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                April 27, 2016

                R. Love builds in a person. The more a person
                gives in love – the more it grows and it is
                fired by the fire of the Holy Spirit.

                    In baptism we receive a sharing in
                Divine Life. Jesus has prepared the way by
                teaching us about Divine Love in
                coming to the earth and taking flesh and
                teaching us by His life of giving, of purity,
                of truth, of the giving of Himself for our
                sins in His Passion, death and resurrection!

                    God is love and in Him is no darkness. Jesus
                came and paid for our sins.

                    Man is created in the image and likeness
                of God, but man has a tainted human nature.
                Even after baptism – man has tendencies
                toward sin.

                    Man must pray for the strength from God
                to choose the will of God, to choose the light,
                to forgive those who offend them and
                to ask to be forgiven.

                    Because of pride a man can say they should
                not have been wronged and refuse
                forgiveness of those who wronged them, they believe.
                This unforgiveness eats the man up inside.

                    Anger is passed down from generation to generation
                by those who had pain and held onto it. Anger can
                be taught to children by the way the caregiver
                handles things, but the child is to be taught to
                work in love, to settle conflicts, to obey authority,
                to seek what is right by God's designs, to love,
                to give. A child is brought into a family of
                brothers and sisters to learn to
                work with each other. Not to just survive,
                or function in unpredictable, competing ways
                in the family for power and to have anger
                and competition, fights etc.

                    The child growing in such dysfunction then
                sees as normality conflicts, tension, not being
                fair, 'may the best man win attitude'. This
                abnormality to the child is 'normality' to him
                from the dysfunctional home.

                    A person can live their whole life consumed
                with "packed anger" from existing in these
                circumstances where dysfunction was taught at
                the dictation of a caretaker who ran things
                with power and control, not in caring
                and helping others to learn to give and take,
                to solve problems, to live in happiness,
                to be fair, to love – honestly to love more and
                more likened to God.

                    Where this abnormality is believed as
                normality – later in life and coupled with
                other wounding and failure in relationships
                that goes with such a 'failure-type way' of
                seeing things – the person may try to force on
                others their ways of dysfunction because they
                refuse to change.

                    To try to make an old car that doesn't get
                fixed better by ignoring what needs to be
                repaired will soon make the old car get
                worse and worse – when it malfunctions
                it needs to be fixed.

                    Now God has in His plan that man grow
                in love – that man is in the image and
                likeness of Jesus, to ignore the plan of the
                Creator for the individual and to live
                opposed to God brings conflict and
                squeezes out life.

                    Jesus says: I am the way, the truth
                and the life.

                R. We can look at the past – from World War II
                we see the menacing mind fueling the war
                machine to destroy and wipe out a race.
                In Poland at the start of the War, 1939, it
                began with such destruction and evil
                destroying men and taking from them their
                lives, their heritage, their homes and families.

                    The anger of those behind the war – wanting to
                move ahead, take over, flush out what was
                in their way for power –

                    But Jesus says: The man was created for
                heaven, for love – you are pilgrims on a
                journey – preparing your hearts for heaven –

                R. A man who is preparing for heaven must
                follow in the footprints of Jesus. Jesus is
                the way, the truth and the life. The focus
                is not the power of winning the world at
                all costs but of winning eternal happiness
                and seeing all our actions in this light of whether
                they will help us have eternal happiness.

                    Destructive anger is a menace and it stays and is
                fueled by pride – Anger is an energy, anger leads
                a man to greater and greater anger and blinds
                him to right reason. Anger becomes its own end to
                the person wrapped in it and it is fueled
                by an unforgiving heart that justifies why
                they are permitted to act certain ways that
                are against the rules of God.

                    In war – men use guns, ways to destroy,
                but in a human heart the weapon that
                works in the man to fuel such destruction
                in any sense, punishment of others, conflicts,
                argumentation, games played, secrets,
                unloving ways that can lead to destruction,
                lack of communication – power, control, anger,
                bitterness, provoking – are the ways the man
                keeps himself in darkness and hurts himself
                and others around him.

                    The thing about darkness, Jesus says,
                is how dark is the heart. For satan is
                at work in the darkness, tempting and
                trying to get men to give in and live their
                lives for anger and hatred.

