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Our Lady of Lourdes

  Pictures from February 10, 2007

                February 11, 2011 - Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

                Jesus: Rest with Me —

                Find a place to be alone with Me

                R. We are pilgrims on a journey —

                There is a difference of the spirits —

                The Spirit of God —

                The spirit of the world —
     

        Prayer of St. Ignatius

Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from the side of Christ wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Permit me not to be separated from Thee
From the wicked foe defend me
at the hour of my death call me
and bid me come to Thee
That with Thy saints I may praise Thee
For ever and ever. Amen.

                R. We don't want to get into a
                    little cubby hole — where we
                    are in a spiritual trap —

                God's ways are not our ways —

                We see in the readings of Hebrews
                    about Abraham who set
                    out on a journey and he
                    wanted God's will —

                He trusted in God's word —

                He was led out in a mystery with
                    hardship and suffering, but
                    he did not give up or
                    do his own will, but did
                    as he believed God called him —
                    He did not know everything —

                Others tempted him to turn back —
                He was strong following God's will —

                We see his faith —

                Because of his faith God blessed
                    him — he told him he would
                    have descendants as numerous
                    as the stars of the sky —

                We too are on a journey —

                We must follow the mysterious
                    will of God —
                    God who created us —

                We will suffer, we will rise —
                God tests us to see our faith —

                The devil wants us to do our own
                    will opposed to God's will —

                We must have faith —
                We pray for an increase of faith —

                God blessed Abraham —

                R. God wants us to surrender our will
                    to Him —

                To work His plan —

                To pray for strength from Him —

                What we think we want might not be
                    what God wants for us at all —

                Reading the Bible —

                Reading the lives of the saints
                    tells us about the passionate
                    love these saints had for God.

                We are pilgrims on a journey

                Sing Song — (We are pilgrims on a journey)

                The greatest gift is to know God —

                To know the Blessed Trinity

From the Mass Book

December 17, 1995

May 16, 1998 - Prayer to the Father

My Father,

        With my whole heart I desire to consecrate the whole world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I wish with my whole being for the salvation of souls and that man live according to Thy Holy Will. I pray my Father that we may be one in You and Your Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit that we may intercede to You for this cause.

        It is this burning desire within my soul to spread the consecration to the far ends of the earth, that the cries of Your children are cries of glory and honor and adoration, praising God as their God.

        My Father, at this moment a soul hangs on the edge of death. For all eternity they will go to a place. It is not the plot of this soul as it trods this barren land to decide on the edge of death. You created us that we would grow in our oneness with God, that we would mature more and more in our image and likeness to God.

        And so My Father, I pray with every cell in my body for this earth. In the name of Your Son Jesus I consecrate all the souls of this earth to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the Holy Spirit in union with the Holy sacrifice of the Mass with all the angels and saints and the souls in Purgatory.

        I beg You Father for mercy.
        I beg You Father for assistance.
        I beg You Father to help us to spread this consecration to the far ends of the earth.

        Please help us. We are helpless little ones coming in the heart of our Mother, bleeding from our wounds and our sins.

        Your Son, Jesus Christ, shed the last drop of His Blood for the salvation of mankind. We wish to unite in this sacrifice, sacramentally made present in the Mass all over the world at every moment. Help us to make reparation to You for the sins of men.

        Please my Father, help us. Held in the heart of Mary and the Heart of Jesus we come as the children of Eve to beg for the Reign of the Sacred Heart and the Triumph of Mary's heart. Look upon our love, Your shepherds in the Shepherds of Christ, our sacrifices and devotion to You Our Beloved Father. Come by the means of the Holy Spirit and sanctify us and make us whole, that we are one in Your Son Jesus, praying to You, Father, in the name of Your Son Jesus in the Holy Spirit united with all the angels and saints, in the heart of Mary. We beg for help for special intentions concerning the Movement. We beg for help to reach the Churches to give these prayers of Jesus to them, to reach the schools and the family. Help we cry as poor banished children of Eve. Help us Father to do this work the Good Shepherd has entrusted to us. Help us to be one in You that we act as intercessors to help this world to be turned to God as their God, loving, honoring and adoring Him as the Lord of Host is truly present on His throne.

        We are Your children Father, we implore You to answer our prayer.
        We love You, we worship You, we adore You, we thank you and we sing from the bottom of our hearts, Holy God we Praise Your Name. Alleluia

end of prayer to the Father

                R. St. Ignatius gave us the Spiritual Exercises

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

21.                     SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

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

                        23. FIRST PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION

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

                R. After we get these attachments
                    removed — we seek the
                    will of God —

                Freedom to do the will of God
                    in our lives —

                Not being bound by attachments —

                Freedom to do God's will —

                The exercises are to help us get this
                    freedom —

                To be passionately in love with Christ —
                    Intimately in love with Christ
                    On fire for love of Christ
                    Living as the Spouse of Jesus

                Like Jesus calls us in the Blue Books —

                    Life in Him —

                Not being inordinately attached so
                    we are not free to do the will of God.

