Mary has requested that the daily message be given each day to the world. It is read nightly at the prayer service from her Image Building in Clearwater, Florida, U.S.A. This is according to her request. All attempts will be made to publish this daily message to the world at 11 p.m. Eastern time, U.S.A. We acknowledge that the final authority regarding these messages rests with the Holy See of Rome.

 May 1, 2006

 

 

 

Blue Book 6

  

January 7, 1995 

I Love His Presence

R.  Such an immense awareness of His presence as if he walked with me from the hospital after visiting her. He is in my chest and it is burning.

    I love Him so much, to love Him is to love every living creature. To see with His eyes those He gave His life for.

Song:  Now We Remain

    Jesus, Jesus, words do not say what my heart feels, I am filled so immensely with such an awareness of His presence, my heart is burning, I am in awe of His presence with me, to tears I cry tears of joy to behold, the one true God.

    Oh God, who are we that You are so good. I love You so much.

    I am overwhelmed by His presence, to awe and tears. My God, my heart is bursting with love for Thee.

    Oh Burning Heart, oh Love Divine, how dear You are to me, I see the host, I know You're here to love and care for me.

    He is Here now. He is present to me now He is in my heart. I am overwhelmed and in awe, in ecstasy.

    Such vibrant ecstasy and burning in my heart. I scarce can breathe, my heart burns with love for Thee.

    I long for the courts of the Lord, to be ever joined in such union with GOD: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

 

January 18, 1995

Jesus:  My child,

    Make your hearts pure. My Mother is a heart that is so pure. Model yourself after her My dear child. You do not know of the sufferings that will befall this earth.

    Ready your hearts for My time is at hand. My child, let go into My arms, let go of anger, hatred, pride, past sins, purify your hearts, go to confession. Your heart should be free for union with Me.

    As I live and dwell in your heart, I will be closer to a pure heart. Your hearts must be free of anger from years past. Any anger toward any man blocks your union with Me.

    Be of a clean heart, wash away all the debris in your heart.

    As you breathe and live, live only as the Father wills you to live. Come to Me and be in union with Me, pray constantly to the Spirit to open your hearts and your minds to the wisdom of God. Oh child, I hate to tell you of the sufferings to befall this earth. You sleep to avoid My notes. Child, child, the time is near. Pray, pray, pray. Pray for the priests, pray to be heard. Your brothers have plugged up their ears and want only their ways. Nothing will shake the blind ones. I am the Almighty God, My power I will use to shake some senseless ones. Oh child, pray and be forewarned. It is your prayers that will help your brothers turn from their ways.

    I am Jesus.

    Pray, pray, pray, the time is near and you will know the might of God.

    I love you. Jesus

 

February 6, 1995 - After Fr. Carter's Mass

His Arms Were Spread for Me

R.  Saw Jesus hanging from the cross after Fr. Carter's Mass in chapel praying before tabernacle.

    Saw His head down --
    Arms outspread
    Head was level with His arms.

    Same face as when I saw it covered with blood.

    Same face as when I saw His mouth open, blood coming from His mouth.

        Arms were level with His head.

    Mary had before her always the prophecy of Simeon.

    See Jesus in their eyes.
    See child Jesus in every one.

    Saw Mary hold little baby -- such love

    Saw Jesus hang on the cross -- such love.

    Jesus I see Mary as she holds You so tenderly and Simeon prophesies Your sufferings.

    I see You as you hang on the cross.

    Through His life, death and resurrection, Jesus has come to give us life, and to give us this life in abundance.

    You died for us so we could be saved. Your attackers were so happy to lock Your lifeless body in the tomb.

    Death has no power over Jesus for He truly rose triumphant on the third day.

    Lord let me walk that last mile in your shoes under the weight of the wood and Lord, let me grow in the spiritual life. I want to go to heaven some day. I want to be with You forever in heaven.

 

February 9, 1995

Spend Time with Your Children

Jesus:  My dear child,

    Slow up. You must spend time with your children. I will get My work done.

    I come to you with greatest love. I can in one second do so much. I am Jesus your Savior.

    The rosary meditations are the mysteries of My life and My Mother's life. I give to you these messages throughout the rosary. Our lives should live in your daily lives. My messages are to help these mysteries live in your daily lives. I came to show you the way. I come that you might have life in Me, meditate on My life in the rosary and live the mysteries in your daily life.

 

February 9, 1995

Let the Spirit Move In You

Jesus:  I want every person to pray to the Holy Spirit every day. The Holy Spirit transforms you more and more into the image of Jesus. The Love of the Holy Spirit is fire, this love is vibrancy, this love activates in your being. Let the Spirit move within you, let the fire of His love radiate from your being. The love of God is a power too mighty to be contained, it radiates to those around you.

