| Shepherds of Christ Daily Writing |
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March 13, 2024
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March 14th Holy Spirit Novena |
The Novena Rosary
Mysteries |
March 13th Prayer Service
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.
March 13, 2024
Today's Gospel
John 5:17-30
His answer to them was, 'My Father still goes on working, and I am at work, too.' But that only made the Jews even more intent on killing him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he spoke of God as his own Father and so made himself God's equal. To this Jesus replied: In all truth I tell you, by himself the Son can do nothing; he can do only what he sees the Father doing: and whatever the Father does the Son does too. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he himself does, and he will show him even greater things than these, works that will astonish you. Thus, as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to anyone he chooses; for the Father judges no one; he has entrusted all judgement to the Son, so that all may honour the Son as they honour the Father. Whoever refuses honour to the Son refuses honour to the Father who sent him. In all truth I tell you, whoever listens to my words, and believes in the one who sent me, has eternal life; without being brought to judgement such a person has passed from death to life. In all truth I tell you, the hour is coming -- indeed it is already here -- when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and all who hear it will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and, because he is the Son of man, has granted him power to give judgement. Do not be surprised at this, for the hour is coming when the dead will leave their graves at the sound of his voice: those who did good will come forth to life; and those who did evil will come forth to judgement. By myself I can do nothing; I can judge only as I am told to judge, and my judging is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
February 13, 2024
R.
Do you feel the presence of the
Father, Son
and Holy Spirit?
The Father, has a plan for us.
God wants
this relationship with us.
We are here to
grow in our intimacy
with God.
In this Lent we can spend time
alone with God and think of the
presence
of the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit in our heart.
Jesus:
Be alone with Me, close
your eyes, think of the presence of
God,
All three Persons, dwelling in
your heart.
Meditate, empty your
mind, think
only of the presence of God. Make
a
spiritual communion, now.
Take time, be alone with Me.
Everyday
during Lent, morning and
night, empty your mind, make a
spiritual
communion, think of God’s
presence with you, close your eyes,
be
alone with Me.
This will help you to grow in God’s
presence all day, the more you do
this,
all thru Lent.
I went into the desert to pray for
40
days and be with My Father,
practice this every day during Lent.
Being alone with God. Knowing
My presence!!!!
March 10, 2024
Novena to St. Joseph, Patron and Father (2024)
Begins March 11, 2024 - March 19, 2024
Dear Saint Joseph,
I turn to you, you who cared and
protected the child Jesus and the
Virgin Mary.
You taught men and women, the
love of God by your example in life,
and by your faithfulness of living
your calling in greatest commitment
and love.
You loved Mary and Jesus with the
most gentle, bonds of love.
You showed us how you
lived in loving conformity to the
Heavenly Father’s will.
You guided Jesus and Mary’s precious
lives with the Holy Spirit, Spouse of
the Virgin Mother of God.
Protect us and our family this day and
every day of our lives, like
you did the Holy Family of Nazareth.
We seek your powerful intercession.
How intimately you knew and loved
Jesus and Mary. You were so close to
them. You showed us love.
Your heart was pure and gentle and
yet you were strong in being their
manly protector on earth, intercede
for us to depend more and more on
God for all our needs, for when we
are weak we are strong in God.
St. Joseph please intercede for a
peaceful and holy death for us and
our sick loved ones.
Amen.
St. Joseph help us now in this nine
day novena to you.
Amen.
March 13, 2024
R. Jesus gave us a free will, He gave
and He gave and He gave until there
was no more
to give - He emptied Himself,
We were created to go to heaven with
God in eternal love.
But the good thief surrendered and
Jesus promised Him eternal life in
heaven.
The bad thief fought with Jesus on the
cross - He was dying on the cross, but
fighting God for one morsel of life
here below at all costs.
Have we surrendered to God, that He is
in charge. God has the Plan. We are
under God. How will we be when He
wants to take us home?
Read Today's Gospel.Reference John 5: 17-30
Fighting on the earth.
Men lifelong fighting God.
When Jesus appeared on the cross
to me 12 days before
Mary appeared in Clearwater,
December 5, 1996, He said "Nobody
is listening."
He was at the point of death, I cried
3 days and as He was dying on the
cross He said "nobody is listening."
2 men died on the cross next to Jesus,
one was sorry, one refused to give up
his fight, to fight God.
