Package for the month of Mary and First Communion     

The Song of Bernadette DVD       OR	The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima DVD	11" Fatima Statue with image glass	Blue Book 12	8x10 and 4x6 pictures of Our Lady of Clearwater

$50 plus postage
while supplies last

Call 1-888-211-3041

 

Pope John Paul II will be canonized April 27th.

Here is a wonderful DVD about his life.

12" Statue of Sacred Heart of Jesus with glass
The Passion Movie
Blue Book 12
Karol Movie
Pictures of Our Lady of Clearwater 8 x 10 and 4 x 6

There is a beautiful Sorrowful Rosary that we use.
We turn off the sound in the Passion Movie and meditate on this rosary.
We will include this special rosary with this offer.

$100 plus postage
while supplies last

This is a limited time offer.
These statues may become scarce in the near future.

                April 10, 2014

                R. Dear Jesus,

                    Please help us to be united in prayer,
                united to the Masses going on around
                the world.

                    Please help us in all of our needs, we
                promise to pray for all the people we
                promised to pray for and asked us to pray
                for them.

                    Thank You Jesus for suffering for us.
                We are so sorry we are not thankful
                many times as we should be. Thank You
                for our children and our grandchildren
                and for each other. Help us to love You
                with all of our heart and to love our
                neighbor as ourselves.

                    Thank you for our Church and thank You
                for all the people we love in our lives
                who are so dear to us. Thank You for the
                priests and the Church and the world.
                We ask You God, to help us start prayer
                chapters praying for the priests, the
                Church and the world. We ask that
                Mary place all of us in her Immaculate Heart
                and she place our children and grandchildren
                in her Immaculate Heart. We ask you, Mary, then
                to place us in the Heart of your Son Jesus.
                Dear God, we are sorry for offending You
                and ask for grace to love, to have right
                reasoning and not to give into the tendencies
                of anger and envy and pride and jealousy
                etc. from our wounded human nature.

                Dear God, increase in us the virtues of faith,
                hope and love. Help us to see through the
                eyes of our Heavenly Father in heaven,
                and love through the Heart of Jesus.
                Dear God help us please, help us to live
                in peace and harmony helping each other
                and serving to build the Kingdom of God.
 

The Last Judgement

‘When the Son of man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All nations will be assembled before him and he will separate people one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right hand, "Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take as your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you made me welcome, lacking clothes and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me." Then the upright will say to him in reply, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and make you welcome, lacking clothes and clothe you? When did we find you sick or in prison and go to see you?" And the King will answer, "In truth I tell you, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me." Then he will say to those on his left hand, "Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you never gave me food, I was thirsty and you never gave me anything to drink, I was a stranger and you never made me welcome, lacking clothes and you never clothed me, sick and in prison and you never visited me." Then it will be their turn to ask, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or lacking clothes, sick or in prison, and did not come to your help?" Then he will answer, "In truth I tell you, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me." And they will go away to eternal punishment, and the upright to eternal life.’

                R. Do you remember Mother Teresa, she
                    loved – her life was lived to give
                    of herself in love.

                Pope John Paul II loved, He called himself
                    a witness of hope, a witness of
                    hope.

                Dear God, we pray for an increase of the
                virtues of faith, hope and love.
                We pray for all the help we need in our
                lives to work in relationships with
                others. God please give us right
                reasoning. Dear God, help us to love.
                Dear God, help us to be as You want
                us to be. In all things to put You
                first and to help others through
                spreading Your light in this world.

                    People need love. God created us this
                way. Dear God, help Your love to be
                known all over the world – so
                people will not give into fear and
                isolation. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus we
                place our trust in You –

                Here are the little children's consecrations –
 

                R. We need to reach the school children with
                    the rosary and the consecration and
                    the Morning Offering.

                Little ones need to know they are loved –
                    they need to have someone who
                    really loves them. A person spending
                    time with another, like a little one,
                    is showing love to them, reading
                    to them, playing a game with them,
                    they know they are important.
                    Little ones are learning about
                    trust and love and their own
                    importance. These roots planted
                    in children can help them in having
                    a healthy mental attitude their
                    whole life. Little ones need to know
                    they are loved.