                    The way of God is love, is light,
                is living in unity with God so one grows
                more and more in the image and likeness of God.

                    Hate grows in a man when he gives into
                his anger directed at another or others.
                Hate is a force in the man at work, that is
                giving into the darkness, that turns down and
                leads to destruction.

                    We have a mind and 24 hours to think
                and to act more and more as God wants us
                to be – in love – in His image and likeness.

                    We have seen in the readings of St. Paul
                the gifts God gave him to help us all today
                by reading his writings, but we know that
                Saul was a man who persecuted and stoned
                Christians – like St. Stephen. St. Paul was converted.

                    God shows us we are accountable and
                responsible for our actions by the life of
                David who did very good things, but who
                also sinned.

                    We see the life of St. Augustine who was
                not always the way he should have been
                and how he was changed.

                    We see the story of what was done to
                Jesus. We see the bitter men in the Passion
                who whipped Jesus and crowned Him with
                thorns and put Jesus to death –

                    We see the story of the Prodigal son who
                squandered the Father's gifts and reduced
                himself to nothing and then came running
                back to the Father for forgiveness.

                    Unforgiveness, bitterness, anger,
                hatred in a heart is not like the Sacred Heart
                of Jesus.

                    A man is to have a heart of giving love
                as Jesus showed us He loved. Jesus was
                consumed with love when He carried the
                cross with our sins. Jesus gave and
                gave and gave.

                    Jesus taught us about the Father's will –
                when we meditate on the Sorrowful Mysteries
                of the rosary we see the sufferings of
                Jesus because of His love for us.

                Love is giving.
                Love is doing the Father's will –
                Love is keeping our eyes on eternal happiness
                    as the goal of our actions –

                Love is bending the stubborn heart and will –
                Love is forgiving and asking to be forgiven –
                Love is communication and being open
                    and working toward solutions –

                From the Pentecost Sequence

                    Bend the stubborn heart and will,
                    melt the frozen warm the chill,
                    guide the steps that go astray –

Luke 24:50-53

Then he took them out as far as the outskirts of Bethany, and raising his hands he blessed them. Now as he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up to heaven. They worshipped him and then went back to Jerusalem full of joy; and they were continually in the Temple praising God.

 

                April 26, 2016

                Readings for Today

Acts 15: 1-6

Then some men came down from Judaea and taught the brothers, 'Unless you have yourselves circumcised in the tradition of Moses you cannot be saved.' This led to disagreement, and after Paul and Barnabas had had a long argument with these men it was decided that Paul and Barnabas and others of the church should go up to Jerusalem and discuss the question with the apostles and elders.

    The members of the church saw them off, and as they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria they told how the gentiles had been converted, and this news was received with the greatest satisfaction by all the brothers. When they arrived in Jerusalem they were welcomed by the church and by the apostles and elders, and gave an account of all that God had done through them.

But certain members of the Pharisees' party who had become believers objected, insisting that gentiles should be circumcised and instructed to keep the Law of Moses. The apostles and elders met to look into the matter, and after a long discussion, Peter stood up and addressed them.

 

Psalm 122: 1-5

I rejoiced that they said to me, 
    ‘Let us go to the house of Yahweh.’ 
At last our feet are standing 
    at your gates, Jerusalem! 

Jerusalem, built as a city, 
    in one united whole, 
there the tribes go up, 
    the tribes of Yahweh, 
a sign for Israel to give thanks 
    to the name of Yahweh. 
For there are set the thrones of judgement, 
    the thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, 
    prosperity for your homes! 
Peace within your walls, 
    prosperity in your palaces! 

For love of my brothers and my friends 
    I will say, ‘Peace upon you!’ 
For love of the house of Yahweh our God 
    I will pray for your well–being.

 

John 15: 1-8

I am the true vine,
and my Father is the vinedresser.
Every branch in me that bears no fruit
he cuts away,
and every branch that does bear fruit
     he prunes
to make it bear even more.
You are clean already,
by means of the word
     that I have spoken to you.
Remain in me, as I in you.
As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself,
unless it remains part of the vine,
neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine,
you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me, with me in him,
bears fruit in plenty;
for cut off from me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me
is thrown away like a branch
—and withers;
these branches are collected
     and thrown on the fire
and are burnt.
If you remain in me
and my words remain in you,
you may ask for whatever you please
and you will get it.
It is to the glory of my Father
      that you should bear much fruit
and be my disciples.

