Daily Writing
| Shepherds of Christ Daily Writing |
|
February 9, 2009
|
February 10th Holy
Spirit Novena |
The Novena Rosary
Mysteries |
Retreat in China
Mass every day
February 10th - start at 10:00am
Mass - 12 Noon
February 11th - Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes - start at 10:00am
February 12th - start at 6:20pm
February 13th - start at 12:00 Noon
The crucifix Felix carved is so special
Buy a little crucifix for your home —
they are so special
February 9, 2009
Writing by Rita Ring
Sundays before Lent
February 8 Gospel
Jesus healed Simon's mother-in-law
Jesus healed ill and possessed by demons
February 15
Jesus healed the leper
February 22
Jesus healed the paralytic
Jesus forgives sins
IDEA of Covenant
1st Sunday of Lent
(1) Noah
rainbow 1st reading - Covenant with Noah
(2) Jesus was in the desert 40 days
satan tried to tempt Jesus
Gospel
2nd Sunday of Lent
(1) Abraham and Isaac 1st reading
God told Abraham He would make
his descendants as countless
as the stars of the sky and sands
of the seashore
(2) Transfiguration
Jesus is the perfection of the law and the prophets
3rd Sunday of Lent
(1) Commandments - 1st reading
(2) Money changers - Destroy this temple
and in 3 days rise it up
Gospel
4th Sunday of Lent
(1) Gospel — Moses serpent in the desert
God sent His Son so that the world
might be saved through Him
(2) Gospel — optional Blind man
5th Sunday optional
(1) open your graves
(2) Gospel Lazarus
Week days February
We have great witnesses of faith
Hebrews readings
"cloud of witnesses"
Jesus is the greatest witness
We are to model our lives after Jesus —
We see Jesus healing in the Gospel —
God loves and disciplines His children
we should not be bitter or a
poisonous root.
How deep is the darkness?
People thought of Jesus as familiar —
a carpenter, son of Mary —
they wanted to put Jesus in
a box —
Thus in Mark's Gospel
"No prophet is without honor
except in his native place,
among his own kindred and
in his own house."
"He could work no miracles there . . .
because of their lack of faith."
The old law was given in fear, darkness,
fire.
Jesus is the Mediator of a new covenant —
Now there is joy —
Jesus sent them two by two and
gave them authority over unclean
spirits.
Love — Love — We are led by Christ —
our Leader
John the Baptist loses his head
Colossians 1: 15
He is the image of the unseen God,
the first–born of all creation,
God raises us to such dignity!!
We are to obey God.
We are to follow Jesus.
What good does it do to win the world and lose
your soul —
With all the jobs dwindling —
The priests are so dear and needed
Let us pray for
(1) the pope, hierarchy - descendants
of the Apostles
(2) the priests, religious, deacons
Jesus was tired in the Gospel, but
Jesus the tender Heart has
pity on them and ministers to
them
Jesus' Heart is kind and merciful —
Jesus is love —
His Heart on fire for men
Deuteronomy 7: 6-11
For you are a people consecrated to Yahweh your God; of all the peoples on earth, you have been chosen by Yahweh your God to be his own people.
‘Yahweh set his heart on you and chose you not because you were the most numerous of all peoples—for indeed you were the smallest of all—but because he loved you and meant to keep the oath which he swore to your ancestors: that was why Yahweh brought you out with his mighty hand and redeemed you from the place of slave–labour, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. From this you can see that Yahweh your God is the true God, the faithful God who, though he is true to his covenant and his faithful love for a thousand generations as regards those who love him and keep his commandments, punishes in their own persons those that hate him. He destroys anyone who hates him, without delay; and it is in their own persons that he punishes them.Hence, you must keep and observe the commandments, laws and customs which I am laying down for you today.
This week in February — week days
Goodness of creation
Importance of covenant
God speaks to us through creation
All creation bears the handprint of God.
God gives us His vision
Christ is the light of salvation —
Creation
God creates the world
God creates the seen and unseen —
God creates out of nothing
The human person is the apex of creation
All was created by God with purpose
and meaning, —
created to praise God
God says "Let there be light"
and there was light.
We see God's call — our response
Father Carter's book
Response to God's Love
LIGHT - "DAY" DARKNESS - "NIGHT"
Heaven
Earth water
God creates
God orders
God creates
God is all good —
There is rain and snow
Sun and moon and stars => ORDERED
Vegetation — Natural order
Birds, swimming creatures
"Be fruitful and multiply"
Animals
God creates ADAM in His image and likeness
God made male and female to
propagate species
Genesis 1:26-27
God said, 'Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all the wild animals and all the creatures that creep along the ground.'
