Prayer for Grace for 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 new president as he takes office. We pray that we are united as one nation under God to work together in love as God wants.

                Given April 13, 2017 - Holy Thursday

Prayer of St Ignatius

Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from the side of Christ wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Permit me not to be separated from Thee
From the wicked foe defend me
at the hour of my death call me
and bid me come to Thee
That with Thy saints I may praise Thee
For ever and ever. Amen.

From St. Ignatius

"What have I done for Christ?"
"What am I doing for Christ?"
"What ought I to do for Christ?"
 

                R. Comfortable traps

                Comfort zone

                What have you done for the
                    Church?

                What have you done for God?

                God has a Plan –

                Annunciation – we are to answer
                    God –

                God calls – we are to answer

                Not have an agenda of our
                    own –

                Jesus shows us – He died
                    doing the Father's will

                The devil gets people – they want
                    their comfort zone – they want
                    to be in control

                Vision
 

                Song: Live This Day

                R. These are the days of our lives –

                God called us to be a servant –
                    to respond –

                Did we say "yes", "yes", "yes"
                    to God –

                Did we say "no", "no", "no"
                    day after day –
                    find our comfort zone –

                Spiritual trap –

                We are on a journey – like
                    Moses – seeking the Promised Land –

                    Are we in the desert in our
                        comfort zone – wandering around –
                        making a molten calf –

                    We must ask God every day –
                        what is Your plan for me
                        in salvation history to have eternal
                        happiness myself and
                        help others to know God and go to heaven –

                God has called us in the Shepherds of Christ to have
                    this deep personal relationship
                    with Him and help the world to be
                    united in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary –
                    Help the world to be one Flock
                        under the Good Shepherd –

                We are to consecrate our lives
                    to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to the
                    Immaculate Heart of Mary –

                We are to pray this prayer –

Prayer for Union with Jesus

Come to me, Lord, and possess my soul. Come into my heart and permeate my soul. Help me to sit in silence with You and let You work in my heart.

    I am Yours to possess. I am Yours to use. I want to be selfless and only exist in You. Help me to spoon out all that is me and be an empty vessel ready to be filled by You. Help me to die to myself and live only for You. Use me as You will. Let me never draw my attention back to myself. I only want to operate as You do, dwelling within me.

    I am Yours, Lord. I want to have my life in You. I want to do the will of the Father. Give me the strength to put aside the world and let You operate my very being. Help me to act as You desire. Strengthen me against the distractions of the devil to take me from Your work.

    When I worry, I have taken my focus off of You and placed it on myself. Help me not to give in to the promptings of others to change what in my heart You are making very clear to me. I worship You, I adore You and I love You. Come and dwell in me now.

                                                                                                                            -God's Blue Book, January 17, 1994

                R. Surrender like the March 1, 1995
                    rosary in the Red Rosary Book.

                We live the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

                We want to spend our lives in
                    wanting to know God –
                    know the Trinity –
                    know relationship with God –
                    to be on fire for love of God –

                Jesus modeled His life, death and resurrection
                    for us in the Gospel –

                We are to model our lives after
                    Jesus –
                    The Father said
                    "This is my beloved Son in whom
                        I am well pleased –
                        listen to Him"

                We are to grow in the Christ-life –
                We are to grow in Life in the Spirit

                The Gospels give us a portrait of Jesus –

                We study the Gospel
                We live the Gospel

                We need to be free of inordinate
                    attachments –

                After we grow for this we want
                    to seek the will of God –

                Freedom to do the will of God –

                We are passionate in our love of God –
                    Freedom – not being attached
                        to baggage - that
                        holds us back –

                    We need to be free on the 13th
                        to hear this message of Jesus.

                    We need to study God to know Him –

                The devil wants constant busyness –
                    Chaos – confusion – arguing –
                    division

                Jesus said
                    Unless you become as little
                        children you cannot enter
                        the Kingdom of God

                We want to keep things busy –
                    full of fear – busyness –
                    control – Chaos – division

                God tells us to be still –

                R. We don't act like a child under
                    God –

                Relationship with God –

                One night we will close our eyes
                    for the last time –

                God loves us – He wants a personal
                    relationship with us –

                A little child is learning – discovering –
                    not stuck in a comfortable trap.

                God loves us –

                Focus on this –

                Thank God for His gifts.

