Shepherds of Christ          Daily Writing

March 25, 2007

March 26th Holy Spirit Novena Scripture selection is Day 9 Period II.

The Novena Rosary Mysteries   for March 26th are Glorious.

Click picture for the new Slide Show

March 25, 2007

                  Think of Jesus being God with pure love
                        and vision —
                        dealing with the men on earth who
                        had imperfect vision.

                  The men put the Son of God to death —
                         this shows us the tainted human nature
                         of men - did not recognize the goodness
                         of Jesus.

                  In their impurity
                      full of anger
                      hatred — they beat God — Jesus —

                  Does this show us how they are
                      tainted in their ways —
                      those who put Jesus to death.

                  We too are going to be treated with
                        people with impure vision

                  when we may be very holy and doing
                  great good —
                  because of jealousy
                                  lust
                                  anger
                                  envy
                                  greediness
                                  etc.
                                  

                  We can pick up stones that hurt
                        those doing good just because
                        we are jealous or angry,
                        envious, greedy, selfishness
                        etc.

                  But we must remember the Lord
                         is kind and merciful.

                  Jesus died for us

                  He asks us as members of the body of
                       Christ to lay down our lives
                       daily in all we do in the morning
                       offering — united to the Masses
                       going on around the world.

Genesis 22: 1-18

It happened some time later that God put Abraham to the test. ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ he called. ‘Here I am,’ he replied. God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, your beloved Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, where you are to offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I shall point out to you.’ 

    Early next morning Abraham saddled his donkey and took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. He chopped wood for the burnt offering and started on his journey to the place which God had indicated to him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. Then Abraham said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I are going over there; we shall worship and then come back to you.’ 

    Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering, loaded it on Isaac, and carried in his own hands the fire and the knife. Then the two of them set out together. Isaac spoke to his father Abraham. ‘Father?’ he said. ‘Yes, my son,’ he replied. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’ Abraham replied, ‘My son, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.’ And the two of them went on together.

    When they arrived at the place which God had indicated to him, Abraham built an altar there, and arranged the wood. Then he bound his son and put him on the altar on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.

    But the angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven. ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ he said. ‘Here I am,’ he replied. ‘Do not raise your hand against the boy,’ the angel said. ‘Do not harm him, for now I know you fear God. You have not refused me your own beloved son.’ Then looking up, Abraham saw a ram caught by its horns in a bush. Abraham took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham called this place ‘Yahweh provides’, and hence the saying today: ‘On the mountain Yahweh provides.’ 

    The angel of Yahweh called Abraham a second time from heaven. ‘I swear by my own self, Yahweh declares, that because you have done this, because you have not refused me your own beloved son, I will shower blessings on you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will gain possession of the gates of their enemies. All nations on earth will bless themselves by your descendants, because you have obeyed my command.’

                           Jesus died!

                     Why did God spare Isaac —

                  Jesus suffered
                  Jesus died at the hands of tainted men.

                     Today as members of the body of
                         Christ — we lay our lives
                         down united to the Masses
                         going on around the world.
                       

Genesis 3: 9-15

But Yahweh God called to the man. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden,’ he replied. ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked. ‘Have you been eating from the tree I forbade you to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.’ Then Yahweh God said to the woman, ‘Why did you do that?’ The woman replied, ‘The snake tempted me and I ate.’

Then Yahweh God said to the snake, ‘Because you have done this,

    Accursed be you
    of all animals wild and tame!
    On your belly you will go
    and on dust you will feed
    as long as you live.
    I shall put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
    it will bruise your head
    and you will strike its heel.’

 

 

Ephesians 1: 3-6, 11-12

 

Blessed be God 
    the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who has blessed us 
    with all the spiritual blessings of heaven 
        in Christ. 
Thus he chose us in Christ 
    before the world was made 
to be holy and faultless 
    before him in love, 
marking us out for himself beforehand, 
    to be adopted sons, 
        through Jesus Christ. 
Such was his purpose and good pleasure, 
to the praise of the glory of his grace, 
his free gift to us in the Beloved,

And it is in him 
    that we have received our heritage, 
marked out beforehand as we were, 
under the plan of the One 
    who guides all things 
as he decides by his own will, 
chosen to be, 
for the praise of his glory, 
the people who 
    would put their hopes in Christ 
        before he came.  

 

 

    The New Adam, the New Eve

 Lucia's Vision

Luke 1: 26-38

In 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.

Hebrews 10: 5-7

Isaiah 7: 10-14

Yahweh spoke to Ahaz again and said: 

Ask Yahweh your God for a sign, 
either in the depths of Sheol 
    or in the heights above. 

    But Ahaz said, ‘I will not ask. I will not put Yahweh to the test.’
    He then said: 

    Listen now, House of David: 
    are you not satisfied 
        with trying human patience 
    that you should try 
        my God’s patience too? 
    The Lord will give you a sign in any case: 
    It is this: the young woman is with child 
    and will give birth to a son 
    whom she will call Immanuel.