                We are little ones in God's Kingdom. The
                more we go to Him, the more He lavishly
                loves us. We are given the Blue Books to
                know we are loved.

                    There is the old saying "Love makes
                the world go 'round'", but we must
                also face many trials that can tear
                us from our hearts and so we pray
                for God's grace to help us stay rooted
                in Him – no matter what – stay rooted
                in the Father's will and to love, to operate
                in love, no matter how stubborn
                the situation is.
   

Morning Offering (for Shepherds of Christ Members)

My dear Father, I offer You this day all my prayers, works, joys and sufferings, my every breath, my every heartbeat, my every thought, all my actions, in union with Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in the Holy Spirit. I pray the Holy Spirit is with me every second today, enlightening me to do the Will of the Father and filling me with the fire of God's love.

I ask Jesus and Mary to be one in me in all that I do and I unite with all the angels and saints and souls in purgatory to pray continually to the Father for these intercessions, in this prayer, for this day.

For myself, I pray for grace-abundant grace, to know and love God more and more and to follow the Will of the Father. I pray to the Holy Spirit to transform me in the heart of Mary to be more and more like Jesus. I pray that I can forever dwell in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. I pray for conversion of all those I hold dear who need conversion. I pray for each member of my family that they will be filled with Your abundant grace to grow in their knowledge and love of God.

I pray for all my friends that they will receive abundant grace to carry out the great plan of the Father, that they will grow forever closer to Jesus' Heart through Mary's heart, that we will all be led by the Holy Spirit to do His work, that we will, together, carry out the plan of the Father as He intends us to, to spread the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary's heart to this world.

Jesus, I pray for myself so the Holy Spirit descends upon me and opens my heart to Your love so I will grow more and more deeply in union with You. I pray that I do not worry what other people think but try always to please the Father and do His Will. I pray that I may help lead many to Your burning love.

I pray for the following people in particular that they will be filled with the Spirit and grow deeply in their union with You, that they will receive abundant graces to know, love and serve You more. (Include special friends by name...)

I pray for priests the world over, for the success of the Priestly Newsletter, the Chapters and for the finances needed for the Newsletter. I pray for the circulation of the Blue Book messages, rosary meditations and tapes. I pray for all those involved in the publication of these messages.

I pray that You will shower Your abundant graces onto the priests reading the Newsletter the people reading and hearing the Blue Book messages and rosary meditations and all of Fr. Carter's publications.

We pray for the intentions we hold deep within our hearts, for our families and friends, for those requesting our prayers. We pray for children the world over and for the souls in purgatory. We ask God to shower His abundant grace on us and the members of our Shepherds of Christ Chapter so that we may grow more and more in our knowledge and love of God.

We consecrate ourselves to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. We pray for Father Carter, for Father Smith, for Rita Ring, and for John Weickert, for all leaders and helpers in the Shepherds of Christ Movement, for Shepherds of Christ Ministries, and Our Lady of Light Ministry. We pray for all those who are working in these ministries.

We bind ourselves and our children and our friends to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We place the precious blood of Jesus on ourselves, and all we touch, so that we will be protected from the evil one. We pray to St. Michael to cast the devil into hell.

We love You, God, we love You, we love You. We beg that we may receive the grace to love You more and more deeply. We adore You, we praise You, our beloved Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Morning Offering

My dear Father, I offer you this day all my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings in union with Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in the Holy Spirit.

I unite with our Mother, Mary, all the angels and saints, and all the souls in purgatory to pray to the Father for myself, for each member of my family, for my friends, for all people throughout the world, for all the souls in purgatory, and for all other intentions of the Sacred Heart.

I love You, Jesus, and I give You my heart. I love you, Mary, and I give you my heart. Amen.

                R. We are all on a journey to learn to be more and
                    more like Jesus –

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.

                R. We are not in competition with each
                    other; we need to love each other
                    and be able to trust those God
                    put us here to work with.

        Excerpt from Response in Christ by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J.

