
Jesus: When Peter denied Me - he repented
and he was sorry for his sin.
Judas betrayed Me and he despaired
because of his pride,
he did not understand the love
of God.
Judas was doing what he did behind
My back. He did not understand
I was above him.
Many who continue being neglectful
servants, continue in their ways with
great spiritual pride and impudence.
They need to be healed and instead they
become more impudent in what really
is important in the spiritual life –
obedience to just authority over them.
The seeds of time move exceedingly
slow until you have reached a plateau
in which a man of folly finds himself
in charge and his whole life is
lived making his kingdom one in
which he tries to dominate instead
of being ready to let God lead.
So he is "butting up" where he should
have opened up as an unclogged pipe.
I call men to be a connection in
My plan – like the pipes in one's
kitchen sink – a pipe brings water
in, a pipe takes water out.
To the man manipulating, controlling,
disobeying he is like a clogged pipe
in both directions in the Plan of God.
Where the man should have helped things
zig – he will zag every time blocking
thing and causing disharmony and
shut down.
My world is to be made up of
docile men acting as a network
to let water to the faucet and wasted
water to be removed efficiently.
Love to enter –
Truth to enter –
Building My Kingdom – not theirs,
not satan's –
Like a network
My people have you ever studied the
human body –
The food is taken in, it is broken
down, it is stored, it brings
life and energy and it is
then discarded if it is waste!
Perfection of feeding and nourishing
and working the Father's Plan
as the various organs bring
life to the man and nourishes
him, build up healthy blood
and a healthy body –
then what is waste is discarded.
Now a house had a set up –
water came in and it was
distributed in the faucets for
use in the bathrooms and
kitchen –
drains were provided with pipes
to carry out old water and
take it from the house –
A man had broken pipes on
the way it was to carry out
the debris.
So rather than deal with it,
he turned off the water and water
could not be used right in that
house because the network to
remove old water and debris was
broken.
But you say, what a foolish
way to operate to shut everything
down and abandon the house.
A man is given a heart and soul
and he is to learn obedience and
love and docility and learn he has
a wounded human nature and
has tendencies because of it to
anger, jealousy, pride, envy,
lust, slothfulness and gluttony –
So instead of trying to grow in virtue,
faith, hope, love, humility, prudence,
temperance, justice, fortitude
and the gifts of the Holy Spirit –
Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel,
Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety
and Fear of the Lord
the man gives into the tendencies
of his wounded human nature
and does not grow in the ways
in which he is to be a witness,
a servant to Me in the world.
It is like a clogged network,
like pipes broken on the return
of emptying old water in the house.
He shuts down and does not live.
Life is rooted in Me –
To have life, to live the life of
resurrection you must die to the
self-will opposed to God.
A man quit working the Plan
of God and he stored up clogged
things that never worked.
Where he was called to be humble,
and obedient - he grew in pride
because he didn't want anyone
telling him what to do.
... thy will be done on earth as
it is in heaven –
He would not recognize his
creaturehood, his woundedness
and he further never recognized
the Creator who made him to
learn obedience, submission,
meekness and be an empty pipe
in the grand design of the Father.
He zigged when he should have
zagged and that operation caused
a big failure in the plan of
expelling dirty water.
Look at the body –
In – usage – out
All according to a master plan
Jesus: The whole plan of consecration of the
Shepherds of Christ is the submission of one's
heart to My Heart and the heart of
My Mother.
From the Priestly Newsletter 2000 - Issue 1
In his Encyclical, Redemptor Hominis (Redeemer of Man) Pope John Paul II states: "The special characteristic of the motherly love that the Mother of God inserts in the mystery of the Redemption and the life of the Church finds expression in its exceptional closeness to man and all that happens to him. It is in this that the mystery of the Mother consists. The Church, which looks to her with altogether special love and hope, wishes to make this mystery her own in an ever deeper manner...
"The Father’s eternal love, which has been manifested in the history of mankind through the Son whom the Father gave... comes close to each of us through this Mother and thus takes on tokens that are of more easy understanding and access by each person." 3
3. Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter, Redemptor Hominis, (Redeemer of Man), United States Catholic Conference, No. 22.
Jesus: As you give yourself more and more
to God – you become as God
wants you to be –
The willful man – holds back –
he is in control, he manipulates
to keep control – he does not take
responsibility for wrongs he
commits, he tries to deceive
others, because the focus is not
truth, but his pride, himself.