 

From Rosary Meditations for Parents and Children Book 

Fatima: The Message

May 13, 1917, marks the first appearance of Our Lady of Fatima to Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco. On this occasion, she said to the visionaries:

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

To the end of each decade of the Rosary, she added the Fatima prayer, "0 my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fire of Hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who have most need of Thy mercy. " ⁹

In Mary's first message, we immediately see two aspects of the Fatima message--prayer (especially the Rosary) and reparation.

On June 13, the Blessed Virgin again appeared to the three children:

There were about 70 people present, though only the children could see the apparition. She told the youngsters that many souls go to Hell because they have no one to pray and make sacrifices for them. She said Francisco and Jacinta would soon leave the world for Heaven. Holding out her heart, surrounded by thorns which pierced it from all sides, Our Lady told Lucy: "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

This shows how devotion to the Immaculate Heart is central to the Fatima message. Subsequent events reemphasize the importance of Our Lady teaching this devotion at Fatima.

In her July apparition, Our Lady further revealed her plan to the children and to the world:

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: "0 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

In the above, Mary speaks of the five first Saturdays. Here is what the practice involves:

1. Go to confession, which may be done from eight days before to eight days after the first Saturday. Of course, if a person is in the state of serious sin, the confession must be made before receiving communion.
2. Receive Holy Communion.
3. Recite five decades of the Rosary.
4. Meditate for 15 minutes on the mysteries of the Rosary.

All of the above (except confession) must be done on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, with the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart. For those who make the five first Saturdays, Our Lady of Fatima has promised to assist them at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation. ¹⁴

Because of the excitement caused by the apparitions, the civil authorities were so alarmed that they kidnapped the three young visionaries and put them in jail. The incarceration period included the day of August 13. Consequently, Our Lady did not appear to the children on this particular 13th.

The authorities, fearing reaction on the part of the people, quickly released the children. Mary appeared to them on August 19 near Valinhos:

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

Next came the September appearance of Our Lady:

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

The October 13 vision was accompanied by the great Miracle of the Sun described in the previous chapter. In her message that day, Our Blessed Mother told the children:

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

This last message offers us an excellent opportunity to summarize the Fatima message. It tells us "that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be venerated together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary."

At the center of the veneration for which Our Lord calls is the act of consecration to His Sacred Heart and to Mary's Immaculate Heart. As we shall see in Part II of this book, this consecration calls for a total gift of ourselves to Jesus and Mary. Such a gift, obviously, includes a willingness to incorporate into our lives the other Fatima teachings and requests. As such, consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary summarizes the Fatima message.

Some seem to think the message of Fatima is no longer relevant to today's world. The words of Pope John Paul II tell us how wrong they are. Referring to a pilgrimage he made in 1982, he says:

Last week, I myself went on pilgrimage to Portugal, especially to Fatima, in order to give thanks that the mercy of God and the protection of the Mother of Christ had saved my life last year. The message of Fatima is a call to conversion and penance, the first and most basic call of the Gospel. Today, it is more urgent than ever, when evil is threatening us through errors based on denial of God. The message of Fatima puts us on our guard. It also invites us to approach anew the Fountain of Mercy by an act of consecration. Mary wishes us to draw near it: each one of us, each nation, and the whole world. ²⁰

Notes

8. Ibid., pp. 112-114.
9. Our Lady's Peace Plan, op. cit., 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 [Milford: Faith Publishing Co., 1994], pp. 21.
15. Our Lady of Fatima's Peace Plan, op. cit., p. 8.
16. Ibid., p. 6.
17. Ibid., p. 7.
18. Ibid., p. 8.
19. Ibid., pp. 9-10.
20. Pope John-Paul II, as quoted in Arthur Collin, Totus Tuus: John Paul's Program of Marian Consecration and Entrustment [Libertyville: Academy of the Immaculate, 1992], p. 177.

A PLEDGE FROM AN APOSTLE OF THE SACRED HEART

Messenger:

          I am but a little speck on this earth,
                 but with His might He can use me
                 to spread the devotion to His
                 Most Sacred Heart.

          Oh dear and precious Heart of Jesus
                 I give myself as completely as
                 possible to Thee so you will use
                 me to spread the devotion to the
                 ends of the earth for Your most
                 precious Heart.

          I am Rita your precious soul.

          Use me to help to spread this burning
                 devotion to the souls of this earth.

          I am yours, take me, use me as you
                 will.

          I surrender myself to you.

          It is your might behind me, your power
                 that sends me. I am an Apostle of
                 the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I give
                 myself as completely as possible to
                 Thee.             

          Sacred Heart of Jesus I place my
                 trust in Thee.

          Father hear us please. We beg through
                the  intercession of Father Carter
                and Our Lady of Clearwater that 
                prayer chapters are started all over
                the world and the Priestly Newsletter
                gets there with the
                Prayer Manual.

The 5th Prayer Service will be
in Clearwater, Florida on April 5th.
Please come and join us praying for the priests,
the Church and the world
or tune in on the Internet Radio!

The monthly retreat will be at the
St. Anthony Shepherds of  Christ center
 in China, Indiana from
April 10th through the 13th.

Those who have came in March
had a marvelous retreat!