R.  In order to have intimacy with Jesus you must pray to the Spirit. The Spirit leads you more and more in union with Jesus as He transforms you into His image. God is love, to unite with love you must be filled with love. To know God is to love. The Spirit is this force, the love of God, radiating in your being. He is power, vibrancy, fire, He wants to move in you. Feel the Spirit in you. Pray this prayer everyday at Jesus' request.

Galatians 2: 19-20

I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me. The life that I am now living, subject to the limitation of human nature, I am living in faith, faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

R.  Holy Spirit fill me and permeate my soul. Life in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Almighty God. Let the Spirit fill you and help you in all your actions.

    Pray for the gifts of the Spirit. Thank God for baptism. The gifts of the Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, fear of the Lord.

    Sing often through the day: Come Holy Spirit fill our hearts enkindle in us the fire of God's love.

    When you are steadfast in the love of the Trinity nothing can harm you. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit dwell within you when you are baptized and in the state of grace.

             

February 21, 1995 - For Shepherds of Christ Meeting - Before the tabernacle

His Pierced Heart

   

R.  From the pierced Heart of Christ the Church was born, the Church you called me to be a member of Shepherds of Christ. Jesus is the bread of life. He remains with us this day, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.

Song:  I see the host - I know you're here to love and care for me.
Oh burning Heart, oh love divine, How dear you are to me. I see the host I know you're here to love and care for me.

Jesus:  My beloved ones in the Shepherds of Christ,

    See beyond what is visible, see Me in the Eucharist. You come to pray here, I am with you. I am truly present in the Eucharist. I am truly with you, this evening.

    Oh My dear ones, do you know how truly precious you are to Me. You are My chosen ones to go into the world and spread My love. Oh, I call you here, I love you so, be busy for our love affair is so important.

    You will spread My love throughout this world. Surrender your wills to the Father's will. He has a plan for you. You are My special soldiers I send out into the darkened world. Do not let satan talk in your heads, come to Me, be with Me. Who will I send, if you say no. I am calling you, I am asking you for greater and greater union with Me.

    Pray the Prayer for Union with Jesus.

Sing the Song:
    You are the Voice
    Here I Am Lord

    You have been called by My Mother to come to this Center, she is calling YOU -- I am calling YOU -- You are My special apostles to spread the Love of My Sacred Heart throughout this world. I love you with a Burning Heart on FIRE for love of you. I loved you to My Death.

JESUS SONG - AMEN ALLELUIA

    Suffering, how I suffered to My arms and My shoulders.

    You suffer so little, you do not think of the pain I experienced. They flung the cross on My shoulder. A little pain to your shoulder. Do you want to relieve your pains. My shoulder ached, I could not remove the cross. It was so heavy and it continued to press and weigh more and more. My child, My child, every pain you experience remember My sufferings. It is in your little pains that you can realize My immense sufferings and in these sufferings you will realize My immense love.

    I love you, each one of you, so much, please listen to Me. You do not realize how I talk to you, how I truly, truly love you. Every word in My letters are My love letters to you. Please My beloved ones listen to Me. Put yourself in My world. You hold on so tight to what you see. See beyond what is visible. Experience all I am teaching you. I can teach you a lesson so profound in the batting of an eye. I am pouring out My abundant grace to you in the Shepherds of Christ. Grow ever closer to Me. Pray for the priests and the Church. Circulate My love letters to the priests and sisters. Tell them of My immense love. Give the priests and sisters Blue Book II. Oh how I love. One priest fixed on My Eucharistic Heart can spread My love throughout the world. Pray for your priests, give them these letters and tell them, how Jesus is talking to them because He loves them so much.

    I hung on the cross. My hands were hanging from nails, but the pain to My shoulders and arms. Do you know how they ached as I  hung for three solid hours, so weakened, so wounded, bleeding, My head pounded, pounded, blood hard and caked on. Oh you do not know even a little of My love.

Song:  I know Your love a little now, how dear You are to me. Come give me life abundant life I thirst to be with Thee.

Jesus:  And from My pierced Heart flowed blood and water. You will have life in abundance when you take shelter in My Eucharistic Heart. I pour My life out to you in the Eucharist. Come to My Heart and dwell there, forever in such love.

 

February 22, 1995 - Before Stations

Mighty Medicine

  

 

 

R.  Filled up with the immense presence and He said in a loud and direct voice. Very strong. How can I tarry when Jesus says this to me.

