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 The Wedding Rosary 

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Original Image Rosary

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                May 20, 2014               

                May 20, 2014

                R. Today we pray for all the intentions on our
                prayer list –

                Today we offer our lives to You God –

                We unite all of our activities to the Masses
                    going on around the world –

                We pray to the Father, in the name of Jesus
                    with all the angels and saints and the
                    souls in purgatory, in the Holy Spirit,
                    through the powerful intercession of
                    Our Lady of Clearwater –

                God we offer up all our prayers, actions, thoughts
                    sufferings to You –

                God we want to surrender to You
                God help us please, to do Your will –
                God help us in all these needs –
                God help us to grow in holiness –
                God help these people today in their physical
                    healing, if it is not against Your will –
                    God please hear our prayer –
                    God please hear our prayers for the world
                        to live according to Your will –
                        for grace to be outpoured for men living
                        by Your will –

                We unite all our prayers to Jesus in
                    the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and
                    we offer our prayers to the Father
                    in the Holy Spirit, with all the angels and saints
                    and the souls in purgatory, through the
                    powerful intercession of Mary our Mother.

                We offer our prayers united to Jesus for
                    adoration, thanksgiving, petition
                    and satisfaction.

                Excerpt from Response in Christ by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Chapter 4

       c) The Sacrifice of the Mass

Some contemporary authors, while not necessarily de-emphasizing the sacrificial nature of the Mass, are giving a renewed emphasis to the concept of the Mass as banquet or meal. This is all to the good, as long as the sacrificial structure is not allowed to recede to the background. In this regard it is well for us to recall the mind of the early Church. Jungmann says: "The first centuries of Christianity, which had built the framework for the celebration of the Eucharist which is still followed today, had laid down two basic thoughts: The Mass is the memorial of the Lord, and it is the sacrifice of the Church. These two thoughts are expressed just as clearly and simply today: '. . . calling to mind the blessed passion – we offer to your sovereign majesty – this pure sacrifice.' "¹⁷

     We should always unite the concepts of the Mass as sacrifice and the Mass as meal by realizing that the eucharistic meal is an integral part of the sacrifice. It is its conclusion.

     We should also be aware that the Mass is a covenant sacrifice. It is the sacramental renewal of Christ's covenant sacrifice. The Mass is the central act of our covenant life in Christ, and therefore it embraces the four great dimensions of covenant love. In Christ, by the action of the Holy Spirit, we open ourselves in a special manner during the eucharistic liturgy to the Father's love and we respond to that love. In Christ and His Spirit we also pledge ourselves at Mass to go out in a deeper love to the members of the People of God and to all men. We also commit ourselves anew to be open in receiving the love of others. According to these various perspectives, the Mass above all is an action of love.

       1) Interior Oblation of the Mass

The chief priest and victim of the Mass is the same as the priest and victim of the Last Supper and Calvary, Christ Himself. Christ makes this interior offering of Himself in the Mass for the same ends as were present in His own unique sacrifice – adoration, thanksgiving, petition and satisfaction.

     However, Christ is not the only priest at the Mass as He was at the Last Supper and upon Calvary. All the members of the Mystical Body are priests along with Christ. To be sure, there is a difference between the hierarchical priesthood of bishops and priests and the universal priesthood of the faithful. This difference is one of essence and not merely degree. The point we wish to stress, however, is that the universal priesthood is a real participation in Christ's priesthood given through the sacraments of baptism and confirmation.

     This concept of the priesthood of all the Church's members is being stressed today in a special manner.¹⁸ Jungmann, the outstanding liturgical theologian, gives us reasons why this concept of universal priesthood became relatively obscure for so many years. He states that the concept of the Mass as the Church's sacrifice faded into the background as a result of the Reformation. The Reformers maintained that there was only one sacrifice, the one which Christ offered upon Calvary. To counteract this heresy the Council of Trent and the theology consequent to it had to clarify that the Mass is a true sacrifice, but not an absolutely independent one. It is a sacrifice relative to the absolute one of Calvary and a representation of it. It was emphasized that the priest of Calvary is also the chief priest of the Mass. Because of such doctrinal controversies, the concept that Christ offers the Mass was alone considered important. The concept that the Mass is also the sacrifice of the Church practically disappeared. Finally, Jungmann notes that today we are returning to the balanced view which meaningfully recognizes that the Mass is not only the sacrifice of Christ, but also that of the Church.¹⁹ This stress on the Church's part in the Mass is logically connected with the contemporary emphasis on the priesthood of all the members of the People of God.

     As Christ is not the only priest of the Mass, neither is He the only victim. Again, all the members of the Church are victims along with Christ. Various Church documents attest to this. For instance, Pope Paul VI officially calls attention to this: "It is a pleasure to add another point particularly conducive to shed light on the mystery of the Church, that it is the whole Church which, in union with Christ functioning as Priest and Victim, offers the Sacrifice of the Mass and is offered in it."²⁰ Therefore, the members of the People of God, united as priests to Christ the high priest, offer a combined victim to the Father: Christ and themselves. Such then in all its deep meaning and beauty is the first sacrificial element of the Mass.

       2) Ritual Oblation of the Mass

Just as Christ's interior offering of Himself was externalized in a ritual oblation at the Last Supper, so is there an external, liturgical rite of the Mass. The importance of this many-faceted exteriorization is brought out by Vatican II's Constitution on the Liturgy.

     As mentioned before, this exteriorization of the internal oblation is according to man's social and corporeal nature. That it is in harmony with the social part of man is evident from the fact that the external rite assembles the People of God to worship together as a community. The individual members are consequently enabled to help one another to achieve the proper worship of God. The Constitution gives stress to this social aspect of the liturgy. It states that the very nature of the liturgy demands that all the faithful be led to a full and active liturgical participation. Such is in keeping with their vocation as "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation" (1 P 2:9). The Constitution emphatically states that such full and active participation on the part of all the people is the chief aim of the liturgical renewal.²¹

     As also previously observed, the external rite is likewise according to man's bodily nature. In the case of the Mass (and the sacraments also) we observe that the very validity of the sacrifice depends on having the proper materials for the offering – bread and wine – and on the use of the proper form of consecration. The external, the ritual, the sensible, are indeed indispensable.

     In all this we note the great law of incarnation. The Incarnation established a set pattern for the redemption of the world, redemption taken both objectively and subjectively. Christ redeemed the world through His sacred humanity. This humanity is, then, the gateway to the divinity, to eternal life.

     As Christ's created humanity was indispensable for accomplishing the sacrifice of the objective redemption, so are created things necessary for the eucharistic sacrifice of the subjective redemption. This fact calls to mind the thought of Teilhard de Chardin. Teilhard holds a world concept in which all things, natural and supernatural, spiritual and material, are united in a single and organic unity. The pole of this unity is the person of the Incarnate Word, towards whom the whole of creation converges.²² In such a concept the law of incarnation is developed to the utmost, a fact brought out by the following words of Teilhard: "Let us remember that the supernatural nourishes itself on everything."²³

     At various times in the history of Christian spirituality, the Church has been plagued with an exaggerated spiritualism rising out of various sources. Such a spiritualism, looking upon material things as more of a hindrance than a help, is foreign to the true Christian spirit. A true theology of the Incarnation, a theology which the Church so well concretizes in her liturgy, can lead to no other conclusion.