God created man in the image of himself,
in the image of God he created him,
male and female he created them.
God is the ruler
God is love
We are meant to love
Today's first reading was Genesis 1: 1-19
Mark tells us today in the Gospel how
people flocked to Him
Genesis is not scientific, but to
teach religious lessons —
How good is God's creation
Jesus rested on the 7th day
Genesis 1: 26-27
God said, 'Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all the wild animals and all the creatures that creep along the ground.'
God created man in the image of himself,
in the image of God he created him,
male and female he created them.
Mark 7: 6-8
...This people honours me
only with lip–service,
while their hearts are far from me.
Their reverence of me is worthless;
the lessons they teach
are nothing but human commandments.You put aside the commandment of God to observe human traditions.’
We are to live our lives being like
Jesus
Jesus is all pure
Jesus was in constant prayer
Jesus forgave
Jesus was selfless
We can be dull to the spiritual life
and what God is trying to teach
us
We were created to be like God
I studied Math —
Do you understand "OBTUSENESS"
What makes us impure is our
hearts
Wash ourselves
and have dark impure hearts —
that is stupid
Wash the vase
fill it with mud
How deep are the evils in a
man's heart —
Are we
Rooted in God
Rooted in evil
A man who lives lying deceives
himself most —
he becomes more and more
dull to the truth
A lying person gets confused
A lying person has an uninformed
conscience
We are to live a virtuous life
not a life filled with vices —
To live a life of being a
Victor for Christ
Revelation 3: 11-13
I am coming soon: hold firmly to what you already have, and let no one take your victor's crown away from you. Anyone who proves victorious I will make into a pillar in the sanctuary of my God, and it will stay there for ever; I will inscribe on it the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which is coming down from my God in heaven, and my own new name as well. Let anyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches."
John 8: 12
When Jesus spoke to the people again, he said:
I am the light of the world;
anyone who follows me
will not be walking in the dark,
but will have the light of life.
Spread the Blue Books
Rooted in the truth
God created a peaceful, loving,
orderly, harmonious, good
world without sin or evil —
The world reflected the love of
God and His creatures —
NO WAR
NO VIOLENCE
There are 3 awarenesses and love
Fr. Carter says in his Response to
God's Love
(1) Love of God
(2) Love of others
(3) Love of self
Fr. Carter says
The individual Christian,
the world and the Church
are in the state of
becoming
Fr. Carter had a dream.
The world is seen as a desert, barren —
Water is on the surface of the world
God breathes life
We are formed from the ground
We need the earth to survive
The earth is to be fertile
Look at God flooding earth
at time of Noah because
they disobeyed
God put man in a garden
God is the Creator
Man the creature
Man must recognize his dependence
on God
God speaks to man
God does not speak to animals and plants
Woman is created from the rib of man
The Church is born from the side
of Christ
God orders everything —
animals etc. —
Woman is helper to man
A woman's daughter in the
Gospel has demons
Jesus casts them out —
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and
the Life
Song: Glory, Glory, Glory Lord
Fall of Man
Fall of first parents
We all have a wounded human
nature because of our
first parents
Adam and Eve
We see in Mark's Gospel —
the deaf man is healed —
Jesus sticks His finger into
the man's ears
Jesus spit and touched the
man's tongue
He looked to the heavens
"Be opened" - Jesus said —
The man's ears were opened and
He spoke clearly
We must be humble and talk
to Jesus
Open our heart to talk to
Jesus
Be open
Not rebellious
or act foolishly
Look at Jesus —
Follow Jesus not the way
of the world —
Adam and Eve are banished
from the Garden because
of their sin
The core of sin is seeking to live
independent of God —
make decisions like this
Secularism
Sin is revealed
Because of sin there is
disharmony
disorder
LUST, ENVY, JEALOUSY,
COVETOUSNESS,
PRIDE
Man's image of himself is distorted
Man's image of God is distorted
Man's image of others is distorted
There was harmony
Now there is disobedience
The Church is showing us in
these daily readings
that we are sinners
because of our
wounded human
nature
We are accountable for
our disobedience and
sin against God
In the Sunday's before Lent
we see God heals —
paralytics
and
sinners
In Lent we look inside
ourselves and admit our
sin so God can heal
us —
Because of the garden
Blame enters the world
Seeking dominance for
dominance sake
Concupiscence enters the world —
Attraction to sin —
Grace moves us toward God
Concupiscence moves us to sin —
Man can rebel against God's
will
Sin upsets the order willed
by God
Childbearing has pain —
We must work
Hard life
We must choose to do God's will
Jesus feeds the multitude with
7 loaves and a few fish
Psalm 23: 1-6
Yahweh is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
In grassy meadows he lets me lie.By tranquil streams he leads me
to restore my spirit.