A just man seeks the truth –
he wants what God wants –
he wants to be made more pure –
he enlists God's help –
he asks the Holy Spirit for wisdom to
see his imperfections –
he is giving his heart to the Immaculate Heart
of My Mother – so she will,
with the Holy Spirit help him to
be more and more holy –
From the Priestly Newsletter 2000 - Issue 3
The late Archbishop Luis M. Martinez of Mexico strikingly speaks of the ongoing cooperation of Mary with the Holy Spirit regarding the reproduction of Jesus within us: "Christian life is the reproduction of Jesus in souls…
"Now, how will this mystical reproduction be brought about in souls? In the same way in which Jesus was brought into the world, for God gives a wonderful mark of unity to all His works. Divine acts have a wealth of variety because they are the work of omnipotence; nevertheless, a most perfect unity always shines forth from them because they are the fruit of wisdom; and this divine contrast of unity and variety stamps the works of God with sublime and unutterable beauty.
"In His miraculous birth, Jesus was the fruit of heaven and earth…The Holy Spirit conveyed the divine fruitfulness of the Father to Mary, and the virginal soil brought forth in an ineffable manner our most loving Savior, the divine Seed, as the prophets called Him…
"That is the way He is reproduced in souls. He is always the fruit of heaven and earth.
"Two artisans must concur in the work that is at once God’s masterpiece and humanity’s supreme product: the Holy Spirit and the most holy Virgin Mary. Two sanctifiers are necessary to souls, the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, for they are the only ones who can reproduce Christ.
"Undoubtedly, the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary sanctify us in different ways. The first is the Sanctifier by essence; because He is God, who is infinite sanctity; because He is the personal Love that completes, so to speak, the sanctity of God, consummating His life and His unity, and it belongs to Him to communicate to souls the mystery of that sanctity. The Virgin Mary, for her part, is the co-operator, the indispensable instrument in and by God’s design. From Mary’s maternal relation to the human body of Christ is derived her relation to His Mystical Body which is being formed through all the centuries until the end of time, when it will be lifted up to the heavens, beautiful, splendid, complete, and glorious.
"These two, then, the Holy Spirit and Mary, are the indispensable artificers of Jesus, the indispensable sanctifiers of souls. Any saint in heaven can co-operate in the sanctification of a soul, but his co-operation is not necessary, not profound, not constant: while the co-operation of these two artisans of Jesus of whom we have just been speaking is so necessary that without it souls are not sanctified (and this by the actual design of Providence), and so intimate that it reaches to the very depths of our soul. For the Holy Spirit pours charity into our heart, makes a habitation of our soul, and directs our spiritual life by means of His gifts. The Virgin Mary has the efficacious influence of Mediatrix in the most profound and delicate operations of grace in our souls. And, finally, the action of the Holy Spirit and the co-operation of the most holy Virgin Mary are constant; without them, not one single character of Jesus would be traced on our souls, no virtue grow, no gift be developed, no grace increased, no bond of union with God be strengthened in the rich flowering of the spiritual life.
"Such is the place that the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary have in the order of sanctification. Therefore, Christian piety should put these two artisans of Christ in their true place, making devotion to them something necessary, profound, and constant." 18
18. Archbishop Luis M. Martinez, The Sanctifier, op. cit. pp. 5-7.
From the Priestly Newsletter 2000 - Issue 2
We have these words from Roman Guardini: "It is only through Christ that we come to the Father. When speaking of God the Father, we ought to add that we mean Him whom Christ means when He says ‘My Father.’ Thus we would signify that we were not thinking of a vague concept of deity whose power one may suspect behind the government of the world, but that holy countenance which revealed itself for the first time in the words of Christ. When we ‘go to the Father,’ we must go together with Christ, along His path and in His spirit. There can be no other way to the Father…
"So that we may be able to follow Christ we must never cease to dwell on His life and teaching; otherwise our prayer to God will inevitably assume the character of a vague cosmic worship. Only through Christ can we reach the real Father in heaven.
"Christ has laid down for us how we should pray to the Father…
"Rightfully understood, and spoken in the spirit in which Christ taught them, the words of the Lord’s Prayer have profound and eternal significance. Their key lies in the body of teaching which is known as the Sermon on the Mount. They are illumined by the parables in which Christ explains the relationship between God and man; for example, by the parable of the Prodigal Son; thus, if rightfully understood in this wider context, they become a living path leading us to the Father.