     It is no accident that a meaningful incarnation spirituality is developing concomitant with the liturgical renewal. Although we would not want to say that the incarnational element outweighs the transcendent element in the Church's portrayal of the Christian life, yet she is leading the faithful of all vocations to a deeper incarnationalism. The Church is accomplishing this through a variety of ways. She is achieving this incarnationalism, for instance, through the great social encyclicals, through the documents of Vatican II, and, in reference to our present topic, through a revived liturgy.

     There is a deep significance, and a rich world of thought connected with the second sacrificial element of the Mass: the ritual oblation which incarnates the interior oblation.

       3) Immolation of the Victim

Christ, the chief victim of the Mass, has been immolated once and for all in the offering of His own unique sacrifice. And yet, since the Mass is a true sacrifice in its own right, we logically look for an unbloody immolation of Christ the victim. Where do we find this immolation? Traditionally it has been seen to be present in the double consecration of bread and wine. This double consecration symbolizes the separation of Christ's blood from His body, and, consequently, symbolizes His death. Pius XII's encyclical, Mediator Dei, states: "Thus the commemorative representation of His death, which actually took place on Calvary, is repeated in every Sacrifice of the altar, seeing that Jesus Christ is symbolically shown by separate symbols to be in a state of victimhood."²⁴ Jungmann reminds us of the importance of this sacramental immolation of Christ. While admitting and even stressing the importance of giving the "meal symbolism" its proper place in the Mass, Jungmann calls for a priority of sacrificial symbolism: "It is quite another question whether or not it is necessary or even correct to regard the meal symbolism as the decisive and fundamental thing in the outward transaction of the Mass. If the Mass is a sacrifice then this must find appropriate expression in the outward picture too; for sacrifice is essentially a demonstrative action, the symbolic representation of inward readiness to give oneself."²⁵

     Durrwell, a biblical theologian, also highlights the importance of the Mass's immolation. He seems to say that Christ's immolation is symbolized by the very words of consecration. He says that the Last Supper and its commemoration, the Mass, are sacrificial meals. Consequently, ". . . Christ appears in the victim state. He gives them to drink "the blood of the new covenant, shed for many' (Matt, Mark), blood of sacrifice as the establishment of the old covenant required (Exod xxiv, 8) shed at the moment of drinking."²⁶

     However, as we have said, Christ is not the only victim of the eucharistic sacrifice. The members of His Body, the Church, are also victims along with Christ. Those members must also be in a state of victimhood. As with Christ, they cannot undergo a bloody immolation. Their immolation must also be a mystical one. How is this accomplished? We can look to two passages of the encyclical Mediator Dei for thoughts on such a mystical immolation. In one passage we read that pride, anger, impurity and all evil desires are to be mystically slain. As the Christian stands before the altar, he should bring with him a transformed heart, purified as much as possible from all trace of sin.²⁷ Positively considered, such a transformation means that the Christian is striving to grow in the supernatural life by all possible means, so as to present himself always as an acceptable victim to the heavenly Father.

     In another passage of the same encyclical this mystical immolation of Christ's members is further developed. To be a victim with Christ means that the Christian must follow the gospel teaching concerning self-denial, that he detest his sins and make satisfaction for them. In brief, the Christian's victimhood means that he experiences a mystical crucifixion so as to make applicable to his own life the words of St. Paul, "I have been crucified with Christ. . ." (Ga 2:19).²⁸

     Jungmann has a beautiful passage concerning the Christian's eucharistic immolation. He states: "Every sacrament serves to develop in us the image of Christ according to a specified pattern which the sacramental sign indicates. Here the pattern is plainly shown in the double formation of the Eucharist; we are to take part in His dying, and through His dying are to merit a share in His life. What we here find anchored fast in the deepest center of the Mass-sacrifice is nothing else than the ideal of moral conduct to which the teaching of Christ in the Gospel soars; the challenge to an imitation of Him that does not shrink at sight of the Cross; a following after Him that is ready to lose its life in order to win it; the challenge to follow Him even, if need be, in His agony of suffering and His path of death, which are here in this mystery so manifestly set before us."²⁹

     Summarily, then, we become victims with Christ by lovingly conforming our wills to the Father's will in all things. Such conformity was the essence of Christ's sacrifice, of His victimhood, and of His immolation. A similar conformity must be in the victimhood and the immolation of Christ's members. This mystical immolation is a lifelong process. The ideal is that each Mass participated in by the Christian should mark a growth in his victimhood. The true Christian desires to die more and more to all which is not according to God's will so that he may become an ever more perfect victim with Christ.

       4) The Father's Acceptance of the Eucharistic Sacrifice

It has been observed that if sacrifice is to have its desired effect, it must be accepted by God. That the Father always accepts the eucharistic sacrifice is certain. For the principal priest and victim is Christ Himself, always supremely acceptable to the Father. As for the subordinate priests and victims, they are, taken together, the People of God, the Church herself.

     There is always an acceptance on the Father's part even as regards this subordinate priesthood and victimhood of the Mass. For even though the Mass may be offered through the sacrilegious hands of an unworthy priest, there is always a basic holiness in the Church pleasing to God. Because of such holiness the Father always accepts the Church's sacrificial offering, for the Mass is the sacrifice of the whole Church, and cannot be fundamentally vitiated by the unworthiness of any particular member or members, even if that member be the officiating priest.

     What do we say concerning the Father's acceptance of the sacrificial offering of the individual Christian? Such an offering will be acceptable in proportion to the Christian's loving conformity of will to the Father's will. Speaking of the Christian's participation in the Mass, Jungmann says: "It follows that an interior immolation is required of the participants, at least to the extent of readiness to obey the law of God in its seriously obligatory commandments, unless this participation is to be nothing more than an outward appearance."³⁰

     Having considered in successive sections the immolation and acceptance elements of the Mass, we should consider the vital link between these two. For just as the two are inseparably connected in Christ's sacrifice, so are they also united in the Church's sacrifice of the Mass.

     In Christ we equated the immolation of His sacrifice with His passion-death, and the acceptance element with His Resurrection. Uniting these two mysteries of death-resurrection, we spoke of Christ's paschal mystery. We have seen that this mystery had been prefigured by the Jewish pasch and exodus, component parts of the Jewish people's transition to a new and more perfect life. In the case of Christ, we considered His pasch – His passover – to be a transition from the limitations of His mortal life to the state of resurrected glory. We speak of Christ's mortal humanity as having exercised limitations upon Him in this sense, that, although He Himself was completely free from sin, He had exposed Himself to the conditions of a sin-laden world through His human nature. In His death-resurrection He changed all this as He conquered sin, as He redeemed us, as He passed to the state of glory with His Father.