Jesus:  From the tabernacle I cried out, I filled you with this immense realization of My presence. You must circulate these letters for the sake of souls. I have given you a great mission to spread My love to this world. These are My letters, I beg you, beg you to do as I ask. Pray to the Spirit for fearlessness to do what I ask you to do. I am God and I am speaking to you. I do not want you to hold back to please people, I want you to speak out. I am God and I am giving you My letters for My hurting souls.

    Rita look at this world, do you see, or do you want to be popular. You have what you need to do what I am asking you, I am giving you abundant graces to tell all about these letters of My love.

    No one will listen if you hold back I beg you, I beg you, I beg you.

    I called out to you and you listened to My pleading. My child, you are key to spreading My love in this world. DO NOT Hold back. Read this letter to Fr. Carter. I beg you to not let Me down. Do not forsake Me, I am calling you to be about My work. These letters are a big part of the Father's Plan. Time is so short. I beg you to listen to Me. I beg you. Souls are at stake. Please Rita do not worry what others think, I call you as My apostle to spread My love to this world. Will you answer?

R.  Then He gave me the stations and I cried so hard!!

       

February 22, 1995

Stations of the Cross

  

1. Jesus Is Condemned to Death

Jesus speaks: My dear child, with angry hearts and hatred on their faces, they poked at Me and condemned Me to death. I stood so silent, My hands tied, in perfect peace, because I knew the Father's love. I knew the Father's Will. You too will stand your trials in perfect peace, the more you realize the immense love the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have for you. Pray to the Spirit to transform you more and more into My image and, through this transformation, you will be led ever closer to the Father. Oh, how I love you!

     

  

2. They Give Jesus the Cross

Jesus speaks: They gave Me a heavy cross, laden with the sins of the world. They placed it on My shoulder. It was so heavy I felt as if My shoulder would break. I ask you to carry little crosses, to experience little pains. I could not remove this cross from My shoulder. The weight was unbearable. It is through My suffering and death that you receive new life. It is through your sufferings this day that you will grow in your life with Me. Oh, child, I loved you so much that I took up the cross of salvation. I love you. Please realize that I am talking to you here. To My death I loved you. Oh, how I love you!

     

  

3. Jesus Falls the First Time

Jesus speaks: The cross was so heavy I could hardly walk. I held on to My cross for greatest love of you and in compliance with the Will of My Father. It became so hard to walk! The cross was so heavy! I fell. I fell and the cross fell on Me. They poked at Me, they struck Me, they demanded I get up. The pain from the instruments they used to poke Me and strike Me was so great! I somehow managed to get up.

When you fall under the weight of your cross, come to My Eucharistic Heart. I am no less present in the tabernacle and in the Eucharist than on the day I carried My cross. I wait with the same love that I had for you when I carried this cross and suffered such agony. Oh, how I love you!

  

  

4. Jesus and Mary Meet

Jesus speaks: I saw the face of My beautiful Mother. She was weak, her face reddened and full of tears. I saw her tender heart, her love, her anguish, her pain. I saw My dear Mother Mary. My Heart was comforted by the sight of her, but torn by her suffering.

Mary speaks: As I looked into the eyes of my beloved Son, I saw His love. His head, bleeding and wounded. His body weak. His clothes covered with blood. I looked into His eyes and I saw His love for you. I call out to you today. I appear today with a face full of anguish and tears. I appear to call you back to the love of my Son. See through my eyes, as I peer into His eyes, the love He has for you this day to give of Himself for you. Oh, He loves you so much, my little children. See through my eyes the love of my Son. Oh, how He loves you!

    

  

5. Simon of Cyrene Is Forced to Help Jesus Carry His Cross

Jesus speaks: The cross was so heavy I could not move. My persecutors became angry and forced a man to help Me. The cross was so heavy the two of us could barely move it. How is your cross today? Does it seem so heavy you cannot go on? I am forever watching you. When you are suffering the greatest, I am very close to you. It is in immense suffering that you realize My great love for you. Pray for grace to do always the Father's Will. Pray for grace to grow in your knowledge and love of Me.

  

  

6. Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

Jesus speaks: My face was covered with blood. From the crowd Veronica came forward with a cloth to wipe My face. On the cloth I gave to you an imprint of My bloodied face. This, My children, remains with you this day as a sign of My immense love for you. But more than any cloth, look beyond the visible consecrated host. I, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, remain with you, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the Eucharist this day, waiting and longing to be with you. Oh, how I love you!

