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
president and leaders. We pray that we are united as one nation
under God to work together in love as God wants.
April 15, 2019
R.
40 days of Lent.
Do whatever you do for God.
It is in loving we are most like Him.
Pray for special intentions
please.
April 8, 2018
R. Body, Mind and Soul –
God wants us to be people of
the Light. He is Light – To
let our blood flow in our body,
our energy, be good, exercise,
good food, feeding our soul,
have a happy attitude – be
lifted up. We have a choice –
We have one life to live.
Today is the day the Lord has
made – let us rejoice and be
glad.
Song – the birds sing a song for
us, the sun shines, the air
can come deep in our lungs –
our waters so crisp and beautiful –
Mary – Wake up America to
the joy of living in the beauty
and gifts God has given you.
"Two men looked out prison
doors - one saw mud, the other
stars."
Wake up America, I am
Our Lady of Clearwater –
I come to tell you to pray, to love,
to obey the commandments of Jesus –
obey your heavenly Father –
Do you know how much Jesus
suffered in the Garden –
He has given you such love –
He loves you so much. Do
you know how it hurts a
loving heart to give such love –
to have such love, to want
so much for you and to be
rejected, cold, hateful to Jesus –
How many parade in Gaul
before God who is love and
life and disobey Him deliberately
when they know the commandments
and they have so much and
they have an angry, dark,
disobedient attitude.
How, arrogant, could
you be indignant before a
King – pull tricks, be sneaky
and act like He doesn't
exist?
God has given you life and love
and people in your life to
have joy with and many
smite Him and treat Him like
He does not see them – like He
isn't involved.
God sees you. God knows
your every move, the desires of
your heart, the hatred or love
you show toward Him and
your brothers and He paid
the price for your sins. He
knows your sins and
in indigence some say –
we don't even recognize
You and Your ways God –
How Jesus suffered to His
Sacred Heart in the Garden for those
He loved so much and they
rejected His love and treated
Him like He did not exist.
Satan wants a person to
live to hate their brother like
enemies, what you do to
your brother you do to Jesus.
America you are so blessed –
You have beautiful children
and some murder their babies
of the womb. I cry to you to
listen to my message and the
message of my Son and some
are so hateful when We come
to reach the world – hateful
of others working hard for
Good – hard for God – hard
for love – because they have
turned the beautiful heart
God gave them to a hard, heart
of stone and they refuse to
listen to God, but live to
hate and disobey His commandments.
I am Our Lady of Clearwater –
I am the Lady clothed with
the Sun – I come on building,
Mary: I come in beauty, I come
in love from your heavenly
Father, as your heavenly Mother –
and some in their hard hateful
hearts ignore me, my message,
my love, my apparitions –
Mary: I have appeared 24 years
in the Shepherds of Christ to deliver
this message.
Mary's
Message
from the Rosary of August 27, 1996
Mary:
I stood beneath the cross of my Son, and my Heart was in such pain for I
saw Him before my eyes. I saw Him covered with blood. I saw Him die. My
Heart, my children, my Heart to watch my Son, but my Heart, my Heart, how I
suffered for my little children of the world that give in to this world and
give up the love of my Son. O my little children of light, I give you this
message. Carry this light into the darkness for your Mother Mary, for I
stood beneath the cross and I cried. I cried for the little ones. I cried
for the young ones, the ones that do not care and will lose their souls. How
do I make you see for you will not listen to me? What can I do? I come. I
appear. I beg. I plead. I give you these gifts from my Son, and you reject
me. I do not deliver messages very often anymore for I have been ignored.
The message is the same. You do not read the messages I have given to you.
Please help me. Help the little children. I appear. I appear. I appear, and
I am ignored. I stood beneath the cross, and I cried. I cried, and my Heart
was in such anguish for my little children, for I am searching for them this
day as I searched for the Child Jesus. Please, please help me. I cannot hold
back the hand of my Son any longer. I am Mary, your Mother. I ask you to
help my children. You are my children of light.
end of Mary's Message
Mary: Souls are at stake –
God loves you –
This is the Good News –
This is truth –
God is love –
God is life –
Here is how it is, the devil
is the Father of lies. He wants
you to be hateful (have no love) –
He hates you having union with
anybody – he is division, chaos,
confusion.
He wants you to sin and
then lie to yourself and others
what is right, the devil wants
you to lie and say it's wrong and
what is wrong, the devil wants
you to say is right.
The devil wants you to live
in the deadly sins of pride
and anger and jealousy
and envy and slothfulness,
lust and gluttony and
tell yourself when you sin
you are right.
Jesus offers the sinner forgiveness.
He wants them to come humbly
and tell the truth about
their wrong - doing and with
a firm purpose of amendment,
sorrow for sin – to not sin
like that again –
God is truth – when you sin
you admit it –
The devil wants more lies –
when you deny - you lie about it.
To be close to God you must
live in the truth. Jesus is
the way, the truth and the
life.
The devil wants you to
lie, to turn yourself away
from truth – to live in
hate.
John 20: 19-31
In the evening of that
same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the
room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and
stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you,’ and, after
saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples
were filled with joy at seeing the Lord, and he said to them again,
‘Peace be with you.
‘As the Father sent
me,
so am I sending you.’