^TEN  Christian Love

 
         1. Our Need to Love and Be Loved

Christianity is fundamentally a life of love. The Christian is one who opens himself to God's love, and responds with a love of his own. The Christian also realizes that his life is not only a love relationship with God, but also a going out of his self-centeredness to other human persons in various forms of Christian love. Finally, the Christian is one who realizes that in one way or another he needs the love of others and is willing to open himself to this love.

    The Church, the People of God, must increasingly give witness to these multiple dimensions of Christian love. To the extent that the Church fails to do so, to that degree does she fail to be a faithful continuation of the Incarnation. For the Incarnation is above all a manifestation of love, and this in various ways. First of all, Christ is the tangible and irrevocable expression of God's determination to communicate Himself in love to men: "Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life." (Jn 3:16).

    Christ is also the visible expression of mankind's response to God's love, for as man, Christ made this perfect response in love to His Father. Further, Christ is the overwhelming concretization of what it means to love one's fellowman. Finally, He is the visible manifestation of one who perfectly opens Himself to receiving love from others.

    We Christians, the People of God, must continue these various manifestations of love contained in the Incarnate Word. By our lives we must give witness to the fact that we have opened ourselves to God's loving self-communication, and that we are responding to that love with all that we are. We must give evidence that we want to give ourselves to others in a life of loving service, and that we are open to the love which others graciously extend to us.

    It is of prime importance that all forms of loving, human relationships flourish in the life of the Church. Examples of such relationships are those found in marriage and family life, religious life and other friendships. These relationships not only witness to our willingness to love others and be loved by them, but they are schools for such reciprocal love. These relationships increase my capacity to love others and increase my openness in receiving love. Furthermore, these various interpersonal relationships help me to be open in receiving God's love and responding to it. However, if these relationships are to be fully authentic, they themselves must be rooted in our love relationship with God.

 
         2. Love of God

It sounds so commonplace and obvious to say that God loves us. But if we could more perfectly realize what it means to be loved by God, our chances for complete transformation in Christ would be enhanced. With God's grace we must keep striving for a deeper comprehension of God's love. This love has brought us into existence, has redeemed us, and has given us a special mission in life. God in His love is ever with me, preserving me in life, asking me to accept Him more and more, desiring to take deeper possession of me in grace. God loves me, and He is my supporting rock, the one who will never fail me, the only one who can be my complete fulfillment.

    God is the tremendous lover. And yet, we know that only too often we fail to respond to Him as we should. But we must keep trying. We must keep trying to fulfill more completely the commandment Christ has given us: "But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question, 'Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law? ' Jesus said, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbor as yourself. . .' " (Mt 22:34-40).

    St. Francis de Sales, a great spiritual master and a Doctor of the Church, aptly describes how we are to love God: "We have two principal ways of exercising our love for God; the first is affective and the second effective, or as St. Bernard calls it, active. By the first we have affection for God and what he loves. By the second we serve God and do what he ordains. The first joins us to God's goodness; the second enables us to fulfill his will. The first fills us with complacence, benevolence, and spiritual impulses, desires, aspirations, and fervors, and causes us to use the sacred infusions and minglings of our spirit with that of God. The second pours into us the solid resolution, firm courage, and inviolable obedience required to carry out the ordinances of God's will, and to suffer, accept, approve, and embrace all that comes from his good pleasure."¹

    Father Joseph de Guilbert gives another excellent version of the distinction and connection between affective (internal) love and effective (external) love: "From what has been said about the Christian life being more perfect in proportion as charity elicits or commands the free acts of man in a more universal, actual, and intense manner, it follows that this perfection depends primarily on the exercise of affective charity. For if that disposition of charity does not inform the soul in some way, even the external acts which are perfectly performed in their own order will be of no supernatural value: and if this disposition is slothfully evoked or influences only weakly the external acts, then the acts will be of little value. But when the disposition is aroused energetically and has strong influence, then the external acts will be of great value. And if in such acts there are any imperfections arising from a source independent of the will (invincible ignorance or some physical or moral impossibility), the supernatural value of the acts will not in any way be lessened."²

    Besides showing the connection between affective and effective love, these words of de Guibert indicate the primary requirement for dynamic progress in the Christian life. Love of God and neighbor must more and more influence everything we do. This love must become more actual, more conscious. Of course, all this must take place without strain. But we cannot equate strain and effort. It takes effort to live increasingly in a spirit of actual love. Sometimes a great effort is required. If we are not willing to pay the price of love, we will never develop into the Christians we are destined to become.