     What happened in Christ also occurs in His Mystical Body, the Church. The Church and Her members experience their own transition from death to resurrection. The entire Church and the individual Christian express, through the Mass, a willingness to grow in the participation in Christ's death. The Father accepts this willingness and gives an increase in the grace-life, a greater share in Christ's Resurrection. This process happened within a short span of time in Christ's life. In the life of the Church it continually takes place until Christ's second coming. The Church, with her grace-life of holiness, has already partially achieved her resurrection, but not completely, even though she continues to grow in grace. St. Paul bears witness to this: ". . . but all of us who possess the first-fruits of the Spirit, we too groan inwardly as we wait for our bodies to be set free." (Rm 8:23).

     Vatican II's Constitution on the Church beautifully portrays this fused state of death-resurrection which the Church in her members experiences here below as she awaits the fullness of the resurrection in the world to come: "For this reason we, who have been made to conform with him, who have died with him and risen with him, are taken up into the mysteries of his life, until we will reign together with him. . . While still pilgrims on earth, tracing in trial and in oppression the paths he trod, we are anointed with his sufferings as the body is with the head, suffering with him, that with him we may be glorified. . ."³¹

       5) Partaking of the Eucharistic Meal

The cycle of the eucharistic sacrifice is completed as the priest and faithful partake of Christ the paschal lamb. The People of God have given Christ to the Father. Now the Father gives Christ to the Church's members in the eucharistic meal. Although the priest alone must communicate to assure the integrity of the sacrifice, it is highly desirable, of course, that all present partake of the eucharist.

     In the sacrifices of old, the victim of the sacrificial banquet was considered in some sense divine by the fact that it had been offered to the divinity. In the sacrifice of the new covenant we receive divinity itself through the sacred humanity. With such a marvelous conclusion to the eucharistic sacrifice, the fruits of Christ's sacrifice of Calvary are continually experienced.

     There are other truths to be considered under the paschal meal aspect of the Mass. One of these is the concept of the eucharist as sign and cause of unity. Von Hildebrand comments on this: "All receive the one body of the Lord, all are assimilated into the one Lord. Even if we leave aside the supreme ontological supernatural unity which is realized here, the very act of undergoing this experience represents an incomparable communion-forming power."³²

     Through the sharing of the one paschal lamb, the Christian assembly has thus been vividly reminded of their oneness in Christ. Yet this is a oneness in plurality. For each Christian is a member of the one Body of Christ in his own unique way. He has been called upon to assimilate Christ according to his own personality, vocation and graces. Consequently, just as the members of the People of God are reminded of their unity at Mass, so are they made aware of their own uniqueness as they depart from the eucharistic assembly, each carrying Christ to his own particular environment according to his own individual personality.

     We have considered the Church's eucharistic sharing in the mystery of Christ according to a sacrificial structure. With the general structure of the Mass established, we will now enlarge upon the concept of the participation of the individual.

       d) The Christian's Participation in the Mass

God has created man a social being. This fact has relevance as regards man's salvation and perfection. Man does not go to God alone, but rather is saved and perfected with and through others. This is evident in the study of salvation history as one observes God communicating Himself to man in the framework of community. As we have seen, this social dimension is also readily evident in the liturgy.

     As we now discuss the individual's participation in the liturgy, we in no way intend to underestimate the communal aspect of the eucharistic sacrifice. We constantly presuppose it and its importance. Liturgy as communal is the indispensable framework and background for any discussion of the individual's liturgical participation.

     Granted all this, it is still useful and necessary to speak of the individual's participation in the Mass.³³ Ultimately it is the individual as individual who accepts or rejects God's offer of salvation and sanctification. Therefore, to speak of the individual's response to God in the liturgy is highly significant. Despite all the communal helps the individual receives in the liturgy, despite the fact that the individual must always be deeply aware that he is a member of the community, the People of God, it is still true to say that it is within the depths of his own mysterious, individual personality that the Christian either becomes a mature Christian through the liturgy or fails to do so. With such preliminary ideas established, let us now consider the Christian and his role in the Mass.

       1) The Baptized Christian and the Mass

Once again the reader is reminded that through baptism the Christian becomes incorporated into Christ and His Church. Confirmation perfects this incorporation. Although baptism incorporates us primarily into Christ's death and Resurrection, we again stress that it also unites us with Christ in all His mysteries. This is so because all Christ's mysteries are essentially one mystery, for none of them stands separately by itself. Consequently, one cannot be initiated into Christ's paschal mystery without simultaneously being incorporated into all of His mysteries.

     The fact that all of Christ's various mysteries are contained in the total mystery of Christ enables the Christian to encounter the entire Christ in the liturgy. Mention of this fact brings us to our next point.

     In baptism the Christian first encounters and relives the mystery of Christ. He thereby receives a new life. But this life must be nourished. The Christian must constantly re-encounter the mystery of Christ, and this he does chiefly through the eucharistic liturgy. Here the Christian is daily privileged to encounter Christ in the most intimate fashion. Here above all he exercises his priesthood and consequently grows in supernatural vitality. We use the word exercise purposely, since the liturgy is primarily an action, an exercise of the priestly office of Christ.

     Since the baptized Christian is sacramentally participating in the mystery of Christ at the Mass, his priestly act must be modeled after that of Christ's. This is true because the life of grace flowing out of the seals of baptism and confirmation is structured according to certain modalities or characteristics based on the life of Christ. This truth was developed at some length in the previous chapter. There we stated that Christ, the head of the Mystical Body, has determined, through His own life of sanctifying grace, the general lines of development according to which His members' lives of grace grow and mature.

     Therefore it is evident that the whole of the Christian's life must be orientated to the Mass and be centered about it; for in Christ we see His entire life centered around His priestly act of Calvary. This is true because His interior sacrificial disposition, the essence of His priestly act, permeated everything in His life.

     The baptized Christian should also bring his daily life, his whole life, to the eucharistic sacrifice. The Church which assembles about the altar is not a nebulous, ethereal entity, but the Church of this earth. It is the Church of men and women who are immersed in the work of this world. As they gather for the eucharistic sacrifice, they are therefore not removed from the world of their ordinary daily lives to an unreal world of ritual which has no connection with their temporal cares and activities. Rather it is the reality of this ordinary daily life which they bring to offer as priests and victims in union with Christ, priest and victim. In such a manner, then, the eucharistic sacrifice looks to the past life of the Christian.³⁴

     Yet the Mass also looks to the future of the Christian. By his participation in the Mass he receives grace to assimilate in a more perfect manner the mystery of Christ. Ideally, each Mass participated in by the Christian should mean that he leaves the eucharistic assembly with a greater Christ-likeness. Thus he takes up his daily life as a more fervent Christ-bearer.