 

                R. We must be Easter People –

                That means we live the life, death and
                    resurrection of Jesus in our lives –

                We live this every day of the year –
                    not just the Easter season –

                We are people of the light –

                We are one in Jesus, we love God first
                    and love others as ourselves –

                There are problems around us, but
                    we keep our focus on Jesus and
                    His work for us –

                The focus is Jesus –

                If we look at the world we see much
                    beauty and light but there is much
                    disobedience and selfishness in
                    the world –

                We are Alleluia people –

                    The Victory has been won in Jesus –
                    We anticipate the great feast of Pentecost.

                The Alleluia is in our heart – every day –
                    giving and walking in the footsteps
                    of Jesus, living in the Father's will in love –

                Working as members of the mystical body
                    of Christ united to Christ the head
                    and helping to bring unity and love
                    and truth to the world.

                We are Easter people –

                We are the People of God.

                God is love and in Him there is no
                    darkness –

                We are joyful –

                Jesus died and He rose from the
                    dead –

                Death has no power over Jesus –

                The man who loves God endures the
                    difficult and indentifies his
                    suffering with Christ to help
                    bring the Law of Love – the
                    message of Christ to a troubled
                    world.

                A Christian is a witness before others –
                    A witness of Christ who lives within.
                    There is joy and love and unity
                        among those who know Jesus.

                The early Church spread rapidly, but the
                    disciples suffered great persecution.

                We know Jesus came and He died and
                    He rose from the dead, but He
                    said He would go and send the
                    Holy Spirit –

                Today in the Gospel – we hear some
                    of the Farewell Discourse
                    of the Last Supper –

                Easter brings to us the shouts of Victory –
                    What a beautiful time of the year –

                We praise God –
                We love God –
                We adore God –

                We are Easter People –

                Death has no power over Jesus –

                We spread the Good News of salvation
                    to the earth –

Revelation 19: 5; 12: 10

Then a voice came from the throne; it said, 'Praise our God, you servants of his and those who fear him, small and great alike.' And I heard what seemed to be the voices of a huge crowd, like the sound of the ocean or the great roar of thunder, answering, 'Alleluia!

Then I heard a voice shout from heaven, ‘Salvation and power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ, now that the accuser, who accused our brothers day and night before our God, has been brought down.

                R. Paul was persecuted –

                Read today's first reading, but
                    his faith was strong – God used
                    him and he was an instrument
                    of the Good News –

                With the accomplishments of Paul – came
                    horrific suffering –
                    he never abandoned his mission –

                God has given us a sharing in His life
                    in baptism –

                We are so blessed
                    Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist:
                        Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity

                Jesus has risen –

                When we suffer we can rely on our faith,
                    we know Jesus is there in all the
                    suffering and persecution –

                We never put our hopes in the
                    dilemmas of this world –

                Our eyes are on Jesus –

                Many suffered greatly bringing
                    us the Good News –
                    Many were martyred –
                    Many were so set in this calling –

                We must pray for fortitude to do the
                    difficult and to serve God even
                    in suffering like Paul and Barnabas.

                We have so many uncertainties in life –
                    The Holy Spirit knows and can guide us –
                        We must count on the Holy Spirit –

                We have grown in our lives –
                    We are in a process from babies
                        to older children, to college
                        people, married, family man
                        and woman, grandma and grandpa –

                Religious are to be growing in their
                    marriage to Jesus –
                    spreading the Good News –
                    helping the children of the Church.

