Shepherds of Christ          Daily Writing

February 23, 2009

 

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Response to God's Love Book

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10 Year Anniversary of the 6:20 Prayers

 

    

February 23, 2009

Writing by Rita Ring

                    Religious are to witness —
                to live a holy life to manifest
                to men their love of God —

                    We thank the Holy Spirit for His gifts
                to us —

                    We have hope in the Lord Jesus —
                We are faithful to the Church —
                We consecrate our lives to Jesus and Mary
                and we live in great holiness —
                lives living according to the Plan of
                the Father — united deeply to Jesus in
                the Holy Spirit —

                    We follow Christ
                    We are faithful to Jesus —
                    We are witnesses of His teachings in
                        our lives

                We live with vigor in our lives because
                we are the spouse of Jesus serving
                Him.

                    Religious are usually virgins —
                this is how deeply many give themselves
                to Christ — they should be proud
                of their gift —

                    We do this for growth in God's
                Kingdom — we never lose sight
                of how we live to build the Kingdom
                of God —

                    Our Hearts are on fire for Jesus
                we love God.

                Spiritual Discipline

                    We see in Genesis how the devil
                tempted Eve and he continued until
                she gave in — the devil appealed to
                her pride — she wanted to be equal
                to God

                    The Bible begins with creation —
                The light - etc. — God makes Adam
                and says he is to be in His own
                image and likeness — God makes Eve
                from the side of Adam — Adam comes
                from the soil, Eve from the side of
                Adam

                    We see Christ — the Son of God — the New
                Adam coming into the world — a baby
                from the belly of a human creature —
                The New Eve, Mary, conceived without
                sin —

                    Every human person is marked with original
                sin in the womb of a human
                creature except for Mary

                    Through the Power of the Holy Spirit
                Mary conceived the child Jesus —
                God-made-man

                    Jesus came into this world —
                The Savior of the world — to save
                a fallen race

                    But man has original sin from his entrance
                into the womb and through the pierced
                side of Jesus the Church was
                born —

                    Water for the baptism
                    Blood for the Eucharist

                    And although baptism takes
                away original sin, its effects
                remain and

                    Man has tendencies toward
                evil —

                    Blaming others

                    Concupiscence of the flesh

                Seeking dominance for dominance
                    sake

                Jealousy, lust, envy, slothfulness
                    pride, anger

                Selfishness

                Focus on self — not loving others

                Tension between men and women

                Men wanting dominance over
                    women

                Mary appears at Fatima a messenger
                    from God —

                    She tells us Jesus wants His
                Sacred Heart venerated next to Mary's
                Immaculate Heart —

                    Now we are the poor banished
                children of Adam and Eve conceived
                with original sin except for Mary

                    And God sends Mary conceived
                without sin to bear the God-made-Man
                to save a fallen race

                    The offense of original sin
                was against Deity and Jesus, the
                Son of God, the Lamb of God,
                comes the sacrifice to
                pay for that sin — Jesus lived, died
                and rose.

                    The Mass is the sacrifice of
                Calvary — sacramentally made
                present —

                    Jesus remains with us this day
                through the consecrated hands of
                our priests.

                    The priest is another Christ to
                us.

                    Jesus, the Chief Priest and Victim —           
                We unite to the holy sacrifice of the
                Mass to help bring down grace
                for the world.

                    We receive a special commission
                in baptism in the Catholic faith —
                as members of the mystical body
                of Christ — to live united to the Holy
                Sacrifice of the Mass —

                    Our whole lives should be an
                offering — we offer ourselves united
                to the Mass in what we do all
                day, all night — our lives an
                offering —

                    When we give our tainted hearts
                to the Sacred Heart, pure and holy, and
                the Immaculate Heart, pure and
                holy, we offer a more pure sacrifice —
                every thing we do in trying to live
                our lives should be in our
                awareness of ourselves as members
                of the mystical body of Christ
                united to the Mass going on
                around the world — to help bring
                down grace for the world —

                    We offer all simple things
                that we do in doing God's will
                in love — realizing it is in
                serving God, doing His will in
                love that is most pleasing to Him.

