Pray for the publication of Blue Book V.      

Jesus speaks:           I play My violins for you --
                            listen

                            Sing:  By Name I have Called You

Messenger:        Soft and gentle is the voice of
                                the Lord –

                            Tender in all His ways –

                            He tells us things, but
                                with the gentlest love

                            He reproves us

                            Sat the children playing and
                                Jesus came amongst them
                                and said, sweet ones, play while
                                the day is young, but your
                                mother calls you to pray –

                            Little ones prayers are so
                                important

                            Babies can have little cries or
                                big cries, but babies
                                tell the truth –

                            When babies are unhappy – they
                                let you know –––

                            Some adults do not know when
                                they are having an interior
                                problem – they lie to
                                themselves –

                            In this retreat pray to the Holy Spirit to
                                remove some skins that keep
                                you from getting to the core of
                                your heart where you are one
                                with Me.

                            This retreat is for you – it is for
                                the world, the priests and the
                                Church -- It is to give Me
                                love and honor and make reparation.

                                Betty had an old car, a station wagon and
                            she kept it and kept it – it reminded her
                            of the little children, now grown – she
                            could remember and see them get in and
                            out of the car – she had pictures
                            all over her house –

                                When they talked to her and came over
                            she called them little names from
                            the past and she was constantly reminding
                            them they were her babies – She didn't
                            learn to accept things as they are now –
                            Jeff was 42, had a wife and a grown
                            son, Megan her youngest daughter
                            never married – mom had played out
                            the mother role so much with Megan
                            and the youngest son, she tried to
                            keep them tied on –

                                She needed to pray to let go and let
                            the children she bore grow in their
                            lives, but she held them tight and longed
                            for the old years with the old station
                            wagon.

                                The body tells a story – older couples
                            usually do not have young children after
                            a certain age.

                                The elderly in the Nursing homes
                            have an important job to still
                            promote My Kingdom.

                                Crystal was in the Nursing Home
                            she cried all day to bring her children
                            back – they lived out of state and sad
                            to say, didn't come to see mom much,
                            but next door – Ed was busy making
                            rosaries and friends – he had had 12
                            children and they didn't visit too much
                            either but he never cried – he was too
                            busy having fun – he loved his life
                            in the nursing home – he accepted
                            it with joy – Crystal only wanted
                            the attention of the children and friends –
                            she didn't get it and she cried
                            day long and night.

                                Accepting things the way they are
                            is a big help to interior peace and
                            joy. Lying to oneself – living in the
                            past – always looking for something
                            else to make you happy while
                            in the present moment – keeps you
                            from enjoying the moments pleasure.                           

From a Lenten Homily, March 24, 2000

    Today’s Gospel in its story certainly points ahead to Jesus in His Passion and death. And as we read passages such as this during the Lenten season, we are reminded once again that the Church in her Liturgy of the Word gives us an opportunity to undergo a purification, an ever deepening cleansing of ourselves so that we may be a more fit instrument for receiving the great graces which are to be given to us at the time of the Resurrection memorial on Easter. And so all in all, Lent is a time of purification to prepare us for ever-greater gifts of the Lord. It’s a time of self-discipline, a time to renew our efforts to be self-disciplined in the service of the Lord. Self-discipline is an aspect of purification. And I suggest that one of the most difficult acts of self-discipline in the spiritual journey is to concentrate on the present moment. We have a very strong tendency to disregard the importance of the present moment by focusing in a wrong way on the past or in a wrong way on the future. There are proper occasions for thinking of the past and the future. For example, we have to learn from the past and we have to prepare for the future, but our great emphasis has to be upon the present. There is a Latin axiom which says, age quod agis, age quod agis, which means: do what you are doing, concentrate on the present. And of course we are familiar with that term in the history of spirituality: the sacrament of the present moment. And so the discipline of Lent certainly encourages us to include in a deeper self-discipline a greater determination to get as much as we can out of the present moment. People with a terminal illness have an opportunity as they prepare for death for increased prayer, contrition, love of God. However, some are taken very, very quickly. But for those who have the opportunity of knowing with some certainty the time of their death, I’m sure as they look back on their lives, they are saddened by the many times they did not use time and opportunities for the service of the Lord properly, and are overjoyed at those times in which they did use the present opportunity properly. A great means we have of living in the present properly is a greater focus upon our Lord. For if I have that awareness of the fact I am united with Jesus here and now, why should I be concerned so much about the future or the past? Yes, a great help in living in the present and deriving all the good we can from it for ourselves and others is an ever greater focus upon Jesus, because the more I focus upon Jesus and the more I live with Him in the present moment, the more I am satisfied with the present moment. And so let us in our Lenten activity resolve to grow in that self-discipline - which is very difficult at times - to really live in the presence with the fullness of our being as much as is possible, with the help of God’s grace. Now is the day of salvation. Now is the day of salvation.