We have a free will to obey God and
quit fighting.
Fighting brings discord, chaos, division,
and hatred.
God gives us His law, His Word, Himself.
God is all in all.
Jesus is Savior, Redeemer.John 3:16
For this is how God loved the world:
he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him
may not perish
but may have eternal life.
Jesus said:
I am the Lord thy God, thou shall not have
any gods before Me.
I am the way, the truth and the life.
I am truth.
I am life.
R. We go to the Father through Jesus Christ.
Jesus help me, I see you carrying the cross,
they hit You and when You fall under the
cross, they stab You, whip You and You
still endured, mounting the cross, nailing
Your hands and feet, stretching Your body.
And you bled for our sins.
You bled in love.
You gave and gave and gave
and He said "No one is listening”.
We were created in the image and likeness
of Jesus.
Jesus died on a cross, arms outstretched
gave His all for love.
What matters is love of God and others.
Do we want to love like that, and be like
Jesus?
March 12, 2025
A Prayer for Caregivers and those Suffering deep Sickness.
Dear Holy Spirit, I ask to be forgiven for
my unloving ways.
Dear Holy Spirit,
I beg for the gift of counsel.
I have been tested and tried in this cross,
please help me, I am weak and my
deepest desire is the tell God I love Him,
I am grateful, I beg for unity with You,
my God.
I seek supernatural knowledge in my soul.
I feel very weary in what I need to face,
day after day,
I feel old and weak, strengthen me, God.
I desire to be forgiven for my unloving
ways, when it seems Satan presses on
and is relentless in this situation I face
now.
Help me God, Give me the gifts of the
Holy Spirit.
Help me to have strength to be as You
desire me to be always.
I love You so much.
I pray for those in my life struggling in
disease. Please strengthen them, help
them in their suffering.
Dear God: Draw them closer and
closer to You.
Strengthen them in their illness in
their days.
Oh, Our Lady of Clearwater help me.
Dear Holy Spirit, move in my soul.
Guide me on this path.
Lead me into understanding, as You
want me to.Think of how wonderful things
operate when there is natural order.
Now think of how it is when there is
Divine order.
Oh God: Help me and strengthen me
now. Please help me God.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place
my trust in Thee.
I love You God, so, so very much.
Help me, God.
Through Jesus, we go to the Father, in
the Holy Spirit, with Mary at our side.
Through Jesus, we go to the Father, in
the Holy Spirit, with Mary at our side.
Through Jesus, we go to the Father, in
the Holy Spirit, with Mary at our side.
R. Love is to develop more and more in
our lives, not wait until the end to say
we loved.
Through Him, with Him and in Him.
R. We go to the Father through Jesus.
Excerpt from Response to God's Love by Fr. Edward Carter, S.J.
... In reference to Christianity, God himself is the ultimate mystery. Radically, God is completely other and transcendent, hidden from man in his inner life, unless he chooses to reveal himself. Let us briefly look at this inner life of God.
The Father, in a perfect act of self-expression, in a perfect act of knowing, generates his son. The Son, the Word, is, then, the immanent expression of God's fullness, the reflection of the Father. Likewise, from all eternity, the Father and the Son bring forth the Holy Spirit in a perfect act of loving.
At the destined moment in human history, God's self-expression, the Word, immersed himself into man's world. God's inner self-expression now had also become God's outer self-expression. Consequently, the mystery of God becomes the mystery of Christ. In Christ, God tells us about himself, about his inner life, about his plan of creation and redemption. He tells us how Father, Son, and Holy Spirit desire to dwell within us in the most intimate fashion, how they wish to share with us their own life through grace. All this he has accomplished and does accomplish through Christ. St. Paul tells us: "I became a minister of this Church through the commission God gave me to preach among you his word in its fullness, that mystery hidden from ages and generations past but now revealed to his holy ones. God has willed to make known to them the glory beyond price which this mystery brings to the Gentiles—the mystery of Christ in you, your hope of glory. This is the Christ we proclaim while we admonish all men and teach them in the full measure of wisdom, hoping to make every man complete in Christ" (Col 1:25-28).
R. Grace is His life in us, we beg to be
abundantly filled with God’s grace.
God is love. We must go to God to
love, He is the source.
From the Priestly Newsletter Book III Issue 3 by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J.