  

  

7. Jesus Falls the Second Time

Jesus speaks: Oh, dear ones, the road became harder and harder to walk. The cross was becoming heavier, My body weaker and weaker. My shoulders and arms hurt so much! My head throbbed as I walked. The blood came from My body, from My head to My feet. I was covered with open wounds. I could not go any farther. I stumbled and fell. Again they poked at Me, only harder, and with such hatred they kicked Me. Such vileness in the hearts of men! My greatest agony was not the agonies of My body, but the agonies of My heart for the love I have for all My precious souls. I loved them so dearly. I loved those who persecuted Me. Oh, how I love you!

  

  

8. Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem

Jesus speaks: The women came to Me with their children, their tender hearts crying and wanting to comfort Me. I saw their love, their care. I saw the coldness of men's hearts for all time, the hatred, the anger, the sins, all the souls that, despite all of My sufferings and death, would be condemned to eternal damnation. I told the women to weep not for Me, but for themselves and their children. My greatest agonies were the agonies of My Most Sacred Heart. Oh, how I love you!

  

  

9. Jesus Falls the Third Time

Jesus speaks: I fell hard the third time. I was so weakened I could not go on. My body collapsed under the cross from such exhaustion! My child, My child, My greatest agonies were not the wounds to the body. They were the wounds I experienced to My heart. Do you know a little more now how I love you? It is in meditating on My Passion and death that you will realize My immense love for you. When you fall, when you struggle, I give you the grace to get up. I never give you more than you can handle. Your strength will come from Me. Come to My Eucharistic Heart. I am waiting for you this day. Oh, how I love you!

  

  

10. Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments

Jesus speaks: They took Me to the hill to crucify Me. They angrily stripped Me of My garments. They took off My clothes to whip Me. They had covered My bloody wounds with a dirty purple robe. Now, total surrender-they took off My clothes. I showed you the way to surrender, always complying with the Will of the Father. It is in living in His Will that you will have peace and joy, and life eternal some day. Oh, how I love you!

    

  

11. They Nail Him to the Cross

Messenger: See Mary as she holds the little Baby Jesus. See her as she washes His tender hands and feet. See her now as she watches as they pound into those same hands and feet the gigantic nails that fix Jesus to the cross.

Mary speaks: Oh, my dear ones, my heart was torn in my chest as they nailed His hands and feet to the cross. I ask you this day to walk the Passion with me and see through my eyes the love He has for you. He truly was nailed to the cross.

Jesus speaks: They pounded the nails into My first hand, then they stretched My body and nailed My other hand. The blood poured from these wounds that went totally through My hands. My pain was so immense, but then they nailed My feet! You do not know what pain I suffered, My child. My children, My children, for each one of you I suffered this pain. Oh, how I loved you!

  

  

12. Jesus Dies on the Cross

(Silence.)

Messenger: He hung for three agonizing hours on the cross against the darkened sky. His greatest agonies were not the agonies of His body, but those of His Heart for the great love He has for each and every soul.

Jesus speaks: I gave Myself to you, My dear ones. I gave My all. I hung with My arms spread in total surrender. My head was punctured; My hands and feet were nailed to the cross. I gave Myself to you. I give Myself to you this day in the Eucharist. I give Myself to you. I, God, give you Myself! What more do you want?

Song: Oh, burning Heart, oh, Love divine, etc.

Messenger: They pierced His Heart with a lance and what flowed forth was blood and water, the sacramental life of the Church, water for Baptism and blood for the Eucharist. His life, death and resurrection live on in the Church this day.

  

  

13. Jesus Is Taken Down from the Cross and
Placed in the Arms of His Mother

Messenger: His totally lifeless body was placed in the arms of His most loving Mother. As she had held the little baby body in her arms, she now received His bloodied, bruised body in her arms. This is how He obeyed the Father's Will. Jesus gave His life for us. The Father gave His only Son because He loves us so much. Mary, His Mother, our Mother and the Mother of the Church, is forever by His side. See Jesus in the arms of His loving Mother under the cross. This is love.

Mary speaks: I held His lifeless body in my arms. See through my eyes the love He has for you this day. He gives Himself to you today in the Eucharist. He loves you so much!

    

  

14. Jesus Is Locked in the Tomb

Messenger: His enemies rolled the stone up to the tomb and were pleased to have buried Jesus. Mary, outside the tomb, wept bitterly. The cold reality that He was dead! But death has no power over Jesus for on the third day He rose, triumphant, from the tomb! We are partakers in His divine life. Death has no power over Jesus. He is with us this day. He comes to bring us life to the full. He loves us so much!

  

           

February 23, 1995

        R.  Mary is the Mother of the Church.

        Pentecost

        Mary in the Midst of the Apostles --
            the beginning of the Church --

        Mary is so important to the Church.