                We are pilgrims on a journey —

                God's plan is working in our lives
                    to help us be more intimate
                    with God: Father, Son and
                    Holy Spirit

                We must discern the spirits —

                    The Spirit of God gives us peace and joy —
                    The spirits of this world leave us empty —
                        sad and tired —

                    The world wants us to make this our
                        end — it promises so much and
                        in the end, these things are not
                        as they appear —

                    We want freedom to do God's will —

                We want our life IN HIM —

                God called Moses —

                What was God's will for him —

                Look how he set out not knowing
                    what he would do or where
                    he was going —

                See his desire to serve God —
                    despite the world — He
                    followed God —

                He had the freedom —

                He let go of what could hold him back —

                The peace of doing God's will — LASTS —

                Look at the saints —

                St. Thomas More —
                Saint Paul
                Saint Peter
                Saint John the Baptist
                Saint John of the Cross
                Saint Rita
                Padre Pio

                St. Ignatius consecrated his life to Our Lady —
                These saints wanted to know God —
                They were on fire for love of God —
                Taste the sweetness of God —

                The Spiritual Exercises takes us
                    into the life of Jesus —

                The mysteries of the rosary —

                We want to rid the soul of inordinate
                    attachments —

                The purpose is conquest of self —
                    don't act because of jealousy —
                    pride —
                    power

                    affection - I didn't get enough
                                    you don't appreciate me —
                                    you should make me feel good
                                    etc.

                    greed —

                The goal is freedom from these
                    inordinate attachments and
                    mastery of self —

                We look at the conversion of St. Paul —

                He was knocked down —
                Suffering can knock us down —

                We are vulnerable —

                We can be prideful, controlling —
                    seeking power

                How does God get our attention if
                    we want our will and are
                    blocking God's will with our,
                    inordinate attachments to power,
                    control, affections etc. and we
                    are thus blocking God's will
                    with these imperfections —
                    these attachments —

                One priest in a book Fr. Carter had on the
                    spiritual exercises called it
                    "pondus" —

                   EIGHT-DAY RETREAT

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

18. The Three Classes of Men

    St. Ignatius assumes that the spiritual life, in as far as we live it, consists in finding God in all things, that is, in recognizing the holy will of God and in embracing the known will of God. Advancement in the supernatural life means therefore a fuller and more complete finding of God in the details of one's life. Now the Exercises are designed and so constructed as to assist one in finding God either in his vocation in life or in some detail of his life.

    The Saint further assumes that what hinders the soul from finding God is some ill-regulated attachment—a "pondus," as he calls it, or dead weight — which holds back the soul from embracing God's will, or even recognizing it. Hence what the Exercises aim at primarily is to remove this "pondus" or attachment. For if this impediment is put out of the way the sincere soul will surely find God; that is, it will recognize and embrace the will of God for the right ordering of its life. This purpose of the retreat is made clear from the very beginning. For just prior to the statement of the First Principle and Foundation we find the heading, "Spiritual Exercises to conquer oneself and regulate one's life, and to avoid coming to a determination through any inordinate affection."

    All the exercises of the retreat which we have followed up to the present are directed toward the removal of attachments. To this end we have searched for incentives based on reason, on fear, and on love. Love of Christ, which is the more excellent way for a Christian, is also the normal way provided by Providence for overcoming disordered attachments to creatures and finding God in peace. Hence, after the few exercises which are given in the First Week, the Ignatian retreat consists for the most part in contemplation of Christ. This contemplation has as its purpose to engender in the heart of the exercitant an ardent personal love of our Lord. We seek that quality of love which insures courage and complete sincerity in setting aside impediments or attachments by the time when the election or choice is reached.

    The meditation on The Kingdom of Christ enkindled love in our souls, and thereupon we made a generous offering of ourselves for the service of the King. Subsequent consideration of the mysteries of Christ's child-life has deepened our love and the generosity of our offering. In The Two Standards our Lord made plain what is His way of a perfect life for a son of God on earth. It is the way of the Holy Cross, of poverty, and of humiliation. Our response to the Master's plea was a deliberate and intensive petition that He might deign to take us with Him in His way of poverty and humiliation. 