He guides me in paths of saving justice
as befits his name.Even were I to walk in a ravine as dark as death
I should fear no danger, for you are at my side.
Your staff and your crook are there to soothe me.You prepare a table for me
under the eyes of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup brims over.Kindness and faithful love pursue me
every day of my life.
I make my home in the house of Yahweh
for all time to come.
Romans 5: 5-11
and a hope which will not let us down, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. When we were still helpless, at the appointed time, Christ died for the godless. You could hardly find anyone ready to die even for someone upright; though it is just possible that, for a really good person, someone might undertake to die. So it is proof of God’s own love for us, that Christ died for us while we were still sinners. How much more can we be sure, therefore, that, now that we have been justified by his death, we shall be saved through him from the retribution of God. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more can we be sure that, being now reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. What is more, we are filled with exultant trust in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have already gained our reconciliation.
Luke 5: 3-7
Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ Simon replied, ‘Master, we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled both boats to sinking point.
July 31, 1994
Words of Jesus to Members of
Shepherds of Christ Associates:"My beloved priest-companion, I intend to use the priestly newsletter, Shepherds of Christ, and the movement, Shepherds of Christ Associates, in a powerful way for the renewal of My Church and the world.
"I will use the newsletter and the chapters of Shepherds of Christ Associates as a powerful instrument for spreading devotion to My Heart and My Mother's Heart.
"I am calling many to become members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. To all of them I will give great blessings. I will use them as instruments to help bring about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. I will give great graces to the members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. I will call them to be deeply united to My Heart and to Mary's Heart as I lead them ever closer to My Father in the Holy Spirit."
- Message from Jesus to Father Edward J. Carter, S.J., Founder, as given on July 31, 1994,
feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola, Founder of the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits)
Apostles of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus
My dear fellow Associate Members,
Jesus is calling special apostles to join a new division of the Shepherds of Christ Movement. Here is a message from Jesus given to Father Carter:
My beloved priest-companion, I am requesting that a new prayer movement be started under the direction of Shepherds of Christ Ministries. I am asking for volunteers who are willing to pray before the Blessed Sacrament for one hour, twice-weekly. Members of the Shepherds of Christ prayer chapters, as well as others, are to be invited to join this movement.
These apostles are to pray for the intentions I am giving you. For part of the hour they are to use the prayers of the Shepherds of Christ Associates Handbook. They may spend the rest of the hour as they so choose.
I will use this new prayer movement within My Shepherds of Christ Ministries in a powerful way to help in the renewal of My Church and the world. I will give great graces to those who join this movement. The name, Apostles of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, is to be given to this movement.
I am inviting My beloved Rita Ring to be coordinator for this activity.
I pour out the great love of My Sacred Heart to all. I am Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock.
This is indeed a special calling for us to unite in one heart with His Eucharistic Heart and pray for the following intentions:
For the spread of the devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary culminating in the reign of the Sacred Heart and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart.
For the Pope.
For all bishops of the world.
For all priests.
For all sisters and brothers in the religious life.
For all members of the Shepherds of Christ Movement, and for the spread of this movement to the world.
For all members of the Catholic Church.
For all members of the human family.
For all souls in purgatory.
end of Apostles of the Eucharistic Heart message
October 13, 1994
77th Anniversary of Mary's appearance at Fatima
The Birth of the Full Ministries
of the Shepherds of Christ
"I wish to share with you part of a message which Jesus gave us on October 13, 1994. The message tells us about the expansion of the Shepherds of Christ movement:
'My beloved priest-companion, today I come to you with another mission. I am asking you to establish Shepherds of Christ Ministries. At My request you have already begun the priestly newsletter, "Shepherds of Christ", and the prayer chapters, Shepherds of Christ Associates...
'I am giving you this message on this day, the 77th Anniversary of the Great Apparition at Fatima, because of the close connection between the Shepherds of Christ movement and the Fatima message. The Fatima message is centered in devotion to My Heart and My Mother's Heart, especially in consecration to Our Hearts. Shepherds of Christ Ministries is also centered in devotion to Our Hearts. I will use Shepherds of Christ Ministries as a great instrument in helping to bring about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. When this occurs, My Church and the world will be experiencing the great era of peace promised by My Mother at Fatima.
