We really need money for the building

and money for the Priestly Mailing.

 July 5, 2008 is the 10th Anniversary

for the Shepherds of Christ

being in the Virgin Mary Building

in Clearwater, Florida.

June 22, 2008

                God created the universe
                God created man
                God is supreme

                There was order

                    Adam and Eve were the
                        first parents

                    They were to obey God

                    There was harmony

                Because of the sin of Adam
                    and Eve there was disorder

                People were trained by
                    those before them —
                    they were wounded
                    there are tendencies
                    toward pride, anger,
                    envy, because of
                    original sin.

                At the time of Noah God
                    sent the flood — so all
                    descendants would come
                    from Noah

                This was a loving thing — for
                    man was becoming more
                    and more corrupt —
                    more disordered

                When we are baptized we receive
                    this sharing in God's
                    life — Father, Son and Holy Spirit dwell
                    in us

                The Eucharist and the Word is
                    the bread of life

Matthew 4: 4

But he replied, 'Scripture says:

Human beings live not on bread alone
but on every word
    that comes from the mouth of God.'

Matthew 5:18

In truth I tell you, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, is to disappear from the Law until all its purpose is achieved.

Romans 8: 5-9

Those who are living by their natural inclinations have their minds on the things human nature desires; those who live in the Spirit have their minds on spiritual things. And human nature has nothing to look forward to but death, while the Spirit looks forward to life and peace, because the outlook of disordered human nature is opposed to God, since it does not submit to God's Law, and indeed it cannot, and those who live by their natural inclinations can never be pleasing to God. You, however, live not by your natural inclinations, but by the Spirit, since the Spirit of God has made a home in you. Indeed, anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

                    There are an infinite amount
                of reasons why we act

                    God has created man for Himself

                    God is our final goal.

In fact, however, Christ has been raised from the dead, as the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep. As it was by one man that death came, so through one man has come the resurrection of the dead. Just as all die in Adam, so in Christ all will be brought to life; but all of them in their proper order: Christ the first-fruits, and next, at his coming, those who belong to him. After that will come the end, when he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father, having abolished every principality, every ruling force and power. For he is to be king until he has made his enemies his footstool, and the last of the enemies to be done away with is death, for he has put all things under his feet. But when it is said everything is subjected, this obviously cannot include the One who subjected everything to him. When everything has been subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to the One who has subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

                (1) We must give God His due

                (2) We must give others His due

                    In the retreats and prayer services
                    God has asked for us to praise Him,
                        to love Him — to adore Him —
                        it is His due

                The way the world is

                    God has asked us to make this

                        recompense to God by

                        showing our love for Him and

                        loving others in our

                        worship to God

                        and pray for the priests, the

                        Church and the world —

                In the building of the 2 Hearts —

                    Clearwater

                God has asked us to help make
                    reparation from this place
                    to Him in loving Him — singing
                    the Word — praising God —
                    reading the scriptures and the
                    homilies and writings of 3 holy
                    priests  Fr. Carter
                                Fr. Pasquini
                                Fr. Joe

Jeremiah 20: 10-13

I heard so many disparaging me,
'Terror on every side!
Denounce him! Let us denounce him!'
All those who were on good terms with me
watched for my downfall,
'Perhaps he will be seduced into error.
Then we shall get the better of him
and take our revenge!'
But Yahweh is at my side
    like a mighty hero;
my opponents will stumble, vanquished,
confounded by their failure;
everlasting, unforgettable disgrace
    will be theirs.
Yahweh Sabaoth,
    you who test the upright,
observer of motives and thoughts,
    I shall see your vengeance on them,
for I have revealed my cause to you.
Sing to Yahweh,
praise Yahweh,
for he has delivered the soul of one in need
from the clutches of evil doers.

 

Matthew 10: 26-33

'So do not be afraid of them. Everything now covered up will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops.

'Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

'So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of human beings, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But the one who disowns me in the presence of human beings, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.