End of excerpt

                R. Freedom — mastery of self —

                We need to be with God to know Him —
                The world is not like God —
                We have a tainted human nature —
                We were taught imperfectly —
                We are sinners —

                We need to study God —
                We need to relate with God —
                We were created in His image and likeness —
                We are to pray to be more and more like
                    God —

                We receive a sharing in His life in baptism
                Jesus feeds this life with Himself —
                Jesus gives us Himself in the
                    Eucharist —

                We eat His body —
                We drink His blood —
                We are given confession
                We are given the Mass

                The Word and the Eucharist is the Bread
                    of Life —

Excerpt of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. pp. 141-150
    

313. RULES FOR DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS
I

Rules for understanding to some extent the different movements produced in the soul and for recognizing those that are good to admit them, and those that are bad, to reject them. These rules are more suited to the first week
  

314.  I.  In the case of those who go from one mortal sin to another, the enemy is ordinarily accustomed to propose apparent pleasures. He fills their imagination with sensual delights and gratifications, the more readily to keep them in their vices and increase the number of their sins.

    With such persons the good spirit uses a method which is the reverse of the above. Making use of the light of reason, he will rouse the sting of conscience and fill them with remorse.

315.  2.  In the case of those who go on earnestly striving to cleanse their souls from sin and who seek to rise in the service of God our Lord to greater perfection, the method pursued is the opposite of that mentioned in the first rule.

    Then it is characteristic of the evil spirit to harass with anxiety, to afflict with sadness, to raise obstacles backed by fallacious reasonings that disturb the soul. Thus he seeks to prevent the soul from advancing.

    It is characteristic of the good spirit, however, to give courage and strength, consolations, tears, inspirations, and peace. This He does by making all easy, by removing all obstacles so that the soul goes forward in doing good.

316.  3.  SPIRITUAL CONSOLATION.  I call it consolation when an interior movement is aroused in the soul, by which it is inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord, and as a consequence, can love no creature on the face of the earth for its own sake, but only in the Creator of them all. It is likewise consolation when one sheds tears that move to the love of God, whether it be because of sorrow for sins, or because of the sufferings of Christ our Lord, or for any other reason that is immediately directed to the praise and service of God. Finally, I call consolation every increase of faith, hope, and love, and all interior joy that invites and attracts to what is heavenly and to the salvation of one's soul by filling it with peace and quiet in its Creator and Lord.

317.  4.  SPIRITUAL DESOLATION.  I call desolation what is entirely the opposite of what is described in the third rule, as darkness of soul, turmoil of spirit, inclination to what is low and earthly, restlessness rising from many disturbances and temptations which lead to want of faith, want of hope, want of love. The soul is wholly slothful, tepid, sad, and separated, as it were, from its Creator and Lord. For just as consolation is the opposite of desolation, so the thoughts that spring from consolation are the opposite of those that spring from desolation.

318.  5.  In time of desolation we should never make any change, but remain firm and constant in the resolution and decision which guided us the day before the desolation, or in the decision to which we adhered in the preceding consolation. For just as in consolation the good spirit guides and counsels us, so in desolation the evil spirit guides and counsels. Following his counsels we can never find the way to a right decision.

319.  6.  Though in desolation we must never change our former resolutions, it will be very advantageous to intensify our activity against the desolation. We can insist more upon prayer, upon meditation, and on much examination of ourselves. We can make an effort in a suitable way to do some penance.

320.  7.  When one is in desolation, he should be mindful that God has left him to his natural powers to resist the different agitations and temptations of the enemy in order to try him. He can resist with the help of God, which always remains, though he may not clearly perceive it. For though God has taken from him the abundance of fervor and overflowing love and the intensity of His favors, nevertheless, he has sufficient grace for eternal salvation.

321.  8.  When one is in desolation, he should strive to persevere in patience. This reacts against the vexations that have overtaken him. Let him consider, too, that consolation will soon return, and in the meantime, he must diligently use the means against desolation which have been given in the sixth rule.

322.  9.  The principal reasons why we suffer from desolation are three:

    The first is because we have been tepid and slothful or negligent in our exercises of piety, and so through our own fault spiritual consolation has been taken away from us.

    The second reason is because God wishes to try us, to see how much we are worth, and how much we will advance in His service and praise when left without the generous reward of consolations and signal favors.

    The third reason is because God wishes to give us a true knowledge and understanding of ourselves, so that we may have an intimate perception of the fact that it is not within our power to acquire and attain great devotion, intense love, tears, or any other spiritual consolation; but that all this is the gift and grace of God our Lord. God does not wish us to build on the property of another, to rise up in spirit in a certain pride and vainglory and attribute to ourselves the devotion and other effects of spiritual consolation.

323.  10.  When one enjoys consolation, let him consider how he will conduct himself during the time of ensuing desolation, and store up a supply of strength as defense against that day.

324.  11.  He who enjoys consolation should take care to humble himself and lower himself as much as possible. Let him recall how little he is able to do in time of desolation, when he is left without such grace or consolation.

    On the other hand, one who suffers desolation should remember that by making use of the sufficient grace offered him, he can do much to withstand all his enemies. Let him find his strength in his Creator and Lord.