                Prayer – love relationship
                    Loving God
                    Being intimate with God
                    Being

                Waiting on the Lord –

                Talk to the Father –

                Talk to Jesus

                Pray to the Holy Spirit

                R. Consequences of sin –

                Sin brings misery and darkness –

                We are on a journey –

                God has a plan for us –

                God can get our attention –

                Sin is abusing one's freedom given from God.

                Mortal sin brings not only misery in this
                    world, but also the next.

                Adam and Eve disobeyed God –

                Look at the Consequences of sin
                    in our world –

                The sinfulness of the human race, we see goes
                    back to this sin of Adam and Eve –

                We are born with original sin even
                    though God created us.

                We have this wounded human nature.

                Sin kills life in our soul.

                Sin hurts our relationship with God.

                We were created to know, love and serve God.

                God is the Creator, we are the creatures –
                    we should be grateful to God.

                Do we see ourselves in our place
                    under God?

                When we sin – we offend God,
                    because God loves us with
                    His Divine will –

                God is the Creator

                I am a creature –

                God gives us what we have –

                Pride opens the door to other
                    sins –
 
 

                April 14, 2017 - Good Friday

Death / Resurrection
 

  x
 

                R. God calls us to do many things in our journey
                to Him. The person who loves another may do
                much for their beloved and it can be great suffering.
                A person who is married and with children knows
                the sorrows one may have in the relationship
                with children and yet the love can overshadow
                any suffering one must undergo.

                    When we suffer doing something we
                know God asks of us – we are suffering
                for love. We see Jesus how He suffered
                in His bitter passion and on the cross for love
                of us.

                    When God wants us to do something and it
                is difficult we can do it and identify with
                the great suffering Jesus went through for
                love of us.

                    Love means we will suffer. We give
                the gift of doing God's will in love – to God –
                as Jesus did when He gave Himself on the
                cross.

                    We have a choice to do God's will or not
                do God's will. We have a choice in our attitude
                to stay connected to God in suffering with Jesus
                and become closer to Him or we can have
                an ugly attitude, a rebellious attitude –
                a punishing attitude! Who controls us and
                our attitude. God gave us a free will –
                we can do it His way or do it opposed
                to Him.

                    Jesus showed us on the cross – He did
                His Father's will to His death on the cross –
                He came for this – He did it in love.
                He came to do the Father's will. We can have
                a disposition, likened to Jesus, of doing the
                Father's will – always in our lives.
                The disposition of a religious vocation in order
                to grow must be that of obedience. The
                Church teaches that religious are to obey
                their superiors. The Church sets this
                as the Law for religious orders.

                    We see the humiliation of Christ on the cross,
                the humiliation as He carried the cross, we
                see His subjection to the heavenly Father in
                serving always in the right disposition –
                of love – We see the "yes" of
                Jesus in being our Savior –

                    Religious especially are to live, lives where
                they follow Christ – striving more and more
                to be Christ-like, Life in the Spirit –
                deeper love and devotion as a child of the Heavenly
                Father. Religious are to be set apart from
                the world in living to follow Christ with
                a disposition of humility and faithfulness
                to their vocation. Mary was so humble –
                Mary was the perfect – handmaid of the Lord.
                Mary shows us her humility – how beautiful
                she was to the heavenly Father – the few years
                Mary walked the earth – Mary obeyed
                the Father's will in her life. Mary walked
                humbly before the Lord.

                    Real freedom is in this – obedience
                to the Father's will – A person enslaved
                to inordinate attachments – is not free.
                All actions should be done to serve
                and love God – not because of pride
                and manipulation, fear, control,
                jealousy, anger, envy, hatefulness.
                ie. A person performing acts enslaved to
                pride and jealousy is not free!

                    The disposition of obedience to God's will,
                of religious to superiors should become
                habitual – It should come not, act by act,
                maybe I obey, maybe I don't, but
                I should obey always to please my Beloved
                Heavenly Father (not act by act as if picking
                when I feel like obeying or not). My disposition
                is never fighting a superior in religious life to
                prove I am right and modeling as a
                leader this behavior before those
                under them –

                The "wild card" in each of us is the free will.
                We were given a free will by God to obey Him.
                We were given a free will to know, love and
                serve Him.

                    We see Abraham who lived obediently
                to God. His life shows us his obedience
                to God was what led him. He was faithful
                and obedient even to sacrifice Isaac.

                    Are you free? A man testing authority,
                arguing with authority is in DISORDER.

                    We have a free will to do God's will – to choose
                the difficult when God calls us to do it.
                The whole attitude of the religious is to be
                an example before men of holiness,
                of humility.