The Indwelling of the Trinity and the Life of Grace
The spiritual life, the life of holiness, begins at Baptism. Archbishop Luis Martinez says:
"When we are born we are endowed by God with all we need for our human life, a complete organism, and a soul with the full range of faculties. Of course they are not all developed from birth, but we have them then as the source of everything we are going to need in life. And thus it is also in the spiritual order. When someone is baptized, he receives in all its fullness that supernatural world which the Christian carries within his soul. He receives grace, which is a participation of the nature of God; the theological virtues, which put him in immediate contact with the divine; the moral virtues, which serve to regulate and order all his life; and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the divine, mysterious receivers for picking up the Spirit’s inspirations and movements."
2Another author states: "The Three Divine Persons inhabit the sanctuary of our soul, taking their delight in enriching it with supernatural gifts and in communicating to us a Godlike life, similar to theirs, called the life of grace.
"All life, however, implies a threefold element: a vital principle that is, so to speak, the source of life itself; faculties which give the power to elicit vital acts; and lastly, the acts themselves which are but its development and which minister to its growth. In the supernatural order, God living within us produces the same elements. He first communicates to us habitual grace (the life of sanctifying grace) which plays the part of a vital supernatural principle. This principle deifies, as it were, the very substance of the soul and makes it capable, though in a remote way, of enjoying the Beatific Vision and of performing the acts that lead to it.
"Out of this grace spring the infused virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit which perfect our faculties and endow us with the immediate power of performing Godlike, supernatural, meritorious acts.
"In order to stir these faculties into action, He give us actual graces which enlighten our mind, strengthen our will, and aid us both to act supernaturally and to increase the measure of habitual grace that has been granted to us.
"Although this life of grace is entirely distinct from our natural life it is not merely superimposed on the latter. It penetrates it through and through, transforms it and makes it divine. It assimilates whatever is good in our nature, our education and our habits. It perfects and supernaturalizes all these various elements, directing them toward the last end, that is toward the possession of God through the Beatific Vision and its resultant life."
3Our being in the state of sanctifying of grace and the special indwelling of the Persons of the Trinity within us always exist together. We cannot have the one without the other. Our life of grace, which is a sharing in Trinitarian life, allows us to know and love Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a most intimate fashion. Through grace we are in the image of the Trinity, and we enjoy special relationships with the Divine Persons.
Again, we listen to the words of Archbishop Martinez as he speaks about our relationships with the Divine Persons:
"Love, we have said, is the foundation of devotion to the Holy Spirit, as it is also the foundation of Christian perfection. But love as a reflection of God, as His own image, is something that encloses within its simplicity a boundless wealth and a variety of forms. Who can fathom the depths of love?
"Human love in all its manifestations is admirably in harmony with the love of charity; it is confident in filial love, trusting in friendship, sweet and fruitful in the love of husband and wife, disinterested and tender in the love of a mother. Our love of God must include all these forms of human love; every fiber of our heart must vibrate when the harmonious and full canticle of love bursts forth from it. But since God is one in essence and triune in Persons, our love for Him takes on a particular aspect accordingly as it is directed to each one of the divine Persons.
"Our love for the Father is tender and confident like that of children; eager to glorify Him as His only-begotten Son taught us to do by word and example. Love for the Father is the intense desire to have His will fulfilled on earth as it is in heaven. Our love for the Son, who willed to become flesh for us, is characterized by the tendency to union with Him and transformation into Him; by imitation of His example, participation in His life, and the sharing of His sufferings and His Cross. The Eucharist, mystery of love, of sorrow, and of union, reveals the characteristics of this love.
"Love for the Holy Spirit also has its special character, which we should study in order completely to understand devotion to Him. We have explained how the Holy Spirit loves us, how He moves us like a divine breath that draws us to the bosom of God, like a sacred fire that transforms us into fire, like a divine artist who forms Jesus in us. Surely, then, our love for the Holy Spirit should be marked by loving docility, by full surrender, and by a constant fidelity that permits us to be moved, directed, and transformed by His sanctifying action.
"Our love for the Father tends to glorify Him; our love for the Son, to transform ourselves into Him; our love for the Holy Spirit, to let ourselves be possessed and moved by Him."