325.  12.  The enemy conducts himself as a woman. He is a weakling before a show of strength, and a tyrant if he has his will. It is characteristic of a woman in a quarrel with a man to lose courage and take to flight if the man shows that he is determined and fearless. However, if the man loses courage and begins to flee, the anger, vindictiveness, and rage of the woman surge up and know no bounds. In the same way, the enemy becomes weak, loses courage, and turns to flight with his seductions as soon as one leading a spiritual life faces his temptations boldly, and does exactly the opposite of what he suggests. However, if one begins to be afraid and to lose courage in temptations, no wild animal on earth can be more fierce than the enemy of our human nature. He will carry out his perverse intentions with consummate malice.

326.  13.  Our enemy may also be compared in his manner of acting to a false lover. He seeks to remain hidden and does not want to be discovered. If such a lover speaks with evil intention to the daughter of a good father, or to the wife of a good husband, and seeks to seduce them, he wants his words and solicitations kept secret. He is greatly displeased if his evil suggestions and depraved intentions are revealed by the daughter to her father, or by the wife to her husband. Then he readily sees he will not succeed in what he has begun. In the same way, when the enemy of our human nature tempts a just soul with his wiles and seductions, he earnestly desires that they be received secretly and kept secret. But if one manifests them to a confessor, or to some other spiritual person who understands his deceits and malicious designs, the evil one is very much vexed. For he knows that he cannot succeed in his evil undertaking, once his evident deceits have been revealed.

327.  14.  The conduct of our enemy may also be compared to the tactics of a leader intent upon seizing and plundering a position he desires. A commander and leader of an army will encamp, explore the fortifications and defenses of the stronghold, and attack at the weakest point. In the same way, the enemy of our human nature investigates from every side all our virtues, theological, cardinal, and moral. Where he finds the defenses of eternal salvation weakest and most deficient, there he attacks and tries to take us by storm.

end of excerpt

328. RULES FOR DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS
II

Further rules for understanding the different movements produced in the soul. They serve for a more accurate discernment of spirits and are more suitable for the second week
  

329.  I.  It is characteristic of God and His Angels, when they act upon the soul, to give true happiness and spiritual joy, and to banish all the sadness and disturbances which are caused by the enemy.
   It is characteristic of the evil one to fight against such happiness and consolation by proposing fallacious reasonings, subtilties, and continual deceptions.

330.  2.  God alone can give consolation to the soul without any previous cause. It belongs solely to the Creator to come into a soul, to leave it, to act upon it, to draw it wholly to the love of His Divine Majesty. I said without previous cause, that is, without any preceding perception or knowledge of any subject by which a soul might be led to such a consolation through its own acts of intellect and will.

331.  3.  If a cause precedes, both the good angel and the evil spirit can give consolation to a soul, but for a quite different purpose. The good angel consoles for the progress of the soul, that it may advance and rise to what is more perfect. The evil spirit consoles for purposes that are the contrary, and that afterwards he might draw the soul to his own perverse intentions and wickedness.

332.  4.  It is a mark of the evil spirit to assume the appearance of an angel of light. He begins by suggesting thoughts that are suited to a devout soul, and ends by suggesting his own. For example, he will suggest holy and pious thoughts that are wholly in conformity with the sanctity of the soul. Afterwards, he will endeavor little by little to end by drawing the soul into his hidden snares and evil designs.

333.  5.  We must carefully observe the whole course of our thoughts. If the beginning and middle and end of the course of thoughts are wholly good and directed to what is entirely right, it is a sign that they are from the good angel. But the course of thoughts suggested to us may terminate in something evil, or distracting, or less good than the soul had formerly proposed to do. Again, it may end in what weakens the soul, or disquiets it; or by destroying the peace, tranquility, and quiet which it had before, it may cause disturbance to the soul. These things are a clear sign that the thoughts are proceeding from the evil spirit, the enemy of our progress and eternal salvation.

334.  6.  When the enemy of our human nature has been detected and recognized by the trail of evil marking his course and by the wicked end to which he leads us, it will be profitable for one who has been tempted to review immediately the whole course of the temptation. Let him consider the series of good thoughts, how they arose, how the evil one gradually attempted to make him step down from the state of spiritual delight and joy in which he was, till finally he drew him to his wicked designs. The purpose of this review is that once such an experience has been understood and carefully observed, we may guard ourselves for the future against the customary deceits of the enemy.

335.  7.  In souls that are progressing to greater perfection, the action of the good angel is delicate, gentle, delightful. It may be compared to a drop of water penetrating a sponge.
    The action of the evil spirit upon such souls is violent, noisy, and disturbing. It may be compared to a drop of water falling upon a stone.
    In souls that are going from bad to worse, the action of the spirits mentioned above is just the reverse. The reason for this is to be sought in the opposition or similarity of these souls to the different kinds of spirits. When the disposition is contrary to that of the spirits, they enter with noise and commotion that are easily perceived. When the disposition is similar to that of the spirits, they enter silently, as one coming into his own house when the doors are open.