                    When I go to Mass daily, I am
                not a silent spectator — I am
                united so deeply to the Mass —
                The penitential rite at the beginning
                so I can offer a more pure sacrifice,
                my life, myself, united to the sacrifice
                of Jesus, to the Father in the Holy
                Spirit with all the angels and saints
                in the pure and holy Hearts of
                Jesus and Mary —

                Jesus is the Light of the world —
                I become more one with Him —
                I am united to Him — more deeply
                one with the Father in the Holy
                Spirit —

                    It is right that we make
                this offering of ourselves united
                in the Mass to Jesus to make
                reparation for sins —

                    And God outpours His grace
                on the world because of our holy
                offering

                    We pray for the souls of the
                earth — the souls Jesus died
                for —

                    We believe God will hear us

                    This is a most pleasing sacrifice
                offered to the Father

                    We give our love to God — 

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.

-God's Blue Book, December 27, 1995

                    Giving love to God is the
                greatest thing we can do —
                in uniting ourselves, praying for
                the souls of the earth —

                We give love to others —

                We love ourselves

                Jesus is the Lamb of God
                    who takes away the sins
                    of the world

                We are one in this Holy Sacrifice
                    of the Mass

                Thanking

                Petitioning

                Reparation

                Giving love

                Praise

                I never lose hope —

                I know this gift given to us —

                    The members of the mystical
                body need to be educated about
                being united to the Mass —
                their lives a sacrifice —
                the participation at Mass —
                the great gift God gives man
                    in this troubled world

                We must pray for our priests who
                    bring us the Mass
                Pray for the Church and the world
                help make reparation, as Mary
                said at Fatima, for offending
                God —

                    I am thankful

                    God is all Powerful

                I believe there will be this
                    era of Peace as Mary
                    promised at Fatima

                This era of love of the Sacred
                    Heart and Immaculate Heart
                    as Jesus told Fr. Carter

                I love the Mass —

                I live the Mass —

                The Mass is the sacrifice of
                    Calvary sacramentally
                    made present

                Jesus is the Lamb of God

                The Church is the body of Christ
                    Alleluia — help me spread this
                        Good News
 

                God said

                    "Let there be light" and there was light

                        CALL — Response

                Jesus in a message said —

                    I say to the flowers to grow and
                        they grow

                God commands the seas

                We are to hear God's call and respond —

                God calls us to be likened to Him —

                We are to want this, strive to be this

                God created "day"
                God created "night"

                On the "spiritual journey" we are
                    to live in the spirit —

                    Since we know we have concupiscence,
                tendencies toward evil —

                    We must pray for discernment

                    A person getting messages, must
                have discernment — if not they
                can continue down a darker and
                darker road led by the devil and
                if they are, they can keep going
                down the wrong path quickly

                    The religious life is to lead
                one to greater perfection likened to
                God.

                    Mary at Fatima told the children
                to sacrifice. People in nursing homes
                can try to complain all day — do they
                stay — if they want their way and only
                think of what selfish trouble they
                can cause — complaining and provoking
                others — being bitter and blaming others —
                My step-mother was so kind — everyone
                loved her

                She loved Jesus —

                Her life centered around Jesus

                She died at 95 —

                All my children loved and missed
                    grandma

                Here is a homily from my step-mother's
                    death — about My mom and
                another homily about a nun and my mom
                    that died

Rosella Robinson

Funeral November 12, 2005

In Rosella we have all had a good friend. Offering sympathy is in order, because we’ve lost a step-mother, a grandmother, an aunt, a friend, a wonderful lady. At the same time we are not here to grieve but to celebrate. We celebrate that Rosella lived a good and full life for 95 years, that she died a peaceful death, that she lived and died filled with God’s grace. We also celebrate our faith that she is now enjoying the rewards of eternal life. As our first reading says: “The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed in the view of the foolish to be dead…but they are in peace.” For the bible, a fool is someone who doesn’t believe in God. Their vision of reality is limited. Their mind is closed to anything they cannot discover for themselves. So death is the end of life in the view of a foolish person, since they have no belief in God. But for one who has faith, there is more to life than just the few years we spend on this earth. There is unending life with God. If a fool is someone who doesn’t believe in God, then by those standards, Rosella was a person with profound and extraordinary wisdom. Her life was centered on God and her prayers were for those she loved that they too would live a life centered on God.

I was talking with George the other evening and he said whenever she called him she would introduce herself as: “This is Rosella, your godmother.” She took her role seriously. George said by reminding him she was his godmother, he thinks she was also reminding him that she had the responsibility and the authority to straighten him out if he needed it. I’m sure all her godchildren got gentle reminders at times and I’m sure they got lots of extra prayers as well.