        Mary was pregnant -- she cried out to be delivered.

        Mary is bringing forth children, in the Church.

 John 19: 25-27

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son.’ Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

 

 

        R.  Mary is the Mother of the Church.
        Eve is the Mother of the living.

        Christ loves His body the Church.

        Jesus is the bridegroom.   

        The Church is His bride.

        He loves her.

 

        The New Adam.

        The New Eve.

 

        Dear Sacred Heart of Jesus from your pierced Heart the Church was born.

        Mary is our spiritual Mother.

 

John 19: 26-27

Seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, 'Woman, this is your son.' Then to the disciple he said, 'This is your mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

 

        John represented all of us.

        In giving Mary to him as spiritual mother, Jesus was also giving Mary to all of us as our spiritual Mother.

 
 

 John 19: 25-27

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son.’ Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

R.  The fact that Mary is our Mother, the fact she has such a powerful role to play in our salvation in no way detracts from the mediatorship of Christ.

Fr. Carter says:

    

Excerpt from Mother at Our Side by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J. pp. 4-8

In saying that Mary is our spiritual mother, we are saying that Mary is the mother of our Christ-life. What is this life? Can we define it?

   At Baptism the Persons of the Trinity communicate so intimately to us that, as a result, they leave their imprint or image upon us. This Trinitarian image is our life of sanctifying grace. This life of grace is a created participation in God's life, and since this gift of grace is mediated by Christ in His humanity, this Trinitarian image also has a Christic aspect. Christ as man has shown us how to live a God-like existence. He has shown us how to live the life of grace. This life of grace we possess allows us to enjoy the special presence of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Truly, the divine Persons dwell within us.

   Whether we refer to this life as the Christ-life, the life of grace, life in the Holy Spirit, or by other names, we are referring to one and the same reality. This reality, again, is the Christic, Trinitarian image given us through the Trinitarian communication. 

   St. Paul speaks of our life of grace in terms of our being baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus (Rom. 6:1-11). Again, Jesus mediates our life of grace. He has shown us how to live a Christ-like existence. Since Jesus' paschal mystery of death-resurrection sums up His own human existence, so it sums up our own. This is what St. Paul is telling us. Paul tells us that we live our life of Baptism, our life of grace, by continually dying and rising with Jesus—rising to a greater share in Christ's resurrection. Indeed, we live resurrection now and hereafter. Living death-resurrection involves all of our Christian activities. While not giving an all-inclusive list, we do include the following: the reading of Scripture, prayer, the performance of daily duties, the doing of penance, making sacrifices, our jobs, periods of rest and relaxation, sharing meals with loved ones, reception of the sacraments, and, especially, participation in the Eucharist which is both sacrifice and sacrament.

   This is our glorious existence made possible by God's great love for us and a major truth of this glorious existence is the fact that Jesus has given us Mary as our spiritual mother. Mary is the Mother of our Christ-life. In her loving, maternal role, she cooperates with the Holy Spirit in forming Christ in us. ...

   Mary our mother is ever with us, guiding us, teaching us, caring for us, protecting us, loving us. With her maternal assistance we go to the Father through and with Christ in the Holy Spirit.

   Mary nourishes our growth in Christ with a very tender and specialized love for each of us. She regards each of us as a precious, unique individual. ...

   This is the awesome and consoling truth—you and I are very precious to Mary. She loves us much more than we can ever fathom. It is our great privilege and responsibility to love her in return. She asks for this love, she asks for our trust. As we give our love and trust to our mother, she wants us to come to her at all times and in all circumstances.

   Are we sorrowful, anxious, troubled? Let us go to Mary our mother and ask her to console us. Let us ask her for the grace to handle our sorrow, our anxieties, our troubles properly—according to God's will. In this way our suffering will bring us closer to Christ as it simultaneously allows us to contribute to the ongoing Christianization of the world.

   Are we joyful, happy, basking in the glow of a goal successfully accomplished? Let us go to Mary and ask her to help us handle our joy, our happiness, our success as God intends. Let us petition her not to allow our joy to make us forgetful of God, our God Who is the source of all true joy, success, and happiness.

   Are we finding it particularly difficult to follow Christ in the here-and-now? In child-like trust we can approach our mother. Let us ask her for the grace to realize that the following of Christ is not always easy—that at times being a follower of Christ challenges our courage in a special way. We can also ask Mary to help us realize that even at such difficult times, Christ's grace makes our burden relatively light. Jesus has told us: 

   Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
   Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light. (Mt.11:28-30). 