336.  8.  When consolation is without previous cause, as was said, there can be no deception in it, since it can proceed from God our Lord only. But a spiritual person who has received such a consolation must consider it very attentively, and must cautiously distinguish the actual time of the consolation from the period which follows it. At such a time the soul is still fervent and favored with the grace and aftereffects of the consolation which has passed. In this second period the soul frequently forms various resolutions and plans which are not granted directly by God our Lord. They may come from our own reasoning on the relations of our concepts and on the consequences of our judgments, or they may come from the good or evil spirit. Hence, they must be carefully examined before they are given full approval and put into execution.

end of excerpt

Mysteries of Light

                The Baptism of Jesus

                (1) The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus.

                (2) The voice of the Father was heard.

                (3) Matthew 3: 13-17

Then Jesus appeared: he came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. John tried to dissuade him, with the words, ‘It is I who need baptism from you, and yet you come to me!’ But Jesus replied, ‘Leave it like this for the time being; it is fitting that we should, in this way, do all that uprightness demands.’ Then John gave in to him. 

    And when Jesus had been baptised he at once came up from the water, and suddenly the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And suddenly there was a voice from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him.’

 

                (4) Fr. Carter says

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have communicated themselves to us in a most intimate fashion. The intimacy and profoundity of this gift produce within us the image of the Trinity. Because Christ in his humanity mediates this Trinitarian gift, this image also possesses a Christic aspect. We receive this Christic, Trinitarian image in baptism. This image is our life of grace, our God-life, our Christ-life. St. Paul tells us, "Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life" (Rom 6: 3-4).

    Through Christ, consequently, we share in God's own life—not in a pantheistic way, but, still, in a very real way. We are not God, but through the reality of grace we are God-like. Whether we use the terms Christ-life, God-life, the life of grace, Christic image, or similar phrases, we are speaking of this one reality. Growth in the mystical life, in turn, is characterized by an increasingly lived awareness that we do indeed participate in the life of God.

    As St. Paul indicates in the above passage, this God-life possesses a Christic pattern. We have no other way to grow in God other than according to the teaching and example of Jesus. Indeed, Jesus himself has told us that he is the way, the truth, and the life.

    Since Jesus' human existence is summarized in his paschal mystery—his death and resurrection—so also is our Christian existence. As Paul tells us above, we have been baptized into Christ, into his death and resurrection. This basic Christic pattern permeates Christian existence. As we variously assimilate the teaching and example of Jesus, as we relive his various mysteries, death-resurrection colors all. Yes, we continually die with Jesus so that we may increasingly rise with him. Assisted by the tender and loving care of Mary our spiritual mother—who is so closely associated with the work of her Son—and, guided by the Holy Spirit, we thus come closer to the Father in, with, and through Christ.

                (5) Prayer of St. Ignatius

Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from the side of Christ wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Permit me not to be separated from Thee
From the wicked foe defend me
at the hour of my death call me
and bid me come to Thee
That with Thy saints I may praise Thee
For ever and ever. Amen.

                (6) Sing: Take Lord Receive

                (7) Prayer from St. Ignatius

Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
To give and not to count the cost;
To fight and not to heed the wounds;
To toil and not to seek for rest;
To labor and not to ask for any reward,
Save that of knowing
                    that I am doing your will.

                Sing: Give Me Your Heart Oh Jesus

                (6) Examine your conscience —
                        see if you are in desolation
                        or consolation —

                    Thank God for the gifts —

                    See where we have offended God —
                    Make an act of contrition —

                (7) Am I struggling against
                        God's will or am I doing
                        God's will —

                    How can I turn myself around
                        if I am offending God or
                        my brothers —

                (8)

                    Mary always pointed to Our Lord —

                (9) Mary tells Him of the shortage
                        of wine

                    Mary tells them to do whatever
                        Jesus tells them to do —

                    Mary is so beautiful here —

                    Jesus changed water into
                        wine —

                    Jesus is the Bridegroom —
                    His first miracle is at a wedding feast —

                Kingdom of God

                (1) Jesus gives the beatitudes on the mountain —
                    His disciples came and He taught them —

Matthew 5: 3-10

How blessed are the poor in spirit:
the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
Blessed are the gentle:
they shall have the earth as inheritance.
Blessed are those who mourn:
they shall be comforted.
Blessed are those
   who hunger and thirst for uprightness:
they shall have their fill.
Blessed are the merciful:
they shall have mercy shown them.
Blessed are the pure in heart:
they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers:
they shall be recognised
   as children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted
   in the cause of uprightness:
the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.  