The gospel I chose for our Mass today was on the Eucharist. The Eucharist was so important to Rosella. She would come to Mass every day when she could. Jesus tells us “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.” It is in this faith that I can say we are here to celebrate, knowing Rosella was well nourished with the bread of life, the body and blood of Jesus who promised: “whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

In 1952 our mother, Alice, died. Rosella knew Alice and often Rosella told me that because of the friendship they shared, she felt she should step in and help out after Alice died. And she did when she married my father in February, 1953. For over 52 years she has been with us. She was a caregiver through and through. When she was finished caring for us, she cared for her sister, Catherine, and she cared for her grandchildren. It was what made her happy, to be needed by someone. And she didn’t want to inconvenience anyone. She would always tell me, “Now if you have something planned and something happens to me, don’t change your plans. Just go ahead with what you were going to do.”

All kinds of great things could be said about Rosella, her kindness, her gentleness, her faith, her dedication to family. One thing I always remarked about was that I seldom heard her say a negative thing about anyone. Dad would often get frustrated with her when he wanted to complain about someone and she would make excuses for them or stand up for them.

I have no worries about where she is now. I’m sure she can say with St. Paul: “ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on a merited crown awaits me…” I believe she now must have a double crown, the first for living with my father (I loved my father, but those who knew him will understand what I mean). The second crown would be for taking over the care of five children, four in grade school and me in high school.

Since she’s been at the Little Sisters, who took wonderful care of her, I would try to visit her every week. Whenever I was about to leave she would say “If I don’t see you next week, I’ll be on my way to heaven.” She was peaceful with her God, with herself and with those who knew her. She was ready to go. So I can’t grieve. I can only say thank you God for giving us a good woman to take care of us when we needed her, a good woman to inspire us in the way of holiness and a good woman to pray for us and whom I am sure will continue to pray for us until we’re all together.

When she died a week ago we were enjoying the beautiful colors of fall. The red and yellow and gold trees were telling us that summer is over. But we do not grieve that the green leaves are gone and that nature is shutting down for we know it’s only temporary. Spring will return and so will a new life for Rosella and for all of us, a life that will never end. Amen.

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

November 6, 2005

INTRODUCTION: (Wisdom 6,12-16; Matthew 25, 1-13) Wisdom and intelligence, to some extent, are connected with one another, but I’ve known intelligent people who were not always wise. Wisdom is more than intelligence. It is the ability to see the great mysteries of life in greater depth. It is gained from experience, and learning, and meditation, and it is practical as we hear Jesus explain it in today’s gospel. When I read the paper about those who are fighting against the teaching that the universe could have come about by “intelligent design,” I wonder if it’s wisdom that they are missing out on. In spite of mysteries we can’t solve, they can’t conceive the possibility that there is some intelligence behind all that exists in our universe. Our first reading tells us wisdom is available for anyone who seeks it with honesty and openness. But those who find the search for wisdom too much trouble will be deprived of it.

HOMILY: A wedding is a big deal for us today, but after months of preparation, it’s over in just a few hours. At the time of Jesus it was really a big deal. They would celebrate for days. And there was no such thing as saying the wedding will be at such and such a place at 6:30 in the evening. According to custom the groom would go to the bride’s house to negotiate with the bride’s father and then the groom would bring the bride with him to his home and the celebrating would begin. On their approach to the home of the husband, the couple were to be met by ten virgins carrying lamps. (Street lights weren’t invented yet, you know.) Perhaps the groom was doing a little partying on his own before he went to claim his bride from her father, or maybe the groom and the father did a lot of dickering over what possessions the bride would bring with her when she left. At any rate no one worried too much about the time, especially since the celebration would last for a few days. The wise virgins were smart enough to prepare for whatever might happen. The foolish ones used no foresight at all. That’s part of wisdom: foresight, thinking ahead, considering what could happen if we take or do not take a certain course of action, being prepared. Jesus applies his lesson to eternal life. We’re only in this life for a short time. “Our citizenship is in heaven,” St. Paul tells us. We’re just tourists here, no matter what country or city we call home. Everything is temporary. Jesus tells us the wise person thinks ahead, they know some day they will have to meet their maker and they are practical. They make sure that they will be prepared when the Lord shows up on their doorstep.

We can’t interpret the oil in the story too literally. If we think of it as a material object that could be shared, we’re going to think how selfish of those five wise virgins. But it is something symbolic that is intangible, something that cannot be given to someone else. It is something that we have worked for like a loving relationship with God or the good works we have done or the wisdom we have gained through prayer and meditation. The person we have come to be through God’s grace can’t just be put into a bottle and given to someone else.

