| Shepherds of Christ Daily Writing |
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February 12, 2024
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February 13th Holy Spirit Novena |
The Novena Rosary
Mysteries |
February 13 - 12 Noon
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Consecration Prayer for Peace
I consecrate Russia and the Ukraine to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
I further consecrate the priests, the Church and the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary.
I do this in the name of Jesus in as far as I am able, united to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, praying to the Father, in the Holy Spirit, with all the angels and saints and the souls in purgatory through the powerful intercession of Mary, Queen of Peace. Amen.
I further consecrate myself, all members of my family and ask the Holy Spirit to fill us. I spread the Blood of Jesus on all above, I cast the devil into hell away from all of us and consecrate all persons, in as far as I am able, to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart.
Prayer for Grace for Election and our Country
Dear Father united to Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacrifice of Calvary sacramentally made present, celebrated around the world, in the Holy Spirit. We offer up all we do united to the Mass. We unite in one mind and one heart as members of the mystical body of Christ, with Christ our head in the pure and holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary, through the powerful intercession of Mary with all the angels and saints and souls in purgatory, and we beg for the saving grace, for our country, the United States. Please help us. We further pray for unity to always do the will of God in love. We spread the Blood of Jesus on the leaders and people of the United States and cast the devil into hell. We consecrate our country to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart and all our dioceses, and beg for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. God help us. We pray for our families, the priests, the Church and the world. In the Name of Jesus please hear us, we pray. We pray for our president and leaders. We pray that we are united as one nation under God to work together in love as God wants.
February 10, 2024
R. Fr. Joe
Robinson, my brother, was
always so serious all the way back
to when he was ordained.
Good Friday
March 29, 2002
About nine years ago in Fresno, California a
young 16 year old boy named Benny Zweigel’s was
shot in the head when two groups of kids clashed
with one another at a Friday night hangout.
Benny was an average student, a good athlete and
a affectionate son to Linda, his single mom.
Benny was taken to the hospital as soon as 911
could get to him and he was put on life support.
The doctors told Linda her son was brain dead
and asked what should they do. Should they keep
him on artificial life support or let him die.
In the process of making this decision, the
counselors with whom she spoke, suggested that
Benny could give life and sight to others by
donating his healthy organs. Confused and
grieved as she was, and knowing that a “yes”
meant the end of any last ray of hope, she said
“OK.” Perhaps Benny’s organs might give some
other young person the chance to realize their
potential in life. Linda had the notion that
somehow Benny’s soul went with his heart and she
wondered who got his soul.
Ninety miles away in Modesto, California lived a 60 year old
man, Lyle Baade. He had suffered three major
heart attacks and had open-heart surgery twice.
He lived with constant chest pain and there was
no hope for him except to get a heart
transplant. He was already on a waiting list.
Once when a heart was available his pager didn’t
work and he missed the call to come to the
hospital. Another time he was ready for surgery
and at the last minute the surgeons decided the
heart he was to receive was too bruised and was
unusable. Two days after Benny was shot, Lyle
was on his way to church when his pager went
off. He made it to the hospital just in time and
was able to receive the healthy young heart of
Benny.
Benny’s heart turned Lyle into a new man, able to return to
all his former physical activities, raking
leaves, walking, camping and building furniture.
Through newspaper stories he was able to figure
out whose heart was in him. When Benny’s mother
found out that Benny’s heart went to a 60 year
old man she was even more dejected. She wanted
her Benny’s heart to live on for a long time in
a younger person, not someone 60 years old!
Seven years after receiving his new heart (in April of 2000)
Lyle and his wife were at a meeting in their
retirement community center that was long and
boring. He had a doctor’s appointment and
decided he and his wife had to get going. As
they quietly rose from their places and headed
toward the exit, a huge bearded man, who weighed
in at 300 pounds, and who was a problem in the
neighborhood, stepped in front of them. He gave
Lyle a shove and said “go back and sit down.”