                    It is a paradox for a religious to
                manipulate, discredit, argue, disobey
                their superior. It makes a mockery
                of what the order is to observe.

                    A spirit of rebellion and disobedience
                to God's will comes from satan and this
                too can become a permanent attitude
                which satan wants –
                    "I did it my way"
                    "Nobody – nobody tells me what to do"

                    God called religious to love God so deeply.
                A man who does not love in religious life –
                whose heart is closed is setting themselves
                up for failure. A person in religious life
                should be more and more like Jesus.
                Jesus is love.
 

1 John 4: 20-21

Anyone who says 'I love God' and hates his brother, is a liar, since whoever does not love the brother whom he can see cannot love God whom he has not seen. Indeed this is the commandment we have received from him, that whoever loves God, must also love his brother.

                R. To be holy – we must be – a person
                who loves. This means our hearts are open –
                This means we are giving – This means
                our overall attitude is obedience to God's will –
                We don't go in and out and act pridefully.

                    A religious has obligations to be examples
                of love and holiness before men, to be
                Christ-like, to be humble, not prideful,
                angry, jealous, mad before others,
                manipulative, causing chaos,
                and confusion for a sport –

                    The loyalty to God is to be seen
                in the disposition, body movements,
                the face, the kindness in their hearts
                to live in order and be Christ-like
                examples. They are to have the proper
                disposition of the soul, the
                right attitude to please the heavenly Father.
                Religious have obligations before God,
                others in the community and others
                in the world when they wear a habit,
                especially, and call themselves a
                religious.

                When they speak – one should see their
                lives are lived to serve God and be holy
                examples of Christ.

                    A religious should be faithful to
                his obligations in the order – have
                fidelity to doing the tasks asks of him
                or her in loyalty to Christ –

                    He or she may fail on occasion but
                the disposition of the religious should
                be faithfulness to their obligations and
                loyalty to Christ.

                    A holy religious would not be attached
                to angry 'hold-outs' - anger,
                pride – as reasons for why they
                can show bad example before
                others, disobedience and argumentation
                to superiors and neglect their obligations
                because they are inordinately attached
                to this anger, pride, manipulation.

                Today is Good Friday –

                We see Jesus on the cross –

                Religious are to follow in His example –
                    A lover - loves –
 

                R. If a religious has such attachments as
                    stored up anger, pride, jealousy,
                    they will find it difficult with this
                    disposition to avoid sin, bad example,
                    misery and failure.

                    We are now, this day, not trying
                to condemn, but to bring a new
                commitment of love of the
                Resurrection into this retreat
                begun April 2, 2017 and carried
                into Holy Week –

                Death – Resurrection –

                Commitment to the obligations of
                one's vocation and not giving into
                inordinate attachments of pride,
                anger, manipulation, argumentation,
                jealousy, envy, seeking power-over
                and darkness – sin before others –

                Death – Resurrection

                Christ came forth victorious from the
                    tomb –

                Christ died for our sins –

                We must die to this disorder Jesus
                    gives us in this message –

                We are to walk humbly as
                    little children obeying our
                    Father's will –

                Let the power within us be – power
                    to obey the difficult – live
                    with a disposition of holy obedience
                    to God to love and do His will
                    habitually.

                Anger, Pride, Envy, Slothfulness,
                    Jealousy are bad habits –
                    They come from having a bad
                    disposition of not knowing one's
                    place as it truly is under God.

                    We should love God with our
                whole heart (not part of it), our
                whole soul and our whole being
                and love our neighbor as ourselves
                with our whole heart – not when
                or if it suits us.

                    Why should we think anyone should
                be forced, if we are a leader, to put
                up with bad behavior and then
                be indignant and mad when corrected.
                This is the way we will fail with
                a disposition of anger and pride
                and darkness –

                We are to die to these bad angry, prideful
                habits and live more and more like
                Christ!

                    We pray these prayers at the end
                of the message to the Holy Spirit daily. 
  

April 3, 2017

A Prayer for Grace and Holiness today
A prayer to work in love and holiness
 

John 16: 23

"If you ask the Father anything in my name,
    He will give it to you"

R. God wants our unity – we ask for this
    unity – that the Spirit of God fill
    us and help us to be holy –
    that we do not hold onto any of the deadly
    sins that block us from this unity –
    that the Holy Spirit can work in our souls,
    so we can be His instruments of love
    and peace and joy among our brothers.