   Are we finding it is particularly easy to follow Christ in the here-and-now? Let us go to Mary and ask her for the grace to remain humble. Let us beseech Mary to keep us from being inflated with pride, and ask her to help us realize that without Jesus we can do nothing. 

   Mary, then, asks for our complete trust. She wants us always to seek shelter under her maternal mantle. She invites us to come to her in all circumstances—whether it be in joy or sorrow, success or failure, laughter or tears. Mary wants us to share in her maternal wisdom so that we may understand how to use our various experiences to come closer to God in Christ. Sharing our lives with Mary in this fashion, and on a consistent basis, requires that we love her, that we trust her, that we surrender ourselves to her maternal love.

   Help us, Mother Mary, to probe ever more deeply into the depths of your love for us. Help us to realize more and more that to be loved by you is to experience a sweetness, a warmth, a tenderness, a serenity, a security, which makes us cry out, "O Mother, how good and loving you are!"

  

Excerpt from Mother at Our Side by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J. pp. 68-71

    Being Mother of Christ, Mary is also spiritual Mother of His members whom Christ has formed into His body, the Church. She is also model of the Church as all good mothers are models for their children. Mary, the best of mothers, is the perfect exemplar, the perfect model, of what it means to be a follower of Christ. She guides the entire Church in greater assimilation to Christ.

    If we claim to love Mary, we must also love what she loves. Being Mother of the Church, Mary obviously loves her Church very deeply. As children of Mary, as followers of Christ, we also must deeply love the Church. Sad to say, there are many in today's Church who do not love her as they should. ...

    In loving the Church which is so dear to Christ and to Mary, let us work to further the good which presently exists in the Church, and labor to correct that which should not be. Indeed, there is much good in today's Church. In many members of the Church, there is a deep hunger for a more profound spirituality. There are lay people living exemplary lives, both the married and the single, as they strive to be a light in the market place. There are religious, priests, and bishops who are working with the Holy Father to make the Church more what she should be, in this, one of her most critical hours. 

    Sorry to say, however, all is not well in the Church. There are deep divisions. Some of the divisions are caused by false teachings. Such teaching has given rise to apostasy and schism.

    Mary, however, has launched a counter attack, laboring for the renewal of the Church in many ways. 

    It is up to each of us to do our share in building up the Church, this Church which is the mystical body of Christ. Through our Eucharistic participation, through our prayer and penance—through all our activity done in union with Christ and Mary—let us all strive to bring the Church closer to its model, Mary. Let us work so that the Church more and more reflects Christ as it comes closer to the one who so eminently reflects Christ, Mary herself. In her Immaculate Conception, her fullness of grace, her sinlessness, her bodily assumption into Heaven, Mary indeed is the perfectly and fully redeemed one. She is the one who has been perfectly assimilated to Christ. She is the model the Church more and more strives to imitate. The rest of the Church will never mirror forth Christ as brilliantly as does Mary. We can, however, approach more closely to this ideal who is Mary. 

    Mary loves her Church with a love whose depths we cannot fully fathom, so we should ask her to help us obtain the grace to increase our own love for the Church. Let us ask her, this dearest and most loving mother, to keep us close at her side as she labors for the renewal of the Church. She invites us to assist her.

 

Excerpt from Mother at Our Side by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J. pp. 72-75

The liturgy is the public worship of the Church. Our Christian existence is rooted in the liturgical action of the Church. Two very important dimensions of the Church's liturgy are the sacraments, and—most importantly—the Mass.

Christ offers himself through the Church and her sacraments so that we might become ever more united with Him. This incorporation into Christ begins at baptism, through which we become a member of Christ and His Church. It means being assimilated to His paschal mystery of death-resurrection, since this was the summary event of Christ's existence. Death-resurrection was the central mystery by which Christ gave us life, and it is the central mystery which each Christian must relive in Christ.

Each one of the sacraments deepens our incorporation into Jesus' death-resurrection. Each one achieves this in a somewhat different manner according to its primary purpose. Finally, and very importantly, each of the sacraments deepens this incorporation within an ecclesial framework. The sacraments, because they are realities of both Christ and His Church, intensify our relationship not only with Jesus, but also with the members of the Church, and with all others also.

Our contact with the death-resurrection of Jesus is most especially renewed and deepened through our participation in the Eucharistic sacrifice—the Mass. It shows the intimate connection between the sacraments and the Mass, as both intensify our assimilation to Jesus in His paschal mystery of death-resurrection.