After saying this he
breathed on them and said:
Receive the Holy
Spirit.
If you forgive anyone’s sins,
they are forgiven;
if you retain anyone’s sins,
they are retained.
Thomas, called the
Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples said to him, ‘We have seen the Lord,’ but he
answered, ‘Unless I can see the holes that the nails made in his
hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I
can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days
later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with
them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them.
‘Peace be with you,’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your
finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into
my side. Do not be unbelieving any more but believe.’ Thomas
replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him:
You believe because
you can see me.
Blessed are those who have not seen
and yet believe.
There were many other
signs that Jesus worked in the sight of the disciples, but they are
not recorded in this book. These are recorded so that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing
this you may have life through his name.
R. Christ died for our sins –
He has risen –
This is truth –
Jesus is the way, the
truth and the life.
The Ten Commandments
1. I, the Lord, am your God. You
shall not have other gods besides me.
2. You shall not take the name
of the Lord, your God, in vain.
3. Remember to keep holy the
Sabbath day.
4. Honor your father and your
mother.
5. You shall not kill.
6. You shall not commit
adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false
witness against your neighbor.
9. You shall not covet your
neighbor's wife.
10. You shall not covet anything
that belongs to your neighbor.
Ephesians 5: 15-20
That is why it
is said:
Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.
So be very careful
about the sort of lives you lead, like intelligent and not like
senseless people. Make the best of the present time, for it is a
wicked age. This is why you must not be thoughtless but must
recognise what is the will of the Lord. Do not get drunk with
wine; this is simply dissipation; be filled with the Spirit.
Sing psalms and hymns and inspired songs among yourselves, singing
and chanting to the Lord in your hearts, always and everywhere
giving thanks to God who is our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
John 6: 51-58
"'I am the living bread which has come down from
heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread
that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.’ Then the
Jews started arguing among themselves, ‘How can this man give us his
flesh to eat?’ Jesus replied to them: In all truth I tell you, if
you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you
have no life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood
has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day.
For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats
my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person.
As the living Father sent me and I draw life from the Father, so
whoever eats me will also draw life from me. This is the bread which
has come down from heaven; it is not like the bread our ancestors
ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for
ever."
R. A Cloud of WITNESSES
KEEP your eyes on Jesus
Hebrews 12: 1-4
With so many witnesses in a great cloud
all around us, we too, then, should throw off everything that weighs
us down and the sin that clings so closely, and with perseverance
keep running in the race which lies ahead of us. Let us keep our
eyes fixed on Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to
perfection: for the sake of the joy which lay ahead of him, he
endured the cross, disregarding the shame of it, and has taken
his seat at the right of God’s throne. Think of the way he
persevered against such opposition from sinners and then you will
not lose heart and come to grief. In the fight against sin, you have
not yet had to keep fighting to the point of bloodshed.
R. We hear the voice of the
Good Shepherd and we
follow Him!
We hear Him –
We don't ignore the
truth of Jesus –
or ignore His voice –
Division is from satan –
Jesus suffered so for our
hatred of our brothers,
treating them like enemies –
Jesus wants hearts on fire
for love of Him – to
love their brothers
Matthew 22:
36-40
‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said to
him, ‘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
neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole
Law, and the Prophets too.’
R. Jesus is our Master!
John 14: 5
Thomas said, 'Lord, we do not know
where you are going, so how can we know the way?'
R. The Church is built on a
Rock!
1) We obey the commandments
2) We live by the Word in
our hearts –
3) We follow the Church!
We keep our eyes on Jesus!
Gratitude –
An attitude of Gratitude –
A heart of love –
April 7, 2018 - First Saturday
R. Jesus taught us about love
when He washed the feet of
the Apostles. Jesus died for
our sins.
Death is a bridge we
must go through to go to
the next life.
We are on a journey
here – we are to follow and
obey Jesus. We see night
turns to day, the winter
snow passes, the trees go
barren and the spring
comes with new beautiful
life.
The days of Good Friday,
Holy Saturday tell us – We are
sinners. Jesus is the
Suffering Servant.
Jesus died for our sins –
The empty tomb tells us they
did not get away with it.
Jesus rose from the dead –
The Pascal Mystery –
Death / Resurrection
R.
This is the meaning of Easter –
Easter joy – it's so good –
We prepared ourselves for
Easter during Lent –
A Mystery
Life through Death –
We must die to the bad habits
of pride, anger, envy,
jealousy, slothfulness,
lust, gluttony –
We were created in the
image and likeness of Jesus.
