Mary has requested that the daily message be given each day to the world. It is read nightly at the prayer service from her Image Building in Clearwater, Florida, U.S.A. This is according to her request. All attempts will be made to publish this daily message to the world at 11 p.m. Eastern time, U.S.A.We acknowledge that the final authority regarding these messages rests with the Holy See of Rome. |
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A Prayer for Intimacy with the Lamb, the Bridegroom of the Soul
Oh Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, come and act on my soul most intimately. I surrender myself, as I ask for the grace to let go, to just be as I exist in You and You act most intimately on my soul. You are the Initiator. I am the soul waiting Your favors as You act in me. I love You. I adore You. I worship You. Come and possess my soul with Your Divine Grace, as I experience You most intimately.
Messenger: Include Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Center in 6:20 prayers.
Messenger: Our Lord asks all that can to come to the Virgin Mary Building in Clearwater, Florida, on February 5th, to please be present for the opening of the Rosary Factory.
Messenger: I understand more the purity of her Heart. In reading Father Carter's newsletter about the dark night of the soul which I will include later, I realize my own helplessness. I see the great imperfections in my ways of loving and handling matters that need attention, but which need the approach and love of this most holy pure one, Mary.
I see my Mother today as Mary the model.
I see my Mother today as pure and Immaculate in Heart and all of our hearts so tainted in our selfishness, jealousy, anger, pride, all our sins.
In recognizing more my faults, I see the impeccable purity of this holy soul and the great gift I have in being able to go through her holy Immaculate Heart.
Oh, my brothers, since that day in China, Indiana, seeing the purity of her love and the impeccable beauty of the union of the love of Mary's pure Heart and Jesus' love, her beloved Spouse, the Lamb, the Sacrifice offered to the Father, I feel so close to her. It was then I knew her humanity as never before, her love of the Apostles and her gentle touch to teach them her most pure and untainted ways.
Oh, my brothers, there is one Heart of a human person that is so pure and it is that of Mary.
Messenger: My intention seems to me to be fixed within my soul. I love God so intently, my heart cries for Him and I desire Him with unquenchable love. I long to be possessed by Him eternally and to be united to Him in the deepest way, experiencing the eternal love of my Divine God. Oh, my God, how deeply I love Thee. Words can only scratch the surface in describing the thirst of my soul for Him, and yet I write here after Communion having again this presence of Him, but in a new and fuller way than ever before.
Since that day in China, Indiana, I see the impeccable purity of this beautiful Mother's Heart and struggle with my imperfect way of loving and dealing with those I truly love and sometimes counsel. I long for that place within her Heart to unite to my God in the deepest union and plead for the intentions of my soul. One of these that makes my heart bleed is for the children. Another is to reach the priests with these revelations that they will know more the treasures of being the spouse of the Lamb.
Yes, today, it is a new revelation/experience, one of resting so deeply in Christ's Heart through the purity of that beautiful Woman's Heart. The impeccable purity of her Heart, the purity of her human love. The love given to God from His creatures reaches the heights of expression in her pure Heart.
I saw/experienced that purity of the love between Jesus and Mary. There are no flaws to taint her Immaculate soul, not the slightest tinges of a sin of jealousy and selfishness.
Mary, Mother pure.
What I experienced today at this Mass is to go to Him in this pure Immaculate Heart, to partake more fully in the deepest love with Jesus as I experience, contemplate and exist in her Heart as I receive Him.
Before I go to the altar, I think of the anticipation of one so pure to receive Him, and I am connected to that experience from the Mass in China, Indiana, to that pure love between His Heart and her Heart. In her pure Heart I can experience to some extent this depth of pure love despite my imperfections and failings, for her Heart is there for me as her little child. She is my Mother, taking me in her Heart and taking me to the depth of the Heart of her beloved Son. It is there I experience the treasures of His Heart. It is there I experience the unconditional love from Jesus, my God. It is there, no matter how divided I feel with anyone or how disappointed I feel, that my heart is bathed in love by my God who possesses my soul, and I love them all, all His precious souls so deeply.
Oh, please look at Lucia's vision and see the Virgin most pure, dressed in white as the spouse of the Lamb. She appears by the altar of Sacrifice, her hand directed to her Immaculate Heart and His Sacrifice. The Lamb with His pierced Heart hangs on the cross next to her.