Homily from Fr. John

Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Mt. 6: 26-34)
Cycle A

WITNESS OF FAITH 

Jesus said, “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.  But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.” 

One way or another, what we say and do has an impact on those around us.  We either bear witness or fail to bear witness to the Gospel.  There is no middle ground! 

In the future this will be all the more so.  As the great theologian Fr. Karl Rahner stated:  “The Christian of the future will either be a mystic or nothing at all.” 

Saint Anthony of Padua reminded us that “our words teach and our actions speak,” and that what “we practice is what we preach,” and that therefore we must not allow our actions to undermine our teachings and preaching. 

Thomas More and John Fisher fulfilled their call to be witnesses of faith in the 16^th century.  Thomas More was the Chancellor of England and father of four children.  John Fisher was a priest who became the Chancellor of Cambridge University and a bishop at the age of 35.  As an accomplished theologian he was asked to study the problem of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and was asked to accept Henry VIII as the head of the Church in England; thereby rejecting the Pope as the head.  Bishop John Fisher found no grounds for an annulment and rejected Henry VIII as the head of the Church of England.  Thomas More did likewise. Of all the bishops of England and politicians of England, Thomas More and John Fisher were the only ones to remain loyal to the Holy Father.  John Fisher was condemned and executed, his body left to lie all day on the scaffold, his head being hung on London Bridge.  Thomas More was executed two weeks later.  Before being put to death Thomas More proclaimed, “My God before my king, my God before my country.”

Things do not change much over time. There was a recent incident where a judge said, “I put the law before my faith.”  He certainly was no Thomas More.  A recent Catholic clergyman said something quite similar, “I am American first, Catholic second.”  Does being an American, or Frenchman, or Italian, etc., save one’s soul or does being a person of faith save one’s soul? 

A young girl at her high school was confronted with two teenage gunmen—this would become known as the Columbine High School Massacre.  They asked her, “Deny your Jesus and you will live.”  She refused to deny Jesus and she was shot and killed, a modern day martyr. 

Jesus said, “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.  But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.” 

An American businessman was once asked to visit a Russian family and help that family learn about capitalism and a market-driven society.  With time the American man felt very much at home with his Russian counterpart.  He felt well liked by him and his entire family.  In many ways, he felt part of the family. 

One evening, the Russian and the American wondered off the topic of economics and business and started to talk about their families and their lives.  The Russian was an atheist and the American was a Christian.  The atheist at one point turned to the American and said, “What makes you different from me?”  At first the Christian felt like explaining the nature of freedom and grace and the nature of prayer, but he caught himself and remained silent, for he knew and felt what this Russian was saying.  He was asking the American why his life was not radically different from his!  He was expressing what the philosopher and theologian Jules Girardi once stated:  “The real tragedy of Christians is that everything happens in this world as if Christians were not there.  Christians do not startle the world.”  In a recent news broadcast, a reporter commenting on the “Catholic vote” stated, “What Catholic vote?  They vote no different than the rest of secular America!”  Catholics no longer startle the world!

Jesus said, “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.  But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador preached and witnessed to the Gospel amidst great opposition. People were being killed by death squads by the thousand. Through his preaching in the Church and through the radio he named names, dates, and places where human rights were being violated.  Despite his best friends being murdered, he continued.  As he said, “At the first sight of danger the shepherd cannot run and leave the sheep to fend for themselves.”  Archbishop Oscar Romero was martyred on March of 1980 by a single bullet while celebrating Mass.  Twenty thousand died that year from violence.

“Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.  But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.” 

Saint Francis of Assisi had a young novice who wanted to follow him around and preach the Gospel.  Day after day he asked Francis to go with him.  Finally, worn down by this young novice’s constant badgering, Francis brought him along for the day.  During the day they fed and gave drink to the hungry and the homeless, clothed and bandaged the lepers and the sick, visited the imprisoned and took care of the dead. 