    How do we know if we are loving as we should? If interior (affective) love is the more important, it is not always easy to judge. We have a tendency to confuse our feelings with our wills. If we feel completely dry, or even burdened with a sense of repugnance concerning our Christian lives, we tend to think that we are not loving God properly. Consequently, the best criterion we often have for judging our love of God and neighbor is the manner in which our interior love incarnates itself in external action. If, with the help of God's grace, we are doing our reasonable best to implement God's will in all the various dimensions of our existence, then we can be assured that we are loving as we ought.

    Finally, we should be aware that God intends our love for Him to be focused in Christ, for it is in Him that God loves us and calls for our loving response. It is in Christ that we are being constantly led to a deeper love of the three divine persons. "For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rm 8:38-39).

 
         3. Love of Man

"My dear people, let us love one another since love comes from God and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Anyone who fails to love can never have known God, because God is love.  . . . Anyone who says, 'I love God', and hates his brother, is a liar, since a man who does not love the brother that he can see cannot love God, whom he has never seen. So this is the commandment that he has given us, that anyone who loves God must also love his brother." (1 Jn 4:7-21).

    Our God is a God who knows and loves. This divine knowing and loving exists not only among the divine persons themselves. Father, Son and Holy Spirit also go out in knowledge and love to man and the rest of creation. Consequently, since our life in Christ is a share in God's life, we are called to love not only God, but also man and the rest of creation. The Christian has structured within his life of grace this deep desire – sometimes very latent – to give himself to his fellowman in various forms of love. If this desire is not thwarted, it can truly help change the face of the earth.

    What are some of the characteristics of our love for others? First of all, our love of neighbor should exclude no one. It should embrace every single person the world over. As Christ's love for man was universal, so must ours be. And as Christ truly achieved good for men in His love for them, so must we. In other words, in our universal love for men we must be willing to act to help promote their good. We can at least do this in our prayer for their various material and spiritual needs. This constitutes no slight contribution of love, for prayer is one of the great means of channeling God's gifts to the world.

    Secondly, our love for man must take the form of a life service in one form or other. Christ came to serve. He was fully the man for others. Can our lives be orientated in any other direction? Through our lives of loving service we make our contribution to God's creative and redemptive effort. God's love brought about creation and redemption. Our love united to His continues the process. Man and his universe are making their way back to the Father in Christ through the dynamism of love. It is interesting to note that this fact is at the heart of Teilhard de Chardin's cosmic evolutionary process in Christ.³ Teilhard, in contemporary thought patterns, is enunciating a traditional Christian truth.

    Whatever the service is that we offer – as engineer, as doctor, as priest, as teacher, as mother, as nurse – it must be permeated with love. If it is not, it does not achieve its full effect in promoting God's creative and redemptive efforts. 

    At times it is only the motive of love which will keep a person faithful to his particular form of loving service. What but a deep love for her children supports a woman who has been deserted by her husband? What but a deep love of God and man can make a young man give up his family, the prospect of marriage, his homeland – all so that he may become a missionary priest? What but a deep love for the underprivileged can support an inner city worker amidst the squalor, the disease, the bitterness, the hopelessness which he meets daily? No, redemption cannot be continued without love – God's love or ours.

    There is a final point concerning our service of love. We serve not only as individuals. At times we will be able to make our greatest contribution as a member of a group. This is an application of the communal dimension of Christianity. This common service could be as a member of a parish or civic organization, as a member of a religious order or a secular institute. There are numerous possibilities. One important thing members of such groups must realize: it takes love, sometimes great love, to remain properly selfless in group activity. There is no room in such group enterprises for the person who is always mistakenly looking for the wrong type of self-fulfillment at the expense of the particular organization. He who seeks his life shall lose it, and he who loses his life shall find it.

