June 19, 2011

                R. Give honor to God the Father
                United to Jesus —
                In Him —
                In the Holy Spirit —

                Our beloved Father who created
                    us uniquely —

                Who picked us — who wants us —
                Father, Father, Father — our love —
                we want to do Your will —
                To help build the Kingdom of God

                R. I only want to be wrapped in Your presence, My God —
                My God, My God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit —
                One eternal God

Joyful Mysteries

                Annunciation

                (1) John 3: 16

                (2) R. God created an orderly, harmonious world.

                (3) R. Adam and Eve sinned —

                (4) The Ten Commandments

  1. I, the Lord, am your God. You shall not have other gods besides me.
  2. You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.
  3. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.
  4. Honor your father and your mother.
  5. You shall not kill.
  6. You shall not commit adultery.
  7. You shall not steal.
  8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
  9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
  10. You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor.

                (5) R. What a gift!!

Luke 1: 26-38

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, you who enjoy God’s favour! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Look! You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I have no knowledge of man?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. And I tell you this too: your cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age, has conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ Mary said, ‘You see before you the Lord’s servant, let it happen to me as you have said.’ And the angel left her.

                (6) R. Oh God so loved the world —
                    Mary loved the Father —

                (7) R. Mary was from the first moment
                    of conception
                    "conceived without sin"

                (8) R. The Christian life is a response
                    to God's gift of Himself.
                    God gives us a share in His life
                    in baptism —

                (9) R. We respond in love by giving ourselves
                    to God and our fellowman, by
                    dynamically living out this life
                    of grace, this Christ-life, in
                    the pattern of death-resurrection.

                (10) R. Mary shows us her "yes" to God!!

                The Visitation

                (1) Luke 1: 39-45

Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could into the hill country to a town in Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? Look, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’

                (2) R. Mary and Elizabeth were both
                    filled with the Holy Spirit —
                    It shows their self-less-ness
                    as the Holy Spirit speaks through
                    them —

                    They were empty vessels —
                    not full of self — they
                    were being all God wanted them
                    to be —
                    Elizabeth carrying John —
                    Mary carrying Jesus —

                (3) R. God calls, we respond
                    The perfect handmaid of the Lord —
                    Mary shows us her response —
                    Elizabeth in her old age is not
                        barren any more, but carrying
                        John.

                (4) R. They are not getting in the way
                    of the heavenly Father's Plan
                    for them —

                (5) R. In the beginning God said
                        "Let there be light"
                    And the command is responded
                        to "and there was light"

                (6) Exodus 14: 13-14

Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid! Stand firm, and you will see what Yahweh will do to rescue you today: the Egyptians you see today you will never see again. Yahweh will do the fighting for you; all you need to do is to keep calm.’

                    R. God blesses us when we
                    obey Him — He helps us in
                    battle when we battle for Him —

                (7) R. We see all that happened to us
                    Adam and Eve's descendants because
                    they disobeyed God —
 

                (8) 1 Samuel 15: 22-23

                (9) R. Hannah was Samuel's mother —

1 Samuel 1: 9-20

When they had finished eating in the room, Hannah got up and stood before Yahweh. Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the doorpost of the temple of Yahweh. In the bitterness of her soul she prayed to Yahweh with many tears, and she made this vow, 'Yahweh Sabaoth! Should you condescend to notice the humiliation of your servant and keep her in mind instead of disregarding your servant, and give her a boy, I will give him to Yahweh for the whole of his life and no razor shall ever touch his head.' While she went on praying to Yahweh, Eli was watching her mouth, for Hannah was speaking under her breath; her lips were moving but her voice could not be heard, and Eli thought that she was drunk. Eli said, 'How much longer are you going to stay drunk? Get rid of your wine.' 'No, my lord,' Hannah replied, 'I am a woman in great trouble; I have not been drinking wine or strong drink — I am pouring out my soul before Yahweh. Do not take your servant for a worthless woman; all this time I have been speaking from the depth of my grief and my resentment.' Eli then replied, 'Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant what you have asked of him.' To which she said, 'May your servant find favour in your sight.' With that, the woman went away; she began eating and was dejected no longer.

They got up early in the morning and, after worshipping Yahweh, set out and went home to Ramah. Elkanah lay with his wife Hannah, and Yahweh remembered her. Hannah conceived and, in due course, gave birth to a son, whom she named Samuel, ‘since’, she said, ‘I asked Yahweh for him.’