After a long and exhausting day, Francis told the young novice that it was time to go home.  But to Francis’ surprise the young man became furious.  He exclaimed, “Francis, you lied to me.  You told me that I would go preaching with you all day, yet you didn’t say a word all day!”  Francis turned to the young novice and said, “What do you think we were doing all day?  We were preaching the word of God through our actions!”

 “Be not afraid” is God’s proclamation to us.  It is easy to stand up and be accounted for in Church buildings where no one will mock us.  It is not so easy outside Church buildings.  Yet this is where Jesus is calling us to witness to him.  We need to stand up and be counted upon in a world that is often cruel, indifferent, skeptical, cynical, and ignorant.  We must stand up and be counted upon to champion the cause of the poor, the marginalized, the exploited, the hopeless, the lonely, and the trampled upon.  We must be witnesses in the streets, on trains and buses, on factory floors and shops, in schools and offices, and in our homes and neighborhoods.  We must witness everywhere! 

One way or another, what we say and do has an impact on those around us.  We either bear witness or fail to bear witness to the Gospel.  There is no middle ground!  Jesus reminds us:  “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.  But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”  “The Christian of the future will either be a mystic or nothing at all.” 

end of homily

The Holy Spirit and Mary

The late Archbishop Luis M. Martinez of Mexico strikingly speaks of the ongoing cooperation of Mary with the Holy Spirit regarding the reproduction of Jesus within us: "Christian life is the reproduction of Jesus in souls…

"Now, how will this mystical reproduction be brought about in souls? In the same way in which Jesus was brought into the world, for God gives a wonderful mark of unity to all His works. Divine acts have a wealth of variety because they are the work of omnipotence; nevertheless, a most perfect unity always shines forth from them because they are the fruit of wisdom; and this divine contrast of unity and variety stamps the works of God with sublime and unutterable beauty.

"In His miraculous birth, Jesus was the fruit of heaven and earth…The Holy Spirit conveyed the divine fruitfulness of the Father to Mary, and the virginal soil brought forth in an ineffable manner our most loving Savior, the divine Seed, as the prophets called Him…

"That is the way He is reproduced in souls. He is always the fruit of heaven and earth.

"Two artisans must concur in the work that is at once God’s masterpiece and humanity’s supreme product: the Holy Spirit and the most holy Virgin Mary. Two sanctifiers are necessary to souls, the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, for they are the only ones who can reproduce Christ.

"Undoubtedly, the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary sanctify us in different ways. The first is the Sanctifier by essence; because He is God, who is infinite sanctity; because He is the personal Love that completes, so to speak, the sanctity of God, consummating His life and His unity, and it belongs to Him to communicate to souls the mystery of that sanctity. The Virgin Mary, for her part, is the co-operator, the indispensable instrument in and by God’s design. From Mary’s maternal relation to the human body of Christ is derived her relation to His Mystical Body which is being formed through all the centuries until the end of time, when it will be lifted up to the heavens, beautiful, splendid, complete, and glorious.

"These two, then, the Holy Spirit and Mary, are the indispensable artificers of Jesus, the indispensable sanctifiers of souls. Any saint in heaven can co-operate in the sanctification of a soul, but his co-operation is not necessary, not profound, not constant: while the co-operation of these two artisans of Jesus of whom we have just been speaking is so necessary that without it souls are not sanctified (and this by the actual design of Providence), and so intimate that it reaches to the very depths of our soul. For the Holy Spirit pours charity into our heart, makes a habitation of our soul, and directs our spiritual life by means of His gifts. The Virgin Mary has the efficacious influence of Mediatrix in the most profound and delicate operations of grace in our souls. And, finally, the action of the Holy Spirit and the co-operation of the most holy Virgin Mary are constant; without them, not one single character of Jesus would be traced on our souls, no virtue grow, no gift be developed, no grace increased, no bond of union with God be strengthened in the rich flowering of the spiritual life.