    There is a third characteristic which must accompany our love for others. We must be willing to love without receiving love in return. This is a hard lesson for us to learn, but a most necessary one. Our Christian love is a participation in the love of Christ. And what is one outstanding feature of Christ's love? He has first loved man, and He has not always been loved in return. Yet Christ continues to love. In our love for others we also must be willing to take the initiative. God in His providence wants us to receive love from others also. But if this love seems to be lacking at times, or only faintly manifest, then God can supply for the lack. The important thing is that we ourselves keep on trying to love. 

    There is another characteristic of our love for man which pertains to those whom we directly encounter. Our love for these persons must manifest an appropriate human warmth. We are supposed to love God and man with our entire being. This means, in part, that our love is emotional. This is the way Christ as man loved, with His entire human nature. In the proper sense, Christ was a deeply emotional man. He wept in love over Jerusalem, and He wept in love at the tomb of Lazarus. We know also that the children loved to flock to Christ. He must have been a warm personality, for children shy away from those who are cold and austere. Our love, like that of Christ, must also be properly influenced by the emotions. Otherwise it is not a fully human love, and, therefore, not a fully Christian love. 

    In regard to our direct encounter with others, it is necessary that we be cognizant of another very important point. To a considerable extent, these persons experience God's love for them through ourselves and others like us. This is an application of the law of incarnation. God has loved man through the tangible, visible humanity of Christ. Christ no longer walks this earth, but the same principle holds true. We Christians are extensions of the heavenly Christ. In union with Christ we help in continuing the tangible, visible presence of God's love in this world. Through the love of our visible, concrete persons we continue incarnational love. In loving those whom I directly encounter in this manner – and let us remember I can love a person with a basic Christian love without "liking" things about him – I help to give them the courage to be and to become. Love received is a powerful force in developing the goodness in a person. Truly, when I love a person I help that person become what God destines him to be.

    Furthermore, we in part show our love for others by allowing them to love us. A person grows by loving. In receiving love from others, therefore, we are loving them by giving them this opportunity to grow. We ourselves need this love which others give us. We are not self-sufficient beings; we are social beings who need others in so many different ways in going to the Father in Christ. We have to learn to open ourselves up to others and allow ourselves to be loved by them. At times in our pride we shrink away from this truth: that we need others – a need, of course, which must be always regulated by God's will. But we must resist these moments of pride that tell us we are self-sufficient. Remember, no man is an island.

 
         4. Love of Friendship

 
        a) The Nature of Friendship

In the course of our daily lives we encounter many people, and some of these we encounter rather regularly. We can thus establish amicable relationships with a number of people. We can say therefore that we have many friends. But full, deep friendship, friendship in the stricter sense of the word, is another matter. For various reasons it seems that we can establish this sort of relationship only with a relatively small number of individuals. However, whatever may be the degree and kind of friendship, it is a gift from God. It has its place in the Christian life. Friendship, in fact, is one of the great forms of Christian love. Christ Himself has shown us this. Christ, too, had friends, such as Lazarus, Martha and Mary.

    What is friendship, especially in the stricter sense of the word? It is a mutual self-giving in love. By the mutual gift of one another, friends desire to promote the good of one another. Although I-thou encounters are not limited to friendship, what M. Nédoncelle says concerning these relationships certainly can be applied here: ". . . love is a will to promotion. The I that loves is willing above all the existence of the thou. . ."⁴

    As with all forms of true love, the love for a friend above all desires the total good of that friend. In my love for a friend I desire that this person become everything that he or she can become. But in my love for a friend I not only desire his total development. In the love of friendship I also give myself in a very direct, personal and intimate way to help achieve this growth.

    This desire to give myself to the friend necessitates that the friend also love me. For I cannot give myself fully to the other unless that person reciprocally loves me and opens himself to receive my love. Consequently, the love of friendship means a decision to love and be loved on the part of both involved. "For friendship, it is not sufficient that I love another directly as myself; to be friendship, my love of benevolence must be explicitly reciprocated. Friendship exists only between those who love one another."⁵

    One of the most distinctive qualities of friendship is this mutual love which is given in complete freedom.⁶ Friends are united in a love which does not depend on a tie such as marriage. Friends are radically free to desist loving one another with the love of friendship at any time: yet the fact that they continue to love is one of the glories of friendship. This is not to say that each and every friendship perennially endures. At times, one or both decide for various reasons to end the friendship. But, ideally, friendship is forever. This points up the necessity of not entering lightly into a friendship. Full, deep friendship is an important human relationship, and it should be treated accordingly.