                (10) R. Hannah's prayer when she conceived:

1 Samuel 2: 1-11

Hannah then prayed as follows: My heart exults in Yahweh, in my God is my strength lifted up, my mouth derides my foes, for I rejoice in your deliverance. There is no Holy One like Yahweh, (indeed, there is none but you) no Rock like our God. Do not keep talking so proudly, let no arrogance come from your mouth, for Yahweh is a wise God, his to weigh up deeds. The bow of the mighty has been broken but those who were tottering are now braced with strength. The full fed are hiring themselves out for bread but the hungry need labour no more; the barren woman bears sevenfold but the mother of many is left desolate. Yahweh gives death and life, brings down to Sheol and draws up; Yahweh makes poor and rich, he humbles and also exalts. He raises the poor from the dust, he lifts the needy from the dunghill to give them a place with princes, to assign them a seat of honour; for to Yahweh belong the pillars of the earth, on these he has poised the world. He safeguards the steps of his faithful but the wicked vanish in darkness (for human strength can win no victories). Yahweh, his enemies are shattered, the Most High thunders in the heavens. Yahweh judges the ends of the earth, he endows his king with power, he raises up the strength of his Anointed. Elkanah then went home to Ramah, but the child stayed in Yahweh's service, in the presence of Eli the priest.

                The Birth of Jesus

                (1) R. We see the importance of John the
                    Baptist and he came to barren
                    Elizabeth —
                    He jumped in Elizabeth's womb
                        when Mary came to visit
                        Elizabeth —
                    We see how Samuel was given to
                        Hannah —
                    We see that Sarah and Abraham could
                        not conceive, but then conceived Isaac —
                    We see that Rachel and Jacob had
                        a problem getting together —
                    But we see the hand of God —
                    They had to be patient and wait
                        on the Lord —
                    We had to wait according
                        to the Plan of the Father
                        until the right time
                        for Jesus to be born,
                        for the Messiah to come

                (2) R. God has a plan for us —

                    God the Father created us
                        from all the possibilities —
                        He made us unique, we
                        have a unique contribution to
                        make —

                    The time for us to be here,
                        as the Father intended, is now.

                    We have a unique contribution to make
                    God the Father had the purpose for our life, now.

                    We get caught up in foolish things
                        in the impurities in us —
                        the devil tries to drive us
                        from the 'mark' God
                        wants

                    In the depth of union with God —
                        in ecstasies — we are so
                        purely responsive —
                        the empty vessel wanting —
                        only what God wants —
                        the Holy Spirit filling us — not being
                        filled with jealousies, angers,
                        possessiveness from the evil
                        spirit trying to take us from
                        the 'mark' of serving God —
                        Serving God as God the Father wants
                            is hitting the 'target' —
                        Being like the evil one who wants
                            us to say "I will not serve
                            God" is missing the 'target'

Fr. Mike says —       "Keeping our focus       on the target"

                (3) R. The Tower of Babel — they were
                        doing their own will —
                    Noah did what God wanted —
                    Noah found favor with God —
                    God knows our heart —
                    He knows how pure is our
                        response —
                    God blesses those who obey Him
                        and live to serve Him —
                    Abraham served God
                    Abraham was faithful to God —
                    Abraham wanted what God wanted
                        even though he suffered —
                    Abraham became the Father of
                        many nations, descendants
                        because of his faithfulness —
                        and the Lord blessed him —
                    God is the most high —

                    Satan wants us to disobey God —
                        not serve God as He wishes —
                        make ourselves in competition
                        with God's plan —
                    Satan is the great deceiver —
                    Satan is the father of lies —

                    Jesus is Lord of the truth —

                    When somebody over us asks us a
                        question for building God's
                        Kingdom and we lie or
                        deceive to get power —
                        we are acting as satan wants —
                        not responding in the order
                        God has ordained for us
                        to obey and serve and help those
                        over us to do the job our
                        Heavenly Father wants —

                    Let's serve our heavenly Father —
                        stay connected to the vine —
                        don't be a barren, disconnected
                        branch — serving satan and
                        bearing no fruit —

                    A saint is one who doesn't ever
                        want to offend God — they
                        want no taint of sin on
                        their soul —

                    They live to serve God and build
                        His Kingdom — Response to God's Love

                (4) R. Remember the cities of Sodom
                    and Gomorrah were destroyed
                    for their wickedness by
                    fire —
                    Lot's wife turned into a pillar
                        of salt for not obeying —

                (5) R. Abraham proved his faith by being
                    willing to offer his own son Isaac as
                    a sacrifice —

                    Abraham shows us about obedience,
                        faithfulness and he had
                        many descendants —
                        as numerous as the stars
                        of the sky.