     The Mass as it looks to both the past and future embraces the Christian's entire life. It is meant to be lived each minute of the Christian's life. Durrwell says: "The Mass is said in order that the whole Church and the whole of our life may become a Mass, may become Christ's sacrifice always present on earth. St. Francis of Sales resolved that he would spend the whole day preparing to say Mass, so that whenever anyone asked what he was doing, he might always answer, 'I am preparing for Mass'. We also could resolve to make our whole lives a participation in the divine mystery of the Redemption, so that when anyone puts the question to us, we can always answer, 'I am saying Mass'."³⁵

       2) The Mass lived out

As the Christian lives out the Mass, he is consequently daily laboring with Christ in furthering the work of the subjective redemption. This is so because Christ's sacrifice was a redemptive act, and the Church's reliving of this act in the Mass is also redemptive. In this regard we must remember that the entire universe – not merely man – has been redeemed. The nonrational and rational world alike await the furthering of the redemption. St. Paul tells us: "From the beginning till now the entire creation, as we know, has been groaning in one great act of giving birth; and not only creation, but all of us who possess the first-fruits of the Spirit, we too groan inwardly as we wait for our bodies to be set free." (Rm 8:22-23).

     How does the Christian help Christ redeem the world? (Henceforth the term "world" is to be understood as including both rational and nonrational creation.) As previously stated, the Christian helps Christ redeem the world by reliving Christ's mysteries. The same "events" or mysteries which accomplished the objective redemption further the subjective redemption also. Since at the heart of Christ's mysteries are His death and Resurrection, it is especially these that the Christian must relive. As the Christian dies mystically with Christ through loving conformity with the Father's will, he rises with Christ to an ever greater share in the Resurrection, in the newness of life, in the life of grace. As the Christian in this manner relives the paschal mystery of Christ, he is accomplishing not only his own redemption, but he is also, in a mysterious yet real manner, helping Christ redeem the world.

     Although Christ's life was summed up in death-resurrection, it also included various other "events" or mysteries. Each of these in its own manner contributed to the redemption. So it is with the Christian's life. His participation in Christ's death-resurrection must be "broken down" into the other mysteries of Christ's life.

     The Christian must always remember that he carries away from the Mass not only the Christ of the death and the Resurrection, but also, for example, the Christ of the hidden life and the Christ of the public life. As the Christian lives out his Mass in the exercise of his Christ-life, all these various mysteries should therefore be present.

     Before we give examples of how the Christian can relive these saving events of Christ's life, it is well that we first distinguish the two different levels on which the Christian assimilates the mystery of Christ.

     Christ, through His death and Resurrection, has transformed us. This transformation is a "new creation," a new life of grace. Through our baptism we are initiated into this life and consequently we exist as new creatures. As long as we possess the life of sanctifying grace, which is our share in the mystery of Christ, we are living according to this new existence whether or not this life here and now incarnates itself in a concrete, supernatural act. In this sense the life of grace, the "new creation," is fundamental, radical and transcendent, a share in the transcendent holiness or mystery of God Himself.

     However, God expects that our life of transcendent holiness incarnate itself in concrete supernatural acts. It is in this respect that we speak of reliving the various mysteries of Christ through specific supernatural attitudes and acts. This may also be called imitation of Christ, but with a certain precaution, namely, that the imitation in question is to be considered primarily as interior rather than exterior. By this we mean that although the Christian can to a certain extent imitate Christ according to what was His external mode of conduct, it is primarily through adopting the mind of Christ – His interior dispositions – that the Christian puts on Christ. With this said we now offer suggestions as to how the Christian relives the mysteries of Christ whose presence and transforming influences have been encountered in the eucharistic liturgy.

     For instance, each member of Christ, whether he be bishop, priest, religious or layman, can accomplish much of his redemptive work by an intense reliving of Christ's hidden life. Certainly our heavenly Father would have us learn a great lesson from this fact, namely, that His Christ lived out so many years of His earthly life in a hidden manner, doing the ordinary tasks of the ordinary man. In assimilating this particular mystery of Christ the Christian must say with Rahner: "Let us take a good look at Jesus Who had the courage to lead an apparently useless life for thirty years. We should ask Him for the grace to give us to understand what His hidden life means for our religious existence."³⁶

     Christ did not lead only a hidden life, but a public life also. All vocations within the Church are likewise called upon to reproduce this part of Christ's life in some manner. One aspect of Christ's public life that should be common to all Christian vocations is the selflessness, the constant concern and love for others which Christ constantly and vividly displayed. This concern for others cost Christ much in fatigue of body and mind. Nevertheless, He continuously gave Himself completely to others.

     Another characteristic of the public life which all can imitate is that of Christ as witness. Here, then, we reemphasize within our present context that which was stated in an earlier chapter concerning the Church's continuation of Christ's prophetic role. Christ was a witness to the Father, a perfect manifestation of the Father's truth and love. He bore this witness not only through His formal teaching but also through His actions, His attitude, His gestures. All members of Christ are called to give witness also. The Christian's entire life should be a witness to the truth he holds. The world comes to know Christ through the Christian. Schillebeeckx comments on this aspect of being witness: "Our life must itself be the incarnation of what we believe, for only when dogmas are lived do they have any attractive power. Why in the main does Western man pass Christianity by? Surely because the visible presence of grace in Christians as a whole, apart from a few individuals, is no longer evident."³⁷

     St. Paul sums up the redemptive work of Christ under the mysteries of death-resurrection.³⁸ These are the principal mysteries which the Christian must assimilate from the eucharistic liturgy and reproduce in his own life. More and more the Christian spiritual life is being considered as a process of death-resurrection. It is obvious why this is so, for if Christ's entire life was summed up in His death-resurrection, so also is that of His members.

     Christ's death and Resurrection are so closely united that they are two facets of one mystery rather than two separate mysteries.³⁹ It is likewise with the Christian. The death aspect of his supernatural life is intimately connected with his life of resurrection, and in various ways. For instance, his very life of grace is his life of resurrection, but his continual growth in spiritual death – death to selfwill in all its numerous manifestations – is achieved through grace. Consequently, the Christian's life of resurrection always accompanies his life of death. We also see the two connected more obviously in the sense that a growth in the death element always results in a growth in the resurrection element.

     The daily life of the Christian, then, is a combination and antithesis of death-resurrection. As he gives himself in love to the Father's will, manifested to him in so many ways, the Christian is achieving both death and resurrection. Christ's ultimate goal, as man, was His Resurrection. Resurrection, a greater share in the divine life through grace, is also the goal of the Christian.

     These few remarks give examples of how each member of the People of God is called upon to relive Christ's entire life as centered in death-resurrection. More could be said. But we think our remarks have sufficed to indicate how the Christian is to live out these various mysteries of Christ. Moreover, let it be recalled that all the mysteries ultimately make up the one mystery of Christ.

     What we have said thus far applies in general to all vocations. But since there are different vocations within the Church, we must also say that each of these projects Christ in a somewhat different manner. Each Christian must study how in particular he is called to put on Christ. Essentially, of course, all put on Christ in the same manner. Yet there are accidental differences according to the vocation, work and individuals involved. For instance, the lay person, in general, is called to a deeper involvement in temporal affairs than is the religious.