We grow in holiness –
We go to Mass, the Sacrifice
of Calvary sacramentally made
present and we beg for grace to be
outpoured upon us, the Church
and the world –
Philippians 3: 8-10
Yes, I will go further:
because of the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my
Lord, I count everything else as loss. For him I have
accepted the loss of all other things, and look on them all
as filth if only I can gain Christ and be given a place in
him, with the uprightness I have gained not from the law,
but through faith in Christ, an uprightness from God, based
on faith, that I may come to know him and the power of his
resurrection, and partake of his sufferings by being moulded
to the pattern of his death,
Philippians 2: 9-11
And for
this God raised him high,
and gave him the name
which is above all other names;
so that
all beings
in the heavens, on earth
and in the underworld,
should bend the knee at the name of Jesus
and that every tongue should acknowledge
Jesus Christ as Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
1 Corinthians 15: 12-19, 36-49
Now if
Christ
is proclaimed as raised from the dead,
how can some of you be saying that there
is no resurrection of the dead? If there
is no resurrection of the dead, then
Christ
cannot have been raised either, and if
Christ
has not been raised, then our preaching
is without substance, and so is your
faith. What is more, we have proved to
be false witnesses to God, for
testifying against
God
that he raised
Christ
to
life
when he did not raise him – if it is
true that the dead are not raised. For,
if the dead are not raised, neither is
Christ; and if
Christ
has not been raised, your
faith
is pointless and you have not, after
all, been released from your sins. In
addition, those who have fallen asleep
in
Christ
are utterly lost. If our
hope in
Christ
has been for this
life
only, we are of all people the most
pitiable.
How foolish! What
you sow must die before it is given new life; and what you sow
is not the body that is to be, but only a bare grain, of wheat I
dare say, or some other kind; it is God who gives it the sort of
body that he has chosen for it, and for each kind of seed its
own kind of body.
Not all flesh
is the same flesh: there is human flesh; animals have another
kind of flesh, birds another and fish yet another. Then there
are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; the heavenly have a
splendour of their own, and the earthly a different splendour.
The sun has its own splendour, the moon another splendour, and
the stars yet another splendour; and the stars differ among
themselves in splendour. It is the same too with the
resurrection of the dead: what is sown is perishable, but what
is raised is imperishable; what is sown is contemptible but what
is raised is glorious; what is sown is weak, but what is raised
is powerful; what is sown is a natural body, and what is raised
is a spiritual body.
If there is a
natural body, there is a spiritual body too. So the first man,
Adam, as scripture says, became a living soul; and the
last Adam has become a life–giving spirit. But first came the
natural body, not the spiritual one; that came only afterwards.
The first man, being made of earth, is earthly by nature; the
second man is from heaven. The earthly man is the pattern for
earthly people, the heavenly man for heavenly ones. And as we
have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so we shall bear the
likeness of the heavenly one.
R.
We live in truth –
Satan is the Father of Lies.
The 8th Commandment is
–
8. You shall not bear false
witness against your neighbor.
Satan wants a person who
sins to justify themselves,
lie – say wrong was
right; right was
wrong –
God wants the sinner to
repent and tell the
truth about their sin
and make recompense –
Satan wants them to lie
more and more and be indignant.
God wants the sinner to tell
the truth and beg for
forgiveness and
stop sinning –
Death / Resurrection
The Easter celebration goes on
for 50 days –
Alleluia means
"Praise God"
The Feast of the Ascension
is after 40 days!
The Ten Commandments
1. I, the Lord, am your God. You
shall not have other gods besides me.
2. You shall not take the name
of the Lord, your God, in vain.
3. Remember to keep holy the
Sabbath day.
4. Honor your father and your
mother.
5. You shall not kill.
6. You shall not commit
adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false
witness against your neighbor.
9. You shall not covet your
neighbor's wife.
10. You shall not covet anything
that belongs to your neighbor.
R. The Good News!!
April 6, 2018 - First Friday
R. Forgiveness
A man lost his family because
of a car accident and the
driver of the car was a
young drunk driver.
The man who lost his
family had to forgive
that young man who
was drunk or he would
hurt his own life by
being bitter and not forgiving.
Anger inside a person
because of bitterness due
to unforgiveness works
in such a way to deprive
the individual of life
and they close off their
heart.
This is true when a
person has anger from
abuse in childhood.
Fr. Joe said that people
who were sexually and physically
and emotionally abused as
children can hold onto
anger in later life if
they have not looked at
their anger from the past
and worked through
the healing needed.
Anger is a deadly sin. When
a person decides they will
project anger on an innocent
other they are to pray for
grace to not do so.
People who were abused
can become abusers
themselves of innocent
others because of their
unhealed, stuffed anger
inside – They can give
themselves permission to
project anger on innocent
others and nurse and hold-
out in anger what is
necessary for relationships –
their duty in life etc.
If one fails to seek healing
the time one nurses their
unhealed anger on
innocent people can increase
and this is wrong and
against what God wants
of them. This can lead
to greater darkness and
anger for their own
sin they do not admit
and allow them to live
in greater separation
from themselves, God
and their neighbor.
God is love. God wants
unity – God wants us
to forgive and God commands
us to love.
The greatest commandment
is –
Matthew 22:
34-40
‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said to
him, ‘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
neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole
Law, and the Prophets too.’
The Ten Commandments
1. I, the Lord, am your God. You
shall not have other gods besides me.
2. You shall not take the name
of the Lord, your God, in vain.
3. Remember to keep holy the
Sabbath day.
4. Honor your father and your
mother.
5. You shall not kill.
6. You shall not commit
adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false
witness against your neighbor.
9. You shall not covet your
neighbor's wife.
10. You shall not covet anything
that belongs to your neighbor.
R. It can become a way of life
for a person to act out and
nurse anger against their
brothers – treating their
brothers as enemies.
God says we must love
Him, our neighbor as
ourselves.
3 loves
God, others, ourselves.