                (6) R. Rebekah and Isaac were
                    married —
                    Rebekah was barren for
                    about 19 years —
                    Isaac interceded to God —
                    God grants her conception —
                        Esau and Jacob

                (7) R. Joseph was born son of Jacob
                        and Rachel —
                    Joseph was blessed — even
                        though he suffered —
                        he was blessed —

                (8) R. Moses arrived to the Pharaoh's
                    daughter in a basket
                    from the banks of the river —

                    The Lord appeared to Moses in a
                        burning bush —

                    (Jacob had seen a ladder reaching
                        to heaven) —

                    Moses was sent to Egypt to
                        deliver Israel from bondage —

                (9) R. Jesus is the Son of God —
                    Jesus is born in a stable in
                        Bethlehem —
                    Jesus the Savior of the world

                (10) The Song from Jesus

                The Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple

                (1) Luke 2: 22-35

                (2) R. There is one true God —
                    We see all through the Old Testament how
                    they fell into idolatry —

                (3) R. King Saul disobeyed God —
                    So Samuel anointed David King —
                    Jesus came from the house of
                        David

                (4) R. From the New Cycle "B" Book to be
                    printed of Fr. Joe's homilies —
                    Book 5

Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

July 19, 2009

HOMILY: There was a man who worked in a museum whose job it was to explain the different exhibits. On one occasion he pointed to the bones of a dinosaur saying the bones were 100 million and 9 years old. Someone asked how they could date those bones so accurately. He said “well, when I started working here, I was told these bones were 100 million years old and I’ve worked here for nine years.”

Today I want to give everyone a little history lesson. I’m not going back to the dinosaurs, but I am going back pretty far – to King David, 1000 years before Christ. When I was in school, I hated history. It wasn’t until we studied the history of the Old Testament in the seminary that I began to appreciate it. I cannot cram 1000 years of history into a couple of minutes. I just want to touch on the parts of Jewish history that are mentioned in today’s reading. If you want to learn more, read everything in the Old Testament, but be sure you have a commentary to help you. Otherwise, you’ll give up in despair because you won’t know what it’s all about - especially the prophets and the historical books.

When David was king 1000 years before Christ, David wanted to build a house for God, since there was no Temple for God at that time. God did not give David permission to do so, however God promised David through the prophet Nathan that he would bless him and build David a house in the sense that David’s kingdom would continue forever and one of his descendants would always rule. This blessing lasted through the reign of David’s son, Solomon; but we humans somehow have the ability to sabotage God’s blessings. Solomon turned to pagan gods and over-extended the country financially by elaborate building projects and exorbitant taxes, so when Solomon died there was a rebellion and most of Israel broke away from Solomon’s successor, David’s grandson, Rehoboam. Rehoboam continued to rule over the southern part of Israel, the area we know as Judaea . For 400 years (and this is amazing) the kings of Judaea were descendants of King David. The northern kingdom that rebelled against David’s successors suffered under a succession of kings and rebellions. In less than 300 years the northern kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrians, people from northern Iraq. About 100 years after that, the Babylonians from southern Iraq conquered the Assyrians and took control of the entire Middle East. The conquest of the Babylonians brings us up to Jeremiah whom we heard in today’s first reading. At the time of Jeremiah, here was the situation: the northern kingdom no longer existed. The southern kingdom, Judaea, was still being ruled by David’s descendants but they were not loyal to God or to God’s laws. Jeremiah spoke to these kings as they came into power, the last four being: Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoikin and Zedekiah. Zedikiah, the last reigning king, died in disgrace. After the Babylonians captured him, his sons were slaughtered before his eyes, he was then blinded and led off to Babylon in chains where he presumably died. You can read how Jeremiah spoke with them in great detail in the book of Jeremiah. He told them exactly what they needed to do to survive the invading forces of Babylon. His messages were ignored. He blames them and their leadership for the destruction that came upon God’s people. As we heard in today’s first reading, God speaks through Jeremiah: “Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture.” God said he would take over shepherding his people; he would bring them back from exile; he would appoint leaders over them who would serve them well and lead them to peace and security. It took 600 years before God thought the world was ready for this king who would reign and govern wisely, who would do what is just and right in the land.