     Each member of Christ, according to his particular vocation, work and personality, has something special to take away from the Mass.⁴⁰ Each Christian, as he lives out the mystery of Christ, projects Christ to the world in his own way. Each Christian, as he himself grows in Christ-likeness, is also helping Christ to redeem the world in a manner commensurate with his total Christian person. For holiness is necessarily apostolic whether the Christian at any particular time is engaged in an external apostolate or not.

     Each Christian, according to God's plan for him, must have a vital and dynamic desire to help Christianize the whole world. Perhaps he can do very little through direct, external apostolate. But his prayers and sacrifices – indeed, his entire life – can touch the whole world. Through an intense Christian life the individual can help Christ further the redemption of the family, the business world, the social structure and the like. The Christian is called to have this deep desire: to see the whole universe imprinted with the name of Christ. How true it is to say that the Christian's vocation, rooted in the liturgy, calls for deep involvement in this sacred activity.⁴¹

     In schematic outline we have discussed the manner in which the baptized Christian extends his Mass to his daily existence. As he so lives out his Mass, he is becoming more Christlike. He becomes a more perfect priest and victim for his next participation in the eucharistic sacrifice.⁴² The beautiful cycle which the Mass contains lies exposed before us. As part of this cycle the Christian is intimately involved in the process of continued redemption. The Mass is the center of the Christian life: ". . . the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the fount from which all her power flows."⁴³

^_______

     17. J. Jungmann, "Eucharistic Piety" in Worship, Vol. 35 (1961), p. 416.
     18. Cf. Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Liturgy, No. 48, and Constitution on the Church, No. 10.
     19. Cf. Jungmann, Op. cit., p. 417.
     20. Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei, N.C.W.C. edition, Paragraph 31.
     21. Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Liturgy, No. 14.
     22. Cf. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Divine Milieu (New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1965), p. 123. Cf. also Christopher Mooney's commentary, "The Body of Christ in the Writings of Teilhard de Chardin" in Theological Studies, Vol. 25 (1964), p. 607.
     23. From a lecture of Teilhard de Chardin given in 1930, cited in Mooney, Loc. cit.
     24. Pius XII, Mediator Dei, N.C.W.C. edition, Paragraph 34.
     25. J. Jungmann, Pastoral Liturgy (New York: Herder & Herder, 1962), p. 284.
     26. Durrwell, Op. cit., pp. 324-325.
     27. Cf. Mediator Dei, Paragraph 100.
     28. Cf. Ibid., Paragraph 81.
     29. J. Jungmann, The Mass of the Roman Rite (New York: Benziger, 1959), p. 146.
     30. Loc. cit.
     31. Constitution on the Church, No. 7.
     32. Dietrich von Hildebrand, Liturgy and Personality (Baltimore: Helicon, 1960), p. 33.
    33. Cf. Karl Rahner, Nature and Grace (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1964), pp. 23f.
    34. Cf. Jungmann, "Eucharistic Piety" in Worship, Vol. 35 (1961), p. 419.
    35. F. X. Durrwell, In the Redeeming Christ (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1963), p. 63.
    36. Karl Rahner, Spiritual Exercises (New York: Herder & Herder, 1965), p. 160.
    37. Schillebeeckx, Op. cit., p. 209.
    38. Cf. L. Cerfaux, Christ in the Theology of St. Paul (New York: Herder & Herder, 1959), pp. 190-192.
    39. Durrwell, The Resurrection, p. 48.
    40. Cf. Karl Rahner, The Christian Commitment (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1963), p. 168.
    41. Cf. Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Church, No. 36.
    42. For a current treatment of the varied richness of the Eucharist, cf. J. Wicks, "The Movement of Eucharistic Theology" in Chicago Studies, Vol. 10 (1971), pp. 267-284.
    43. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, No. 10.

                R. In Blue Book 11

                Jesus told me to put this in the Introduction.
 

Fr. Edward Carter, S.J.
Founder of Shepherds of Christ - Rita’s Spiritual Director
Rita Ring Co-founder of Shepherds of Christ

Excerpt from Response in Christ - Chapter 4 by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J.

In schematic outline we have discussed the manner in which the baptized Christian extends his Mass to his daily existence. As he so lives out his Mass, he is becoming more Christlike. He becomes a more perfect priest and victim for his next participation in the eucharistic sacrifice.42 The beautiful cycle which the Mass contains lies exposed before us. As part of this cycle the Christian is intimately involved in the process of continued redemption. The Mass is the center of the Christian life: “. . . the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the fount from which all her power flows.” 43

42. For a current treatment of the varied richness of the Eucharist, cf. J. Wicks, “The Movement of Eucharistic Theology” in Chicago Studies, Vol. 10 (1971), pp. 267-284.
43. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, No. 10.

 

November 21, 2013

Jesus: I call you to live your lives as devout members of the mystical body of Christ. I have given these writings that men will realize that they are to live united deeply to the Mass going on around the world. Your lives, given as an offering, a sacrifice every moment in union with the Mass going on around the world. Your life, a sacrifice, offered to the Father, in union with the Mass in oneness with Me, in the Holy Spirit through the intercession of the Blessed Mother with all the angels and saints and the souls in purgatory.

Your lives given as members of My mystical body can help to bring down great graces for the priest, the Church and the world.

 

Excerpt from Response in Christ - Chapter 4 by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J.

“How does the Christian help Christ redeem the world? (Henceforth the term “world” is to be understood as including both rational and nonrational creation.) As previously stated, the Christian helps Christ redeem the world by reliving Christ’s mysteries. The same “events” or mysteries which accomplished the objective redemption further the subjective redemption also. Since at the heart of Christ’s mysteries are His death and Resurrection, it is especially these that the Christian must relive. As the Christian dies mystically with Christ through loving conformity with the Father’s will, he rises with Christ to an ever greater share in the Resurrection, in the newness of life, in the life of grace. As the Christian in this manner relives the paschal mystery of Christ, he is accomplishing not only his own redemption, but he is also, in a mysterious yet real manner, helping Christ redeem the world.”

23 Years Ago

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

                May 20, 2014

                Jesus: Help Me spread Blue Book 11 to all –
                    to priests, sisters, lay people –
                    to people in adoration chapels –
                    Help me to spread the prayer chapters
                        of the Shepherds of Christ –
                    I will give abundant grace to those
                        who pray My prayers –

                Blue Book 11 - Shower of His Grace

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.

 

January 9, 1996

Spread the Consecration Cards to Children

R. We have rosary meditations for children, given from Jesus and Mary without messages. Mary is begging us to circulate these messages and consecration prayers to the children. The rosary meditations are being sent to you. The consecration cards are very simple consecrations for children.

 

 

April 2, 1996

Go into the Dark Night and Shine

Jesus: I do not call you to run from the darkness, but to go into the darkness and shine. Put your light on a lamp stand that it will shine to all in the house. Do not put your light under a bushel basket.