We cannot harbor envy
and jealousy toward our
neighbor – (this is a
deadly sin) if we want
to have light and love in
our hearts.
We cannot give into
pride – that is seeking
power over others and
trying to demean them
for selfish fun and expect
to have light and love in
our hearts.
Pride is a deadly sin.
We cannot be slothful
in not trying to grow
to be the person God
wants us to be –
God created us to
know, love and serve Him.
God gives us the scriptures,
His Word, to live by –
It should live in our
hearts as a two-edged
sword.
Jesus is the Word –
Dear God help us
to live in greater virtue
and not give into the
tendencies in our wounded
human nature for the
deadly sins.
Dear God increase
in us good habits.
Help us to have greater
faith, hope and love –
given to us in baptism –
We love You God. Amen.
April 5, 2018
R. A time will come, hopefully, when
God takes us home. Our true home
is in heaven and we are home sick
until we rest in Thee.
Life is to be lived. God is
life – God is love – God is –
We live the life, death and
resurrection in our lives.
Come to me Lord and possess
my soul. Help me to walk in
peace, love and joy with You.
Our life here is to be lived
for the honor and glory of God.
From The
Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. p.12
23. FIRST PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION
Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God
our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.
R. St. Ignatius tells us about spiritual
exercises. Sometimes our bodies
are stiff and we need to exercise
them. An athlete must practice
long hours to be able to do the
performance he wishes to achieve.
Our lives are to be lived working
on spiritual exercises that help
us to grow in our intimate
union with God and grow in
relationships with others and
know ourselves - our weaknesses
and strengths so we can develop
more and more in this spiritual
life in us.
Our time here was lent to us
to serve God and to know Him
and to love Him.
God has a unique purpose
for our lives.
From The
Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius,
by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. p.11
21.
SPIRITUAL EXERCISES
Which have as their purpose the conquest of self
and the regulation of one's life in such a way that
no decision is made under the influence of any
inordinate attachment
R. We exercise ourselves spiritually
praying for greater faith and hope
and love.
God elevates our knowing and
loving activity so we can share
in His loving activity –
As we surrender ourselves
more and more to God – and give
ourselves to him – seek His
presence – God comes to us and
dwells in us and operates from
us, loves through us, uses
us for His love and His
purpose –
The key is surrender – the turning
over of oneself to God and becoming
self-less – co-operation is
paramount, as our life is lived
co-operating with God and others
in relationships in the building
of His Kingdom.
God put us on this earth for
His purpose – that unique
purpose He created us to
achieve in our lives. God
has a plan –
The Carpenter
June 12, 1994
Jesus: You
are he who goes to a carpenter to learn to make a cabinet. You know nothing.
You do not have any idea of what you are to do. The carpenter knows exactly.
He has a procedure whereby his plan will be accomplished. Every detail must
be observed. He is the Master. You do not have the talent. You need talent
to do woodwork. If you were given the talent and the directions, you could
accomplish this task with such beauty.
I am the carpenter. You
are he who needs to be taught. You lack the talent. You need the gifts of
the Spirit to accomplish My task! You come to Me in total ignorance. You are
open, the Spirit fills you with the gifts. You have everything you need to
do My work. The Father created you to accomplish His tasks. You are perfect.
You must come open. You must know the plan. The plan is His Will for you. If
you do not follow the plan, the cabinet will not be built correctly.
I am the Master. I
guide you. I love you. I give you all you need. I walk you through every
move. If you try on your own, you have a problem. You know not the way to
build cabinets. You know not the way to Me on your own. You must come to Me
to be taught. To go it alone is to your own detriment.
Oh, little one, it is
so simple. You, in your will, want to work your own plans. You know not how
to do it. Only I can teach you what you need to know. Oh, please come to Me.
I have all you need. The Spirit fills you with the gifts to know, love and
serve God. To go it alone is like trying to build the cabinet with no
knowledge of woodworking. Oh, little ones, I love you. Come to Me. Let Me
teach you. The Will of the Father is the happiness for your life.
I am Jesus Christ, Son
of God. I am God. I, God, long to be with you and teach you. Go not off on
your own. Come to Me. I love you so!
end of June 12, 1994
R. Freedom is in letting go and
growing as God wants us to
living by His will in love.
God has a plan for our
lives and we co-operate
with the plan of God –
We live every day in deeper
relationship with God in
achieving the plan as He has
intended for us.
24 years ago Jesus gave me this
message Freedom March 2, 1994.
Freedom
March 2, 1994
At Cathedral After Communion
Jesus: I want you to love Me as I
love you. If I asked you to lay down your life for Me, you would give
this freely of yourself. I need this surrender from you that you put Me
above all things–not some things, all things. I am the Lord thy God,
thou shalt not have any gods before Me–not your husband, your children,
your life, your house. I want your total surrender! I am not asking you
to give these things up. I am asking you to love Me more than any of
these things, that you are willing to give them up for Me!
This is freedom. When your love is for Me
and Me alone, no one has any control over you. You live for Me and I am
Almighty. I love you with the most ardent love and you know all that
comes from Me is from Him Who laid down His life for you.
Do you love Me? Would you lay your life
down for Me? If you love, you give of yourself. Do you love each other?
Do you give of yourself to one another or do you have relationships that
give to you? This is not love. Love gives from the heart. Love is for
the good of the other. I gave My life for you that you might live.