But then he came, through the announcement of an angel to a virgin who was engaged to a man named Joseph of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel said to her “Do not be afraid Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”

In last week’s gospel, Jesus sent his apostles out to heal and cast out demons and to call people to repentance. In today’s gospel we are told of their return, excited over their experience and tired. Jesus wanted to some time off, but he couldn’t. The mission of Jesus and his apostles apparently was so successful that a great crowd caught up with them before they had chance to catch their breath. Mark describes Jesus taking compassion on them (his heart was moved with deep sympathy for them would probably be a better translation). He saw them as sheep without a shepherd, - people without leadership, and he began to teach them.

One of the important messages in today’s readings is that in love our Lord leads us, by teaching us and appointing others to teach us. But we need to listen, and we need to keep on listening. We’ll never be finished listening and learning as long as our world suffers from injustice, poverty, hunger, discrimination, war, hatred and killing of innocent people. Christ would be put to death before he would stop teaching. It is to our own great loss when we stop listening. That’s one of the reasons we are here each weekend, to listen and to learn. We call ourselves disciples. The word disciple means learner. When we’ve quit learning, we’ve quit being a disciple.

                (5) R. The Israelites suffered —
                    Many times they would disobey
                        what God wanted —
                    Solomon, David's son, also
                        worshipped false gods
                        towards the end of his life —
                    Solomon did not live up to
                        what God wanted —
                        He disobeyed God's commandments —
                    Solomon had about 700 wives and
                        300 concubines —
                        they brought their false gods —
                    Solomon gradually ceased to be
                        fully devoted to God —
                    This angered God —
                    When Solomon died the Kingdom
                        splits into 2 —
                        Israel and Judah —
                    Jeroboam King of Israel
                    Rehoboam King of Judah —

                    There is the worshipping of false
                        gods in Israel at
                        Bethel and Dan —
                    Jeroboam stopped religious
                        ties with Jerusalem —
                    Judah stopped worshipping
                        false gods —
                    Elijah tells of famine
                        in Israel and
                        it happened —

                    Much struggles took place
                    Struggles, Struggles for power —

                (6) R. God sent prophets —

                (7) Exodus 16: 2-4, 12-15

                    R. From the New Cycle "B" Book to be
                    printed of Fr. Joe's homilies —
                    Book 5

18^th Sunday of Ordinary Time

August 2, 2009

INTRODUCTION: (Ex 16:2-4,12-15; Eph 4:17,20-24; John 6:24-35) The first reading tells us God did not make death. Rather, it came about through the envy of the devil. This is obviously a commentary on the story of Adam and Eve in the garden – how they tried to find their happiness and fulfillment by doing things their way rather than God's way.  They didn’t trust what God told them.  Often we blame Adam and Eve for all the problems in the world and say if they hadn’t sinned we would be in much better shape, but we’re no different. Too often we chose not to trust God and seek our happiness and fulfillment by doing things our way rather than doing what God tells us we must do.  When the reading tells us that those who belong to the company of the devil experience death, it is referring to spiritual death. 

The first reading gives us some background for the gospel.  It tells how God fed his people with manna 1300 years earlier as Moses led them through the desert to the promised land.  In their conversation with Jesus in the gospel, the people refer to this event from the Book of Exodus. 

                (8) R. We see the sorrows of Jesus and Mary.

Seven Sorrows of Mary

(1) The first sorrow: the prophecy of Simeon
(2) The second sorrow: the flight into Egypt
(3) The third sorrow: the loss of the Child Jesus in the temple
(4) The fourth sorrow: Jesus and Mary meet on the way to the cross
(5) The fifth sorrow: Jesus dies on the cross
(6) The sixth sorrow: Jesus is taken down from the cross and laid in Mary's arms
(7) The seventh sorrow: the burial of Jesus

                (9) Song: Little Baby Hands and Feet

                (10) Song: See the Eyes that Look at Mary

                The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple

                (1) Luke 2: 48-50

They were overcome when they saw him, and his mother said to him, ‘My child, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.’ He replied, ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he meant.