4
The Holy Spirit and Mary
The late Archbishop Luis M. Martinez of Mexico strikingly speaks of the ongoing cooperation of Mary with the Holy Spirit regarding the reproduction of Jesus within us: "Christian life is the reproduction of Jesus in souls…
"Now, how will this mystical reproduction be brought about in souls? In the same way in which Jesus was brought into the world, for God gives a wonderful mark of unity to all His works. Divine acts have a wealth of variety because they are the work of omnipotence; nevertheless, a most perfect unity always shines forth from them because they are the fruit of wisdom; and this divine contrast of unity and variety stamps the works of God with sublime and unutterable beauty.
"In His miraculous birth, Jesus was the fruit of heaven and earth…The Holy Spirit conveyed the divine fruitfulness of the Father to Mary, and the virginal soil brought forth in an ineffable manner our most loving Savior, the divine Seed, as the prophets called Him…
"That is the way He is reproduced in souls. He is always the fruit of heaven and earth.
"Two artisans must concur in the work that is at once God’s masterpiece and humanity’s supreme product: the Holy Spirit and the most holy Virgin Mary. Two sanctifiers are necessary to souls, the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, for they are the only ones who can reproduce Christ.
"Undoubtedly, the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary sanctify us in different ways. The first is the Sanctifier by essence; because He is God, who is infinite sanctity; because He is the personal Love that completes, so to speak, the sanctity of God, consummating His life and His unity, and it belongs to Him to communicate to souls the mystery of that sanctity. The Virgin Mary, for her part, is the co-operator, the indispensable instrument in and by God’s design. From Mary’s maternal relation to the human body of Christ is derived her relation to His Mystical Body which is being formed through all the centuries until the end of time, when it will be lifted up to the heavens, beautiful, splendid, complete, and glorious.
"These two, then, the Holy Spirit and Mary, are the indispensable artificers of Jesus, the indispensable sanctifiers of souls. Any saint in heaven can co-operate in the sanctification of a soul, but his co-operation is not necessary, not profound, not constant: while the co-operation of these two artisans of Jesus of whom we have just been speaking is so necessary that without it souls are not sanctified (and this by the actual design of Providence), and so intimate that it reaches to the very depths of our soul. For the Holy Spirit pours charity into our heart, makes a habitation of our soul, and directs our spiritual life by means of His gifts. The Virgin Mary has the efficacious influence of Mediatrix in the most profound and delicate operations of grace in our souls. And, finally, the action of the Holy Spirit and the co-operation of the most holy Virgin Mary are constant; without them, not one single character of Jesus would be traced on our souls, no virtue grow, no gift be developed, no grace increased, no bond of union with God be strengthened in the rich flowering of the spiritual life.
"Such is the place that the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary have in the order of sanctification. Therefore, Christian piety should put these two artisans of Christ in their true place, making devotion to them something necessary, profound, and constant."
182. Archbishop Luis M. Martinez, The Sanctifier, Pauline Books and Media, pp. 124-125.
3. Adolphe Janquery, S.S., The Spiritual Life, Desclee & Co., p. 18
4. Archbishop Martinez, op. cit., pp. 67-68,
18. Archbishop Luis M. Martinez, The Sanctifier, op. cit. pp. 5-7.
February 21, 2024
R. We must live the three loves.
Love of God.
Love of others.
Love of self.
Fr. Carter said:
"My ultimate good is the salvation
of my soul, I can't do that,
if I don't love my neighbor.
I am actually hating myself
when I don't love my neighbor."
We can be tremendously productive
human beings, even in suffering.
Christ's thoughts were of others as
He was dying on the cross.
He forgave the Good thief,
Christ gave us His Mother.
Christ, "the New Adam", dying on
a tree, looked to His Mother,
standing at the foot of the cross,
His Mother, "the New Eve".
Christ said "Woman, here is
your Son".
He refers to her as "woman"
because she is "the New Eve".
Oh God, to know You, is to love
You, and I love You, so much.
Dear God,
I love You.
Please help me now.
I pray to you Heavenly Father, in the
name of Jesus, in the Holy Spirit -
please come to my aid for healing.
Through the intercession of Our
Lady of Clearwater.
Amen.
Joyful Mysteries
The Annunciation
1. Luke 1: 26-38In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, you who enjoy God’s favour! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Look! You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I have no knowledge of man?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. And I tell you this too: your cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age, has conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ Mary said, ‘You see before you the Lord’s servant, let it happen to me as you have said.’ And the angel left her.