Follow the Master. I did not die for any of My own gratifications, I
died to show you how I loved you! I gave My only life for you. I love
you this much!
I call you to love. Love is action from
your heart. Do you love Me this way or do you just do busy work and call
it love?
To learn about love you must come and be
with Me. Sit and let Me teach you My ways. I sit with My red garb,
covering My white tunic, you at My feet and I teach you ever so sweetly
each day. You are My beloved ones. I died for you. I give you this same
love today. Love gives to the other. Do you give this kind of love to Me
and your brother or do you ask what others and I will give to you?
You do not know love if you do not come and
you are not taught by Me. I am the author of love. I teach the mighty
lessons of love. I died out of love for you.
You cannot love intimately if you hold
back. To love Me, you must totally surrender, surrender all you hold on
to. People do not love Me because they want to hold back. If you want
intimacy with Me, you must be willing to surrender your all to Me.
Are you willing to do this? This is where
the power is. When you give your all, I possess your soul and I am all
powerful. I want your all, not little pieces you stingily let go of. I
want your all. Then you will have an intimate union with God. Then you
will live in His love and be powered by His might. Then you will be
free. I will operate you and you will be united to Me as one. What
power, God dwelling within your breast and acting from your soul! Become
selfless and unattached to anything. I am God and you shall not have any
gods before Me!
end of excerpt
R. God has given us the sacrament
of baptism and commissioned us
to spread the Good News. The
news God has commissioned us
to spread is so good beyond
what we can even comprehend.
God loves us so very much –
We cannot even fathom the white
heat of God's love. He shows us
His Sacred Heart on fire for love
of us.
R. Do we even comprehend this?
God loves us so very, very,
very much. He is with us
now loving us and wanting
this loving intimate relationship
with Him.
God gives us the Blue Books,
in the Blue Books God gives
us the letters of His love.
R. We were created by God in
love to be more and more
in the image and likeness
of God and God is love –
God is life – God is – He
longs for relationship with
us. He longs for our surrender
to live as little children
obedient to our heavenly Father's
plan for us.
The incarnation goes on in
us as we put on Christ
more and more in this
beautiful image and likeness
of God. We are to seek holiness,
to be God-like – to exercise
and discipline ourselves to
live as God wants for us –
God gives us the Body and
Blood of Jesus in the Eucharist
so we can be transformed more
and more in this image and
likeness of God.
Here is a prayer God gave
me –
A Prayer before the Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass
Let me be a holy sacrifice and unite
with God in the sacrament of His greatest love.
I want to be one in Him in this act of
love, where He gives Himself to me and I give myself as a sacrifice to Him.
Let me be a holy sacrifice as I become one with Him in this my act of
greatest love to Him.
Let me unite with Him more, that I may
more deeply love Him. May I help make reparation to His adorable Heart and
the heart of His Mother, Mary. With greatest love, I offer myself to You and
pray that You will accept my sacrifice of greatest love. I give myself to
You and unite in Your gift of Yourself to me. Come and possess my soul.
Cleanse me, strengthen me, heal me.
Dear Holy Spirit act in the heart of Mary to make me more and more like
Jesus.
Father, I offer this my sacrifice,
myself united to Jesus in the Holy Spirit to You. Help me to love God more
deeply in this act of my greatest love.
Give me the grace to grow in my
knowledge, love and service of You and for this to be my greatest
participation in the Mass. Give me the greatest graces to love You so deeply
in this Mass, You who are so worthy of my love.
-Mass Book, December 27, 1995
December 27, 1995
L
ET US
LOVE THE TWO
HEARTS OF JESUS AND
MARY
IN THE RECEPTION OF THE
HOLY EUCHARIST.
HE GAVE HIMSELF TO US ON THE CROSS. HE GIVES
HIMSELF TO US IN THE EUCHARIST.
How great was the act of
love, God gave to this world, when He gave Himself and
died on the cross. He gives Himself to us this day in
the Holy Eucharist.
The greatest commandment
is that we must love God with our whole heart, our whole
soul, and our whole being. This is a commandment. If we
are to enter heaven, we must follow the commandments.
They are commands given by God for us to follow.
The greatest act we can
do on this earth is an act of loving God. The reason for
our existence is to love God. In the sacrament of His
greatest love, He gives Himself to us. This is an act of
love on His part. We are called to respond by giving
ourselves in love to Him.
This is the purpose of
the Holy Eucharist: to unite in such oneness with our
Holy, Loving God. Our all consuming passion should be
that of loving God. How many go to the Eucharist with
the sole purpose of giving great love to God? He wants
us to love Him. He wants souls to tell Him how much they
truly love Him. This is the most intimate act of love
when Jesus gives Himself-Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity
to man. If it is such an act of love, how are we
receiving Him in Communion? We should beg God, in this
most intimate union with Him, to help us to love Him
with greatest love.
Jesus is a Person. He
wants our love. The Holy Spirit wants such intimacy with
us. Our Father wants us to love Him. In the Eucharist,
we unite with God. In this intimate act of uniting with
our beloved God, with Divinity, we must pour out our
love to God. We must pour out our heart to the most
adorable Heart of Jesus. Jesus is so unjustly treated by
many of His beloved souls He loves so much. Let us help
make reparation to the Almighty God by loving God with
our whole heart, our whole soul, and our whole being in
the sacrament of His greatest love. This is the Gift of
Himself.