    Through their mutual love friends can give profound support to one another. To know that I am accepted and loved by another in friendship helps give me the courage to make my full contribution to Christ and to man. Friends look at life together, and they live life together. This is why there must be a basic affinity between friends, a basic set of common ideals and goals. Otherwise the close union of friendship does not seem possible. On the other hand, this basic affinity does not exclude all differences. Each person in the friendship is an unique individual, and he will give his individuality to the other with the inevitable differences which distinguish one person from another. These personal differences, properly blended into the unity of friendship, help to enrich the encounter.

    Friendship is a form of love, and therefore it is a life. As with all life, friendship must be properly nourished. Otherwise, it will wither and die. Each person must realize his responsibility in keeping the friendship alive and healthy. Notice, we are not saying that there should be a morbid anxiety on the part of friends concerning the perdurability of their encounter. We are merely stating that friends, while resting assured in their mutual love, can never afford to take one another for granted, in the pejorative sense of this phrase.

 
        b) Man-Woman Friendships

Some seem to distrust friendships between men and women, unless, of course, these are part of the integral pattern leading to marriage. Is this a correct attitude? We should examine the question, since it is of particular contemporary concern.⁷

    In giving an answer to this question there are two extremes which should be avoided. One extreme says that to achieve personal fulfillment every man and woman must have a deep interpersonal relationship with a person of the opposite sex. If this is not achieved through marriage, it must be achieved through a celibate form of interpersonal communion. The other extreme says that an intimate personal relationship with a person of the opposite sex must always be considered suspect for the unmarried, whether they be priests, religious or laity. Let us briefly examine these two extreme positions.

    There are countless examples of unmarried men and women in the Church who have achieved Christian maturity, including personality development, without intimate, hetero-sexual relationships. This is a fact which is true today, as it has been in the past also. Simply stated, the facts do not substantiate the claim of those who maintain that, whether married or not, every man needs a woman and every woman needs a man. 

    The opposite opinion which condemns every intimate man-woman relationship beyond the vocation of marriage is equally false. Here again, the facts are the proof. There are classical examples of deep friendship involving celibate men and women. Included in such a list are St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Jordan of Saxony and Diana of Andalo. St. Ignatius Loyola also had friends who were women, and, close to our own day, Teilhard de Chardin maintained a deep, personal relationship with his cherished cousin. The history of the Church, past and present, proves that God's providence can lead certain celibate men and women to meaningful and very beneficial friendships with those of the opposite sex. It is a testimony to God's grace that these friendships can exist, and even become very profound, while the erotic element is properly sublimated. This is not to say that all man-woman friendships among those vowed to celibacy have remained noble, but what other gift of God to man has not also been abused?

    Among other values, such friendships give an eschatological witness to eternal life. In heaven there will be no marriage. But all the saved, whether male or female, will be deeply united in love, not only with God, but also with one another. Consequently, the fact that these relationships are not intended for every celibate man and woman does not mean they are not intended for any of them. If this type of friendship is to remain authentically Christian, however, the persons involved must be committed to a desire for progress in the Christian life. They must have already achieved a certain degree of spiritual and affective maturity, and they should have some worthwhile goal that transcends their own relationship. The achievement of this goal, in fact, is meant to be promoted by their friendship.

    Without becoming anxious, and while not overemphasizing possible dangers involved, those engaged in a man-woman friendship should be realistic and be guided by the virtue of prudence. If one feels reasonably assured that such a relationship is according to God's will, one may prudently expose himself to possible risks involved.

 
        c) Friendship as a School of Love

Friendship is a form of Christian love. It is therefore intended by God to help make me a Christian who loves more sincerely, more deeply, more selflessly. Friendships are not meant to close in upon themselves. Through friendship we should be learning how to go out of ourselves anew in love to God and man. This is true because I cannot authentically love a friend without at the same time growing in my capacity to relate more deeply in love to God and others. In friendship I should be learning how to love more perfectly.

