Daily Writing
| Shepherds of Christ Daily Writing |
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February 11, 2009
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February 12th Holy
Spirit Novena |
The Novena Rosary
Mysteries |
Retreat in China
Mass every day
February 11th - Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes - start at 10:00am
February 12th - start at 6:20pm
February 13th - start at 12:00 Noon
The crucifix Felix carved is so special
Buy a little crucifix for your home —
they are so special
Given February 10, 2009
Writing by Rita Ring
Sixth Week
Daily Readings
Cain in a farmer
Abel is a shepherd
Cain & Abel offer an offering to God.
God looks favorable on Abel's gift
Cain resented this.
When we do good - we should just do
it for this
To want more may lead to sin —
God said to Cain - satan is lurking at
his door
Cain was jealous.
God wants a pure heart
God wants actions done to do God's will —
for good — not for an ulterior
motive for our self
Cain premeditated his brother's murder —
Sin now has become more grave
Abel's blood is on Cain
How are we today with the blood of
the babies
Jesus shed His Blood as a sacrifice
Jesus is the innocent lamb —
led to the slaughter
Cain lies to God
The devil is the father of lies —
Why would we lie and follow
the devil —
This has to make us feel dark (lying)
It makes us miserable in the end —
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.
We want the Spirit of God in us —
We want the Spirit of Truth dwelling in
us
Revelation 21: 1-8
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared now, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride dressed for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice call from the throne, 'Look, here God lives among human beings. He will make his home among them; they will be his people, and he will be their God, God-with-them. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness or pain. The world of the past has gone.'
Then the One sitting on the throne spoke. 'Look, I am making the whole of creation new. Write this, "What I am saying is trustworthy and will come true."' Then he said to me, 'It has already happened. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water from the well of life free to anybody who is thirsty; anyone who proves victorious will inherit these things; and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the legacy for cowards, for those who break their word, or worship obscenities, for murderers and the sexually immoral, and for sorcerers, worshippers of false gods or any other sort of liars, is the second death in the burning lake of sulphur.'
We see anger, envy here in Cain's actions —
jealousy, premeditated murder —
sin becomes more grave
Adam and Eve disobeyed God
Cain murdered his brother because
of how he felt toward his
brother
We see Abel's blood
We know Abel died —
Jesus shed His Blood so we can share
in His life —
Blood -- life
Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice
his son —
Cain's sin is more serious than
Adam and Eve
The Eucharist is the gift God
gives to us —
The Mass is the sacrifice of
Calvary sacramentally
made present —
From Response in Christ p. 76
Christ makes this interior offering of
Himself in the Mass for the same
ends as were present in His own
unique sacrifice —
1) ADORATION
2) THANKSGIVING
3) PETITION
4) SATISFACTION
However, Christ is not the only priest at the Mass as He
was at the Last Supper and upon Calvary. All the members
of the Mystical Body are priests along with Christ. To be
sure, there is a difference between the hierarchical priesthood
of bishops and priests and the universal priesthood of the
faithful. This difference is one of essence and not merely
degree. The point we wish to stress, however, is that the
universal priesthood is a real participation in Christ's
priesthood given through the sacraments of baptism and
confirmation.
Cain is sent out like Adam and Eve — A WANDERER
Psalm 50: 1, 8, 16-17, 20-21
The God of gods, Yahweh, is speaking,
from east to west he summons the earth.
It is not with your sacrifices that I find fault,
those burnt offerings constantly before me;What right have you to recite my statutes,
to take my covenant on your lips,
when you detest my teaching,
and thrust my words behind you?You sit there, slandering your own brother,
you malign your own mother's son.You do this, and am I to say nothing?
Do you think that I am really like you?
I charge you, indict you to your face.
Mark 8: 11-13
The Pharisees do not think Jesus' miracles
are enough
Jesus says
"Why does this age seek a sign?"
Mark 8: 12-13
And with a profound sigh he said, ‘Why does this generation demand a sign? In truth I tell you, no sign shall be given to this generation.’ And, leaving them again, he re–embarked and went away to the other side.
The Lord saw the wickedness on earth —
The sin is in the heart —
Evil can go deep — deep in a heart
It says in Genesis 6
When the Lord saw the wickedness
He regretted He had made man on earth
Genesis 6: 5
Yahweh saw that human wickedness was great on earth and that human hearts contrived nothing but wicked schemes all day long. Yahweh regretted having made human beings on earth and was grieved at heart.
But Noah found favor with God —
Psalm 29: 1-2, 3-4, 9-10
Matthew 11: 25
Jesus shows in Mark's Gospel how
hostility toward Him — Jesus
compares to yeast
Jesus says - you do not comprehend —
Mark 8: 5-21
He asked them, 'How many loaves have you?' And they said to him, 'Seven.' Then he instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and began handing them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them among the crowd. They had a few small fishes as well, and over these he said a blessing and ordered them to be distributed too. They ate as much as they wanted, and they collected seven basketfuls of the scraps left over. Now there had been about four thousand people. He sent them away and at once, getting into the boat with his disciples, went to the region of Dalmanutha.
The Pharisees came up and started a discussion with him; they demanded of him a sign from heaven, to put him to the test. And with a profound sigh he said, 'Why does this generation demand a sign? In truth I tell you, no sign shall be given to this generation.' And, leaving them again, he re-embarked and went away to the other side.