The Eucharistic sacrifice makes present the Christ-event or mystery of Christ as centered in Jesus' death-resurrection. He, Who was the priest and victim upon Calvary, is also the priest and victim in the Eucharistic sacrifice. Christ becomes really present through the words of consecration. Hence, in an unbloody manner, He makes present the one sacrifice of Calvary. Obviously, we were not active participants in Christ's sacrifice on Calvary. However, in the Mass, Christ invites us to offer along with Him. The Eucharist is Christ's sacrifice, but, by God's gracious design, it is also the Church's sacrifice.

In the Mass we offer ourselves along with Christ Who is chief priest and victim. As Christ's offering of Himself is present in the Eucharistic sacrifice, so likewise is our offering of ourselves. Furthermore, just as Christ's offering on Calvary included everything in His life, so also the offering we make of ourselves at the Eucharist should include all those actions we perform according to God's will in Christ—bearing properly with pain, frustration, failure, misunderstanding, boredom, anguish of spirit—this is what we offer at the altar. Loving another, and being loved by that other, enjoying success, feeling satisfaction in a task well done, enjoying meals shared with loved ones, drinking in the morning freshness, feeling the cool spring breeze, relishing the magnificent colors of autumn leaves—all this we also offer with Jesus. The Eucharistic offering gathers up what would otherwise be fragmented pieces of our lives and gives them a marvelous unity, a Christic unity. The Eucharistic sacrifice unites all these aspects of our lives with the love, the beauty, and the strength of Jesus' offering and presents them to the Father in the Holy Spirit with Mary our Mother at our side. As Mary was present at Calvary's offering, so is she present as that sacrifice really becomes present in an unbloody manner in the Mass.

At the Eucharistic meal—at communion time—we receive Christ in a very special and intimate manner. He gives Himself to us—body, blood, soul, and divinity. What an awesome reality! We have to pray for an increased appreciation of this tremendous Self-giving on the part of Jesus. We have to pray for the grace to grow in the determination to love and live Christ more deep1y as we leave each Mass. This ever greater love for Christ, this ever greater putting on of Christ, should be the result of each Eucharistic participation.

The Christ Who loves us with an unfathomable love, Who gives Himself so completely to us in each Eucharistic meal, wants us to allow Him to live in and through us in an ever greater fashion. If He, in His great love for us gives Himself completely to us, should not we strive for our own complete gift of self to Jesus? Obviously, our gift of self will never equal Christ's perfect gift of Himself to us, but we can always grow in our gift of self by permeating it with an ever greater love. The love of Christ's Eucharistic Heart, this Heart which for love of us was pierced with a soldier's lance as He hung in agony upon the cross, calls for this love of ours. Who can refuse Him? Who wants to refuse Him?

     

February 1, 1995  - After rosary

The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary

1.  The Prophecy of Simeon.   Mary and Joseph and the child Jesus went to the temple and Simeon the Prophet, inspired by the Holy Spirit, met them and told Joseph and Mary of the great sufferings of Jesus and Mary. He told Mary that a sword would pierce her heart. And from that point on, Mary ever remembered the prophecy of Simeon when she beheld her child. When she looked at His little body she knew He would suffer. As an infant, she knew He would suffer. Every time she clothed Him and watched Him at play, her heart was torn in her chest as she knew what He would suffer. And a sword, too, shall pierce your Heart, O Mary!

2.  The Flight Into Egypt.   Joseph was told by the angel to flee. In the night, Joseph and Mary and the child Jesus had to flee because of what might happen to Jesus. They had to pack for a long stay. The child Jesus was so small. They left on their journey, hearts full of fear, trying to protect Jesus. They were forced to flee into Egypt. And a sword, too, shall pierce your Heart, O Mary!

3.  Jesus Was Lost in the Temple.   Imagine the sufferings to Mary's heart when she realized the child Jesus was not with them. Think of how it would be to lose your child and not know where He was or if anything happened to Him. With such sorrow in their hearts, Mary and Joseph returned to Jerusalem to look for the child Jesus. And a sword, too, shall pierce your heart, O Mary!

4.  Jesus and Mary Meet on the Way to the Cross.    Song:  See the Eyes that Look at Mary

See the eyes of Jesus and Mary as They peered into one another's eyes on Calvary. Mary's Heart knew Jesus' Heart so well! From the first moment of conception through His life, Mary was so connected with Jesus and now she peers into His eyes. The crown of thorns adorned His Head! Blood ran down His face! A heavy cross on His back! Wounded! His whole body wounded with bleeding wounds! And her whole life flashed before her, the life that she had spent with Jesus. This was the beloved child that she held in her arms when Simeon told Mary that a sword, too, shall pierce your Heart, O Mary!