2. Mary loved the will of the Father.
3. Mary said “yes”.
4. Sing: Be Not Afraid
5. Sing: See the Eyes That Look at Mary
6. The Child Jesus is with us this day. He is in our brothers. He is in our children. If the Child Jesus were here and we were about to hold Him, talk to Him, and be with Him, we would treat Him with such joy and such kindness! Jesus is in our brothers. Jesus is in our children. Jesus is here this day. Do we treat our brothers, our children, and one another, with the same kindness that we would the Child Jesus?
7. The invisible Jesus was inside of Mary's womb. He was there in His divinity and His humanity. He was God from the first moment of conception. The invisible Jesus remains with us today in the tabernacle. He is present there in His divinity and humanity. We do not see Him, but He is no less present in the tabernacle than the day Mary carried Him in her womb.
8. God is love! He calls us to come to Him, to be close to Him. He truly waits for us in the tabernacle. He is a prisoner awaiting those He loves, the precious souls. So many forget Him day after day. He, the Son of God, waits and waits to share His love with the precious souls that He came to this earth to save.
9. "He came back to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, 'So, you had not the strength to stay awake with me for one hour? Stay awake, and pray not to be put to the test. The spirit is willing enough, but the human nature is weak!" (Mt. 26:40-41)
10. It was in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary that the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus was formed. Jesus took on our human nature out of great love for us.Jesus was carried in Mary's womb. Her womb was a temple to hold the precious child. She is the Mother of God!
The Visitation
1. Luke 1: 39-45Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could into the hill country to a town in Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? Look, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’
2. “My Soul doth magnify the Lord.”
3. John the Baptist jumped in Elizabeth’s womb.
4. "Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?" (Lk 1:43) Usually the servant goes to the master. But Mary, with the Almighty God within her womb, went to visit Elizabeth.
5. Jesus waits for us this day. He is God and He waits in the tabernacle for us to come and be with Him. He comes to us in the Eucharist. He is the Almighty God and He waits for mere humans to come and share His love.
6. We receive so much love from God! The Father loved us so much that He sent His only begotten Son into this world so that we might be saved. Jesus waits this very day for us to come and be with Him. It is out of great love that the Master waits for us.
7. Should we not leap for joy? Jesus Christ, the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, waits for us this day, no less present than the day He was carried in Mary's womb to the home of her cousin, Elizabeth. We take His presence so lightly! We do not see, so we do not realize that God, in His humanity and divinity, is truly present in the tabernacle and waiting for us this very day.
8. "...because he has looked on the humiliation of his servant. Yes, from now onwards all generations will call me blessed." (Lk 1:48)
9. "...for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name." (Lk. 1:49)10. John 3:16
For this is how God loved the world:
he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him
may not perish
but may have eternal life.
The Birth of Jesus
1. Luke 2:1-7Now it happened that at this time Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be made of the whole inhabited world. This census—the first—took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria, and everyone went to be registered, each to his own town. So Joseph set out from the town of Nazareth in Galilee for Judaea, to David’s town called Bethlehem, since he was of David’s House and line, in order to be registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. Now it happened that, while they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to a son, her first–born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the living–space.
2. Sing: Silent Night
3. Sing: Away in a Manger
4. Sing: O Holy Night
5. Sing: Angels we Have Heard on High
6. The Father bridges the gap between divinity and humanity in the person of Jesus Christ.
7. Jesus came into this world. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father, equal in every way to the Father, came into this world as a little baby, a helpless little baby. If we realized the true majesty of God, if we saw Him in all His majesty, we could not even stand to look at Him. But Jesus, clothed in flesh, comes as a helpless little baby, born in a little crib in a stable in Bethlehem!
8. Jesus, a Divine Person, unites His human nature and His divine nature in His Person.
9. He comes, the Son of God, in such quiet and such poverty! There is not a roll of drums or a blare of trumpets. He comes in such quiet and a star shines on Him. Is this not how it is when we receive Him in the Eucharist? We ascend the altar. There is not a roll of drums. There is not a blare of trumpets. Quietly we approach the altar and we truly receive God! He comes to us and enters our body in such love! Who are we that God remains with us this day in such love and comes to us to be so closely united to us!?