You are My lights I am sending out into the darkness. As you proceed ahead with My love in your heart you will be the light that lights up the darkness.

Go in where angels fear to tread. Take your hearts, filled with the fire of God’s love. Do not run from your foes - shower them with love.

I am Jesus. I walked among the beggar and the oppressed. All men are God’s children.

You are the children of light. You will shine in the darkness, but you must go in, in order to be seen. As the sun lights up the sky, the world will be lighted by hearts filled with My love.

Tuesday at Our Lady of the Woods
Before the Tabernacle

The Agony in the Garden

R. See the vastness of this universe. See the sky around us. See the light of day and the sun as it shines in the sky. See the darkness of the night and know that there is a power that puts this earth into this order – that lights the sky by day and it is there in the darkness of the night. Let us feel this around us, such comfort that we know that God is truly with us. Jesus truly present in this room in the tabernacle, the same as the day He walked the earth, the same as the day that He knelt in the garden and He remains with us, truly present with us because He loves us so much.

Let us quiet our hearts and feel the presence of God, truly present with us in this room. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit live in our graced baptized soul in a special way.

1. R. Why do we fear? Why do we fear when we see the power of the Almighty God? We see the brightness of the sun that blinds us, we know that God is with us. We know God controls our breath and our heartbeat, but we do not see. Our faith can grow weak. We see the sun come up and the sun go down and the darkness of the night. We see the snow as it covers the trees and we wonder from whence it comes. We know that the hand of God is in our lives. We can see this but our faith can be so weak. We know that, at any moment, that we could die, we do not control our breath and our heartbeat. Let us trust in God and be deeply united to Him.

Let us meditate on these mysteries of the rosary and in meditating on His Passion realize His immense love, that the Almighty God, with all His power and might came into this world and took on a human body for love of us. Jesus truly gave Himself and died on the cross that we could be saved. Let us meditate on His act of self-giving love and ask Him to help us to give ourselves in love to Him.

2. R. In His Divine knowing, God knew all things, at all time. He said to Peter that he would deny Him three times. He knew Judas would betray Him. We cannot comprehend the Divine mind. In the Garden Jesus knelt there and He knew all the sins of all men from all time in vivid detail every offense against God. He knew our deepest, bitter anger and the hatred in the hearts of men the division they gave into opposing God’s will. Jesus knew in deepest detail every sin of every man.

3. R. Jesus also saw before Him vividly all of the suffering that He would undergo to His death on the cross. All of the bloodshed, all of the offenses, the beatings, the whippings, and Jesus complied to the will of the Father and gave Himself to pay for the price of our sins.

4. R. We wish sometimes to have someone love us very deeply and we feel all alone. Jesus experienced every human emotion in the Garden and He said to the Apostles to come and to be with Him and they slept. Jesus said to them, ‘Can you not wait one hour with Me?’ They slept.

5. R. He cries out to us this day from the tabernacle and in these letters:

Jesus: Can you not wait one hour with Me? I love you so dearly, all through the day I am waiting as the ardent lover by your side, waiting for you to talk to Me. I am always with you, My beloved ones, at every moment. I am with you and I am waiting for you to talk to Me, to tell Me of your love. I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God and I am calling out to you this evening to open your heart and to listen to My words spoken. I want a love affair with you, My beloved ones. I want to be so close to you. I want to be one with you, to share My life with you, to share My love with you, to share all of your thoughts, all of the desires of your heart.

I am Jesus, I am the Almighty God. I know far better than you your every thought and every desire in your heart. I created the stars in the sky and the sun and the moon, for I am the Almighty God and you run from Me when I gave Myself for you.

6. Song: A Song from Jesus

7. R. Why do we fear? Why are we afraid? Why do we lack faith? Why do we not believe that the very hairs of our head are numbered and God is truly with us? I heard Him call out, “I am alive, I am alive, I am alive.” Why do we not hear this? When we see the snow-covered trees and we see the frost on the grass and we stay so focused in our little world and do not see the vastness and the sun in the sky and the moon and the stars in the sky at night! God is truly present and in this room and He lives in our hearts and we fear and feel so alone!

8. Jesus: My dear beloved ones, I am with you in your every thought and your every heartbeat. I want you to come to Mein the quietness of your room, in the quietness of your heart, and to tell Me of your love. I am there watching and guarding you always. You are never alone. In your darkest sin I am with you and I am waiting for you to tell Me you are sorry and tell Me of your love. I do not leave you.

9. R. Jesus saw before Him in the garden all the sins of all men from all time and He knew each deed in vivid detail. Jesus’ anguish was so great that He sweat blood but as He suffered so for the sins of men, He was comforted by the sweetness of our love that we give to Him today and He calls out to us and tells us to tell Him how much we love Him.

The Almighty God wants a love affair with us.

10. Song: Spirit Song

 

The Scourging at the Pillar

R. See Jesus bound and tied at the pillar. You see a man with brown hair tied and beaten, covered with blood, looking so weak as the angry men whipped Him harder and harder to their own exhaustion. Jesus, bound in a human body, but He is the Almighty God. How could any man bind the Almighty God? Jesus obeyed the will of the Father. The Almighty God comes to this earth and gives Himself for love of His creatures. Jesus could have, at any moment, stopped all this treatment for Jesus is the Almighty God.

1. R. God loves us so much that He gives us our freedom. We can chose to love Him or to reject Him. It is totally up to us. Because of His great love for us, He gives us a free will. We can decide if we will do the will of God. He is calling us in a special way to join in such oneness with His Heart and He wants a love affair with us. He wants tender moments during the day when we say in the quietness of our heart, Jesus, I love You so much. Jesus wants us to open up our eyes and to see the sky, to see the light by day and the dark by night, and to know that it is His love that surrounds us at every moment. Even though we do not see God, we know that He is there.

2. R. You must pray for grace to see with the eyes of God, to not be so focused on the little details that we miss the big picture that God is truly present and we should not fear for if we stay rooted in Him, if we stay one in Him, He lives in us and we are never alone.

3. Jesus: These are the words that I speak to you, My beloved ones, but you do not hear. You do not see through God’s eyes. You remain blind. I am the Almighty God. I say to the grass grow and the sun, shine, and the grass grows and the sun shines and I say to you, give Me your love but you turn away. I am God. I am your Creator. I call you to love God first and to love one another. I say to the grass grow and it grows. I say to the sun, shine and it shines and I tell a man to love and he hates many times. How I suffered for the sins of hatred in the hearts of men. You are created to know, love and serve God and to love each other. This is My command to you.

4. R. And God looks down from the heavens above and He sees man in all his wickedness. The Father wants us to love one another. The Father wants us to live as children of God in harmony. He commands us to love. God has called us to be the lights that will shine in the darkened world. Let us open our hearts that God may fill our hearts with His light.