Think of how it is to
love someone and give your all for that person, to pour
out your heart to him or her and then be treated with
coldness and neglect. It hurts our heart so much more
when we deeply love someone to be rejected by that
person. Jesus loves us with the deepest love. We cannot
fully comprehend this love. Let us love Him with the
deepest love. Let us love Mary and her Immaculate Heart.
Let us love her as the Mother of God. Let us love her as
the virgin who bore the Son of God. May we, in the
reception of the Eucharist pour out our love to Him, to
this adorable Heart. May we pour out our love to His
Holy Mother.
Mary said at Fatima that
Jesus wants His Heart venerated next to the heart of His
Mother. Let us love these two Hearts as we receive the
Sacrament of the Eucharist. Then we are so deeply united
with God. We see Their two Hearts surrounded with thorns
for the injustices against Their Hearts. Let us help
make reparation daily as we receive Him in the
Eucharist. This is a special time to help make
reparation to Their wounded Hearts.
Let us remember how He
poured His love out to us on the cross and how He pours
out His love to us now when He gives us Himself in the
Eucharist, the Eucharist which contains His Heart of
burning love. His Heart was pierced with a lance. Her
heart was invisibly pierced with a sword. As the wounds
in Their Hearts are deep, so too is Their love so deep.
He does not want "surface
love". He wants hearts filled with deep burning love.
end of December 27,
1995
R. Being alive in God. Knowing
the presence of God in us –
Song: His Presence Pervades My Soul
Song: God's Love
Song: I Love You Jesus
R. And I walk the isle and
He is there waiting for me –
Jesus, the Bridegroom of
my soul. He comes to me and
I receive the Divine Almighty
God. His love is beyond any
words of this paper and
pen – His love is ineffable –
He is Savior –
Nothing can be like the
white heat of God's love
and His presence in us.
God is real – This is His
Plan.
For us to put on Christ –
Our lives are to have this
oneness with Him so we
can say with St. Paul –
It's no longer I who live,
but God who lives in
me.
And Fr. Carter tells us
of the pascal mystery in
the Book Mother at Our Side –
We carry the life, death and
resurrection in our lives.
Excerpt from Mother at Our Side, by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J.
nine
The Cross Leads To Life
. . .and Simeon blessed them and said
to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and
rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and
you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may
be revealed." (Lk. 2:35).
Our incorporation into the mystery of
Christ at baptism, and our growth in this life, is centered in the pattern
of death-resurrection: Or are you unaware that we who were baptized
into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with
him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from
the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.
(Rom. 6:3-4).
The theme of death-resurrection is at the
heart of salvation history. It is a recurrent theme in the Old Testament
and in the New Testament.
The Jewish people, under the leadership of
Moses, experienced death-resurrection as they were formed into the people
of the covenant—Yahweh's people. In the great Exodus event, they escaped
Egyptian slavery, went on to Mt. Sinai where the covenant was ratified,
and then progressed to the Promised Land. As members of the Mosaic
covenant, the Jews experienced a religious transition; they passed over to
a higher level of religious existence—to a more intimate union with God.
This religious transition contained
death-resurrection. For the Jews to become people of the covenant, to
remain so, and to grow in the life of the covenant, it was necessary that
they undergo a mystical or spiritual death. In short, they had to be
willing to pay a price. They had to be willing to bear with that which was
difficult in covenant life. This mystical death, however, had a very
positive purpose; it was directed at life in the covenant and at growth in
that life. This spiritual death, in other words, was for the purpose of
resurrection.
Christ perfectly fulfilled the Old
Testament theme of death-resurrection. In doing so, He was experiencing a
religious transition. He was passing over—gradually, at first, and then
definitively in His death—to a new kind of existence, to the life of
resurrection. He achieved this life not only for Himself, but for us also.
To achieve this new life of resurrection, Jesus was willing to pay the
price. He was willing to suffer, even unto death. That it had to be this
way—that the only way Jesus could have achieved resurrection was through
suffering and death—was pointed out by Jesus Himself to the two
disciples on the road to Emmaus: And he said to them, "Oh, how
foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter
into his glory?" (Lk. 24:25-26).
Christ has structured the Christian life
by the way He lived, died, and rose from the dead. It is obvious, then,
that the pattern of death-resurrection must be at the heart of the
Church's life. Mary, as Mother of the Church and our mother, is in a most
advantageous position to show us our own individual roads to Calvary and
support us as we carry the cross, each of us on our own as well as the
Church as a whole. She already traveled that road in perfect acceptance of
the death-resurrection struggle as she was always most closely united with
the work of her Son. Individually and collectively, we are meant to
continually die in Christ so that we may continually rise in Christ. We
thus pass over in a process of continued religious transition to a greater
participation in Jesus' resurrection. It is true that our participation in
Christ's resurrection will reach its culmination only in eternity.
Nevertheless, we begin the life of resurrection here upon this earth, in
the here-and-now of human life, in the midst of joy and pain, in the
experience of success and failure, in the sweat of our brow, in the
enjoyment of God's gifts.