He gives His Body and Blood in this Sacrifice. He is truly present in the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Oh, it is there in this revelation/experience I united to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in a most profound way in the purity of her Immaculate Heart.
I want to write more, for the words on this paper seem so feeble, but the presence of Mary and dwelling in her Heart is so different to me now. I have been directed to write to you, and He in His grace will help this writing make this deep connection to Him in Mary's Heart, if you pray for this grace.
It is so real to me, the existence of her Heart and the purity of the love between Their Hearts.
I live to love Him, to pray for our priests, our Church and our world, especially for the children. I want the souls to know Him, I pray for the souls continually. My heart is consumed with His love, experienced through Their two pure and holy Hearts. But, my brothers, I see my imperfections. I see the imperfections in our ways of loving from revelations He has given. Our ways of loving are so far from this purity I was shown.
Purity in her Heart.
There is taintedness in our hearts: pride, lust, anxiousness for worldly pleasures, the wrong use of food and sex, and more.
My brothers, I beg Mary, my beloved Mother, full of grace to take us all in her Heart and help us.
I see how we can be set free from the captivity of Satan's snare the more we are immersed in the purity of her Heart and saturated with His divine love as we exist in Him and live being more possessed by God.
Oh, I pray this writing makes the experience of dwelling in her Immaculate Heart and His Sacred Heart more alive in your life.
Today I also saw His power.
As I recognize more and more my weakness and my desire to serve Him, I can let go and know He can do it, I am not in control. I cannot do it by myself, He can do wonders through me when I rely on His might.
I wish to include a section from Father Carter's latest newsletter. It is so wonderful and a tape is available with Father Carter reading it. This tape is a tape that could help us live better everyday. His voice penetrates our hearts and he reads the newsletter he was directed by Jesus to write. Please call or write for the tape and distribute it to all.
Excerpt from Issue One, 2000, Shepherds of Christ
Christ is Our Strength
St. Paul tells us: It is, then, about my weaknesses that I am happiest of all to boast, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me; and that is why I am glad of weaknesses, insults, constraints, persecutions and distress for Christ’s sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong. (2 Cor 12:9-10)
This brief passage contains one of the greatest lessons of the spiritual life. As we progress along our spiritual journey, we become increasingly aware of how weak we are in ourselves, but how strong we are in Christ.
To experience our weakness involves suffering. The degree and kind of suffering can vary. The suffering can include the experience of the classical dark night of the spirit as described by St. John of the Cross.
One of the main purposes of the dark night is to make a person keenly aware of his or her helplessness without God. This is a most necessary point that mystics must pass through if the spiritual marriage, or transforming union with God in Christ, is to occur. In this transforming union, there is a profound exchange between God and the mystic. God’s self-communication to the mystic is most profound, and the mystic makes a profound gift of self to God. In this state the mystic is supremely aware of living by the life of God, and without experiencing one’s helplessness without God, this lived awareness does not occur.
If not all on the spiritual journey experience the classic dark night, all must undergo a proportionate purification which includes increased awareness of personal weakness. In this process one more and more abandons the self to Christ and increasingly lives by His life, by His strength. Again St. Paul speaks to us: I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me. The life that I am now living, subject to the limitation of human nature, I am living in faith, faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:19-20)
Our sense of weakness is not a paralyzing one. It does not hinder our performance of duty. On occasion, athletes and other performers may, for various reasons, feel very inadequate regarding the exercise of their particular skill. The sense of inadequacy, in turn, can detract from performance. In the spiritual life, however, our sense of weakness does not impair our capacity to function as Christians. On the contrary. If, sensing our helplessness, we increasingly abandon ourselves to Christ, we act with greater spiritual vitality. We do this with a basic peace of which the world knows not. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, one of the greatest apostles of devotion to the Heart of Christ, speaks about this peace and its connection with surrender to Christ and His strength. In one of her letters she says: "Try especially to preserve peace of heart... The way to preserve this peace is not to have a will of our own any more, but to put the will of the Sacred Heart in the place of ours, and let Him will for us whatever gives Him the most glory, being content to submit and abandon ourselves. In a word, this loving Heart will supply whatever is wanting in you. He will love God for you, and you will love God in Him and through Him." 2
Indeed, to those who are unspiritual, the concept of striving to grow through the sense of our weakness is complete folly, utter craziness. To those who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, however, being properly aware of one’s weakness is strength and peace and consolation.
