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June 17, 2003
June 18th Holy Spirit Novena
Scripture selection is Day 9 Period I.The Novena Rosary Mystery
for June 18th is Sorrowful.
A Prayer for Intimacy with the Lamb
the Bridegroom of the soul
Oh Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, come and act on my soul most intimately. I surrender myself, as I ask for the grace to let go, to just be as I exist in You and You act most intimately on my soul. You are the Initiator. I am the soul waiting Your favors as You act in me. I love You. I adore You. I worship You. Come and possess my soul with Your Divine Grace, as I experience You most intimately.
Sidney Rosary from
June 17, 2003
will be replayed on Friday
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June 17, 2003
Messenger: We are at war.
It is a spiritual war.
God is our Father.
Mary is our spiritual Mother.
Excerpt of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius,
by Louis J. Puhl, S.J.
328. RULES FOR DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS
II
Further rules for understanding the different movements produced in the soul. They serve for a more accurate discernment of spirits and are more suitable for the second week
329. I. It is characteristic of God and His Angels, when they act upon the soul, to give true happiness and spiritual joy, and to banish all the sadness and disturbances which are caused by the enemy.
It is characteristic of the evil one to fight against such happiness and consolation by proposing fallacious reasonings, subtilties, and continual deceptions.330. 2. God alone can give consolation to the soul without any previous cause. It belongs solely to the Creator to come into a soul, to leave it, to act upon it, to draw it wholly to the love of His Divine Majesty. I said without previous cause, that is, without any preceding perception or knowledge of any subject by which a soul might be led to such a consolation through its own acts of intellect and will.
331. 3. If a cause precedes, both the good angel and the evil spirit can give consolation to a soul, but for a quite different purpose. The good angel consoles for the progress of the soul, that it may advance and rise to what is more perfect. The evil spirit consoles for purposes that are the contrary, and that afterwards he might draw the soul to his own perverse intentions and wickedness.
332. 4. It is a mark of the evil spirit to assume the appearance of an angel of light. He begins by suggesting thoughts that are suited to a devout soul, and ends by suggesting his own. For example, he will suggest holy and pious thoughts that are wholly in conformity with the sanctity of the soul. Afterwards, he will endeavor little by little to end by drawing the soul into his hidden snares and evil designs.
333. 5. We must carefully observe the whole course of our thoughts. If the beginning and middle and end of the course of thoughts are wholly good and directed to what is entirely right, it is a sign that they are from the good angel. But the course of thoughts suggested to us may terminate in something evil, or distracting, or less good than the soul had formerly proposed to do. Again, it may end in what weakens the soul, or disquiets it; or by destroying the peace, tranquility, and quiet which it had before, it may cause disturbance to the soul. These things are a clear sign that the thoughts are proceeding from the evil spirit, the enemy of our progress and eternal salvation.
334. 6. When the enemy of our human nature has been detected and recognized by the trail of evil marking his course and by the wicked end to which he leads us, it will be profitable for one who has been tempted to review immediately the whole course of the temptation. Let him consider the series of good thoughts, how they arose, how the evil one gradually attempted to make him step down from the state of spiritual delight and joy in which he was, till finally he drew him to his wicked designs. The purpose of this review is that once such an experience has been understood and carefully observed, we may guard ourselves for the future against the customary deceits of the enemy.
335. 7. In souls that are progressing to greater perfection, the action of the good angel is delicate, gentle, delightful. It may be compared to a drop of water penetrating a sponge.
The action of the evil spirit upon such souls is violent, noisy, and disturbing. It may be compared to a drop of water falling upon a stone.
In souls that are going from bad to worse, the action of the spirits mentioned above is just the reverse. The reason for this is to be sought in the opposition or similarity of these souls to the different kinds of spirits. When the disposition is contrary to that of the spirits, they enter with noise and commotion that are easily perceived. When the disposition is similar to that of the spirits, they enter silently, as one coming into his own house when the doors are open.336. 8. When consolation is without previous cause, as was said, there can be no deception in it, since it can proceed from God our Lord only. But a spiritual person who has received such a consolation must consider it very attentively, and must cautiously distinguish the actual time of the consolation from the period which follows it. At such a time the soul is still fervent and favored with the grace and aftereffects of the consolation which has passed. In this second period the soul frequently forms various resolutions and plans which are not granted directly by God our Lord. They may come from our own reasoning on the relations of our concepts and on the consequences of our judgments, or they may come from the good or evil spirit. Hence, they must be carefully examined before they are given full approval and put into execution.
end of excerpt of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius
June 17, 2003 message continues
Messenger: St. Ignatius says in the spiritual exercises:
"Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul."
June 17, 2003 message continues
Messenger: We
must use the things of this earth
to help us attain this goal.
We should want God's will, whatever
that is.
We pray for grace, all day to serve
and honor our God.
Many of us have committed sins that have
effected others, shown bad example,
hurt children's lives etc. We must not
hide the truth from ourselves or dwell on
being guilty for forgiven sins, but strive
to make reparation to God for our offenses
against Him and not give into pride to act like
we are sinless.
We don't have to dwell on our sins and tell
everyone, we must be truthful and humble
and beg God for the grace to grow in greater
holiness. Secrets to ourselves about ourselves
can keep us stuck.
Living in community we have a wonderful
opportunity to pray for God's grace to live
to be more perfected like Jesus.
We can also give into satan.
We can be prideful.
We can act like we are perfect.
We can lie about our faults and try to dump
our baggage on others or
we can pray for grace to be as God wants us to be.
"Bend the stubborn heart and will"
Psalm 141: 3-4
Yahweh, mount a guard over my mouth, a guard at the door of my lips. Check any impulse to speak evil, to share the foul deeds of evil–doers. I shall not sample their delights!
June 17, 2003 message continues
Messenger: Oh
God create in me a clean heart, don't
let me focus on other's faults, but look at
my own and strive for greater holiness.
We are the brides of Christ.
How is our wedding dress.
Jesus speaks: Quit acting like you are so perfect.
Do all your actions for the honor and glory
of God.
Do not give into satan.
You waste so much time accomplishing
My work because you give into
pride and jealousy.
All must work as one, in love, according
to My will.
June 17, 2003
Messenger: Mary is Mother of the Spiritual Life.
Ignatius gives us the spiritual exercises.
Mary is Mother of Our Christ-life.
Mary is the Mother of our Christ-life, this life which flows to us from the bosom of the Father, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit. Pope John Paul II beautifully links Mary's spiritual motherhood toward us with her being Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church, and Model of the Church. "Mary is present in the Church as the Mother of Christ, and at the same time as the Mother whom Christ, in the mystery of the Redemption, gave to humanity in the person of the Apostle John. Thus, in her new motherhood in the Spirit, Mary embraces each and every one in the Church, and embraces each and every one through the Church. In this sense, Mary, Mother of the Church, is also the Church's model. Indeed, as Paul VI hopes and asks: the Church must draw 'from the Virgin Mother of God the most authentic form of perfect imitation of Christ.'" (10)
10. Pope John Paul II, The Mother of the Redeemer, United States Catholic Conference, No. 38.
Rita Ring writes: "Mary is always desiring to bring forth her children to a greater Christ likeness. It is through Mary that we join in deepest intimacy with Jesus' Heart. Jesus came into this world in the womb of His Mother through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is today, in the womb of Mary, in the heart of Mary, that we are transformed through the Holy Spirit more and more to the likeness of Jesus. Let us go to the heart of our Mother and ask the Holy Spirit to increasingly sanctify us that we may go ever more deeply into the Heart of Jesus, the Heart of endless love. We do not fully comprehend the love of God. We are so limited in our vision. We do not fully know how Jesus' Heart is truly burning and on fire. Do we know what it is to feel love burning in our heart? This is what Jesus felt when He allowed Himself to suffer during His Passion and to die on the cross. His Heart was on fire."7
Newsletter November/December 1996
(Mary appeared in Clearwater)The Heart of Mary
Pope John-Paul II gives us these inspiring words: "Be blessed above all things,
Handmaid of the Lord, who obeyed the Divine Call in the fullest way! Be greeted, you who united yourself entirely with your Son's redemptive consecration! Mother of the Church! Enlighten the People of God on the way of faith, hope and charity! Help us to live with all the truth of the consecration of Christ for the entire human family in the contemporary world. By entrusting, O Mother, the world, all individuals and all peoples to you, we also entrust to you the very consecration of the world, putting it in your Maternal Heart.
"O, Immaculate Heart! Help us to overcome the threat of evil, which so easily takes root in the hearts of men today and, with the incommensurable effects, already weighs upon our contemporary existence and seems to close the way toward the future.
"Free us from hunger and war! From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction, from every kind of war, free us! From the sin against the life of man at its dawning, free us! From the hatred and debasement of the children of God, free us! From every kind of injustice, national and international, free us! From the ease treading down God's commandments, free us! From sins against the Holy Spirit, free us! Free us!
Receive, O Mother of Christ, this cry charged with the sufferings of all mankind! Charged with the suffering of entire societies. Reveal yourself once again, in the story of the world, to be merciful! May this cry halt evil! May it transform consciences!
May the light of hope, reveal itself to all in your Immaculate Heart! Amen".14
NOTES:
14. Pope John-Paul II, Prayers and Devotions, edited by Bishop Peter Canisuis Johannes van Lierde, O.S.A., Viking, pp. 357-358.end of excerpts Newsletter November/December 1996
Newsletter May/June 1997
The Heart of Christ, the Heart of Mary
Pope John Paul II speaks to us movingly concerning the Heart of Christ: "The Heart of the Redeemer enlivens the whole Church and draws men who have opened their hearts 'to the inscrutable wealth' of this unique Heart....
"I desire in a special way to join spiritually with all those who inspire their human hearts from this Divine Heart. It is a numerous family. Not a few congregations, associations and communities live and develop in the Church, taking their vital energy in a programmed way from the Heart of Christ. This spiritual bond always leads to a great reawakening of apostolic zeal. Adorers of the Divine Heart become people with sensitive consciences. And when it is given to them to have a relationship with the Heart of our Lord and Master, then need also reawakens in them to do reparation for the sins of the world, for the indifference of so many hearts, for their negligence.
"How necessary these ranks of vigilant hearts are in the Church, so that the love of the Divine Heart shall not remain isolated and without response! In these ranks, special mention deserves to be made of all those who offer up their sufferings as living victims in union with the Heart of Christ pierced on the cross. Transformed in that way by love, human suffering becomes a particular leaven of Christ's saving work in the Church...
"The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus reminds us, above all, of those moments when this Heart was 'pierced by the lance,' and, thereby, opened in a visible manner to man and the world. By reciting the litany and venerating the Divine Heart in general, we learn the mystery of the Redemption in all its divine and human profundity."
And the Pope also speaks to us about the heart of Mary: "The Immaculate Heart of Mary was open to the word, 'Woman, there is your son.' It went to meet spiritually the Heart of the Son opened by the soldier's lance. The heart of Mary was opened by the same love for man and for the world with which Christ loved man and the world, offering up himself on the cross, even to that lance stroke from the soldier.
"Consecrating the world to the Immaculate heart of Mary means approaching the same Source of Life, through the Mother's Intercession, that life which flowed forth from Golgatha, the source which gushes out ceaselessly with redemption and grace. Reparation for the sins of the world is continually being accomplished in it. It is ceaselessly the font of new life and holiness.
"Consecrating the world to the Immaculate Heart of the Mother means returning under the Cross of the Son. More: it means consecration of this world to the pierced Heart of the Savior, by bringing the world back to the very source of its Redemption. Redemption is always greater than man's sin and 'the sin of the world.' The power of Redemption infinitely surpasses the whole range of evil in man and in the world."The Heart of the Mother is aware of it, more than anyone in the whole cosmos, visible and invisible. This is why she calls. She does not call only to conversion; she also calls upon us to let ourselves be helped by her, the Mother, to return to the source of the Redemption."4
NOTES:
4. Pope John Paul II. Prayers and Devotions, edited by Bishop Peter Canuis Johannes Van Lierde, Viking, pp. 449-451.end of excerpt Newsletter May/June 1997
Shepherds of Christ Priestly Newsletter 1998 Issue #4
Fr. Maurice de la Taille, S.J., formerly professor of Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and a universally recognized authority on the Mass, points out the great importance of personal holiness in the Church relative to the effectiveness of the Eucharistic sacrifice: "It is, then, of greatest importance that there should be in the Church many holy, many very holy persons. Devout people, men and woman, who should be urged by every means to higher sanctity, so that through them the value of our Masses may be increased and the tireless voice of the Blood of Christ, crying from the earth, may ring with greater clearness and insistence in the ears of God. His Blood cries on the altars of the Church, but, since it cries through us, it follows that the warmer the heart, the purer the lips, the more clearly will its cry be heard at the Throne of God. Would you wish to know why for so many years after the first Pentecost the Gospel was so marvelously propagated; why there was so much sanctity amongst the Christian people; why such purity in heart and mind, such charity, the sum of all perfections? You will find the answer when you recall that in those times the Mother of God was still on earth giving her precious aid in all the Masses celebrated by the Church, and you will cease to wonder that never since has there been such expansion of Christianity, and such spiritual progress."7
If all, then, have a responsibility to grow in holiness in order to render the Mass more efficacious, the priest has a special duty to do so. His goal must always be to grow in holiness--to grow in union with Christ the priest, this Christ Who leads us to the Father in the Holy Spirit with Mary at our side.
- Let us continue to build upon the thought of Fr. de la Taille. He states that the Masses which took place while Our Blessed Mother was still upon earth were extraordinarily effective because of her great holiness.
We can, therefore, make our own participation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice much more effective by striving to develop within us those dispositions of Mary which she brought to her own participation in the Eucharist sacrifice while she was upon earth.
Let us ask Mary to help us participate in the Eucharistic sacrifice as perfectly as possible. She is the perfect model for us in the putting on of Christ crucified and Christ glorified. Mary has been given great insight into how one is to participate more and more in Christ's paschal mystery of death and resurrection, this paschal mystery which becomes sacramentally present upon our altars at the Eucharistic sacrifice.
Mary is the Sorrowful Mother who has cried. She is also the one who is totally wrapped in victory as she stands above the altar of sacrifice. Mary is the Lady of Victory, the Lady of Peace and Joy, the Lady Clothed with the Sun. Through her Immaculate Heart she brings the crying children of Eve into greater light so that grace will flow in great torrents from the altars of sacrifice.
Let us pray that we ourselves will contribute more and more in helping the waters of salvation flow more copiously from our altars to the thirsty earth.
As we have indicated, the fruitfulness of each Mass depends greatly on the holiness of the priest offering the Eucharistic sacrifice. An aspect of the priest's holiness is his coming to the altar with that presence of being which allows him to have the greatest appreciation of the awesome event which is to take place. The priest attains the proper presence at the Mass proportionate to his oneness with Christ. In turn, his oneness with Jesus is in proportion to his union with Mary. For it is Mary's God-given role to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in producing the deepening of the image of Jesus within us. Consequently, the more one is united to Mary, the more the Holy Spirit, Whose spouse Mary is, forms us in Christ.
Besides having a duty to grow in appreciation of the greatness of the Mass himself, the priest has a great privilege and responsibility to teach the faithful how to participate more fruitfully in the Mass. Many seem to come to the Mass knowing little regarding the greatness of the event about to occur. Many seem to come to the altar lacking in that proper knowledge and proper overall disposition which would allow for a proper participation in the Eucharistic sacrifice.
In childlike trust, let us ask the Father to grant us through Christ and in the Holy Spirit with the assistance of Mary our Mother, ever greater knowledge and love of the Eucharist: "At that time Jesus exclaimed, 'I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." (Mt 11:25-27)7. Maurice de la Taille, S.J., The Mystery of Faith: Book 2, "The Sacrifice of the Church", translated by Joseph Carroll and P.J. Dalton, Sheed & Ward, p. 240.
Shepherds of Christ Priestly Newsletter 1998 Issue #1
Here are words of Fr. Angelo Amato, S.D.B., professor of theology at the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome: "The maternal presence of Mary in our life is not a Catholic invention or an exaggeration of the popular piety, but a biblical reality found in the heart of the Trinitarian mystery of salvation…Mary is the creature chosen by God to become the Mother of His beloved Son. The presence of Mary in the mystery of Christ and of the Church is not therefore optional or cosmetic, but theological and soteriological…
"For this reason among Protestants, too, there exist today representative figures who are trying to recover the biblical figure of Mary, as well as the ecclesial tradition condensed, for example, in the four Marian dogmas. We mention, among others, authors like Henry Chavannes, John Macquarry with his recent book, ‘Mary for all Christians’, Ulrich Wickert…
"And today, more than ever, is valid the affirmation made by John H. Newman (1801-1890) in 1865: ‘Exactly those nations and lands that got rid of the devotion to the Mother of God, have lost faith in Christ’s divinity; while those lands which were faithful to Mary, have conserved Orthodoxy’."10
10. Fr. Angelo Amato, SDB, as in Alliance of the Two Hearts, Two Hearts Media Organization, pp. 141-142.
Shepherds of Christ Priestly Newsletter 1998 Issue 1
In his homily at the World Youth Day Mass in Paris, Pope John Paul II put forth these words on the Eucharist: "‘Rabbi, where are you staying?’ Each day the Church responds: Christ is present in the eucharist, in the sacrament of his death and resurrection. In and through the eucharist you acknowledge the dwelling place of the living God in human history. For the eucharist is the sacrament of the love which conquers death. It is the sacrament of the covenant, pure gift of love for the reconciliation of all humanity. It is the gift of the real presence of Jesus the redeemer…Thanks to the eucharist, constantly renewed among all the peoples of the world, Christ continues to build his church: He brings us together in praise and thanksgiving for salvation, in the communion which only infinite love can forge. Our worldwide gathering now takes on its fullest meaning, through the celebration of the Mass. For Christ is now answering your own question and the questions of all those who seek the living God. He answers by offering an invitation: This is my body, take it and eat. To the Father he entrusts his supreme desire: that all those whom he loves may be one in the same communion."11
The Holy Father offers us further words on the Eucharist. Speaking of Mary, he tells us: "Her motherhood is particularly noted and experienced by the Christian people at the Sacred Banquet—the liturgical celebration of the mystery of the Redemption—at which Christ, his true body born of the Virgin Mary, becomes present.
"The piety of the Christian people has always rightly sensed a profound link between devotion to the Blessed Virgin and worship of the Eucharist: this is the fact that can be seen in the liturgy of both the West and the East, in the traditions of the Religious Families, in the modern movements of spirituality, including those for youth, and in the pastoral practice of the Marian Shrines. Mary guides the faithful to the Eucharist."12
11. Pope John Paul II, "Homily", as in Origins, CNS Documentary Service, Sep. 4, 1997, Vol 27, No. 12, p. 190.12. Pope John Paul II, The Mother of the Redeemer, United States Catholic Conference, No. 44.
Shepherds of Christ Priestly Newsletter 1998 Issue 1
Here are certain reflections from a spiritual journal. Notice how Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and Mary enter into the person’s experience:
"Well, the night was black, as black as black could be and the cold pierced my bones. I felt its chill go through my entire body and I wanted to scream and it happened—He gave me an outpouring of His life in my soul and my darkness was truly turned to light, another light, not the light of the eyes, a light of knowing God, the joy of beholding His heavenly embrace, the great illumination of another mystery. Oh such sweet gifts He gives when, in an instant, I pray my rosary and the Holy Spirit fills my heart with lights and the mystery lights up and I know, I just know, and I experience a great insight into God.
"This is the reason for this letter, for I laid on my bed and I wanted to cry and I was deeply afraid for the demons pressed in as rocks poking at me and hurting my precious skin. I laid in bed and I went into the womb of my Mother Mary and I asked for the Holy Spirit to flood me with His light and it came: death-resurrection, darkness-light, sorrow-joy, suffering and pain, but oh, the joy of His light, the joy of His glory. It is in the death there is the resurrection.
"So, I walk the road to Calvary. I mount the cross and I die. I offer sacrifice and in the morning when the night is done I see the glory of the resurrection. I experience His joy in my heart.
"So I went to bed and went into the womb of my Mother Mary and the Holy Spirit flooded me with light and I united deeply to my precious Jesus on the cross. I know Him and His love. I reminisced on all the places of deepest intimacy I had shared with Him and my heart burned. I wanted Him to be so close to me, and I loved Him so much. I cried out, ‘I love you, I love you, I love you.’ In that moment I knew Him. He had removed my bonds and set me free. I then knew Jesus as never before.
"I felt my great love for God the Father. I have been experiencing my littleness as a child and knowing my Father, seeing myself very little and knowing my Father and wanting as a little child to please Him. Then tonight I realized more His Fatherly love. I saw myself depending on Him, needing Him, crying to Him, loving Him and then I realized His might and love coming to me.
"So I knew in an instant. He gives you a light and you know. I experienced the Trinity. My heart was consumed. I was engulfed in the love of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I stopped to be in the embrace, wanting it to never end, for in this embrace I felt peace, a peace I had not felt before, so different from the days that had proceeded this moment, the days of suffering and trial.
"I mounted the cross. I felt the nails press deeply into my hands and feet. I felt the crown of thorns on my head. I said to Him, "Oh, why, my God, if you love me, do you make it so hard?
"And then I pictured Jesus on the cross. I saw His mouth with blood running from the corner of it. I saw the body of one close to death. I saw His wounds, blistery and red, pouring out His precious blood. I saw the hollowness of His cheeks and the exhaustion of one ready to expire in death. I saw the anguishing Lord Who came to show us His way. His way is death and resurrection. His way is pain and glory. His way is the way to eternal life!"
Shepherds of Christ Priestly Newsletter 1999 Issue 4
St. Louis de Montfort has been one of the greatest apostles regarding devotion to Mary. Here are some of his thoughts:
"Just as in natural and bodily generation there is a father and a mother, so in the supernatural and spiritual generation there is a father who is God and a mother who is Mary.
"... God the Son wishes to form himself, and, in a manner of speaking, become incarnate every day in his members through his dear Mother.
"... Moreover, Jesus is still as much as ever the fruit of Mary, as heaven and earth repeat thousands of times a day, ‘Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus’. It is therefore certain that Jesus is the fruit and gift of Mary for every single man who possesses him, just as truly as he is for all mankind. Consequently, if any of the faithful have Jesus formed in their heart they can boldly say, ‘It is thanks to Mary that what I possess is Jesus, her fruit, and without her I would not have him.’
"...When the Holy Spirit, her spouse, finds Mary in a soul, he hastens there and enters fully into it. He gives himself generously to that soul according to the place it has given to his spouse. One of the main reasons why the Holy Spirit does not now work striking wonders in souls is that he fails to find in them a sufficiently close union with his faithful and inseparable spouse."88. The Documents of Vatican II, "Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy", America Press Edition, No. 17.
From the Daily Message Book I
In Uniting to Our Pure Hearts, You Offer a Most Pure Sacrifice
Mary speaks: My dear little children,
I wish to speak to you as your loving Mother. You die to self and your ways that are not of God and you live more and more in Our Hearts. At the Consecration of the Mass you ask to be one in the Holy Sacrifice offered for the salvation of souls.
You my children offer a most holy sacrifice when you give yourself to my pure and Immaculate Heart. I take you to the depth of the Heart of my Son. The connection to pureness is in Our Hearts.
Do you wish to offer a tainted sacrifice or one that is most pure? The more you unite to my sinless, Immaculate Heart, the more pure are your actions. I am the Virgin Mary, Mother most pure. I come to lead my children home to the Heart of my Son.
In uniting to our pure Hearts you offer a most pure sacrifice. You ask to die to your selfish, sinful ways in the sacrifice and you unite in deep union to the resurrected Christ. You come in my pure heart to offer the sacrifice.
I stand the Lady victorious under the cross as you unite in great oneness in my Heart and the Heart of my Son, Jesus.
I stood beneath the cross, sorrowful and joyous, sad for my little children that would lose their souls, joyous for those to be saved.
You pray fervently at every Mass. You unite in the heart of the New Eve and the Heart of the New Adam. Grace is poured forth on the earth and the garden is watered with His life. He sweat the life saving blood in the garden of Gethsemane. Now He gives you this life of grace poured out on the thirsty earth in the Mass.
From Mass Book I
M
ARY OUR MOTHERMary says it is because of pride they do not accept her. It is because of pride, some think Mary cannot be any higher than them. They do not recognize election.
In having this pride, many miss the great messages given from God. In having pride, we miss a major link between heaven and earth in Mary. It is the Father's will that Mary is our spiritual Mother.
We reach a deeper level in the spiritual life only in the heart of Mary. It is His will. She was chosen, sinless, the spouse of the Holy Spirit, and the Mother of God.
We can only go to the deepest chambers of the Heart of Christ through the pure and sinless heart of Mary. We are sinners. She is immaculate.
Besides the messages associated with the major Fatima apparitions, there were other revelations given by Our Lady. Before Jacinta died, she told of other messages given her [during her illness] by Mary:"Tell them to ask grace from her, and that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be venerated together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary…"47This last message offers us an excellent opportunity to summarize the Fatima message. It tells us "that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be venerated together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary."48Deep spiritual maturity cannot be achieved without going through the heart of Mary. Jesus came into the world in Mary's womb.
This is the Father's will: for His Son to come into this world, for His Son to be formed in her womb. God wants us to be formed more and more into the image and likeness of Jesus in the spiritual womb of Mary. Jesus wants us to grow in Mary's heart through the Holy Spirit to deepest maturity.
Many, in their willfulness and pride, deny the Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, and the virgin birth. It is pride, for they do not want to recognize how much God loves Mary. They are proud and/or ignorant and will not recognize another creature higher than they are.
This is how it is: the Child Jesus, God-made-Man, was conceived in the womb of Mary. He was formed in her womb. To reach higher levels of spiritual maturity, we must dwell in the heart of Mary. We are formed there through the power of the Holy Spirit to be more like Jesus. We achieve depth in our relationship with God through Mary.
"And Mary said: 'My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord" (Lk. 1:46) All of us children unite in the heart of Mary. I see such oneness between all of us as we join in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. We unite in the heart of Mary. She places us in the Heart of Jesus. There we are united with all Mary's children. He is the Light of the World. His Heart burns - a yellow glow with hot embers. Many are the children of the light. Mary is our Mother. She is calling us to be children of the light. She is Our Lady of Light.
It starts with you and me and with all His holy priests. As we consecrate our hearts to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, we are one in Their Hearts. I give Jesus and Mary my heart, you give them your heart, we are one in Their Hearts. As the Shepherds of Christ Movement spreads throughout the world, we become one with each other as we give our hearts to Jesus and Mary.
47. Our Lady's Peace Plan, op. cit., pp. 9-10.
48. The Spirituality of Fatima and Medjugorje, op. cit., pp. 17-18.
LET US LOVE
THE TWO HEARTS OF JESUS AND MARY
IN THE RECEPTION OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST.
HE GAVE HIMSELF TO US ON THE CROSS. HE GIVES HIMSELF TO US IN THE EUCHARIST.
How great was the act of love, God gave to this world, when He gave Himself and died on the cross. He gives Himself to us this day in the Holy Eucharist.
The greatest commandment is that we must love God with our whole heart, our whole soul, and our whole being. This is a commandment. If we are to enter heaven, we must follow the commandments. They are commands given by God for us to follow.
The greatest act we can do on this earth is an act of loving God. The reason for our existence is to love God. In the sacrament of His greatest love, He gives Himself to us. This is an act of love on His part. We are called to respond by giving ourselves in love to Him.
This is the purpose of the Holy Eucharist: to unite in such oneness with our Holy, Loving God. Our all consuming passion should be that of loving God. How many go to the Eucharist with the sole purpose of giving great love to God? He wants us to love Him. He wants souls to tell Him how much they truly love Him. This is the most intimate act of love when Jesus gives Himself-Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity to man. If it is such an act of love, how are we receiving Him in Communion? We should beg God, in this most intimate union with Him, to help us to love Him with greatest love.
Jesus is a Person. He wants our love. The Holy Spirit wants such intimacy with us. Our Father wants us to love Him. In the Eucharist, we unite with God. In this intimate act of uniting with our beloved God, with Divinity, we must pour out our love to God. We must pour out our heart to the most adorable Heart of Jesus. Jesus is so unjustly treated by many of His beloved souls He loves so much. Let us help make reparation to the Almighty God by loving God with our whole heart, our whole soul, and our whole being in the sacrament of His greatest love. This is the Gift of Himself.
Think of how it is to love someone and give your all for that person, to pour out your heart to him or her and then be treated with coldness and neglect. It hurts our heart so much more when we deeply love someone to be rejected by that person. Jesus loves us with the deepest love. We cannot fully comprehend this love. Let us love Him with the deepest love. Let us love Mary and her Immaculate Heart. Let us love her as the Mother of God. Let us love her as the virgin who bore the Son of God. May we, in the reception of the Eucharist pour out our love to Him, to this adorable Heart. May we pour out our love to His Holy Mother.
Mary said at Fatima that Jesus wants His Heart venerated next to the heart of His Mother. Let us love these two Hearts as we receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Then we are so deeply united with God. We see Their two Hearts surrounded with thorns for the injustices against Their Hearts. Let us help make reparation daily as we receive Him in the Eucharist. This is a special time to help make reparation to Their wounded Hearts.
Let us remember how He poured His love out to us on the cross and how He pours out His love to us now when He gives us Himself in the Eucharist, the Eucharist which contains His Heart of burning love. His Heart was pierced with a lance. Her heart was invisibly pierced with a sword. As the wounds in Their Hearts are deep, so too is Their love so deep.
He does not want "surface love". He wants hearts filled with deep burning love.
December 27, 1995
A PRAYER BEFORE THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS
Let me be a holy sacrifice and unite with God in the sacrament of His greatest love.
I want to be one in Him in this act of love, where He gives Himself to me and I give myself as a sacrifice to Him. Let me be a holy sacrifice as I become one with Him in this my act of greatest love to Him.
Let me unite with Him more, that I may more deeply love Him. May I help make reparation to His adorable Heart and the heart of His Mother, Mary. With greatest love, I offer myself to You and pray that You will accept my sacrifice of greatest love. I give myself to You and unite in Your gift of Yourself to me. Come and possess my soul.
Cleanse me, strengthen me, heal me. Dear Holy Spirit act in the heart of Mary to make me more and more like Jesus.
Father, I offer this my sacrifice, myself united to Jesus in the Holy Spirit to You. Help me to love God more deeply in this act of my greatest love.
Give me the grace to grow in my knowledge, love and service of You and for this to be my greatest participation in the Mass. Give me the greatest graces to love You so deeply in this Mass, You who are so worthy of my love.
A Prayer for Intimacy with the Lamb
the Bridegroom of the soul
Oh Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, come and act on my soul most intimately. I surrender myself, as I ask for the grace to let go, to just be as I exist in You and You act most intimately on my soul. You are the Initiator. I am the soul waiting Your favors as You act in me. I love You. I adore You. I worship You. Come and possess my soul with Your Divine Grace, as I experience You most intimately.
(These prayers are in 4 languages with the Imprimatur.)
T
HEY COME WITH THORNS IN THEIR HEARTSWritten after Communion:
He emptied Himself. He poured out His Heart, literally blood and water poured out of His Heart. He gives to us this Heart this day in the Holy Eucharist, and He is rejected.
How hard it is when we pour out our hearts to someone we love, when we give love and are rejected by those we want to love us most. This is the hardest to endure.
Jesus, Who is love, gives His all, this magnificent Heart of love, gives Himself to us in the Holy Eucharist and look how He is treated by some of those He loves. This was one of the greatest agonies in the Garden. The Eucharist is the sacrament of His greatest love, given to us. He is treated with disrespect, irreverence, indifference, and neglect in this gift in which God literally gives Himself!
He poured out His Heart to us and He was rejected by many. Today, He pours out Himself in the Holy Eucharist, and He is treated so badly by so many. He asks us, especially in the reception of the Eucharist and in front of the tabernacle, to help make reparation to His adorable Heart for the offenses against Him.
Mary asks us, in the reception of the Eucharist, to help make reparation to her Immaculate Heart for the blasphemies against her heart. They come with the thorns surrounding Their Hearts. I have experienced such agonies in my heart. I feel as if I have had ridges in my heart because it has happened so many times, over and over again and so deep.
These agonies, I believe, are from the thorns piercing Their Hearts for the injustices against Their Hearts. With each act of love I give to Mary, loving her as the Mother of God, loving her in her Immaculate Conception, loving her as the virgin who gave birth to the Son of God, loving her images and statues, I see each thorn turned into a flower, a garland surrounding her Immaculate Heart of love.
I want to love Him with the deepest love, to make reparation for the indifferences, offenses, negligences, disrespect, and irreverence shown to Him in His sacrament of greatest love. I ask Mary, with her pure and Immaculate Heart, to let me love Him more through her heart, that I may love Him with greater love. My greatest desire in life is to give love to my precious and beloved God. I beg Him to help me to unite to Him, to more worthily love Him with the deepest love.
It is in carrying His cross in our hearts, accepting the thorns in life graciously, outpouring our abundant love to Him, that we help make reparation to His Heart which suffered so much during the bitter Passion.
Let us help make reparation to these adorable Hearts in the sacrament of His greatest love, the Holy Eucharist. It is there we can more greatly love Them when we are united to Him in deepest love.
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Shepherds of Christ Ministries
P.O. Box 193
Morrow, Ohio 45152-0193
Telephone: (toll free) 1-888-211-3041 or (513) 932-4451
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