We cannot maintain the life of
resurrection or grow in it without a willingness to suffer. This does not
mean that we need to feel overwhelmed and heavily burdened by the
suffering in our lives. The greater portion of suffering for most of us
seems to be an accumulation of ordinary hardships and pains. At times,
more penetrating suffering—even suffering of agonizing proportions—can
enter our life. Whether the sufferings are either of the more ordinary
variety or the rare and extreme type, Christians must convince themselves
that to properly relate to the cross is to grow in resurrection.
The great tragedy regarding human
suffering is not that there is so much of it, but that apparently so much
of it is wasted. Apparently many do not relate to suffering
properly—according to God's will. Consequently, they fail to use
suffering as a means to growth. Again, our mother's fiat can be a vivid
reminder to persevere through even our most difficult trials.
As the opening Scripture passage tells us,
Our Lady was no stranger to suffering. As we well know, her life of
suffering culminated in her extreme agony beneath the cross. Who can
fathom the depth of her grief as she watched her innocent Son suffer the
excruciating pain and death of crucifixion? In the church of San Domingo
in Puebla, Mexico, there is one of the most striking representations of
Mary that I have ever seen. Near the front of the church, and to the right
as one faces the altar, there is a figure of our Blessed Mother seated in
a chair. She is dressed in a black robe with gold trim. Atop her white
veil is a black lace veil of mourning. On her lap is Christ's crown of
thorns. Mary gazes down at this crown which had been so cruelly and
derisively placed upon Jesus. The expression on Mary's face is one of the
most moving I have seen. It is a combination of grief, dignity, and
beauty. It is indeed easy to shed tears as one beholds this figure of
Mary. It tells us so much about Mary. It tells us that she not only is the
Mother of Joy, but also the Mother of Sorrows.
Yes, our dearest Mother Mary knows what it
is like to suffer. She knows so well the purpose of suffering in God's
plan. By asking her to obtain for us the grace to grow in wisdom, we can
increasingly understand the role of suffering in our own lives. Asking her
for the grace not to waste suffering, we can learn to use it as a means of
growth for ourselves and others.
One of the most traditional forms of the
experience of the cross which spiritual masters have always discussed is
self-discipline or asceticism. People in all walks of life require
self-discipline. The athlete must subject himself or herself to rigorous
training; the musician must endure long hours of practice; the doctor must
be willing to order his or her life to the vigorous demands of the medical
profession.
The Christian life, too, has its own form
of discipline, and it is necessary for the greater assimilation of our
total being to Christ. Christian self-discipline, or asceticism, helps us
grow in the Christ-life. It extends to all aspects of the
person—intellect, will, imagination, memory, sight, hearing, taste,
touch, and so forth.
Renunciation is another form of dying with
Jesus, which, over the years, has been given much attention in the
teaching of the spiritual masters. Indeed, the New Testament itself
attests to the undeniable role that renunciation plays in the Christian
life. The gentle St. Luke, for example, teaches Jesus' message of
renunciation—a message which Jesus Himself lived. Renunciation was
obviously not the only aspect of Christ's life, but it was an undeniable
one. Christians, because they are followers of Christ, must also include
renunciation in their lives regardless of their individual vocations.
Again, it is well to remind ourselves that we embrace renunciation for the
sake of life. This was the purpose of renunciation in Jesus' life, and it
must have the same purpose in ours.
Acts of renunciation are life-promoting
regarding ourselves and others. Let us always remember what Our Lady of
Fatima has said: Pray, pray, a great deal, and make sacrifices for
sinners, for many souls go to Hell because they have no one to make
sacrifices and pray for them.24 And the angel said to the
Fatima visionaries: Make everything you do a sacrifice, and offer it as
an act of reparation for the sins by which God is offended, and as a
petition for the conversion of sinners.25 All our good
actions, including the enjoyable and pleasant ones, can be offered as
sacrifices. In the stricter sense, our sacrifices include those actions
which involve doing that which is difficult or which involves acts of
renunciation.
A good example of an act of renunciation
is the practice of fasting which Our Lady of Medjugorje requests of us.
She asks us to renounce our regular habits of eating and drinking on
Wednesdays and Fridays. Mary tells us that the best way to fast on these
days is to partake only of bread and water. If one is unable to fast in
this manner, he or she should practice that type of renunciation which is
possible. We should remember that fasting is a practice contained in New
Testament teaching.
There are, of course, many other forms of
carrying the cross besides those of self-discipline and renunciation.
There is that very common form of bearing the cross which is involved in
the proper living of every day. There is nothing dramatic about this form
of suffering, and, precisely because it seems so uneventful, it is
difficult to properly relate to it in a consistent fashion. On particular
occasions, we might feel that a quick death by martyrdom would be easier
than the daily dying which involves all sorts of little sufferings or
crosses. But this daily dying is a precious type of suffering, and to grow
in the realization of its importance is a significant sign of spiritual
progress. It is a sign that we have the spiritual discernment to
comprehend that God so often situates the cross within the ordinariness of
everyday life.
Crucial decision-making is also a form of
the cross. Making a decision, we realize, is extremely important for both
ourselves and others. We can seek advice from others, but in the last
analysis we know—oh, how well we know—that, ultimately, we alone must
make the decision before God. We pray for light and strength, for we
realize that we need help not only to make the proper decision, but also
to deal with the pain which is inevitably involved.