                (2)

                    Excerpt from Mother at Our Side, by Fr. Edward Carter, S.J. 

four 

God's Will—Our Guiding Principle

The above scene describes how Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the temple after having been separated from Him. As they were returning home after the Passover celebration, they realized Jesus was not with them, and returned to Jerusalem to search for Him. The scene has various lessons for us concerning God's will.

With the Holy Family traveling in two separate groups (Mary with one, Joseph with the other, and Jesus with either from time to time), we understand how Mary and Joseph could have received conflicting stories regarding their Son's whereabouts. The Father's will may have been made known to Jesus in such a way that the timing of His response precluded alerting His parents to the change in His plan. Whatever the details were, we can be assured that there was no error made on the parts of Jesus, Mary, or Joseph. We can base our trust in this on what we know through faith—that Jesus would never have been disobedient or thoughtless toward His parents, and that Mary and Joseph could not possibly have been inept parents.

(3) Excerpt from Mother at Our Side, by Fr. Edward Carter, S.J. - chapter 4 continues

Even so, as people who expect certain behaviors of children and parents, we can be unsettled by some unanswered questions presented. Yet, since this event is included in Sacred Scripture, we know it has tremendous value for us as the Word of God. We also know that obedience to God's will always works in the best interests of everyone concerned, even when it is not obvious, even for quite some time.

The scene reminds us of the guiding principle of Jesus' life—loving conformity to His Father's will. Although Mary and Joseph were returning home, in some way Jesus knew He was supposed to remain in the temple at this particular time. His course of action was no different in this instance than it had been in the past and would be in the future. His Father's will was made manifest, and He obeyed; His Father showed the way, and He followed. The Father's will was always Jesus' way, every day, in all matters. As followers of Jesus, His guiding principle must also be ours.

(4) Excerpt from Mother at Our Side, by Fr. Edward Carter, S.J. - chapter 4 continues

This event in Christ's life also demonstrates that conformity to God's will sometimes brings hurt or sorrow to loved ones. Jesus knew that His remaining behind would cause suffering for Mary and Joseph—we can well imagine their anxiety. Jesus was sorry this had to be. He certainly was not insensitive to His parent's feelings, yet He had to do what He did. There can be similar situations in our own lives. Precisely because we are striving to seek out and do God's will, we may be causing hurt to loved ones. We know, however, there is no other course of action if we are to be open to God's designs for us.

The finding of the child Jesus in the temple illustrates still a further point regarding conformity to God's will. Mary and Joseph knew that somehow it was God's will that Jesus remain in Jerusalem as they themselves headed back to Nazareth. Yet they did not comprehend why all this happened. They recognized God's will, but they did not understand it. They accepted this will, however, along with the pain it produced in their lives.

(5) Excerpt from Mother at Our Side, by Fr. Edward Carter, S.J. - chapter 4 continues

The application of this lesson to our own Christian lives is vividly manifest. At times there occurs an incident we do not understand. We realize that somehow this is God's will, at least His permissive will, yet we do not understand why, and our unknowing is part of our pain.

Mary always perfectly conformed herself in love to God's will. It was her joy to so act. Sometimes the doing of God's will caused her considerable suffering, as we see from the above Gospel scene. Later on, the sword of suffering would pierce her even more deeply.

In summary, we can say that Mary always reached out and embraced God's will with the deepest love, whether this was easy or very difficult. Mary has left us these famous words: Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. (Lk. 1:38). Let us ask our mother to obtain for us the grace to grow in our own conformity to the will of God.

                (6)

shipped from the printers December 17, 1996

Mary appeared December 17, 1996

                From the Red Rosary Book - July 13, 1995 Rosary (excerpt)

                R. The Mystery of the Trinity we cannot
                fully understand here —

                    We seek the beatific vision —

                    We take the mystery of the Trinity
                on faith —

                Jesus said,
                    "The Father and I are one"
                    "He who sees Me, sees the Father"

                Jesus taught us to pray to God as
                    "Our Father . . . "

                There will be changes in the
                    words of the Mass —

                They are to help us understand
                    better —

                Instead of saying "We believe"
                    in the Creed — we say
                    "I believe"

                The Creed goes almost back to
                    time of Apostles —

                We will say
                    "Jesus is consubstantial
                with the Father"

                    This stresses the Divinity
                of Christ —

                We use the word "incarnate'
                    instead of
                        "he was born of the Virgin Mary"

                The Trinity is a mystery now —
                We will have the beatific vision
                in heaven and it will all make
                sense.