'Today, then, October 13, 1994, the 77th Anniversary of the Great Apparition at Fatima, marks the birth of Shepherds of Christ Ministries. I pour forth the great love of My Sacred Heart to all. I am Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock.'
"Jesus has told us that Shepherds of Christ Ministries includes: the priestly newsletter, Shepherds of Christ, Shepherds of Christ Associates prayer chapters, various publications, including books, whatever else Our Lord directs us to undertake.
"As members of Shepherds of Christ Associates, you are an extremely important part of Shepherds of Christ Ministries. You have given great joy to the Heart of Jesus by responding to His invitation to become members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. As He draws you closer to His Heart and to His Mother's Heart as Associates members, He will fill you with an ever-increasing experience of His love, peace, and joy."
- From In the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, Newsletter of Shepherds of Christ Associates
by Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J., Volume 1, No. 1, 1995. p. 2.
from Tell My People
Age Of The Two Hearts
Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, I have allowed you to experience in extraordinary fashion the riches contained in My Heart and My Mother's Heart. I desire that you tell all My people about these riches. I desire that My people consecrate themselves to My Sacred Heart and to Mary's Immaculate Heart. My people are living in the beginnings of the age of the Two Hearts.
"After the time of the purification is completed, this new era of the Church and the world will become firmly established. This era will be characterized by the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. All those who consecrate themselves to My Heart and to My Mother's Heart will help to establish this glorious new age. I am Lord and Master. Please listen to My urgent request. Within Our Hearts you will experience the love and security, the peace and the joy, which you all desire. I love My people with a tremendous love, and in My love I give them this message!"
Reflection by Fr. Carter:
This is the Age of the Two Hearts! The surest road to sanctity in these our times is through consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. In making this consecration, and striving with God's grace to live it as best we can each day, we are contributing to the establishment of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and to the arrival of the reign of the Sacred Heart.
Excerpt from The Spirituality of Fatima
by Fr. Edward Carter, S.J.
(3)Before receiving the six apparitions of Our Lady, May through October of 1917, the three Fatima visionaries were visited by an angel on three different occasions during the preceding year. He appeared to them in the spring, summer, and fall. Lucia (now Sr. Lucia) describes the springtime apparition of the angel:
On reaching us, he said: "Do not be afraid! I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me."
Kneeling on the ground, he bowed down until his forehead touched the ground and made us repeat these words three times: "My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You! I ask pardon of You for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love You."
Then, rising he said: "Pray thus. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications."
His words engraved themselves so deeply on our minds that we could never forget them
During the summer of 1916, the angel again appeared to the three visionaries. He said to them:
(4)Pray! Pray a great deal. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have merciful designs on you. Offer prayers and sacrifices continually to the Most High. Make everything you do a sacrifice, and offer it as an act of reparation for the sins by which God is offended, and as a petition for the conversion of sinners. Bring peace to our country in this way.... I am the Guardian Angel of Portugal Accept and bear with submission all the sufferings the Lord will send you.
In the fall of the same year, the angel visited the visionaries a final time:
(5)The angel came...bearing a golden chalice in one hand and a Host above it in the other. The amazed children noticed that drops of blood were falling from the Host into the chalice. Presently, the angel left both suspended in mid-air and prostrated himself on the ground, saying this beautiful prayer: "Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly. I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and [the intercession of] the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners."
Sr. Lucia relates how the angel gave them Communion:
Then, rising, he took the chalice and the Host in his hand. He gave the Sacred Host to me and shared the Blood from the chalice between Jacinta and Francisco, saying as he did so:
(6)"Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men! Make reparation for their crimes and console your God."
___________________
3. Louis Kondar, SVD,
editor, Fatima in Lucia's Own Words (Fatima: Postulation
Center, 1976), p.62. Distributed in the U.S.A. by the Ravengate
Press, Cambridge, MA.
4. Our Lady's Peace Plan, op cit., pp.1-2.
5. Ibid., p.2 (The words in brackets are my own-added for
clarification).
6. Fatima in Lucia's Own Words, op cit., pp.64-65.
Excerpts from The Spirituality of Fatima
by Fr. Edward Carter, S.J.
May 13, 1917
"Do not be afraid, I will do you no harm..... I am from Heaven.