We pray this heavenly Father in the name of
    Jesus who said ask in my name and
    it will be given to you.

    Let us experience the joy of unity and love
    on a supernatural level and know You
    our beloved God – more and more supernaturally.
    We want our hearts to be sanctified in
    our love and work so we are holy and
    pleasing to You God.

Come to us Lord and possess our soul.

We want to walk as God intends us
    to walk today in the plan of God,
    in the work He has called us to do today.

We know that we must cooperate with the grace
    You are giving us – now and today to
    bring unity and peace and love to this
    day as we serve to do the work – You are
    calling us in our vocation to do.

Dear Heavenly Father, hear our prayer,
    in the name of Jesus, we pray,
    we ask, heavenly Father for these
    graces necessary this day to
    bring peace, love and joy to
    our relationships and work – as You
    work in us.

    We seek perfection in our souls to be holy
    souls likened to You – in work
    and in play – to be holy in prayer –
    we invite You Holy Spirit to be
    the Guest of our soul.

We seek order in our lives, not disorder.

We beg for the virtues of faith, hope, love,
    prudence, temperance, fortitude, justice,
    and humility. We seek to be obedient
    to the will of God and live obedient to
    the will of God in love.

Come Holy Spirit Come into our hearts. Transform
    us from fear to fearlessness to serve
    You as You desire in our lives.

Help our actions to be for the glory and honor
    of God with the goal of these actions
    to one day be in heaven with Thee,
    our beloved God.

Heal our hearts and our bodies – Help
    us to have health of body now in
    this work you call us to do.

Instill in us a desire to want to only
    do the will of the heavenly Father
    and to walk in holiness and love.

We pray all these prayers heavenly Father,
    united to Jesus, in His name for
    grace and holiness today and always.

Help us to live by right reasoning in
    our lives – to have the truth
    in our every thought and to live
    in order as You operate in us
    in unity and love.

Come to me Lord and possess my soul.

We seek order in our lives – Your order
    to love in us, to help us to act as
    You desire, to have the thoughts
    that are in right reasoning and in
    Your order, Lord.

Give us the grace to use our faculties
    to love and serve You and do
    Your work.

Give us faith and right reasoning.

Help us to love and be just in our actions.

Help us to seek Your Divine Will and to
    perform those actions, which are actions
    pleasing to You in everything.

Come to us Lord and purify our consciences,
    our souls.

Help us to hope and love in Thee.

We seek heavenly vision – to see
    things through the eyes of
    the heavenly Father and to be
    perfected more and more in doing
    God's will in our lives.

We pray for the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit.

We pray for this purity in our souls –
    to live virtuously, to be perfected
    more and more and filled with the
    gifts of the Holy Spirit –
    Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel,
    Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety
    and Fear of the Lord 

    and to have the fruits of the Holy Spirit –
    charity, joy, peace, patience,
    benignity (kindness), goodness,
    long-suffering, mildness,
    faith, modesty, continency,
    and chastity.

We do not want the enemies to
    invade our thoughts, our
    actions, our lives –

We pray to give up ugly bad habits of the
    deadly sins –
    pride, greed, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth

We know on this journey we will
    experience sufferings and joys
    and we accept the struggles
    in life and ask You to help us,
    strengthen us in our lives to
    suffer and rejoice as You
    desire us to do in our lives.

We want to be a reflection of Your
    heavenly love – to be full of light –
    Your light in us. To operate in
    light and not darkness – IN You,
    our beloved God.

We want to follow in the footsteps
    of Jesus in giving love and
    light and unity to those
    we contact in our lives –

         

Prayer for Union with Jesus

Come to me, Lord, and possess my soul. Come into my heart and permeate my soul. Help me to sit in silence with You and let You work in my heart.

    I am Yours to possess. I am Yours to use. I want to be selfless and only exist in You. Help me to spoon out all that is me and be an empty vessel ready to be filled by You. Help me to die to myself and live only for You. Use me as You will. Let me never draw my attention back to myself. I only want to operate as You do, dwelling within me.

    I am Yours, Lord. I want to have my life in You. I want to do the will of the Father. Give me the strength to put aside the world and let You operate my very being. Help me to act as You desire. Strengthen me against the distractions of the devil to take me from Your work.

    When I worry, I have taken my focus off of You and placed it on myself. Help me not to give in to the promptings of others to change what in my heart You are making very clear to me. I worship You, I adore You and I love You. Come and dwell in me now.