    Since friendship is a school of love, it is evident why it cannot be exclusive. A friendship which makes me less loving towards others needs examination. Although, I have a special love for my friends, exclusiveness must be avoided. Jealousy or neglect of duty arising from a friendship are other indications that not all is right with the relationship. These and other possible negative characteristics should not overly surprise us if they appear, especially in a minor way. If they appear, they are merely a sign that we are still learning to love, and that at times we fail to some extent. However, negative characteristics, especially those of a serious nature, must be either eliminated or properly controlled. If there is a case of a serious disorder which cannot be corrected, the course of action seems obvious. The friendship – or what was a friendship – should be terminated, for the relationship has ceased to be a form of real Christian love.

    As always, though, we should accentuate the positive. We should be optimistic about our friendships, confident that with God's grace they will always remain what they should be. This grace of God has been made concrete for us in the person of Christ. For the Christian, Christ should be present in every friendship. It is in His presence and with His help that our friendships are to be rooted. In this way they will flourish and become more beneficial, more profound and more beautiful.

 
         5. Christian Love Exercised According to the Various Vocations

Since the Christian life is rooted in love, all of its various vocations are primarily vocations to love. The single life in the world, the married life, the religious life and the priestly life, are all various life-forms in which the multiple dimensions of Christian love are to be exercised and experienced. In this context of Christian love we will make brief observations concerning each of these vocations.

    Some choose to remain single; others have to resign themselves to such a vocation. In either case the committed Christian will positively choose to use the single state in a loving service of God and man. If such a positive choice is made, the single state can be a very meaningful life of dedicated love, even visibly so. A single person who has given such a witness is Dr. Thomas Dooley, the young American doctor who gave his life to the poor, diseased, forgotten people in a far-off corner of the world.

    The lives of the vast majority of single persons will be much more hidden than that of Dr. Dooley. The important matter is that these also be lives of love. The single person should be convinced that he or she can make a contribution to the Church that those in other vocations cannot. This type of life can be a full and happy one despite the inevitable loneliness which at times will make itself felt. This loneliness can to a large extent be offset by the formation of meaningful friendships and other healthy personal encounters. In such relationships the single person can receive the acceptance and love which in part will help him to grow in his particular form of Christian life.

    As we turn our attention to the vocation of marriage, we immediately notice a significant difference which distinguishes this vocation from the others. Marriage is a life-form of love which binds two human beings in the closest union possible. This fact gives a very definite structure to the manner in which man and wife approach the Christian life.

    Union in marriage first of all gives a basic orientation to one's stance before God. Ideally, it is a question of approaching God in various ways with another person. This, of course, does not mean that a married person does not often approach God just as does the non-married. But the undeniable truth does remain. Married people in many ways stand together before God in love, and together receive His love.

    By their exercise of married love, man and wife should be growing in the capacity of loving God and receiving His love. For in learning to give themselves as completely as possible to one another spiritually, physically, and in every other way, man and wife should be learning how to give themselves more perfectly to God. And in opening themselves to one another's love, they should be learning to open themselves more authentically to God's love.

    The married have to be related in love not only to God, to one another, and to their children, but also to all men – and to some in a very direct manner. Here again marriage is a school of love. Man and wife in their mutual sharing of love are to learn how to give and receive love in reference to those outside the family circle. They should realize their responsibility as married persons in contributing to the building of a better world influenced by the truth of Christ. Man and wife, precisely because of their married love, have their own special responsibility to love man and his world. They have received a gift in one another's love, and this gift is meant to overflow into the world of men. The married love of husband and wife is intended not only to enrich their own lives, but those of many others, who are the recipients of their capacity to love, a capacity which is increased by the proper exercise of married and parental love.