                    Jesus loved His Apostles
                    Jesus' Apostles were sent to preach —
                    Jesus was meek — not combatal —
                    Jesus was humble —
                    Jesus worked miracles —

                (2) Jesus calms the storm
                    Jesus walks on the waters —

                (3) St. Luke 7: 36-50

                (4) Christ fed 5 thousand.

                (5) Sing: Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God

                (6) Sing: Blest Are They

                (7) God has a Plan for us and                       
                    God has a Plan in His time —

                (8) Spread the Good News —

                (9) Sing: We are the Light of the World

                (10) Sing: Jesus - Jesus the Light of the World —

                    Who will we see in the Kingdom of God —
                    Jesus loves those who are loving and serving God —
                    The pure of heart will see God —
                    Pure little hearts of children —

                    Sing: Holy Is His Name

                    Jesus tells us about Woes
                    Joy is in Justice —

                    Song: I Am a God of Justice

                    God is all powerful —
                         

                The Transfiguration

                (1) Matthew 17: 5

‘This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.’

                (2) 2 Peter 1: 16-19

   When we told you about the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we were not slavishly repeating cleverly invented myths; no, we had seen his majesty with our own eyes. He was honoured and glorified by God the Father, when a voice came to him from the transcendent Glory, This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour.  We ourselves heard this voice from heaven, when we were with him on the holy mountain.

So we have confirmation of the words of the prophets; and you will be right to pay attention to it as to a lamp for lighting a way through the dark, until the dawn comes and the morning star rises in your minds. 

                (3) The Gospel about the
                        transfiguration is always
                        used in Cycle A, B and C
                        on the Second Sunday
                        during Lent —

                (4) Jesus is the King of Creation.

                (5) Luke 9: 28-36

                (6) 1 John 3: 2

My dear friends,
    we are already God’s children,
but what we shall be in the future
    has not yet been revealed.
We are well aware that when he appears
we shall be like him,
because we shall see him as he really is.

                (7) Mt. Tabor

                (8) Jesus was transfigured before them.

                (9) Daniel 7: 10-19

A stream of fire poured out,
issuing from his presence.
A thousand thousand waited on him,
ten thousand times ten thousand
   stood before him.
The court was in session
and the books lay open.

    ‘I went on watching: then, because of the noise made by the boastings of the horn, as I watched, the beast was put to death, and its body destroyed and committed to the flames. The other beasts were deprived of their empire, but received a lease of life for a season and a time.

I was gazing into the visions of the night,
when I saw,
   coming on the clouds of heaven,
as it were a son of man. 
He came to the One most venerable
and was led into his presence.
On him was conferred rule,
honour and kingship,
and all peoples, nations and languages
    became his servants.
His rule is an everlasting rule
which will never pass away,
and his kingship will never 

'I, Daniel, was deeply disturbed and the visions that passed through my head alarmed me. So I approached one of those who were standing by and asked him about all this. And in reply he revealed to me what these things meant. "These four great beasts are four kings who will rise up from the earth. Those who receive royal power are the holy ones of the Most High, and kingship will be theirs for ever, for ever and ever." Then I asked about the fourth beast, different from all the rest, very terrifying, with iron teeth and bronze claws; it ate its victims, crushed them, and trampled them, and trampled their remains underfoot;

                (10) Daniel 7: 13-14

I was gazing into the visions of the night,
when I saw,
   coming on the clouds of heaven,
as it were a son of man. 
He came to the One most venerable
and was led into his presence.
On him was conferred rule,
honour and kingship,
and all peoples, nations and languages
    became his servants.
His rule is an everlasting rule
which will never pass away,
and his kingship will never   

                Institution of the Eucharist

                (1) Mark 14: 22-25

   And as they were eating he took bread, and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to them. ‘Take it,’ he said, ‘this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he handed it to them, and all drank from it, and he said to them, ‘This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, poured out for many. In truth I tell you, I shall never drink wine any more until the day I drink the new wine in the kingdom of God.’

                (2) Song: I Am the Bread of Life

                (3) Song: I Love You Jesus

                (4) Song: Jesus, the Bread of Life

                (5)

A Prayer before the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

    Let me be a holy sacrifice and unite with God in the sacrament of His greatest love.

    I want to be one in Him in this act of love, where He gives Himself to me and I give myself as a sacrifice to Him. Let me be a holy sacrifice as I become one with Him in this my act of greatest love to Him.

    Let me unite with Him more, that I may more deeply love Him. May I help make reparation to His adorable Heart and the heart of His Mother, Mary. With greatest love, I offer myself to You and pray that You will accept my sacrifice of greatest love. I give myself to You and unite in Your gift of Yourself to me. Come and possess my soul.