"Such is the place that the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary have in the order of sanctification. Therefore, Christian piety should put these two artisans of Christ in their true place, making devotion to them something necessary, profound, and constant." ¹⁸

^{__________________________________}

                          NOTES

18. Archbishop Luis M. Martinez, The Sanctifier, op. cit. pp. 5-7.

                On July 5, 2008 to July 13, 2008

                    We were to put out the
                        next Priestly Newsletter —

                        this is on the Our Father, but
                        we had to come up with
                        some unexpected funds for
                        the building

                We need a big donation for the
                    Priestly Newsletter and always
                    the building is expensive

                God has given us a great gift in
                    allowing Mary's image to
                    appear for 7 1/2 years on the
                    building

July 5, 2000	July 5, 2000

                Never before in the history of the
                    world has God given such
                    a gift

                On July 5, 2008 we will be in
                    the building 10 years — in
                    a rosary I received last
                    week Mary said how we should
                    be so proud we were called to
                    this great mission from the Virgin
                    Mary Building/Building of the 2 Hearts
                    to help bring to completion her
                    mission at Fatima and to help renew
                    the Church and the world —

                    Lethargy is one of the tendencies
                because of the wounded human nature
                just like anger and lust, envy,
                possessiveness and pride —

                    Adam and Eve disobeyed God —
                We see from the scripture 1 Corinthians 15:
                how man is to be under God's feet —
                we see order

                In today's second reading we see
                    many things

                In putting ourselves on the throne —
                    provoking others for control,
                    we can block God's plan
                    and cause confusion and
                    assist satan in trying to get
                    souls in disobedience against
                    God's will —

                It is the man that lives to follow
                    God that is truly free —
                    a man trying to test God and what He
                    wants is hurting himself
                    and testing God by opposing
                    His rules, blocking His plan,
                    causing confusion or argumentation
                    is not like the meek and tender heart
                    of Jesus —

                Jesus died on the cross doing the
                    Father's will —

                Adam ate the forbidden fruit
                    from the tree in the
                    garden —

                One who opposes God's will is
                    not free, but enslaved
                    to satan —

                the free man is the one who
                    obeys God for he will have eternal
                    glory —

                To give bad example and fight
                    authority is to lead others
                    astray and we can be held
                    accountable for our sin
                    and the sins of others we
                    teach by our bad example
                    and willfulness —

                The mission of the Shepherds of Christ is this

Jesus: "My beloved priest-companion, I have allowed you to experience in extraordinary fashion the riches contained in My Heart and My Mother's Heart. I desire that you tell all My people about these riches. I desire that My people consecrate themselves to My Sacred Heart and to Mary's Immaculate Heart. My people are living in the beginnings of the age of the Two Hearts.

"After the time of the purification is completed, this new era of the Church and the world will become firmly established. This era will be characterized by the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. All those who consecrate themselves to My Heart and to My Mother's Heart will help to establish this glorious new age. I am Lord and Master. Please listen to My urgent request. Within Our Hearts you will experience the love and security, the peace and the joy, which you all desire. I love My people with a tremendous love, and in My love I give them this message!"

Reflection: This is the Age of the Two Hearts! The surest road to sanctity in these our times is through consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. In making this consecration, and striving with God's grace to live it as best we can each day, we are contributing to the establishment of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and to the arrival of the reign of the Sacred Heart.

end of excerpt from Tell My People

 

                This is harmony

                This is love

                This is controlling the evil tendencies
                    of our human nature that
                    hurt others —

                This is living according to God's
                    order

                God is omnipotent
                The answers are in Him

                God feeds us with His Word
                His Word lives in us

                God feeds us with Himself
                We receive the Body and Blood of Jesus

                We do not see each other's souls —
                We see the body — we see

This is a most powerful disc

that can lift you all through the day.

Holy Spirit Novena
with all the scriptures

$7.00 plus postage