The disciples had forgotten to take any bread and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Then he gave them this warning, 'Keep your eyes open; look out for the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.' And they said to one another, 'It is because we have no bread.' And Jesus knew it, and he said to them, 'Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not understand, still not realise? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes and do not see, ears and do not hear? Or do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?' They answered, 'Twelve.' 'And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?' And they answered, 'Seven.' Then he said to them, 'Do you still not realise?'
Wednesday
Genesis 8: 6-13, 20-22
This describes the end of the flood —
A dove is released by Noah
When Christ comes up from the waters of
his baptism, the Holy Spirit,
in the form of a dove, comes
down upon him —
Mark 1: 9-11
It was at this time that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised in the Jordan by John. And at once, as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you.’
When we receive baptism, the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit dwell in us —
We are wounded because of
original sin —
We must pray for a pure heart —
We must keep our hearts pure —
The heart is the center of our life —
We need a heart of love like
Jesus, the New Adam —
not Adam who sinned.
A pure heart is totally dedicated to the
honor and glory of God —
Noah made a sacrifice —
We see a foreshadowing of Christ
sacrifice on the Cross —
Jesus is our Savior
Psalm 116: 12-15, 18-19
What return can I make to Yahweh
for his generosity to me?
I shall take up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of Yahweh.I shall fulfil my vows to Yahweh,
witnessed by all his people.Costly in Yahweh's sight
is the death of his faithful.I shall fulfil my vows to Yahweh,
witnessed by all his people,
in the courts of the house of Yahweh,
in your very heart, Jerusalem.
Mark 8: 22-26
We see Jesus heals the blind man
Jesus puts spit on his eyes Mark says.
God calls us to intimacy —
The more we grow in purity — the
more we can unite in intimate
union with God
Fr. Carter told me about purgatory
before heaven and
how God allows great suffering
to help purify us to have
this intimacy with Him
Fr. Carter said like purgatory in preparation for
intimacy with God —
Oh God I long to be so one with You —
My nights I spend - focusing how
God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit dwell
within my graced, baptized
soul
Thursday 6th Week
Genesis 9: 1-13
God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ‘Breed, multiply and fill the earth. Be the terror and the dread of all the animals on land and all the birds of heaven, of everything that moves on land and all the fish of the sea; they are placed in your hands. Every living thing that moves will be yours to eat, no less than the foliage of the plants. I give you everything, with this exception: you must not eat flesh with life, that is to say blood, in it. And I shall demand account of your life–blood, too. I shall demand it of every animal, and of man. Of man as regards his fellow–man, I shall demand account for human life.
He who sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for in the image of God
was man created.
Be fruitful then and multiply,
teem over the earth and subdue it!’God spoke as follows to Noah and his sons, ‘I am now establishing my covenant with you and with your descendants to come, and with every living creature that was with you: birds, cattle and every wild animal with you; everything that came out of the ark, every living thing on earth. And I shall maintain my covenant with you: that never again shall all living things be destroyed by the waters of a flood, nor shall there ever again be a flood to devastate the earth.’
‘And this’, God said, ‘is the sign of the covenant which I now make between myself and you and every living creature with you for all ages to come: I now set my bow in the clouds and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
Covenant with Noah
July 5, 2000
The sign of the Covenant — the Rainbow
God makes a covenant with Noah
God makes a covenant with Abraham
God gives us the commandments
Mark 8: 27-33
The Apostles see Jesus as Messiah —
Jesus says He is suffering Messiah
Peter says "You are the Messiah"
Mary called for conversion at Fatima —
Mary called men to "turn to God"
To be converted is to
love God FIRST
to love God above ourselves
To put God first
To not be selfish
Many serve or think they do, but
are selfish — they have an
ulterior motive for their
own greatness — not first to give
honor and glory to God
Friday 6th Week
Genesis 11: 1-9
Tower of Babel
They wanted to make a tower to the
sky to worship themselves —
say how great they were
Secularism
SIN of PRIDE
He called the people and his disciples to him and said, 'If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. What gain, then, is it for anyone to win the whole world and forfeit his life? And indeed what can anyone offer in exchange for his life? For if anyone in this sinful and adulterous generation is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.'
And he said to them, 'In truth I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.'
Rooted in God
OR
Rooted in evil
How deep in the evil?
or
How can we grow in deeper
intimacy with God —
filled more and more abundantly
with His grace
Religious life is to grow in
deeper intimacy with God —
to have a deeper spiritual
life — DISCIPLINE
St. Ignatius — Spiritual
EXERCISES
We read about Adam, Abel, Enoch and
Noah
Saturday 6th Week
Hebrews 11: 1-7
Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of realities that are unseen. It is for their faith that our ancestors are acknowledged.
It is by faith that we understand that the ages were created by a word from God, so that from the invisible the visible world came to be.
It was because of his faith that Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain, and for that he was acknowledged as upright when God himself made acknowledgement of his offerings. Though he is dead, he still speaks by faith.
It was because of his faith that Enoch was taken up and did not experience death: he was no more, because God took him; because before his assumption he was acknowledged to have pleased God. Now it is impossible to please God without faith, since anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and rewards those who seek him.
It was through his faith that Noah, when he had been warned by God of something that had never been seen before, took care to build an ark to save his family. His faith was a judgement on the world, and he was able to claim the uprightness which comes from faith.
Faith!!
Mark 9: 2-13
Transfiguration