-God's Blue Book, January 17, 1994

 

April 4, 2017

                R. Dear Holy Spirit please come to me the
                Guest of my soul. Please pour
                into me Your virtues and gifts.

                    Dear Father, Son and Holy Spirit dwell in me.
                Please fill me with the
                supernatural gifts I received at
                baptism – that they may grow
                ever greater to know and love supernaturally.

                Dear Holy Spirit,

                    Please mold in me more and
                more the image of Jesus in my
                heart and soul.

           From Tell My People by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J.

                R. Help me to live my life praising
                and loving God in love and
                being as God wants me to be.
                Holy Spirit be the Guest of my soul.
                Come Holy Spirit fill me with the Spirit –
                Let the Spirit of God be in me.
 

John 16:12-15

I still have many things to say to you
but they would be too much for you
    to bear now.
However, when the Spirit of truth comes
he will lead you to the complete truth,
since he will not be speaking
    of his own accord,
but will say only what he has been told;
and he will reveal to you
    the things to come.
He will glorify me,
since all he reveals to you
will be taken from what is mine.
Everything the Father has is mine;
that is why I said:
all he reveals to you
will be taken from what is mine.

                Sing: Come Holy Ghost

                Sing: Come Holy Spirit

                R. Let the Light of Christ live
                in my soul. Amen.

                    We see when the Holy Spirit lives
                in us there is cooperation with
                the Plan of God, Our heavenly Father.
                The Holy Spirit brings unity to the soul –
                order in our hearts – direction
                according to and with God,
                our heavenly Father who
                created us in the image and
                likeness of God.

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. The Holy Spirit opens our hearts and
                souls to God – so God can dwell
                in us more abundantly.

                    Come to me God and possess my
                soul –

                Sing: Come to me, Lord, and possess my soul. Come into my heart and permeate my soul.
                    Help me to sit in silence with You and let You work in my heart.

                    We are imperfect – the Holy Spirit
                comes to transform our souls
                more and more in the image and
                likeness of Jesus –

                    Come to me Lord and possess
                my soul –

                    God fills us more and more abundantly
                with His life –

                Sing Song: I Love You Jesus

                R. The Holy Spirit is the Spouse of the
                Virgin Mary – perfect handmaid
                of the Lord.

                    The Holy Spirit wants to transform
                us more and more into the image of Jesus.
                We were created for this –

                    Oh God, we are so grateful for
                the sacrament of baptism and
                the other sacraments. We are
                so grateful for the Eucharist
                whereby, you feed the life you
                gave to us.

                    God gives us a sharing in
                His life in baptism and feeds
                us with the Body and Blood
                of Jesus in the Eucharist.

                Come to me Lord and possess my soul –               

1 Corinthians 3: 16

    Do you not realise that you are a temple of God with the Spirit of God living in you?

                R. We consecrate ourselves to God.
                We give ourselves to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
 

   

From the Shepherds of Christ Prayer Manual

Holy Spirit Prayer

Come, Holy Spirit, almighty Sanctifier, God of love, who filled the Virgin Mary with grace, who wonderfully changed the hearts of the apostles, who endowed all Your martyrs with miraculous courage, come and sanctify us. Enlighten our minds, strengthen our wills, purify our consciences, rectify our judgment, set our hearts on fire, and preserve us from the misfortunes of resisting Your inspirations. Amen.

 

Act of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
 and the Immaculate Heart of Mary

"Lord Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock, I consecrate myself to Your most Sacred Heart. From Your pierced Heart the Church was born, the Church You have called me, as a member of Shepherds of Christ Associates, to serve in a most special way. You reveal Your Heart as a symbol of Your love in all its aspects, including Your most special love for me, whom You have chosen as Your companion in this most important work. Help me to always love You in return. Help me to give myself entirely to You. Help me always to pour out my life in love of God and neighbor! Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You!

"Dear Blessed Virgin Mary, I consecrate myself to your maternal and Immaculate Heart, this Heart which is symbol of your life of love. You are the Mother of my Savior. You are also my Mother. You love me with a most special love as a member of Shepherds of Christ Associates, a movement created by your Son as a powerful instrument for the renewal of the Church and the world. In a return of love, I give myself entirely to your motherly love and protection. You followed Jesus perfectly. You are His first and perfect disciple. Teach me to imitate you in the putting on of Christ. Be my motherly intercessor so that, through your Immaculate Heart, I may be guided to an ever closer union with the pierced Heart of Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock."