R. We have one life to live. We are
                here to please God and to help in
                the work of redemption. God is
                our light and our salvation –
                We thirst after God – When God
                is for us – who can be against us.
                We are either working according to
                God's rule of love and forgiveness
                and building His Kingdom
                or tearing it down and the man tearing
                it down and walking in darkness,
                blindness, deafness to God's will –
                lives more and more with a hard,
                untrusted heart. They are not faithful
                to their calling to spread the Good News –
                which is God is love – God loves us!
               
                    Our lives must be focused
                on eternal salvation and dwelling
                in the house of the Lord eternally –

                    His rule is love and forgiveness
                and mercy – Only the loving will
                inherit heaven – God is love –
                There is perfect unity and love in
                heaven. We are here to prepare
                our hearts for this everlasting
                banquet.

                    We gaze on the loveliness of God.
                We wait on the Lord, we adore the Lord,
                we obey His precepts to love our
                neighbor as ourselves. Love those
                God has called us to work with –
                the goal is eternal salvation.

 

Matthew 9: 27-31

As Jesus went on his way two blind men followed him shouting, ‘Take pity on us, son of David.’ And when Jesus reached the house the blind men came up to him and he said to them, ‘Do you believe I can do this?’ They said, ‘Lord, we do.’ Then he touched their eyes saying, ‘According to your faith, let it be done to you.’ And their sight returned. Then Jesus sternly warned them, ‘Take care that no one learns about this.’ But when they had gone away, they talked about him all over the countryside.

 

                R. God is forgiving when we seek Him
                and ask for forgiveness and His
                mercy and have a firm purpose of
                amendment to sin no more. The hard
                of heart may see no sin of their own –
                they are blind and fool themselves. They
                can be in denial of their wrong doing and
                continue their vices growing ever darker
                in their evil. God commands us to love
                Him with our whole heart, our whole
                soul and our whole being and
                love our neighbor as ourselves

 

Reference: Philippians 3: 20-21

                R. Father we thirst after You –
                We seek You and want to live
                to help ourselves to reach heaven
                and help in the work of redemption –
                helping our brothers in getting
                to heaven is loving them in
                a great way – love is building
                the Kingdom of God –
                not walking in selfish blindness
                with a hard heart –

                Dear God, teach us to live by Your
                    wisdom. Teach us to have the
                    joy of a generous and loving
                    heart.
                    Help us to know more and more
                    insight into the mystery
                    of Your love. God loved us even
                    when we were sinners,
                    He still loved us – This is love.
                    Jesus died for our sins.

                We work for Christ and the building of
                His Kingdom, but we can be so
                blind we may miss the splinter
                in our eye and be hurting others
                to maintain our space and
                selfishness. Satan whispers in
                the ears, while the deaf man doesn't
                hear the voice of Christ telling
                us to love and work with the
                brothers He puts in our path.

                    Open our hearts Lord, that we will see
                through the eyes of God the Father
                and thirst after His will for us. God
                the Father, You sent Your Son Jesus,
                our Savior, that we could be set free.
                We can ignore You and walk in
                darkness and blindness and
                deafness with a hard heart.

                    God calls us to cry out and
                recognize our sins and ask for
                forgiveness. The hard hearts
                walk in darkness and do not see
                their sins – They sin and bring down
                darkness and refuse to see the
                hardness and hatred in their hearts.

                    We see in this scripture how
                God listens and helps the man
                who asks for forgiveness for their
                sins.

 

Isaiah 30: 19-21, 23-26

Yes, people of Zion living in Jerusalem,
you will weep no more.
He will be gracious to you when your cry for help rings out;
as soon as he hears it, he will answer you.
When the Lord has given you the bread of suffering
and the water of distress,
he who is your teacher will hide no longer,
and you will see your teacher with your own eyes.
Your ears will hear these words behind you,
'This is the way, keep to it,' whether you turn to right or left.

He will send rain for the seed you sow in the ground,
and the bread that the ground provides will be rich and nourishing.
That day, your cattle will graze in wide pastures.
Oxen and donkeys that work the land
will eat for fodder wild sorrel,
spread by the shovel-load and fork-load.
On every lofty mountain, on every high hill
there will be streams and water-courses, on the day of the great slaughter
when the strongholds fall.
Then moonlight will be bright as sunlight
and sunlight itself be seven times brighter
-like the light of seven days in one-
on the day Yahweh dresses his people's wound
and heals the scars of the blows they have received."

 

                R. A man who longs for God is a
                    happy man – he lives to love
                    God and others and he praises
                    God because God deserves praise and love.
                    The selfish man lives in the hard heart
                    and refuses to give to others, his
                    energies become that of holding
                    back love and giving hatred
                    to his fellow men – It becomes
                    harder and harder for him to
                    even see his darkness because
                    of his sin in his unloving ways.

                God heals the broken-hearted and
                    heals their wounds - when they
                    come to Him in humility and
                    truth and love –

                God knows – God is all knowing –
                    God is Divinely Just –
                    God gives forgiveness and mercy
                        to those who come with
                        a penitent heart and
                        ask to be forgiven –

                The hard of heart He thwarts as they
                    bring hatred down on the just man.

 

Matthew 9: 35

Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing all kinds of disease and all kinds of illness. 

 

Matthew 10: 1, 6-8

He summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to drive them out and to cure all kinds of disease and all kinds of illness. 

go instead to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those suffering from virulent skin–diseases, drive out devils. You received without charge, give without charge.

 

                R. God is merciful to the man who
                    comes in humility asking
                    for forgiveness of their sins
                    and sorry for what they have
                    done to bring hatred and
                    anger on others.

                Sin is selfishness.
                Sin is putting oneself before God.

                Christmas is the birthday of our Savior.

                Jesus: The proud and angry that
                    punish and hate and refuse
                    to stop it and admit their
                    error – I spit from My mouth –
                    Seek virtue and not vice –
                    Be truthful and come in
                    humility to ask for forgiveness
                    for your unloving ways –

                Seek mercy and with a heart
                    contrite and penitent seek
                    forgiveness for your hard heart
                    and unloving ways, for deception
                    where you added lies to
                    the world and hurt your brothers –
                    beg to be forgiven and your
                    heavenly Father who is
                    merciful will see your
                    sincerity. Desire to make amends and
                    ask forgiveness for your sins. I give you
                    the Mass to ask to be forgiven of your
                    venial sins, I give you confession
                    for your mortal sins –

                You were created in My image
                    and likeness – I am love –
                    live a life of love, of virtue,
                    of truth – to witness to the
                    truth before men and live
                    as your heavenly Father intended
                    you to live – in love and joy
                    in Him. Unite yourselves more
                    and more to Me – dwell in My Heart
                    and ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and
                    give you His gifts to live according
                    to the Father's will in love. I am
                    God, I am love. Live with a
                    humble, truthful heart. Seek
                    to live the will of My heavenly Father.

                Dear God, free us from our sins, help
                    us to be holy.

                The incarnation goes on in us.

                In Isaiah we see the return
                    the captivity.

 

Isaiah 35: 1-10

Let the desert and the dry lands 
    be glad, 
let the wasteland rejoice and bloom; 
like the asphodel, let it burst into flower, 
let it rejoice and sing for joy. 
The glory of Lebanon is bestowed on it, 
the splendour of Carmel and Sharon; 
then they will see the glory of Yahweh, 
the splendour of our God. 
Strengthen all weary hands, 
steady all trembling knees 
and say to the faint–hearted, 
‘Be strong! Do not be afraid. 
Here is your God, 
vengeance is coming, 
divine retribution; 
he is coming to save you.’ 
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, 
the ears of the deaf unsealed, 
then the lame will leap like a deer 
and the tongue of the dumb sing for joy; 
for water will gush in the desert 
and streams in the wastelands,
the parched ground will become a marsh 
and the thirsty land springs of water; 
the lairs where the jackals used to live 
will become plots of reed and papyrus. 

And through it will run a road for them 
    and a highway 
which will be called the Sacred Way; 
the unclean will not be allowed to use it; 
He will be the one to use this road, 
the fool will not stray along it. 
No lion will be there, 
no ferocious beast set foot on it, 
nothing of the sort be found; 
it will be used by the redeemed.
For those whom Yahweh has ransomed 
    will return, 
they will come to Zion shouting for joy, 
their heads crowned with joy unending; 
rejoicing and gladness will escort them 
and sorrow and sighing will take flight.

 

                Sing: Save Us Oh Lord

                R. Jesus healed the crippled –
                Jesus healed the blind, the deaf,
                Jesus forgave sins; Jesus restored
                the suffering to health and joy.

                We are to imitate Christ. We see
                the suffering Jesus. We know that
                we have joy from being united
                to Christ, but we suffer in the
                perils of this life. God wants
                us to come and to be delivered
                from the captivity of sin in
                our lives. We have a free will –
                we can have a hard, prideful heart
                or we can walk in the truth and
                ask God to help us to be holy
                and forgive our sins.

                    Jesus is the Good Shepherd –
                He leads us, but if we do not
                listen to His voice, we will
                not hear what He says. God
                gives us strength to fight off
                temptation, but we must seek Him
                and want the Father's will.

                    There will be an Era of Peace –
                Mary said at Fatima

 

Excerpt from The Spirituality of Fatima by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J.

July 13, 1917

    But in the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph, the Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, Russia will be converted, and a certain period of peace will be granted to the world. ⁽¹³⁾   

13. For background material on Fatima, I am particularly indebted to Our Lady of Fatima's Peace Plan from Heaven  (Rockford: TAN Books and Publishers, Inc., 1983).

 

                R. The Shepherds of Christ Movement is to
                    help bring this Era of the Two Hearts
                    of Greatest Love:
                    Spreading prayer chapters,
                    The Priestly Writing
                    Prayers, Blue Books, Mass Books,
                        Rosary Books, Apostles of the
                        Eucharistic Heart of Jesus.

   

7 levels of commitment of the Shepherds of Christ

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

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

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

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

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

   2. For the Pope.

   3. For all bishops of the world.

   4. For all priests.

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

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

   7. For all members of the Catholic Church.

   8. For all members of the human family.

   9. For all souls in purgatory.

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

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

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

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

 

                Sing: Prepare in the Wilderness
                    a Highway for Our Lord
 

1 Corinthians 4: 5

For that reason, do not judge anything before the due time, until the Lord comes; he will bring to light everything that is hidden in darkness and reveal the designs of all hearts. Then everyone will receive from God the appropriate commendation.