Jesus is our Savior. When we are tired and weary, let us go to the Heart of Christ. Let us not worry about anything. Let us not fret. Our work for Christ is the work of God. Do we not trust that God will take care of His own work?
To be able to say in the midst of adversity and struggle, "Jesus’ hand is here and He knows what is happening, I will let go of my anxiety and be at peace," is to have reached a great plateau of trust in Christ. Yes, let us trust in Jesus in all our trials. Let us refuse to worry. What good does worry accomplish? Let us convert the energy put into worrying into the energy of trusting in Our Lord.
Jesus spread His arms on the cross in the greatest love for each of us. He knew each of us by name. If He endured such agonizing suffering for love of each of us, why do we not have the greatest trust that He wants to be so close to us, attending to all our needs — if only we allow Him?
The more we place our trust in Jesus, the more we experience His peace. Again, let us refuse to worry. Let us place all cares in the hands of Jesus and trust that He will tend to them. He is present to us, loving us, guarding us, asking for our love, asking for our surrender.
We end these reflections concerning how we find our strength in Christ with another quotation from St. Paul: As for me, I am full of joy in the Lord, now that at last your consideration for me has blossomed again; though I recognise that you really did have consideration before, but had no opportunity to show it. I do not say this because I have lacked anything; I have learnt to manage with whatever I have. I know how to live modestly, and I know how to live luxuriously too: in every way now I have mastered the secret of all conditions: full stomach and empty stomach, plenty and poverty. There is nothing I cannot do in the One who strengthens me. (Phil 4:10-13)
With this current issue we are expanding our circulation by explicitly inviting to our readership those who are not priests, but who are interested in the spiritual life.
The Newsletter will still be written for priests in a special way. Yet we feel much of the material will also be of interest to those who are not priests.
To reflect the fact that we are now expanding our readership to include all interested parties, we think it appropriate to offer a new act of consecration which is not worded for priests only, but one suitable for all.
February 3, 2000
Witness Letter - Emily L.
How Being a Member of Shepherds of Christ Changed My Life
Walking the aisle with that vision so deep in the heart, of a bride in her brilliant, pure white dress, white radiant veil, and white roses in her hair, ready to meet her Bridegroom. What words can express the intensity of that moment - everyday walking to the altar to be wed to the Almighty God?
The moment of reception, after receiving the Almighty God, the Divine Bridegroom of the soul. For isn't it, indeed, a "reception" after the wedding, for within my heart I dance with my precious Spouse as He sings of His ardent love. And what words can describe the embrace of the King of Heaven, the dancing to His heartfelt voice, the longing to express the burning love as He gives Himself so completely? Our Bridegroom is with us at every second, as we walk, talk, eat, drive, sing. He sits there as we read His tender letters of love, with His beating Heart feeling such emotion in each word that we read and smiling on us with the most gentle, sweet love. What words can describe the excitement of that moment - a new bride so over-flowing with vibrant life as she sits next to her Lover outpouring Himself?
What words can describe this love from a Mother that leads us to such a union with God?
What words can satisfy the burning within the soul to express the depth to which we feel for this Movement?
All this far surpasses the little terms we could use to say what has been imprinted on our hearts.
So many gifts given from heaven: the morning offering and consecration, the precious Blue Books and Daily Messages, the Rosary Book and the Children's Rosary Book, all the tools for intimacy with Jesus, the Mass, the Eucharist and the word, the Juniors, the 6:20 prayers, the joys and the sufferings, the love and the graces, the beautiful apostles, handmaids, servants, and Fred. ( I love you guys a whole lot!! )
From death to life I've traveled on my journey in the Shepherds of Christ, with constant death - resurrections, but the knowledge of God and the great union with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and the Blessed Mother are beyond all words.
It's such an ache to write this letter because it doesn't even scratch the surface. I could go on forever and it seems like I am. What a gift, this tremendous LIFE in Him that He has revealed through the Shepherds of Christ!And what words can truly express it?
Q: How do I feel that praying upon rising and all through the day can better help me to get along with you and others?
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© 2000 Shepherds of Christ. Shepherds of Christ Ministries
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