5. Jesus: I tell you, My beloved ones to place your lamp on a lamp stand that it will shine to all in the house. I am the Almighty God. I am filling your hearts with My burning love and My light will shine from your faces to this darkened world. You have been called and you have been chosen. I am guarding your every step. You are My soldiers of love. As I stood, whipped at the pillar, I thought of you and the love in your hearts and it comforted Me during the bitter whippings that I received. I am Jesus. I love you with the deepest, burning love.

6. R. To shine in the darkness we must go into the darkness. We cannot cover our light with a bushel basket. We must go into the darkness and let our lights shine.

Jesus: When they persecute you and hate you, I beckon you, My dear ones, to love.

7. Jesus: Come to Me and I will fill you with My love and you will go out to spread this love. You cannot be self-focused, you must focus on giving love to others. You must take the risk and know that I am truly present, that you truly are My lights that will shine in the darkness, that you will comfort those who are weary and care for those that are hurting. You are My chosen ones.

8. R. And Jesus stood at the pillar and they whipped Him with instruments that tore His flesh and made Him bleed. This is the blood that He shed that we could be saved. Jesus is the Savior of the world.

9. Jesus: I am giving to you great graces to go out into the world and to be My apostles of love. Come to Me. I love you with the deepest burning love. See Me, My sweet ones, covered with blood and wounds – this is the love I have for you.

10. Hail Mary

Song: A Song from Jesus

 

The Crowning with Thorns

R. See Jesus crowned with thorns. See the thorns that go deeply into His precious head and the blood in His hair. Let us go to Jesus and kiss His wounded head and tell Him we love Him!

1. R. As He suffered so for the sins of men, He was comforted by our acts of love. Let us look into the eyes of Jesus as He sat on the mock throne. Let us look into His eyes as He suffered from the men that spit on Him. Let us look into His eyes and say, Jesus, I love You!

2. R. Let us stroke His hair, covered with blood, and tell Him that we are sorry for our sins and the sins of this world and we want to comfort Him in His bitter anguish.

3. R. Let us look closely at Jesus. Let us see how He sits there is such surrender. Jesus does not fight back, He does not argue and defend Himself. Jesus sits and surrenders and He is the Almighty God. He could have stopped the men at any second. He could have stopped them dead. Jesus could have caused fire to come down from the sky and to knock them to the ground, but He came to pay the price for our sins and He came to show us that His way is love and He is telling us this day that we will win the battle against evil in this world. We do not need to take up the sword and that the might of the Almighty God is more powerful than any weapons. He is the Almighty God that created the heavens and the earth, that keeps it in motion, that lives within our hearts, and is truly present, no less present than the day that He sat in the chair and was crowned with thorns and spit upon and He is in this room because He loves us. His words to us are simple: He wants a love affair with us. He wants us to go into this world and to spread His love in our actions, in our faces and in our eyes. Who will He send if we say “no”?

4. Jesus: You do not know the seeds that you plant, My sweet ones, through your actions. I live in this world today through you. My way is love, always love. I am love. Do not quarrel, do not argue. Look at the person and love them. See the hurt in their eyes and know that I am the Almighty God and I am loving you. You must look out at the others. Look into their hearts. See their fear and give them My comfort and My love and I will live in this cold world through you.

5. R. They spit on Him and He took it all. He came to show us His way and His way is love, but when He was crucified in the darkness His light shone brightest against the darkened sky. This is how it is with our acts. We may be spit on and persecuted but the love of God lives in the hearts of those that we comfort and treat kindly. Coldness in our hearts make our hearts cold.

6. R. And His light was the brightest light and He sat, covered with thorns and blood. If we looked into His eyes we would see Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Jesus’ light is brighter than the sun, brighter than any star, beyond anylight that we have ever seen. His light is the brightest light.

7. Hail Mary
8. Hail Mary
9. Hail Mary
10. Hail Mary

Song: You Are the Voice

 

The Carrying of the Cross

R. The Father looks to the earth and He sees us, His children, and He wants us to love each other. Jesus wants us to live in harmony – each one of us uniquely created. Only we can love this world the way that we can love the world. God is calling us to be as He wants us to be – this unique individual. No other person can do for this world what we can do. The Almighty God created us so special and so unique.

1. R. Jesus walked with a cross on His back. He could hardly move and He fell to the ground. How is your cross this day? Is the cross just living each moment, trying to love? This is what He calls us to: Jesus calls us to live according to the Father’s will and to love. It is a cross many times. God looks to see if we are loving and doing God’s will. This can be a cross. The cross is to love when others are cruel. The cross is to be calm and to know that God is there in every action that we perform, no matter how frustrating or how difficult it may seem. That this is a heroic action in God’s eyes, that we perform all of our actions in love, that this is holiness, that this is what will make us saints – to take the every day, ordinary actions and to perform them in love! Even when we have fallen to the ground and everything seems to be upside down, to go to God in our weakness and He will be our strength – this is the cross. These are our wounds that we carry on our back.

2. R. But Jesus, do You want me to fast? Do You want me to give up this treat? Jesus, do You want me to work and work and work?

Jesus says: I want you to love and do what the Father asks of you. I call you to love God above all things and to love each other. Love, love, love.

3. R. What is the job that God wants us to accomplish?

4. R. When we are backed up against a wall, we must surrender and give it to Jesus and do everything we do with love.

5. R. Jesus carried the heavy cross and He fell to the ground three times. He could hardly get up but He got up and He moved on.

6. Jesus: Are you spit on? Are you persecuted, My beloved ones? You are My hearts, My gentle loving hearts. I was spit on and I was persecuted but My Heart was on fire, filled with love. Do not let your hearts be cold.

7. Hail Mary

8. R. Mary’s heart was invisibly pierced as she looked into the eyes of her beloved Son and she saw Him covered with blood and wounded. She looked into His eyes and she saw His love for us and she calls out to us to look at her Son to see His love and to love Him.

9. Song: I Rocked Him as a Baby

R. Mary saw Him take His first step and Mary saw Him as He struggled to move His feet under the weight of the cross. His legs, breaking from the pain - and He says –

Jesus: Look into My eyes and see My love for you. I am calling out to you to go into this world that is suffering and to give My love to your brothers. They are your brothers. You are all children of God. You are My lights that will light up the darkened world but you must say yes. I am Jesus, I love you with the deepest love.

10. Song: I Rocked Him as a Baby

R. Look at the face of Jesus covered with blood and see the love that He has for us.

 

The Crucifixion

Song: God’s Love

R. Have you ever been caught in the embrace of the Almighty God, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit? Do you know what it is to be wrapped in an embrace of God’s Divine love? This is what our hearts yearn for. We were created for God, for His purpose for us and nothing on the face of this earth will satisfy our starved soul but God. To be caught in this embrace, to know the presence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is only to want more until we are satisfied in Heaven. God lifts the veil and gives us little glimpses of Himself and we fall to the ground in awe, for God truly is mightier than any sun, the sun that blinds us. God is the Creator of the sky, of the heavens and the earth and He wants a love affair with us.