end of Father Carter's homily

Exodus 22: 20-26

‘You will not molest or oppress aliens, for you yourselves were once aliens in Egypt. You will not ill–treat widows or orphans; if you ill–treat them in any way and they make an appeal to me for help, I shall certainly hear their appeal, my anger will be roused and I shall put you to the sword; then your own wives will be widows and your own children orphans. ‘If you lend money to any of my people, to anyone poor among you, you will not play the usurer with him: you will not demand interest from him. ‘If you take someone’s cloak in pledge, you will return it to him at sunset. It is all the covering he has; it is the cloak he wraps his body in; what else will he sleep in? If he appeals to me, I shall listen. At least with me he will find compassion!

I hear my love. 
See how he comes 
leaping on the mountains, 
bounding over the hills. 
My love is like a gazelle, 
like a young stag. 

See where he stands 
behind our wall. 
He looks in at the window, 
he peers through the opening. 

My love lifts up his voice, 
he says to me, 
‘Come then, my beloved, 
my lovely one, come.
For see, winter is past,
the rains are over and gone.

‘Flowers are appearing on the earth.
The season of glad songs has come,
the cooing of the turtledove is heard in our land.
The fig tree is forming its first figs 
and the blossoming vines give out their fragrance. 
Come then, my beloved, 
my lovely one, come.

‘My dove, hiding in the clefts of the rock,
in the coverts of the cliff,
show me your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet
and your face is lovely.’
Catch the foxes for us,
the little foxes
that make havoc of the vineyards,
for our vineyards are in fruit.

My love is mine and I am his. 
He pastures his flock among the lilies. 

Before the day–breeze rises, 
before the shadows flee, return! 
Be, my love, like a gazelle, like a young stag, 
on the mountains of Bether.

Surrender

March 10, 1994

Jesus: This is surrender. I want your all. I do not want you attached to any person or any thing. I want you completely dependent on Me. Do I teach you such lessons on how attached you are to others and things? I have all the answers. If I do not tell you, you do not need to know. You want your will. My will I make known to you in front of the tabernacle. I have spoken here.

Surrender is doing the will of God and it is not your deciding and doing your will. I want your all. I want you to do those things the way I tell you. It is not the way you want to do them. Sweet surrender, only to find I want more. Look at My position on the cross. Did I ask you to die for Me? I ask you to do My Will. I ask you to surrender. I ask for time in front of the tabernacle. I ask for love. Watch this world go up in your face. Then where are your possessions, the things you held on to? You only have limited vision. I know all things.

I am so tired. You do not give but bits and pieces. You hold on to what you want and give Me some. I want your all. I want total surrender. I showed you how to surrender when I died on the cross. I am not asking for this. I am asking for you to do My will. You are so attached to pleasing people that you do not see the whole picture. I make My ways clear here. You do not listen. You do what you think is a good thing and you do not even come to Me. I want your all. I want surrender.

R. Love includes giving up what you don't want to give up. Love is saying, "Yes, Lord", even when you would rather do it your way. It is in your surrender and love of God that you teach mighty lessons to those around you. You teach by your being in love with Jesus. I love you, Jesus. I give of My bounty, not little bits and pieces I stingily let go of. Jesus, my Lord, my God, my All, how can I love You as I ought? Do I give My all, or do I say, "Oh, Lord, you can't mean that you want this," and hold on to what I want.