    Cleanse me, strengthen me, heal me. Dear Holy Spirit act in the heart of Mary to make me more and more like Jesus.

    Father, I offer this my sacrifice, myself united to Jesus in the Holy Spirit to You. Help me to love God more deeply in this act of my greatest love.

    Give me the grace to grow in my knowledge, love and service of You and for this to be my greatest participation in the Mass. Give me the greatest graces to love You so deeply in this Mass, You who are so worthy of my love.

-Mass Book, December 27, 1995

                (6) From Blue Book I

A Prayer for Holy Communion

December 9, 1993

R. As I give more and more of what I am attached to away, nobody can have a hold on me. I become, more and more, the little dependent baby in His arms. I depend on Him for everything. It is hard to let go of this to be as a little baby, dependent on Him for everything.

If, when I receive Jesus, I receive God, then so, in some form, I receive the Father and Holy Spirit because how do you separate them?

And the doors to the tabernacle open wide and in it we behold Jesus, Son of God, God-made-man. His presence is to be honored, His name worshiped and adored. His glory is forever.

Jesus: I come as a little baby into your midst. I died out of love of you. I come to you today in Holy Communion. This is God-made-man, Son of God, coming in your hearts to dwell with you. Do not focus on your unworthiness. Focus on His love, just for you, to come to you today. I love you so much and God is truly in your mouth. Be close to Me. Let go of yourself. Enter into total union with Me, soul to soul. Be united with Me totally in your spirit. Forget all the cares of this world and let Me dwell in you and work in your heart. Let Me heal your weary soul.

Open wide your gates and I enter in and you remain changed, never the same because Jesus Christ, Son of God, came to you and dwelt in your soul. You are My temple.

                (7) From the Mass Book

January 2, 1997

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen."

"The grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."

God pours out His grace in this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is the greatest gift when God gives Himself to us.

We share with God His life, given to us abundantly in the Mass.

He gives Himself to us, and we give ourselves to Him. The great love affair between God and man: His Holy Mass.

The priest is another Christ to us. It is Christ present, through the priest, celebrating the Mass. We must see Christ in the priest, see Him celebrate the Mass, see His beautiful brown hair, His gentle face, see Him, Our Savior. This Jesus Christ that came was born an infant and gave Himself to His death on the cross that we would share His life. See Him now in the Mass, giving Himself in the greatest gift of all. He gives us His divine love and His divine life.

Oh, we thank You for Your life. We know He died and rose and gave us a sharing in His holy life. His life is now abundantly poured, as a fountain to us, especially in the Mass.

Then we hear His Word. Let the Word of God penetrate our being. Let us feel this Living Word of God. As a two-edged sword, it comes forth with such conviction and love and it penetrates the souls of the faithful with such love. It is food indeed, food for our soul.

He is the Good Shepherd. He speaks to us. He gives us all we want. "There is nothing I shall want." (The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need. Ps. 23:1).

He gives us green pastures, and His water pours out and refreshes us. He outpours His grace as a fountain to feed us with His life.

He is a just God, good and kind, all loving, for He is love. We want for nothing for He outpours His love and His life to us in the Mass. We feast on His Body and Blood and are fed with His Word. We become one in Him and He shares Himself with us.

It is through the Mass celebrated by the hands of a holy pries that we will experience the Mass the way Christ intends. These writings are insights which hopefully will help lead you to the spring of life-giving water, the fountain of love and life He outpours in the Mass.

There will be a new earth when men will see with the light of seven suns. They will know God. A people walking in darkness will see a great light. They will no longer be blind, they will be enlightened, they will love God with the greatest love in the Mass. They will feast on His Body and Blood and will be united as one body in His holy Church through His life given to us in the Eucharist.

We will drink copiously from the fountain of grace which He pours out in the Mass. We will be filled with His love, absorbed with the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and feasting on His divine life.

We see with the vision of God. We partake in such a union with God. We see with the light the Spirit gives to us. The priest celebrates the Mass and we know God with such an intense knowing in this union. We are saturated with His life flowing from the hands of His consecrated priest.

And I look at Him, the priest, and I see Jesus there. I see Him giving Himself to me. I see the new and Holy City. I see with such clarity the great gift that God gives to us in the Mass!

We learn how to love in the Mass, for we unite to God. He gives us such an intimate sharing in His divine love that we carry His love out to the world. In this union we know His loving to an intense degree and we carry this love out to others. We share in an intense way in His divine act of loving. He, Who is Love, gives Himself to us and we are absorbed in His love and we know intensely how God loves. We are filled with love for God and for each other, for, in the oneness He is loving through us. He gives us lights into His loving capacity and we know His loving power in an intensity we did not know before.

We then pray. We offer up our intentions for this Mass. It is now we who intercede to Him to outpour His grace on us and help us with these intentions.