The experience of failure is another
suffering that we encounter in various degrees along the path of life. In
failure there is a twofold pain—the pain of having failed and that
involved in having to begin again. The pain of having failed must not be
wasted. We must use it to become better persons.
Rejection, in various forms, is another
pain not uncommon to human experience. Many have experienced rejection
because of race or ethnic origin. Although we ourselves might not have
experienced this type of rejection, there are other kinds. We may have
felt, for instance, a certain ostracism in not being accepted. When our
ideas and opinions are not accepted by others, we feel the sting of yet
another kind of rejection. And how many there are who have experienced
that very painful rejection, being rejected in a romantic relationship.
Another common form of suffering is the
experience of loneliness. There are two basic kinds of loneliness—that
which need not be and that which cannot be avoided. And who has not
experienced the pain connected with illness or injury? Some must bear this
cross to a much greater degree than others. Some, indeed, have had their
lives very significantly changed because of serious illness or injury. Let
us pray for these so that they may have the love and courage to live with
their cross according to God's will.
The above examples describe some of the
ways in which the cross enters our lives. We can each probably add one or
two more to our own list. In any case, we need to remember that we have a
special prayer partner to help guide us along the way. She knows suffering
and she certainly knows her Son. She is always by our side.
In conclusion, let us again remind
ourselves that the cross is meant to lead us to greater life—here and in
eternity. Let us always strive to live by the words Jesus has left as: Then
he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny
himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will
save it. (Lk. 9:23-24).
April 1, 1996
The Father Looks to the Earth
R.
Mary is
appearing as Our Lady of Grace. Mary is full of grace.
Such abundant grace is released in the Mass. We must, in all of our actions, unite with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass being offered all over the world.
The Father looks to the earth. The Father sees such division amongst His children. The Father’s Plan is that we are all loving each other as one happy family. Each person has been given unique talents to help in the Father’s Plan. God carries out the work of redemption through our humanity. He enlists our help. If all were living in harmony with one another, living according to the Father’s Plan, there would not be this division and hatred on the earth.
The Father sees us, His creatures and He wants us to love one another. When we consecrate our hearts to Jesus and Mary we are joined in one mind and heart as a happy family.
Jesus has called us in the Shepherds of Christ Movement as special apostles to join in deep union with Him. It is in this union His light radiates from us. As Jesus lives in us, He operates more and more in this world. Jesus is giving such graces to us as members of Shepherds of Christ. He promised this in a message to Fr. Carter, July 31, 1994:
July 31, 1994
Words of Jesus to Members of Shepherds of Christ Associates:
“My beloved priest-companion, I intend to use the priestly newsletter,
Shepherds of Christ,
and the movement,
Shepherds of Christ Associates,
in a powerful way for the renewal of My Church and the world.
“I will use the newsletter and the chapters of
Shepherds of Christ Associates
as a powerful instrument for spreading devotion to My Heart and My Mother’s Heart.
“I am calling many to become members of
Shepherds of Christ Associates.
To all of them I will give great blessings. I will use them as instruments to help bring about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. I will give great graces to the members of
Shepherds of Christ
Associates. I will call them to be deeply united to My Heart and to Mary’s Heart as I lead them ever closer to My Father in the Holy Spirit.”
- Message from Jesus to Father Edward J. Carter, S.J., Founder, as given on July 31, 1994,
feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola, Founder of the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits)
R.
Mary said
at Fatima, “until a sufficient number of people are consecrating their hearts to the Immaculate Heart and the Sacred Heart we will not have peace in the world.” As we in the Shepherds of Christ Movement consecrate our hearts daily to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart, we shine as God’s lights in the dark world. This movement is spreading like fire around the world because it is Jesus’ instrument to help in the renewal of the Church and the world.
The brightest fire cannot compare even minutely to the light that comes forth from the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We are filled with Jesus’ light when we dwell in His Heart.
Luke 12: 49-53
Jesus and his Passion
‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There is a baptism I must still receive, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!
Jesus the cause of dissension
‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on, a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three;
father opposed to son,
son to father, mother to daughter,
daughter to mother,
motherin-law to daughter-in-law,
daughter-in-law to motherin-law.’
We have been called, we have been chosen as Apostles of His Sacred Heart. Jesus is filling us with the fire of His love. We are uniting in one mind and one heart with all Shepherds of Christ Chapters in the world. We pray for grace every day. We pray for each other, every day. We pray for the priests, the Church and the world, every day.
In a message from Mary received March 18, 1996, Mary has requested that all pray the rosary daily and consecrate
their hearts to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. She says, “Please tell all the Associates of the Movement to pray the rosary and consecration prayers daily. I ask that each member pray the prayers in the handbook daily. Please circulate tapes with the handbook prayers and encourage all to pray them every day. Your world is suffering far more than you know. You must reach children with the rosary and consecration prayers. Tell children about the love of Jesus. Spread messages of His love from the first Blue Book to children in the Movement. I am Mary, your Mother. You do not know what is coming to the world.”
I have received two messages from Mary this year. I have received messages continually from Jesus and personal messages from Mary.
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© 2014 Shepherds of Christ.