Lyle saw the man was holding a pistol and he
shouted “He’s got a gun!” Suddenly the big man
announced “I’m going to kill all of you,” and
started firing. People started falling. Suddenly
the big man turned to lay down his pistol and
reached for an assault rifle he had smuggled
into the meeting. Lyle knew what was going to
happen next. Suddenly he heard a voice from
somewhere inside himself say “You can take this
guy. You can get to him before he starts to
fire.” And he did it. Lyle came flying at the
man like a football linebacker and brought this
formidable would be executioner down in a heap.
The big man fought desperately but Lyle managed
to hold on to him until others joined in and
could totally restrain him.
When the police arrived they found the big man had enough
ammunition to kill everyone at that meeting
three times over. As it was, two residents were
dead and three wounded. Those who survived were
saved only because of Lyle. He was injured in
the fight, but Benny’s heart beat steadily.
When Benny’s mother Linda heard from reporters how the man
who received Benny’s heart saved 41 people from
being killed it was the first time she felt any
comfort. It was as if a great weight had been
lifted off of her. Benny’s heart didn’t save
only one man, but it saved many people’s lives
and spared many families the kind of grief she
had been suffering for the past seven years.
Isaiah says of God's servant: “…by his stripes we were
healed.” Benny’s death seemed like a senseless
act of violence and it brought suffering to a
mother, suffering that seemed to have no
meaning. Surely his death was senseless, yet in
the simple gesture of his mother being willing
to give away his heart, many people were saved
and a greater number of their loved ones were
spared untold pain and suffering. One good act
can have a ripple effect. One little act of love
can touch more people than we will ever know.
The death of our Savior has touched billions of
lives throughout the ages. We have been touched
by the depth of God's love. If the Son of God
had come to us and simply snapped his finger to
redeem us, how impressed would any of us have
been? Jesus gave everything for us. “Greater
love than this no one has than that he lay down
his life for his friends.” Jesus' death gives us
hope in our pain as well. It shows us
faithfulness and obedience to God overcomes
every power, every form of evil – including that
power which will ultimately overcome all of us –
death. It’s not just his heart Jesus leaves with
us, it’s his whole risen self, in the Eucharist,
and he gives us his Spirit to help us in every
way.
Today we meditate on Jesus' suffering and death but not as if
we were at a funeral. Today is called The
Celebration of the Lord’s Passion. He has not
been taken from us in his death, but his death
made it possible for him to be with us in a new
way, a way that will bring eternal life to us.
By his stripes we are healed.
R. Thank you Fr. Joe for all these
homilies.
Sorrowful Mysteries
The Agony in the
Garden
1. Luke 22:
39-46
The Mount of Olives
He then left to make his way as usual to the Mount of Olives, with the disciples following. When he reached the place he said to them, ‘Pray not to be put to the test.’
Then he withdrew from them, about a stone’s throw away, and knelt down and prayed. ‘Father,’ he said, ‘if you are willing, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, let your will be done, not mine.’ Then an angel appeared to him, coming from heaven to give him strength. In his anguish he prayed even more earnestly, and his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. When he rose from prayer he went to the disciples and found them sleeping for sheer grief. And he said to them, ‘Why are you asleep? Get up and pray not to be put to the test.’
2.
March 12, 2000 Homily
3. And His desert experience reminds us that
the desert experience must be in the lives of
all
of us, really, day in and day out, sometimes
with
very, very special periods, but the heart, the
essence of desert experience must always be with
us.
4. And certainly one of the great notes of the
desert experience is this prayerful communion
with the Father, through Christ, in the Holy
Spirit, with the assistance of Mary our Mother.
5. Silence is one of the great foundational
stones of the spiritual life. In silence, if we
properly
use it, so much happens to us. We are made
aware once again of how much the Father loves
us in Christ Jesus, and we just sit in awe,
trying
to realize, with greater insight, what it means
that the Father sent His Son to die for each of
us.
6. We can never comprehend the love contained
in that, that the Son of God becomes incarnate
for our redemption.
7. In silence, we should make a response with
our whole hearts, as we realize this great love
of
God, for us in Jesus, and pledge that each day
of
our lives we will respond with the deepest
faith,
hope, and love, despite the trials, despite the
sufferings, despite the persecutions, and aided
on
the more bright side by success and joyfulness
and
happiness in the Lord.
8. During the time of Lent, we have a special
opportunity to deepen this desert experience, so
I encourage you to build – I know all of you
have very, very busy days – but try to build at
least, a little bit more time, set aside time
for
prayerful silence, as we imitate the desert
experience
of Jesus.
9. We know that not only during
these forty days, did He go aside in solitude in
the desert, but He would often go aside and pray
in solitude to His Heavenly Father.
10. So we have to learn how to build the desert
experience into our daily lives, and this can be
done even in the midst of activity. The more we
do away with the clutter, the needless anxiety
and
worry and so forth within us, the more we are
experiencing desert silence, even in the midst
of
activity. Especially during Lent, try to build
into
your days a little bit more time before the
Blessed
Eucharist, to deepen your desert experience.
Thomas Merton, certainly one of the most
insightful
spiritual writers of our times, has some very
meaningful words about the place of silence
in the spiritual life. He says, "Silence does
not exist in our lives merely for its own sake.
It
is ordered to something else. Silence is the
mother
of speech. A lifetime of silence is ordered
to an ultimate declaration, which can be put
into
words, a declaration of all we have lived for."
A Thomas Merton Reader, Thomas M Donnell,
editor, Doubleday, p. 459.
Jesus took Peter, James and John in the Garden.
Jesus told them to pray.
They slept, Jesus went to them 3 times.
Jesus went off to pray and He suffered so very much.
Jesus saw before Him all the sins of all men from all time.
Jesus was in so much anguish He sweat blood.
Jesus wants us to be obedient to the commandments of God.
God is Light and in Him is no darkness.
An angel appeared to strengthen Jesus.
The Scourging at
the Pillar
1. Matthew
27: 24-26
Then Pilate saw that he was making no impression, that in fact a riot was imminent. So he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd and said, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood. It is your concern.’ And the people, every one of them, shouted back, ‘Let his blood be on us and on our children!’ Then he released Barabbas for them. After having Jesus scourged he handed him over to be crucified.
2. Jesus was whipped
and His flesh
torn at the pillar.
3. Jesus was beaten for our sins.
4. God has called us in the Shepherds
of Christ to pray for the priests, the
Church and the world.
5. Jesus told Fr. Carter to spread the
Priestly Writing.
6. Obedience to God’s will, means we
obey God’s Plan.
7. Jesus loves us so much He endured
this bitter beating and His body was
bare.
8. So many sins against the flesh.
9. "Life and death, words and silence, are given
us because of Christ...In Him we die to illusion
and live to truth. We speak to confess Him, and
we are silent in order to meditate on Him and
enter deeper into His silence, which is at once
the silence of death and of eternal life-the
silence
of Good Friday and the peace of Easter
morning." Thomas Merton
10. "We receive
Christ's silence into our hearts
when first we speak from our heart the word of
faith. We work out our salvation in silence and
in hope. Silence is the strength of our interior
life. Silence enters into the very core of our
moral being, so that if we have no silence we
have no morality. Silence enters mysteriously
into the composition of all the virtues, and
silence
preserves them from corruption."
Thomas Merton
A Thomas Merton Reader, Thomas M r Donnell,
editor, Doubleday, p. 459.
The Crowning with
Thorns
1. Matthew
27: 27-31
Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus with them into the Praetorium and collected the whole cohort round him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet cloak round him, and having twisted some thorns into a crown they put this on his head and placed a reed in his right hand. To make fun of him they knelt to him saying, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ And they spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head with it. And when they had finished making fun of him, they took off the cloak and dressed him in his own clothes and led him away to crucifixion.
2. R. Look at the haughty hearts of so many today. Our own hearts, our hearts that are so fixed in getting ahead and being first. Look at the pride and the control in the minds of men, and then look at the head of Jesus as they pound into His head the sharp thorns that pierced His head and made Him bleed.
3. R. How we whine and we complain about so many little trials that we must suffer. Did Jesus ever have a headache? Look at the wounded head of our Savior.
4.
R. God came and
gave Himself. He was spit on. He was crowned with thorns. He was mocked.
He was kicked. He was whipped, and they tore His flesh. This is the love
that He has for us.
5.
R. Jesus appears
with a crown of thorns around His Heart - His precious Heart, pierced by
the indifference and the hatred of the souls that He loves. Let us
comfort His Heart with our acts of love, and let us vow to go into this
world and to fight, despite all the struggle and all the obstacles that
Satan has created, to go into this world and to carry the greatest news
that there is to the souls that are starving, that are hungry, and that
are in pain - the news that our beloved Savior loves us.
6. Jesus: I love My precious souls to
come to Me. I am thirsty for My precious souls.
I love My precious souls so much.
7.
R. And they spit
on Jesus, and they mocked Him. They hurled hateful remarks at the
Almighty God, and He was silent. He withstood all of this treatment for
within His Heart was divine love, His Heart on fire for His precious
souls.
8. Sing: A Song from Jesus
9. "If we fill our
lives with silence, then we live
in hope, and Christ lives in us and gives our
virtues much substance. Then, when the time
comes, we confess Him openly...and our
confession
has much meaning because it is rooted in
deep silence. It awakens the silence of Christ
in
the hearts of those who hear us, so that they
themselves fall silent and begin to wonder and
to listen. For they have begun to discover their
true selves." Thomas Merton
A Thomas Merton Reader, Thomas M r Donnell,
editor, Doubleday, p. 459.
10. Matthew 7:21
'It is not anyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," who will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven.
The Carrying of
the Cross
1.
Matthew 27: 32-34
The crucifixion
On their way out, they came across a man from Cyrene, called
Simon, and enlisted him to carry his cross. When they had reached a place
called Golgotha, that is, the place of the skull, they gave him wine to
drink mixed with gall, which he tasted but refused to drink.
29 Years Ago
2. Stations of the Cross - February 22, 1995
1. Jesus Is Condemned to Death
Jesus: My dear child, with angry hearts and hatred on their faces, they poked at Me and condemned Me to death. I stood so silent, My hands tied, in perfect peace, because I knew the Father's love. I knew the Father's Will. You too will stand your trials in perfect peace, the more you realize the immense love the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have for you. Pray to the Spirit to transform you more and more into My image and, through this transformation, you will be led ever closer to the Father. Oh, how I love you!
3. February 22, 1995 Stations continues
2. They Give Jesus the Cross
Jesus: They gave Me a heavy cross, laden with the sins of the world. They placed it on My shoulder. It was so heavy I felt as if My shoulder would break. I ask you to carry little crosses, to experience little pains. I could not remove this cross from My shoulder. The weight was unbearable. It is through My suffering and death that you receive new life. It is through your sufferings this day that you will grow in your life with Me. Oh, child, I loved you so much that I took up the cross of salvation. I love you. Please realize that I am talking to you here. To My death I loved you. Oh, how I love you!
4. February 22, 1995 Stations continues
3. Jesus Falls the First Time
Jesus: The cross was so heavy I could hardly walk. I held on to My cross for greatest love of you and in compliance with the Will of My Father. It became so hard to walk! The cross was so heavy! I fell. I fell and the cross fell on Me. They poked at Me, they struck Me, they demanded I get up. The pain from the instruments they used to poke Me and strike Me was so great! I somehow managed to get up.
When you fall under the weight of your cross, come to My Eucharistic Heart. I am no less present in the tabernacle and in the Eucharist than on the day I carried My cross. I wait with the same love that I had for you when I carried this cross and suffered such agony. Oh, how I love you!
5
. February 22, 1995 Stations continues4. Jesus and Mary Meet
Jesus: I saw the face of My beautiful Mother. She was weak, her face reddened and full of tears. I saw her tender heart, her love, her anguish, her pain. I saw My dear Mother Mary. My Heart was comforted by the sight of her, but torn by her suffering.
Mary: As I looked into the eyes of my beloved Son, I saw His love. His head, bleeding and wounded. His body weak. His clothes covered with blood. I looked into His eyes and I saw His love for you. I call out to you today. I appear today with a face full of anguish and tears. I appear to call you back to the love of my Son. See through my eyes, as I peer into His eyes, the love He has for you this day to give of Himself for you. Oh, He loves you so much, my little children. See through my eyes the love of my Son. Oh, how He loves you!
6
. February 22, 1995 Stations continues
5. Simon of Cyrene Is Forced to Help Jesus Carry His Cross
Jesus: The cross was so heavy I could not move. My persecutors became angry and forced a man to help Me. The cross was so heavy the two of us could barely move it. How is your cross today? Does it seem so heavy you cannot go on? I am forever watching you. When you are suffering the greatest, I am very close to you. It is in immense suffering that you realize My great love for you. Pray for grace to do always the Father's Will. Pray for grace to grow in your knowledge and love of Me.
6. Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
Jesus: My face was covered with blood. From the crowd Veronica came forward with a cloth to wipe My face. On the cloth I gave to you an imprint of My bloodied face. This, My children, remains with you this day as a sign of My immense love for you. But more than any cloth, look beyond the visible consecrated host. I, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, remain with you, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the Eucharist this day, waiting and longing to be with you. Oh, how I love you!
7
. February 22, 1995 Stations continues7. Jesus Falls the Second Time
Jesus: Oh, dear ones, the road became harder and harder to walk. The cross was becoming heavier, My body weaker and weaker. My shoulders and arms hurt so much! My head throbbed as I walked. The blood came from My body, from My head to My feet. I was covered with open wounds. I could not go any farther. I stumbled and fell. Again they poked at Me, only harder, and with such hatred they kicked Me. Such vileness in the hearts of men! My greatest agony was not the agonies of My body, but the agonies of My heart for the love I have for all My precious souls. I loved them so dearly. I loved those who persecuted Me. Oh, how I love you!
8. Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
Jesus: The women came to Me with their children, their tender hearts crying and wanting to comfort Me. I saw their love, their care. I saw the coldness of men's hearts for all time, the hatred, the anger, the sins, all the souls that, despite all of My sufferings and death, would be condemned to eternal damnation. I told the women to weep not for Me, but for themselves and their children. My greatest agonies were the agonies of My Most Sacred Heart. Oh, how I love you!
8
. February 22, 1995 Stations continues
9. Jesus Falls the Third Time
Jesus: I fell hard the third time. I was so weakened I could not go on. My body collapsed under the cross from such exhaustion! My child, My child, My greatest agonies were not the wounds to the body. They were the wounds I experienced to My heart. Do you know a little more now how I love you? It is in meditating on My Passion and death that you will realize My immense love for you. When you fall, when you struggle, I give you the grace to get up. I never give you more than you can handle. Your strength will come from Me. Come to My Eucharistic Heart. I am waiting for you this day. Oh, how I love you!
10. Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments
Jesus: They took Me to the hill to crucify Me. They angrily stripped Me of My garments. They took off My clothes to whip Me. They had covered My bloody wounds with a dirty purple robe. Now, total surrender-they took off My clothes. I showed you the way to surrender, always complying with the Will of the Father. It is in living in His Will that you will have peace and joy, and life eternal some day. Oh, how I love you!
9
. February 22, 1995 Stations continues11. They Nail Him to the Cross
R. See Mary as she holds the little Baby Jesus. See her as she washes His tender hands and feet. See her now as she watches as they pound into those same hands and feet the gigantic nails that fix Jesus to the cross.
Mary: Oh, my dear ones, my heart was torn in my chest as they nailed His hands and feet to the cross. I ask you this day to walk the Passion with me and see through my eyes the love He has for you. He truly was nailed to the cross.
Jesus: They pounded the nails into My first hand, then they stretched My body and nailed My other hand. The blood poured from these wounds that went totally through My hands. My pain was so immense, but then they nailed My feet! You do not know what pain I suffered, My child. My children, My children, for each one of you I suffered this pain. Oh, how I loved you!