When I read about these five wise women, I can’t help mentioning two wise women I knew well who have met the bridegroom this past week. The first was Sister Joann, our principal here at St. Boniface for 18 years. As a dedicated Sister of Charity for 55 years, almost all of that time serving as a teacher or a principal, I can only marvel how many lives she has touched and how many people’s lives have been blessed because of her. Her lamp was filled with good works. The other wise woman I am thinking of is my step-mother. When I was 14 years old, the oldest of five, my mother died. My dad had five children to raise. Within a few months, Rosella came into our lives. She and my father were soon married and Rosella took care of us, until we had to start taking care of her. For the past three years the Little Sisters of the Poor took over caring for her and they did a marvelous job. After 52 years as our step-mother, we said good by to her this week as God took her. She was a wise lady, always putting God first. Her day always began with daily Mass when she was able to get to church. At the Little Sisters she was able to get to daily Mass, although at 95 she sometimes slept through it. She always taught us, and her step-grandchildren, to keep God first too. I would visit her every week and whenever I was leaving she would tell me: “If you don’t see me next week, I’m on my way to heaven.” She was totally at peace with herself, her God and all people she knew. Her lamp was filled with good works.

Our gospel is a little frightening today. It tells us about ten women, five of whom were prudent and wise and five who lost out on a grand time because they were not. The frightening thing was, they almost made it. There’s a saying “almost doesn’t count, except in horseshoes.” Our eternal happiness is too important to leave to “almost.” God wants us to be happy. He wants us to spend eternity with him. And for that we must give him our love. And love isn’t a matter of almost. A couple in love do not say to one another “I almost love you.” Love is total. The only way we’ll be totally happy is to totally love the God who is love. Amen.

end of homilies

                Religious orders are to teach order

                In this disordered world God can bring
                    order to the chaos

                We see this all through the history of
                    the world —

                People cause chaos —

                Giving into undisciplined lives —

                Wanting their way

                Not working with others under just authority

                    God has given us a vocation — He
                expects us to live our lives according to
                that vocation — loving God and others

                    The devil presses on people to be
                self-focused

                    The deacon yesterday as Mass gave a
                homily here is some of what he said —

                There are 3 kinds of people

                1) People who help others

                2) People who need help, all of us

                3) People who stand around and
                    want people to come to them —

                People who stand around and
                    get in the way
                    grippers
                    help no one, but themselves

                The strong guys who help each other
                    say
                    "We don't take no for an answer"

                They are determined to do it —

                They work hard — they get the job done
                    Willing Spirit

                We will do it —
                We can do it
                We will get the job done —

                Helpers in this world —

                Priests can forgive sins —

                We pray for our priests

                We lead sick to priests

                Body needs to be healthy but
                    soul lasts forever —

                We can be helpers or
                Stand around, think of
                    ourselves and get in the way —

                Soul and Body

                Soul lasts forever 

These are trying times

in 2004 the hurricanes ravaged

Florida - people lost their homes

5 Years LATER

now look at the housing market

people losing homes

LISTEN TO JESUS

who is speaking

Fr. Carter had a dream.

Help us

 

Yes — All the ends of the earth have seen the power of God.        God has called us to be united as a family in the Shepherds of Christ.      This is a vocation — to pray deeply for the priests, the Church and the world and to help support the Newsletter and the Ministries.      Remember the image of Our Lady of Clearwater on the building. We have very special Fatima statues so you can have a special place of prayer in your homes, praying the rosary for your family and for the priests, the Church and the world. If you are interested in these very special Fatima/Clearwater statues e-mail me with your phone number and address  info@sofc.org.      Those using the special statues will be united to us in a special way — We want you to pray the Shepherds of Christ prayers for the priests, the Church and the world from your special place in your home.      When people have set up a prayer corner/niche with this statue, Fatima/Clearwater glass, they have reported that their families have received special blessings. With this statue it is important to pray the prayers in the red prayer manual and consecrate your home and family to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart. Call Sheila or Doris about statues or go to China or Clearwater.  1-888-211-3041 or 1-812-273-8405

27” - $450.00 18” - $250.00 15” - $200.00 12” - $160.00 11” - $150.00 plus shipping We send these.  They are good for people in the family for Christmas, give with a prayer manual.