We pray for this reign of peace when the Sacred Heart of Jesus will reign and the Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph and men will fervently love and adore God with burning love. We pray for all souls and the Church and we beg for His help, His love, His grace.

We offer ourselves as a sacrifice. We offer the bread that will become the Bread of Life.

The priest mixes the water and the wine and we realize how His Divinity mixes with our humanity.

We offer the wine that will become our spiritual drink—His Blood.

I give myself to Him and I beg to be cleansed of my sins with the washing of the hands.

"May the Lord accept the sacrifice of your hands for the praise and glory of His name, for our good and the good of all His Church."

We ask Him to accept the gifts we want to give Him, we give Him thanks, we lift up our hearts in thanks and praise and we sing out:

"Holy, Holy God, of power and might..." we sing Him praise and thank Him, "Oh, God we love thee so much."

My heart is so filled with such awe. I cry because I love Him so much.

Every word in the Mass, I love. The priest consecrates the Host and changes it into the Body and Blood of Christ. Hear Christ say to us: "This is My Body", "This is My Blood".

Oh, it makes me cry for I am so struck with awe at what happens at the Consecration. I unite in the oneness with the priest, with Christ and with all present, with heaven and earth. I am one in that moment, united in the sacrifice of Christ giving Himself to the Father.

This is the moment when I unite in such oneness with Christ in the purity of Mary's heart. I give myself as a sacrifice. I offer myself to the Father.

The Father looks down and He sees us united to His Son's Sacrifice. It is in this oneness that His grace is outpoured on us, that we die to that which is not like Him and that the Holy Spirit works in the heart of Mary and fills us with His life.

I am in ecstasy as I realize more and more the great gift of love that God gives us in His holy Mass. I am taken to such heights, being wrapped in the presence of God. It is rapture, this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

It is a great gift, experiencing this intense presence of the Almighty God: Through Him, With Him, and In Him.

We pray to the Father the prayer as Jesus taught us and beg, "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

We pray: "For the Kingdom, the power and the glory are Yours, now and forever."

We beg for peace in our hearts. We share this peace with one another. Then we beg of the Lamb of God. I want to get down to the ground and beg for His grace, mercy, and forgiveness for our sins.

Please, God, I see us as a sinful people. I want the grace and mercy to flow abundantly.

He raises the Host and says: "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, happy are those who are called to His supper."

We respond: "Lord, I am not worthy to receive You, but only say the word and I shall be healed."

I receive the Almighty God in Communion. All I want is Him. Oh, God, I want You, I adore You, I worship You, I love You.

Oh, for this moment when God gives Himself to me. Oh, God, words do not express this time—this intense presence of You within my being. Oh, sweet Savior, I love You!

You share Yourself so intimately with me. You imprint on my soul a knowing of Your Divine Being that is so intimate in this Communion when You give Yourself to me.

Oh, let our hearts be open to His grace that we may know this great gift more, that we will partake more fully in this greatest act of love with Divinity.

He shares Himself with us, the Almighty God, in such oneness. This is the greatest way to bind us with each other, to unite with each other in the Mass and Communion.

And so I sing the love of God, the love of His Mass. I beg you to pray for the grace that He can teach you in these writings about His most intimate love affair with man, the gift of Himself—the gift He gives us in the Mass.

The Holy Sacrifice, the sacrifice of Calvary, sacramentally-made-present in the Mass when He gives Himself to us with the greatest love!

And what does He ask in return? He asks that we love one another, that we give Him the glory, the thanksgiving, the adoration that is His due as the Almighty God.

He sends us forth with His blessing to share His most intimate love with all. We go forth as other Christs in the world. For He is alive this day and He lives in us and He gives His love to others through us. We act as channels of His life to one another.

The Mass is the richest source of His life. His life flows through the body, the Church, especially through the sacraments and the Mass.

Oh Jesus, from the fountain of life that pours forth from your pierced Heart, give us holy priests whose hearts are consecrated to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary to celebrate the Mass—that there is such oneness between the priest and Christ that His grace will flow copiously.

We thirst for the fountain of life pouring forth from the pierced Heart of Christ. It is His life we seek and find in the Church. It is His love we want and we experience the greatest love affair with God in the Mass.

These books on the Mass are accounts of my intimate love affair with our Almighty God. Many experiences were enlightenments I received in the Mass.

I strongly advise all to pray, to say the Holy Spirit Prayer, the consecration prayers, and the Prayer before the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, before Mass.

This book is the journey into the red room, the inner chamber of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, through the gateway, the pure and Immaculate Heart of His Mother.

It is in the Mass we give ourselves in such love to our Holy God. He gives Himself to us and we give ourselves to Him.

end of excerpt

 

                (8) Hail Mary

                (9) From the Mass Book

                (10)