"Because the Lord’s Prayer is so full of meaning and truth, and yet so simple, it frequently suffers the fate of being said thoughtlessly, without true reverence and inner intent. It happens so much that we ought to remind ourselves of our responsibility as Christians to preserve and treasure Christ’s holy heritage. We should say the Lord’s Prayer in a collected mood, thoughtfully, and putting our heart into its words. Only then will it open the doors to the kingdom of the Father which the Son’s love has prepared for us." 7
7. Romano Guardini, Prayer in Practice, Pantheon Books, p. 115.
2 Corinthians 12: 9-10
but he has answered me, ‘My grace is enough for you: for power is at full stretch in weakness.’ It is, then, about my weaknesses that I am happiest of all to boast, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me; and that is why I am glad of weaknesses, insults, constraints, persecutions and distress for Christ’s sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.
From the Priestly Newsletter 2000 - Issue 2
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd 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)
St. Paul tells us: It is, then, about my weaknesses that I am happiest of all to boast, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me; and that is why I am glad of weaknesses, insults, constraints, persecutions and distress for Christ’s sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong. (2 Cor 12:9-10)This brief passage contains one of the greatest lessons of the spiritual life. As we progress along our spiritual journey, we become increasingly aware of how weak we are in ourselves, but how strong we are in Christ.
To experience our weakness involves suffering. The degree and kind of suffering can vary. The suffering can include the experience of the classical dark night of the spirit as described by St. John of the Cross.
One of the main purposes of the dark night is to make a person keenly aware of his or her helplessness without God. This is a most necessary point that mystics must pass through if the spiritual marriage, or transforming union with God in Christ, is to occur. In this transforming union, there is a profound exchange between God and the mystic. God’s self-communication to the mystic is most profound, and the mystic makes a profound gift of self to God. In this state the mystic is supremely aware of living by the life of God, and without experiencing one’s helplessness without God, this lived awareness does not occur.
If not all on the spiritual journey experience the classic dark night, all must undergo a proportionate purification which includes increased awareness of personal weakness. In this process one more and more abandons the self to Christ and increasingly lives by His life, by His strength. Again St. Paul speaks to us: I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me. The life that I am now living, subject to the limitation of human nature, I am living in faith, faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:19-20)
Our sense of weakness is not a paralyzing one. It does not hinder our performance of duty. On occasion, athletes and other performers may, for various reasons, feel very inadequate regarding the exercise of their particular skill. The sense of inadequacy, in turn, can detract from performance. In the spiritual life, however, our sense of weakness does not impair our capacity to function as Christians. On the contrary. If, sensing our helplessness, we increasingly abandon ourselves to Christ, we act with greater spiritual vitality. We do this with a basic peace of which the world knows not. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, one of the greatest apostles of devotion to the Heart of Christ, speaks about this peace and its connection with surrender to Christ and His strength. In one of her letters she says: "Try especially to preserve peace of heart... The way to preserve this peace is not to have a will of our own any more, but to put the will of the Sacred Heart in the place of ours, and let Him will for us whatever gives Him the most glory, being content to submit and abandon ourselves. In a word, this loving Heart will supply whatever is wanting in you. He will love God for you, and you will love God in Him and through Him."
2Indeed, to those who are unspiritual, the concept of striving to grow through the sense of our weakness is complete folly, utter craziness. To those who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, however, being properly aware of one’s weakness is strength and peace and consolation.
Jesus is our Savior. When we are tired and weary, let us go to the Heart of Christ. Let us not worry about anything. Let us not fret. Our work for Christ is the work of God. Do we not trust that God will take care of His own work?
To be able to say in the midst of adversity and struggle, "Jesus’ hand is here and He knows what is happening, I will let go of my anxiety and be at peace," is to have reached a great plateau of trust in Christ. Yes, let us trust in Jesus in all our trials. Let us refuse to worry. What good does worry accomplish? Let us convert the energy put into worrying into the energy of trusting in Our Lord.
Jesus spread His arms on the cross in the greatest love for each of us. He knew each of us by name. If He endured such agonizing suffering for love of each of us, why do we not have the greatest trust that He wants to be so close to us, attending to all our needs — if only we allow Him?
The more we place our trust in Jesus, the more we experience His peace. Again, let us refuse to worry. Let us place all cares in the hands of Jesus and trust that He will tend to them. He is present to us, loving us, guarding us, asking for our love, asking for our surrender.