THE EARTH STOPPED AND TOUCHED HEAVEN

    I long to unite in the deepest union with Him in the Eucharist. I long for the Mass. I long for Thee, oh God. My every moment, I join as I did to You December 15 under the cross, where I felt Your presence. You whisked me away, and I was totally absorbed in that moment of celestial union with You. For that time, I existed only in You, in the deepest union, and I was in this moment existing in You. The earth stopped, and I touched the heavens, all my bodily cares were existent in You. I existed in Your Divinity, my being was in You. There was no desire or wish or wanting, for in that moment, I had all I wanted in You. I was satisfied and wanted nothing but to remain in that embrace. You were the Being, and my being existed in You, but I was only as I was in You - merged in You, knowing and being in Your Divinity and being so full as to feel complete in myself.

    You are so enormous, and You surrounded me in a burning embrace, the presence of red fire. I was not little, or "nothing", but existed in this enormous power and being so complete!

    I touched eternity, and in that embrace, I knew all the waiting was worth the glory. You enveloped my being, and I was truly merged in the Divine Presence. I was merged in Your being. I existed IN You, with You, in the highest union with You, although I knew I was still distinct from You.

    I was fused and absorbed in You, feeling complete and satisfied. To describe this union is far beyond any work of my pen and paper. I pray for the reader of this page to receive the grace to share this experience with Him, I will now live for this union-to be forever merged In Him, to be One in Him, to reach higher perfection as I exist in Him, for He takes the lowly and gives to them a sharing in Himself. He merges with us and we exist in Him. The word "in" - I could write pages about. I long for the deepest union with Him, where I am swept up in the heavenly embrace of the Divine God, and I am IN Him.

    This is heaven on earth: to be merged as one with Divinity, although remaining distinct from God, to take our feeble hearts, our lowly status and to unite ourselves with the Divine, Almighty, powerful God and in this union to be meshed with Him, that His power dominates and our humanity reaches its heights of fulfillment in this union, in this oneness with Him.

    The word I have looked for is "oneness." I understand some of the meaning of the words "One in Him." Oneness is the word to describe this union of our humanity with His Divinity. The depth to which we could meditate on oneness with God is incomprehensible. In that moment, the earth stood still, and He, my Divine Lover, the Bridegroom of my soul, took me to Himself, and I knew the embrace of the Divine God.

    Nothing on the face of this earth can describe our union with Divinity. Oh, good God, that creatures are so ungrateful regarding Your divine love. I am so sorry. Let me help make reparation to Your adorable Heart. Please unite with me now that I may more deeply love Thee.

    Oh, Divine Lover of my soul, let me help make reparation to Your adorable Heart for the neglect and indifference against You.

Song from Jesus: I come to you with greatest love. I am your loving Savior. I am your God. I died for you. I come to you this day.

    He allowed me to experience such pain in my heart - wanting Him so badly, so many times-and then on Dec. 15, 1995 - He gave Himself to me in the deepest union.

    Nothing satisfies the soul but Him. He wants the nuns and priests to love Him. He chose them to spread His love.

    Souls are hungry. They will only be fed with His burning love. Priests need to talk about Jesus' love for us from the pulpit. Priests need hearts burning for love of Jesus. This will feed the hungry souls - lip service love doesn't do it.

    He is alive today. He is a Person. He wants us to love Him.

end of December 17, 1995

December 18, 1995

IN THE DEEPEST RECESSES OF HIS HEART

                R. We are on a journey to our
                heavenly home —

                    Do you see the journey of
                Emmaus —

                    After Jesus died and rose —
                    He walked on a journey
                    explaining the scriptures and
                    ended with the Breaking of the Bread —

                Jesus is the way, the truth and the
                    life

                We are not to be a sad, slothful soul here —

                Satan is the Prince of lies —

                Jesus the Lord of truth —

                A person who wants the truth
                    doesn't act like they
                    know something for certain —
                    when it isn't certain
                    to them —

                They tell the truth —

                They let their 'yes' mean 'yes'
                    and their 'no' mean 'no'

                There is not deception in
                    what they say —

                When you're not certain you don't
                    lie and act like you are —

                Proclaim the love of God —

                Tell the truth —
                Truth is reality —

                Things work when people
                    tell the truth —
                    work to build the Kingdom
                    can get done —

                We keep on keeping on
                    IN TRUTH —

                We follow in the footsteps
                    of Jesus in death/resurrection.