5.  Jesus Dies on the Cross.  Mary stood under Jesus' cross as He was put to death. The child that she held in her arms as Simeon prophesied! And a sword, too, shall pierce your Heart, O Mary! (Mary loves us to meditate silently on the crucifixion of her Beloved Son) Now Jesus, dead on the cross! He gave His flesh, He gave His blood so that we may be with Him forever in Heaven. He held not back. He gave His all. He calls out to us this day to see through the eyes of His Mother as she appears and calls out with a Heart of greatest love: 

Mary:  Return to the love of my Son! He is with you this day. He remains with you no less present than the day that He hung on the cross in the Eucharist. He longs for you to come and be with Him. He is in your brother. How can you not love your brother when Jesus died for your brother?

R.  Her Heart was pierced with a sword. His Heart was pierced with a lance. What came forth was blood and water -- the sacramental life of the Church. He lives with us this day in the Church. He gives to us His sacraments. He outpours His grace when we go to the sacraments. He gives to us the Sacrament of Penance whereby any sin that we commit can be taken away through the priest. He wants us to be so close to Him. He gives us everything to be close to Him. But we see with such limited vision those things that are just before our face, when the true reality are those things that we don't see with our eyes. Jesus is truly present in the tabernacle. This is reality! This is God! And a sword, too, shall pierce your Heart, O Mary!

6.  Jesus is Taken Down From the Cross and Laid In Mary's Arms.  If we ever doubted for one second that we were loved, we could visualize the picture of Mary as she sat beneath the cross with the lifeless, battered, bruised, and bloodied body of her Son in her arms. The same child that she held when Simeon prophesied her suffering. He gave His last breath. He gave the last beat of His Heart. He gave His all! This is the way He complied to the Will of the Father. He comes to show us the way. He died in perfect peace. To His death He was in peace because He knew the Father's love. The Father loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son for love of us! The Spirit came upon the Virgin Mary and the Word was made Flesh! The love of the Two Hearts! Such immense love beating for us! In all love there is suffering. Her Heart was pierced with a sword. His Heart was pierced with a lance. And a sword, too, shall pierce your Heart, O Mary!

7.  The Burial of Jesus.   And now Jesus, His lifeless body, is locked in a tomb! The stone that separated her from her Son! He gave His last breath! He gave the last beat of His Heart for love of each one of us! And she comes to us this day with her sweet, beautiful voice and she asks us to go to her Son and love Him! How can we refuse Jesus who spread His arms and gave His life for us? How can we not trust Him when He loved us so much that He allowed them to tear His flesh, to crown Him with piercing thorns and lastly to hang Him on a cross? He truly gave His life for us! He truly, God, is with us this day, the same as the day He died on the cross. He is in the Tabernacle! And we take it so lightly! Death has no power over Him! As He was locked in the tomb for three days, through the power of the Holy Spirit He rose triumphant on the third day as He foretold. He comes to give us life. He gives us the Sacrament of Baptism whereby we are made children of God and heirs of Heaven. He asks us two things: Love of God and love of one another! He came to show us they way and His way is Love. To His death on the cross! He gave His flesh and blood for love of us! He calls out to each one of us here today to be His soldiers, to march on a world that has forgotten God, that has forgotten what it is like to love! It is a battle to live in this world. But the battle is won with hearts that are filled with His love, empowered by His grace and might that He outpours in the Eucharist. He calls out to come to the Eucharist and to the Tabernacle and be fed with His very flesh and blood. To feed on the Eucharist. He gives us Himself, His Body and Blood,  the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God! This is the love He gives. This is the love He asks us to share.

Song:  From the Day You Were Born.

Jesus:  I watched you, My precious child, as you struggled through such struggles that you thought that a tomorrow would never come. And I was right by your side. I never abandoned you. As you breathe, I am a Burning Heart of Love waiting for you to come to Me -- waiting and waiting. And I call out so gently, for My Heart is burning, and I ask you to come. For I am waiting for you this day to come closer and share My Love -- My Divine Love -- I want to outpour My grace to you, My beloved ones!

Sing:  From the Day You Were Born

Jesus:  Satan will press down and press down and try to take you from your work and lead you from My Heart, but I am waiting for you and your strength is in Me, My beloved ones. Come and let Me feed you with My Love. I gave you My Life that you might have life and have it to the full. And life is not life, if it is not rooted in Me. You are My soldiers. Spread this life throughout this world. Be strong soldiers for I am calling you this day to love your brothers. For it is in your love that you will do My work.

This rosary was prayed before the Tabernacle in the Holy Spirit Chapel. It was audio taped by a man. Rita, Cathy, Joe, Marty and many others were present.