We end these reflections concerning how we find our strength in Christ with another quotation from St. Paul: As for me, I am full of joy in the Lord, now that at last your consideration for me has blossomed again; though I recognise that you really did have consideration before, but had no opportunity to show it. I do not say this because I have lacked anything; I have learnt to manage with whatever I have. I know how to live modestly, and I know how to live luxuriously too: in every way now I have mastered the secret of all conditions: full stomach and empty stomach, plenty and poverty. There is nothing I cannot do in the One who strengthens me. (Phil 4:10-13)
- Scripture quotations are taken from The New Jerusalem Bible, Doubleday.
Pope John Paul II, On The Christian Meaning of Human Suffering, United States Catholic Conference, Nos. 19 and 23.
Priestly Newsletter 1996 - March/April
The children of the world are among our most precious treasures. The Holy Father speaks insightfully about children and all of us.
"Little children very soon learn about life. They watch and imitate the behavior of adults. They rapidly learn love and respect for others, but they also quickly absorb the poison of violence and hatred. Family experiences strongly condition the attitudes which children will assume as adults. Consequently, if the family is the place where children first encounter the world, the family must be for children the first school of peace.
"Parents have an extraordinary opportunity to help their sons and daughters to become aware of this great treasure: the witness of their mutual love. It is by loving each other that they enable the child, from the very first moment of its existence, to grow up in peaceful surroundings, imbued with the positive values which make up the family's true heritage: mutual respect and acceptance, listening, sharing, generosity, forgiveness. Thanks to the sense of working together which these values foster, they provide a true education for peace and make the child, from its earliest years, an active builder of peace.
"Children share with their parents and brothers and sisters the experience of life and hope. They see how life's inevitable trials are met with humility and courage, and they grow up in an atmosphere of esteem for others and respect for opinions different from their own.
"It is above all in the home that, before even a word is spoken, children should experience God's love in the love which surrounds them. In the family they learn that God wants peace and mutual understanding among all human beings, who are called to be one great family.
"Children are not a burden of society; they are not a means of profit or people without rights. Children are precious members of the human family, for they embody its hopes, its expectations and its potential.
"Peace is a gift of God; but man and woman must first accept this gift in order to build a peaceful world. People can do this only if they have a childlike simplicity of heart. This is one of the most profound and paradoxical aspects of the Christian message: to become childlike is more than just a moral requirement but a dimension of the mystery of the Incarnation itself.
"The Son of God did not come in power and glory, as he will at the end of the world, but as a child, needy and poor. Fully sharing our human condition in all things but sin (cf. Heb 4:15), he also took on the frailty and hope for the future which are part of being a child. After that decisive moment for the history of humanity, to despise childhood means to despise the One who showed the greatness of his love by humbling himself and forsaking all glory in order to redeem mankind...
"Jesus asked the disciples to become 'children' again (Mk 10:14-15). Jesus thus turned around our way of thinking. Adults need to learn from children the ways of God: seeing children's capacity for complete trust, adults can learn to cry out with true confidence, 'Abba, Father!'
"To become like a little child–with a complete trust in the Father and with the meekness taught by the Gospel–is not only an ethical imperative: it is a reason for hope. Even where the difficulties are so great as to lead to discouragement and the power of evil so overwhelming as to dishearten, those who can rediscover the simplicity of a child can begin to hope anew. This is possible above all for those who know they can trust in a God who desires harmony among all persons in the peaceful communion of his kingdom. It is also possible for those who, though not sharing the gift of faith, believe in the values of forgiveness and solidarity and see in them–not without the hidden action of the Spirit–the possibility of renewing the face of the earth.
"It is therefore to men and women of good will that I address this confident appeal. Let us all unite to fight every kind of violence and to conquer war! Let us create the conditions which will ensure that children can receive as the legacy of our generation a more united and fraternal world!" (14)
14. Pope John Paul II, "Let us Give Children a Future of Peace," Dec. 8, 1995, as in Inside the Vatican, February, 1996.
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6 different Blue Books for $30.00 including postage
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The more you use the Blue Books and
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Guiding Light Homily Book Series
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R. Pray for These Things
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10) Pray for Jeff - sales & health. Pray for Nick.
11) Blue Book 16 and cover and all involved.
For our Publisher and all involved
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Ed, Jimmy, Steve, a special couple, Rosie & all involved.
21) 2 babies and moms.
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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.
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