                Let our minds not be proud
                    and ever lie about what
                    is true —

                Tell the truth —

                The truth according to God
                    is reality —

                We don't bend the truth
                    in any way according
                    to our tainted habits!!

                The rule of measure of a
                    man is to tell the truth —

                Keep the truth in us —

                R. TRUTH IS OUR GUIDE —

                NO LIES —

                ORDER —

                Reality —

                Wanting things to work in
                    purity —

                TRUTH is in God —

                GOD IS Perfect —

                Oh dear Sacred Heart of
                    Jesus — Your love for
                    us is real — this is the truth!!

                Oh Sacred Heart I am sorry for those who
                do not love You — of how often
                we forget to love You and thank You and
                adore You —

                    I am sorry for the sins of
                the men of this earth —

                    In Your Heart is Truth !!

                    Oh Jesus through the
                intercession of Our Lady of Clearwater
                help us now in our need —
                Help us now Sacred Heart of Jesus —

Psalm 25: 4-5

Psalm 119: 35, 29

Guide me in the way of your commandments,
for my delight is there.

                R. Being religious means we
                    work hard at it —
                    We can't be lazy
                        spiritually —

                We need self-discipline!!

                R. We must control our will
                    if we want to grow
                    spiritually —

                We have to work to eliminate
                sin and vices and grow
                in virtue —

                God please increase our
                    faith, hope and love —

                Humility is truth!!

                We are all sinners —

                If we are humble we
                tell the truth about
                our faults —

                Not lie to make wrong look
                right and right look wrong —

                We don't want to offend
                    God we love Him —
                    so we don't want
                    to sin —

                We don't want to
                    hurt our relationship with
                    God in any way —

                We must admit our
                    sins to ourselves say how
                    grave they are —
                    mortal sins — go to confession —

                We want forgiveness from
                God and others for our sins —

                We want more grace from God — 

Act of Contrition

"O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen."

                R. Virtue comes from Latin
                    meaning strong and
                    courageous

                We are responsible and
                    accountable for
                    our sins —

                'He who does justice will
                    live in the presence of the
                    Lord'

                R. Pride is the first of the
                    7 capital sins —

                    selfish —

                Man rebels against God —

                He loves himself more than
                    God

                Humility is truth, not
                    focused on self for
                    vain glory —

Prayer for Union with Jesus

Come to me, Lord, and possess my soul. Come into my heart and permeate my soul. Help me to sit in silence with You and let You work in my heart.

    I am Yours to possess. I am Yours to use. I want to be selfless and only exist in You. Help me to spoon out all that is me and be an empty vessel ready to be filled by You. Help me to die to myself and live only for You. Use me as You will. Let me never draw my attention back to myself. I only want to operate as You do, dwelling within me.

    I am Yours, Lord. I want to have my life in You. I want to do the will of the Father. Give me the strength to put aside the world and let You operate my very being. Help me to act as You desire. Strengthen me against the distractions of the devil to take me from Your work.

    When I worry, I have taken my focus off of You and placed it on myself. Help me not to give in to the promptings of others to change what in my heart You are making very clear to me. I worship You, I adore You and I love You. Come and dwell in me now.

-God's Blue Book, January 17, 1994

  

                R. Purity — Consecrating one's
                    self to Jesus and Mary

Act of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

"Lord Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock, I consecrate myself to Your most Sacred Heart. From Your pierced Heart the Church was born, the Church You have called me, as a member of Shepherds of Christ Associates, to serve in a most special way. You reveal Your Heart as a symbol of Your love in all its aspects, including Your most special love for me, whom You have chosen as Your companion in this most important work. Help me to always love You in return. Help me to give myself entirely to You. Help me always to pour out my life in love of God and neighbor! Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You!

"Dear Blessed Virgin Mary, I consecrate myself to your maternal and Immaculate Heart, this Heart which is symbol of your life of love. You are the Mother of my Savior. You are also my Mother. You love me with a most special love as a member of Shepherds of Christ Associates, a movement created by your Son as a powerful instrument for the renewal of the Church and the world. In a return of love, I give myself entirely to your motherly love and protection. You followed Jesus perfectly. You are His first and perfect disciple. Teach me to imitate you in the putting on of Christ. Be my motherly intercessor so that, through your Immaculate Heart, I may be guided to an ever closer union with the pierced Heart of Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock."

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