    Finally, we now consider the celibate love of priests and religious. This type of love is also a life-form of loving. This form of Christian loving has its own particular contribution to make to the Church and world. One facet of this contribution is the powerful witness value of celibate love. The celibate priest and religious give an unmistakable manifestation that God has entered this world and given Himself in love to man. For celibate love, with its renunciation of marriage, is a striking testimony that God can seize a person with His loving grace and enable that person to sacrifice one of man's most treasured gifts, marriage. This visible witness of God's love among us is always a necessity in the Church, and no other vocation can give this witness in the same way as can that of publicly professed celibacy.

    Another advantage attached to the celibate life is that it allows for a type of service to Church and world which marriage ordinarily does not allow. Celibacy gives a physical and material freedom which is not possible in marriage. A married person always has to be aware of his obligation to spouse and children. God intends such a person to render a service to Church and world which is compatible with these obligations. Inevitably, this usually means a certain limitation on the contributions the married vocation can make to the life of the Church, although, as already indicated, the service married couples are intended to give is great in its own way. What we are actually saying is that each vocation in the Church has its own limitations as it makes its own peculiar contribution to the work of Christ.   

    We believe that history proves our point concerning celibacy. The celibate life has played a major role in much of the apostolic work of the Church throughout the ages. It seems impossible that the same degree of apostolic service could have been achieved without religious and priestly celibacy. (Notice, that in regard to the priesthood, we are not claiming that a married clergy alongside a celibate clergy in the Western Church will not be able to make its own particular contribution if the Church eventually permits it.)

    In claiming that celibacy has attached to it a peculiar freedom which is meant to allow a more universal type of service given to one's fellowman, we are not pretending that this freedom to love and serve has not at times been hindered, sometimes severely so. As Church structures are renewed, we must strive to eliminate those unnecessary obstacles which have exteriorly hindered priests and religious from rendering the type of service to man which their celibate life-form itself permits. Notice, we speak of an exterior hindrance. For no one and no structure can ever prevent one from loving interiorly. In God's plan of redemption this interior love has its own great salvific force.

    There is a final point we wish to make in reference to the celibate love of religious life. We refer to the various types of personal encounter which are possible both within and without the religious community. For many, many years deep friendship between fellow religious was looked upon askance by many. It was thought that such a relationship detracted from the universal love which a religious should have for all members of the religious family. This theory is based upon a false psychology and theology of love. We have observed above that friendship is a school of love. The love of friendship helps increase my capacity to love God and all others. To the extent that a friendship does not make me a person with a capacity to love everyone more deeply, to that degree it is less a real friendship. Authentic friendships between fellow religious, then, ultimately make for the greater happiness and union in love of the entire religious family. Furthermore, there is no reason why a religious should not have the opportunity of forming friendships with those outside his or her own religious community.

    In conclusion, we repeat that every state of life within the Church is fundamentally a particular life-form of Christian love. According to his vocation it is the primary task of the Christian to open himself to God's love and to respond to that love, to love man and to open himself to receive love from other human persons. These various dimensions of love are at the heart of our participation in Christ's death-resurrection. It is in trying to love properly that we really learn what it means to die with Christ. Receiving God's love and giving ourselves in return can cost us much, very much, at times. And to love others and open ourselves to their love can involve its own share of pain, hurt and frustration. Yes, to love properly truly means to die with Christ. Yet more importantly, to love properly also means to share in His Resurrection, His newness of life. Life here and hereafter is essentially a life of love. Without love there is no real happiness, no real joy, no real peace. If we are not willing to pay the price of loving, then we do not really wish to experience life in its fullness. For the Christian especially, to live is to love.

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       1. St. Francis de Sales, On the Love of God, Vol. 1, Bk. 6, Ch. 1 (New York: Doubleday Image Books, 1963), p. 267.
       2. Joseph de Guibert, The Theology of the Spiritual Life (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1953), p. 53.
       3. Cf. R. Faricy, Teilhard de Chardin's Theology of the Christian in the World (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1967), pp. 185-196.
       4. M. Nédoncelle, Love and the Person (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1966), p. 8.
       5. Robert Johann, The Meaning of Love (Glen Rock, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1966), p. 46.
       6. Cf. L. Vander Kerken, Loneliness and Love (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1967), pp. 129-130.
       7. Cf. Eugene Kennedy, Fashion Me a People (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1967), pp. 93-108.