Do I hold on to people and don't even know it, or do I put You first, Lord, above all persons, places and things? I see how really attached I am to everything, things I do not even know I am attached to. It is easy to give lip service to surrender and tell God to possess our soul and make me selfless, but do I really mean it? This is what keeps us from increased union with Him! It is in total surrender, of living for love of Him and Him alone, that we are free. And what freedom! The bittersweetness to let go, to find freedom from all we hold on to! The things we hold on to most are what keeps us from our increased union with Him.

"Oh, not that, Lord! Oh, do I look at your crucifix and see You letting go?" You held not one thing back. Your arms open wide, nailed to the cross! Total surrender!

What does He ask of me today that I want to hold on to? Holding on to things stops my freedom. To be totally free, I must let go. I cannot hold on and let go at the same time. Freedom is obtained in letting go. See yourself with your arms tight, holding on to all you possess.

Jesus: I call you to surrender. Open your arms as I did when I died on the cross. Let all your sacred worldly possessions drop around you and you will experience the joy of being free, united only to Me, of letting go and knowing that I, God, tend to your every need. To My death on the cross I loved you and I love you this way this very day. Let go and give it all to Me. I will care for you far better than you could for yourself. I am God and I love you more than you can love yourself.

Jesus is dead, hanging on the cross, arms outstretched. His feet are not even on the ground. He is hanging by nails on a piece of wood. What do we hold on to? He wants us in midair in total surrender. Oh, little ones, how you squander your possessions. How you hold on to people. How you won't let go. See Me in total surrender.

I gave My very life for you. What do you hold on to, My little ones? Little bits and pieces you give to Me and you hold tight to your lives. They will be up in smoke and all that will remain will be the things of God. Not one pair of shoes do you take with you, only your love, given to God and others.

end of March 10, 1994 message

Freedom

March 2, 1994
At Cathedral After Communion

Jesus:  I want you to love Me as I love you. If I asked you to lay down your life for Me, you would give this freely of yourself. I need this surrender from you that you put Me above all things--not some things, all things. I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have any gods before Me--not your husband, your children, your life, your house. I want your total surrender! I am not asking you to give these things up. I am asking you to love Me more than any of these things, that you are willing to give them up for Me!

This is freedom. When your love is for Me and Me alone, no one has any control over you. You live for Me and I am Almighty. I love you with the most ardent love and you know all that comes from Me is from Him Who laid down His life for you.

Do you love Me? Would you lay your life down for Me? If you love, you give of yourself. Do you love each other? Do you give of yourself to one another or do you have relationships that give to you? This is not love. Love gives from the heart. Love is for the good of the other. I gave My life for you that you might live. Follow the Master. I did not die for any of My own gratifications, I died to show you how I loved you! I gave My only life for you. I love you this much!

I call you to love. Love is action from your heart. Do you love Me this way or do you just do busy work and call it love?

To learn about love you must come and be with Me. Sit and let Me teach you My ways. I sit with My red garb, covering My white tunic, you at My feet and I teach you ever so sweetly each day. You are My beloved ones. I died for you. I give you this same love today. Love gives to the other. Do you give this kind of love to Me and your brother or do you ask what others and I will give to you?

You do not know love if you do not come and you are not taught by Me. I am the author of love. I teach the mighty lessons of love. I died out of love for you.

You cannot love intimately if you hold back. To love Me, you must totally surrender, surrender all you hold on to. People do not love Me because they want to hold back. If you want intimacy with Me, you must be willing to surrender your all to Me.

Are you willing to do this? This is where the power is. When you give your all, I possess your soul and I am all powerful. I want your all, not little pieces you stingily let go of. I want your all. Then you will have an intimate union with God. Then you will live in His love and be powered by His might. Then you will be free. I will operate you and you will be united to Me as one. What power, God dwelling within your breast and acting from your soul! Become selfless and unattached to anything. I am God and you shall not have any gods before Me!

end of March 2, 1994