"I have come to ask you to come here for six months in succession, on the 13th day, at the same hour. Later on, I will tell you who I am and what I want
"Are you willing to offer yourselves to God and bear all the sufferings He wills to send you, as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners?
"Pray the Rosary every day in order to obtain peace for the world, and the end of the war." (8)
June 13, 1917
"God wishes you to remain in the world for some time because He wants to use you to establish in the world the devotion to my Immaculate Heart. I promise salvation to those who embrace it, and their souls will be loved by God as flowers placed by myself to adorn His throne." (10)
July 13, 1917
"During her appearance in July, Our Lady, in answer to Lucia's plea, promised that in October she would work a great miracle so that all might believe and know who she was. Again, the Mother of God told the children to sacrifice themselves for sinners and to say many times, especially when making a sacrifice, this prayer: "O my Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of poor sinners, and in reparation for all the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary." (11)
"During this same July apparition, Mary showed the three children a vision of Hell. She told them:
"You have seen Hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish, in the world, devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If people do what I tell you, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.
"The war (World War I, then raging) is going to end. But if people do not stop offending God, another and worse one will begin in the reign of Pius XI. When you shall see a night illuminated by an unknown light [January 2, 1938], know that this is the great sign that God gives you that He is going to punish the world for its many crimes by means of war, hunger, and persecution of the Church and the Holy Father. (12)
"To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the five first Saturdays. If my requests are granted, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not, she will scatter her errors throughout the world, provoking wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and various nations will be destroyed....
"But in the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph, the Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, Russia will be converted, and a certain period of peace will be granted to the world." (13)
August 19, 1917
She told them she was greatly displeased by the action of the mayor. As a result, the miracle promised for October would not be as impressive as originally planned. (15)
September 13, 1917
More than 30,000 people were present in September, and saw a shower of mysterious white petals fall to within 10 feet of the ground before dissolving into the air. Many also saw the globe of light bearing the Lady come to rest atop the tree, and the branches bend as though someone were standing on them. Later, they saw the cloud depart into the east, from whence it had come.(16)
October 13, 1917
I am the Lady of the Rosary. I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and to ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend Our Lord any more, for He is already too grievously offended by the sins of men. People must say the Rosary. Let them continue saying it every day.(17)
While the people in attendance were beholding the great Miracle of the Sun, the three young visionaries, and they alone, were privileged to see striking visions in the heavens:
As Our Lady had promised, St. Joseph had come with the Holy Family and had blessed the world. Then, Our Lady appeared as the Mother of Sorrows, accompanied by her Divine Son, Who also blessed the world. Finally, Lucy had seen the Blessed Virgin, dressed in the brown robes of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, crowned as Queen of Heaven and Earth, holding a brown Scapular in her hand, with her infant Son upon her knee. However, in none of these visions had any of the figures spoken to the children. (18)
Besides the messages associated with the major Fatima apparitions, there were other revelations given by Our Lady. Before Jacinta died, she told of other messages given her (during her illness) by Mary:
More souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason.
Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much.
Many marriages are not good; they do not please Our Lord and are not of God.
Priests must be pure, very pure. They should not busy themselves with anything except what concerns the Church and souls. The disobedience of priests, to their superiors and to the Holy Father, is very displeasing to Our Lord.
I can no longer restrain the hand of my Divine Son from striking the world with just punishments for its many crimes.
If the government of a country leaves the Church in peace and gives liberty to our Holy Religion, it will be blessed by God.
Tell everybody that God gives graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Tell them to ask grace from her, and that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be venerated together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Ask them to plead for peace from the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the Lord has confided the peace of the world to her. (19)
NOTES:
8. Frere Michael de la Trinite', The Whole Truth about Fatima
(Buffalo: Immaculate Heart Publications, 1989), pp.112-114.
9. For background material on Fatima, I am particularly indebted to
Our Lady of Fatima's Peace Plan from Heaven (Rockford: TAN
Books and Publishers, Inc., 1983). p.30.
10. Ibid., p.3.
11. Ibid., pp.3-4.
12. Ibid., pp.4-5.
13. Ibid., p.5.
14. Rev. Edward Carter, S.J., Mother at Our Side: Mary's Role in
the Spiritual Life (1993: Faith Publishing Co., Milford, Ohio), p.21.
15. Our Lady's Peace Plan, op cit., p.6.
16. Ibid., p.6.
17. Ibid., p.7.
18. Ibid., p.8.
19. Ibid., pp.9-10.
Lent is like the
desert
Easter is like the
blooms of spring
the fruits of new
life