                We can endure illness and poverty,
                    people can divide around us
                    and separate –
                    We keep united with the faithful
                    and spread the Good News of Jesus –
                    We are Easter people –

                We grow old – we know we aren't
                    like we used to be – We are on a
                    journey to eternal happiness –
                    Be prepared –

                R. It's about love –

                To tell the world how Jesus loves us with
                    a burning heart of love –

                We are to be converted –

                We are to tell ourselves the truth about
                    our faults –

                We are to work with and love each other –

                When life is dark – we have distanced
                    ourselves from Christ who is
                    the resurrection and the life –

                Happiness is in the heart –

                There must be truth in one's heart –

                Denying one's faults is in conflict with
                    God –

                Joy is in God –
   

November 4, 2013

                R. Jesus suffered the cross for our sins –
 

John 15: 12-17

This is my commandment:
love one another,
as I have loved you.
No one can have greater love
than to lay down his life for his friends.
You are my friends,
if you do what I command you.
I shall no longer call you servants,
because a servant does not know
the master’s business;
I call you friends,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
You did not choose me,
no, I chose you;
and I commissioned you
to go out and to bear fruit,
fruit that will last;
so that the Father will give you
anything you ask him in my name.
My command to you
is to love one another.

                R. We are not afraid to die when we go
                    because we see Jesus and He died
                    and He rose from the dead –

                He gave in love –

                He shows us love is giving –

                We see the beauty of the Plan of
                    God the Father –

                We see through eyes that bring us
                    joy – because this is reality –
                    God loves us so much –
                    God loves me! Jesus died for me.

                Spread the Good News of our salvation –

                We know we will die, but death
                    will have no power over us –

John 15:18-21

If the world hates you,
you must realise that it hated me
    before it hated you.
If you belonged to the world,
the world will love you as its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
because my choice of you
    has drawn you out of the world,
that is why the world hates you.
Remember the words I said to you:
A servant is not greater than his master.
If they persecuted me,
they will persecute you too;
if they kept my word,
they will keep yours as well.
But it will be on my account
    that they will do all this to you,
because they do not know
    the one who sent me.

                R. This is the Good News –

                Jesus died and He has risen –

                The victory has been won –
 

Romans 6: 9

We know that Christ has been raised from the dead and will never die again. Death has no power over him any more.

                Jesus: I call you to unity – it is My Plan for the world
                    that the Shepherds of Christ help to bring unity to the
                    world by spreading devotion to My Sacred Heart
                    and to Mary's Immaculate Heart.

                    I call you to love – to working in love with each
                other, bearing with one another's burdens, being
                obedient to My authority and helping each other
                in your vocation in the building of My Kingdom.

                    I am a God of justice. I want you to obey Me.

                Song: I Am a God of Justice
 

                R. Shepherds of Christ Ministries

                There are 7 levels of Commitment.

7 levels of commitment of the Shepherds of Christ

1. There are Associates who gather and pray at least once monthly as a group and also help with donations to support the Shepherds of Christ priestly newsletter. They can be tremendously involved. They give as they feel they are able.

2. Apostles are members who have restricted their apostolic activity to the Shepherds of Christ. They literally act as a body of lay people who have given their lives in their present living situation to do all that they can to bring about the Reign of the Sacred Heart and triumph of Mary's Immaculate Heart.

3. Prayer Apostles are often shut-ins, some are able to go to church and pray. They spend much of their lives praying for the Movement.

4. Apostles of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus are those who spend at least two separate hours weekly before the Blessed Sacrament praying for the following:

   1. For the spread of the devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary culminating in the reign of the Sacred Heart and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart.

   2. For the Pope.

   3. For all bishops of the world.

   4. For all priests.

   5. For all sisters and brothers in the religious life.

   6. For all members of the Shepherds of Christ Movement, and for the spread of this Movement to the world.

   7. For all members of the Catholic Church.

   8. For all members of the human family.

   9. For all souls in purgatory.

   In that hour before the Eucharist they spend part of the time praying the Shepherds of Christ prayers and the rosary. The time can be spent with spouse or others, but most spend the time alone before the Eucharist.

5. Handmaids of the Good Shepherd are young and older women who have given their lives in community primarily to pray for the Shepherds of Christ Movement and intentions and to be special spouses of Jesus. Some have more duties than others. All have the primary duty of prayer and the desire to be a special spouse of Our Lord. One of the functions of the handmaids is their involvement in praying for and helping to circulate the priestly newsletter. The handmaids are not members of a religious order.

6. Servants of the Good Shepherd are men who live in community with a lifestyle and purpose similar to that of the handmaids. The servants are not members of a religious order.

7. We wish to form a special congregation of priests who will realize their great oneness with Christ. They will be consecrated deeply to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary and support the Shepherds of Christ Movement as holy priests.

 

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