10. We look for those things that are visible. Are not the true treasures found in those things that are invisible? The reality is that this is God's world! We see the things in front of our face and we do not realize how the world of Jesus and Mary truly is. We do not realize how they are with us this very day. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, remains with us this day in His divinity and humanity in the Eucharist. We are surrounded by His presence in one another. He dwells and lives in each one of us when we are in the state of grace. In every blade of grass, the life that is there comes from God. Yet we are so blind! We see so little! Holy Spirit, open up our eyes. Where we are blind, let us see. Let us see more and more the invisible world. Let us know more and more the presence of God all around us. Help us to see Jesus in each other. Help us to be more aware of Jesus Christ, Who is truly present with us in the tabernacle.Open our eyes to see beyond what is visible, Lord. Holy Spirit, help us to see beyond the consecrated Host and see Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The Presentation of Jesus
1. Luke 2: 25-35Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to the restoration of Israel and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:
Now, Master, you are letting
your servant go in peace
as you promised;
for my eyes have seen the salvation
which you have made ready
in the sight of the nations;
a light of revelation for the gentiles
and glory for your people Israel.As the child’s father and mother were wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘Look, he is destined for the fall and for the rise of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is opposed—and a sword will pierce your soul too — so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.'
2. Sing: Little Baby Hands and Feet
3. Holy Spirit, enkindle in us the fire of Your love so we may see more clearly Jesus Christ, Who is with us this very day. May we see that He is God and, out of great love for each one of us, remains with us, waits for us, longs for us, and wants us to open our hearts wide so that He may enter into our hearts. Remove the blinders from our eyes, dear Holy Spirit, and lead us ever closer to intimacy with Jesus Christ, our beloved Savior.
4. Sing: Come Holy Ghost
5. Think of how it would be for Mary to look at her small Child Jesus and know that He would experience great suffering. From this point on a sword pierced Mary's heart. Each time that she beheld her child, she remembered the prophecy of Simeon and she suffered.
6. How Mary suffered! The swords pierced her heart so many times through Jesus' life! The sword pierced her heart on the way to Calvary as she peered into the eyes of her beloved Son. This gaze show us the great intimacy between the Son and His Mother, that heart that knew her Son so well!
7. Mary, just as you presented the Child Jesus in your arms in the Temple, tuck us into the Heart of Jesus. Present us to our loving Father so that we may be ever closer and closer to the Heart of Jesus and the Father. Lead us closer to your beloved Spouse, the Holy Spirit.
8. Holy Spirit, the more we unite with Mary, our Mother, transform us more and more into the image of Jesus and lead us ever closer to the Father.9. God has come to give us New Life.
10. Mary is the New Eve
Jesus is the New Adam.
The Finding in the Temple
1. When Jesus was twelve years old, He was taken up to the Temple for the feast of Passover.
2. When it was over, Mary and Joseph left Jerusalem but the Child Jesus remained there.
3. They had gone a day's journey before they realized that the Child Jesus had been left behind.
4. With great sorrow in their hearts, they returned and searched for the Child Jesus.
5. They found Him in the Temple where He was teaching the doctors.
6. Jesus, as you taught the doctors in the Temple, teach us Your divine truths. Holy Spirit, open our hearts so that we may more and more receive Your gifts to know, love, and understand God so that we might grow in greater love and knowledge of our beloved God!
7. The Holy Spirit came upon them and filled their hearts full of wisdom, knowledge, and joy to know more and more the divine truths that the Savior came to give us. He imparts this life to us abundantly in the Eucharist whereby He feeds our life. When we come to the Eucharist, He outpours this life, this life of grace. He wants to give us His very life, His Body and His Blood, to nurture and feed our life! We stumble. We wander around and complain! This good God, Who came to this earth, was born a human, gave His flesh and blood, died for us, and rose on the third day to give us His life. He remains with us this day with His very own flesh and blood to feed this life! He gives us His Word to feed us and we take it so lightly! We imagine Him calling ever so gently in His tender voice and with His burning Heart, "Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest." (Mt. 11:28) But in our blindness we turn away and we do not realize the true treasure that is here! This is the Son of God, Who remains with us this day, truly present. He is the same as the day He was in the Temple, the same as the day He hung on the cross, and the same as the day He rose from the tomb and ascended into heaven!
8. Song: A Song from Jesus
9. Dear Mary, if we ever lose our way from the Most Sacred Heart of your Son, lead us back quickly.
Song: I Love You Jesus10. Song: Teach Me to Love with Your Heart