1. R. Pray to be wrapped in God’s love. Let us see with the vision of God and pray for grace that we receive this vision, that we will see the big picture of the overall world, that we will see how truly dependent we are on God for our every breath, that we will fall to our knees and thank God for the gifts that He has given to us and tell Him we love Him.

2. R. And Jesus was raised high on a cross on Calvary and they pounded into His hands gigantic nails that went all the way through His hands and His feet and He hung to His death for three agonizing hours on a cross. Grace can be released on this world. Jesus paid a precious price for our sins.

3. R. We are human creatures and through Baptism God gives us a special sharing in His life. We can be filled with His life and His light. The price He paid was His blood. God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit live in the graced baptized soul.

4. Jesus: I come to you, My beloved ones. I want to come to you. I want you to love Me.

5. Jesus: Tell Me how you love Me. I outpour My grace to you when you ask Me. I fill your graced baptized soul more and more with My life in you!

6. R. Jesus gave Himself. Jesus gave His body and His blood for us and Jesus gives Himself to us today in the Holy Eucharist. Let us share in this love affair with God. We will share in this love affair depending on how we give ourselves to God. God wants to be more and more united to us.

7. R. Love is interaction between persons. Jesus gives Himself. In order to experience this deep love affair with Him we must give ourselves more and more to Him.

8. Jesus: I have come to you in a special way in this rosary. I have poured out My love to you, My dear ones. I am waitingfor your love. I want to share a special love affair with you. I am Jesus Christ, the Almighty God. I am calling you and I am giving you great graces to join deeper and deeper in this love relationship with Me. But you must surrender and come to Me. Look, My dear ones at the crucifix. This is the love that I give to you.

9. Jesus: Let your hearts be quieted. Let your hearts be filled with love. Do not fear. Pray for grace that you will not sin. There is no fear when you know I am with you.

Song: Be Not Afraid

Jesus: I give to you My peace. I give to you My love and I give to you My joy. I give you Myself. I am Jesus Christ, the Almighty God and I am with you at every moment. I am with you. You are My lights that will go into the darkness and I will live in you and shine to those that are troubled and in pain. I love through your arms. I kiss your heart. I am truly present and in this room in the Blessed Sacrament. I am giving you My kiss of love. I am a person and I am waiting for you.

10. Hail Mary

Sing: A Song from Jesus

R. A word from Fr. Carter on the Mass lived out.

From the Response in Christ by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J.

2) The Mass lived out

As the Christian lives out the Mass, he is consequently daily laboring with Christ in furthering the work of the subjective redemption. This is so because Christ’s sacrifice was a redemptive act, and the Church’s reliving of this act in the Mass is also redemptive. In this regard we must remember that the entire universe – not merely man – has been redeemed. The nonrational and rational world alike await the furthering of the redemption. St. Paul tells us: “From the beginning till now the entire creation, as we know, has been groaning in one great act of giving birth; and not only creation, but all of us who possess the first-fruits of the Spirit, we too groan inwardly as we wait for our bodies to be set free.” (Rm 8:22-23).

How does the Christian help Christ redeem the world? (Henceforth the term “world” is to be understood as including both rational and nonrational creation.) As previously stated, the Christian helps Christ redeem the world by reliving Christ’s mysteries. The same “events” or mysteries which accomplished the objective redemption further the subjective redemption also. Since at the heart of Christ’s mysteries are His death and Resurrection, it is especially these that the Christian must relive. As the Christian dies mystically with Christ through loving conformity with the Father’s will, he rises with Christ to an ever greater share in the Resurrection, in the newness of life, in the life of grace. As the Christian in this manner relives the paschal mystery of Christ, he is accomplishing not only his own redemption, but he is also, in a mysterious yet real manner, helping Christ redeem the world.

Although Christ’s life was summed up in death/resurrection, it also included various other “events” or mysteries. Each of these in its own manner contributed to the redemption. So it is with the Christian’s life. His participation in Christ’s death-resurrection must be “broken down” into the other mysteries of Christ’s life.

The Christian must always remember that he carries away from the Mass not only the Christ of the death and the Resurrection, but also, for example, the Christ of the hidden life and the Christ of the public life. As the Christian lives out his Mass in the exercise of his Christ-life, all these various mysteries should therefore be present.

Before we give examples of how the Christian can relive these saving events of Christ’s life, it is well that we first distinguish the two different levels on which the Christian assimilates the mystery of Christ.

Christ, through His death and Resurrection, has transformed us. This transformation is a “new creation,” a new life of grace. Through our baptism we are initiated into this life and consequently we exist as new creatures. As long as we possess the life of sanctifying grace, which is our share in the mystery of Christ, we are living according to this new existence whether or not this life here and now incarnates itself in a concrete, supernatural act. In this sense the life of grace, the “new creation,” is fundamental, radical and transcendent, a share in the transcendent holiness or mystery of God Himself. . . .

Christ did not lead only a hidden life, but a public life also. All vocations within the Church are likewise called upon to reproduce this part of Christ’s life in some manner. One aspect of Christ’s public life that should be common to all Christian vocations is the selflessness, the constant concern and love for others which Christ constantly and vividly displayed. This concern for others cost Christ much in fatigue of body and mind. Nevertheless, He continuously gave Himself completely to others. . . .

St. Paul sums up the redemptive work of Christ under the mysteries of death-resurrection.38 These are the principal mysteries which the Christian must assimilate from the eucharistic liturgy and reproduce in his own life. More and more the Christian spiritual life is being considered as a process of death-resurrection. It is obvious why this is so, for if Christ’s entire life was summed up in His death-resurrection, so also is that of His members . . . .

Each Christian, according to God’s plan for him, must have a vital and dynamic desire to help Christianize the whole world. Perhaps he can do very little through direct, external apostolate. But his prayers and sacrifices – indeed, his entire life – can touch the whole world. Through an intense Christian life the individual can help Christ further the redemption of the family, the business world, the social structure and the like. The Christian is called to have this deep desire: to see the whole universe imprinted with the name of Christ. How true it is to say that the Christian’s vocation, rooted in the liturgy, calls for deep involvement in this sacred activity.41

In schematic outline we have discussed the manner in which the baptized Christian extends his Mass to his daily existence. As he so lives out his Mass, he is becoming more Christlike. He becomes a more perfect priest and victim for his next participation in the eucharistic sacrifice.42 The beautiful cycle which the Mass contains lies exposed before us. As part of this cycle the Christian is intimately involved in the process of continued redemption. The Mass is the center of the Christian life: “. . . the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the fount from which all her power flows.” 43

38. Cf. L. Cerfaux, Christ in the Theology of St. Paul (New York: Herder & Herder, 1959), pp. 190-192.
41. Cf. Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Church, No. 36.
42. For a current treatment of the varied richness of the Eucharist, cf. J. Wicks, “The Movement of Eucharistic Theology” in Chicago Studies, Vol. 10 (1971), pp. 267-284.
43. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, No. 10.