Please Pray for Fr. Joe & Bob
     

Prayer for Grace for our Country

Dear Father united to Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacrifice of Calvary sacramentally made present, celebrated around the world, in the Holy Spirit. We offer up all we do united to the Mass. We unite in one mind and one heart as members of the mystical body of Christ, with Christ our head in the pure and holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary, through the powerful intercession of Mary with all the angels and saints and souls in purgatory, and we beg for the saving grace, for our country, the United States. Please help us. We further pray for unity to always do the will of God in love. We spread the Blood of Jesus on the leaders and people of the United States and cast the devil into hell. We consecrate our country to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart and all our dioceses, and beg for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. God help us. We pray for our families, the priests, the Church and the world. In the Name of Jesus please hear us, we pray. We pray for our president and leaders. We pray that we are united as one nation under God to work together in love as God wants.  

       

R. Jesus help me to be what You want me to be. 

May the Lord shine His face on us and our lives. 

Dear God thank You for Your blessings, God, I love You. 

Come to me Lord and possess my soul. 

Frustrations need to be worked through.
Division stops team work.

We need to put focus on God’s will.

We need to try to be real, connected, have relationships working together for a common goal - building God’s Kingdom, concerned in being united as a team. 

Pray for the grace to do what God wants. 

Being on the same goal works wonders. 

Love of God, love of neighbor as oneself. 

Talent given to us by God, commitment to the goal God wants us to have. 

We can make our own problems by demanding our own way.
We need to work together and not
tear down our bridges.

 

June 23, 2021

Glorious Mysteries

The Resurrection

1) Sing: Jesus Christ Has Risen Today

2) Luke 24: 1-12

On the first day of the week, at the first sign of dawn, they went to the tomb with the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, but on entering they could not find the body of the Lord Jesus. As they stood there puzzled about this, two men in brilliant clothes suddenly appeared at their side. Terrified, the women bowed their heads to the ground. But the two said to them, ‘Why look among the dead for someone who is alive? He is not here; he has risen. Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee: that the Son of man was destined to be handed over into the power of sinful men and be crucified, and rise again on the third day.’ And they remembered his words.

And they returned from the tomb and told all this to the Eleven and to all the others. The women were Mary of Magdala, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. And the other women with them also told the apostles, but this story of theirs seemed pure nonsense, and they did not believe them.

Peter, however, went off to the tomb, running. He bent down and looked in and saw the linen cloths but nothing else; he then went back home, amazed at what had happened.

3) Sing: Glory, Glory, Glory Lord

4) The Apostles witnessed to the
    resurrection and were put
    in prison for doing so.

5) We are to spread the Good News
    of the resurrection.

6) Jesus rose from the dead and
    showed us death did not have
    the last word.

7) God wants us to share in Jesus'
    resurrection and new life.

8) John 10: 10

    I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full.

9) "If we have died with Christ,
    we believe that we shall
    also live with him." St. Paul says.

10) Jesus is truly present in
    the Eucharist.

 

The Ascension

1) May 25, 1995 - I Am Alive

R. Prayer is a lifting up of our minds and hearts to God. Who am I that I can change any event that is occurring in the lives of another, that I can affect the outcome of any event? I am a child of my Father. My Father is the Almighty God. How I love my dear Father. He is God and He has created me in His own image and likeness. My beloved, dear Father, how I love You that You give me such gifts - that You allow me to share in Your life!

You are the Father of Jesus and You are My Father. Thank You, My Father, for all Your gifts and for Your life. Who am I that I can affect the life of any person?

I am a child of God. I call on my dear Father and He loves me so, He listens to me. I lift my heart to You, my dear beloved Father and You listen to little me and You care for me so much. I call upon God and the Almighty God cares for me with such love that He listens.

Jesus: Such truths have been given to you from My Father because of His great love for you. You are far more precious than the finest pearls, My beloved child. The Father so loved you He gave His Son so that you would have life. He gave His Son as a sacrifice for you. The Father gives to you His life through Jesus, His Son. You partake in His divine life.

I am Jesus, Son of the Living God. My life I give to you, I live in your being, My beloved, I impart to you My divine life.

How many turn their backs on the great gift of this life given from the Father. To know this life and to know all those who have rejected this great gift!

I am the Almighty God, My power is endless. The power and might you felt within yourself is only a small sampling of My immense power.

I am God and I am allowing you to experience what you are experiencing to spread My love to others. Your immense understanding into these mysteries will help you speak and write them for others.

I have chosen you as an instrument to touch many hearts and bring them to My divine love. Great gifts and understandings into these mysteries I am giving to you. You will lead many priests to the love of God.

I am alive. I am God. I long to be loved by man and many have turned their backs on Me and forgotten Me. You must tell them all I am allowing you to experience, these sufferings and understandings into My deep love.

This is the beginning of many days when I will allow you to experience the rejection I felt from those I loved. Your heart is in immense pain for the souls who reject Me despite My love for them.

I beg you to speak and write. Make reparation for souls that have forgotten My love. Spread the love of My Sacred Heart and My Mother's heart, throughout the world.

I love, I love, I love My beloved souls. I beg you to tell them. I beg Fr. Carter to tell every soul on this earth of My love. You will continue to suffer such pain and anguish in your heart. Suffer in silence for souls. I love so deeply and am so gravely offended!

I am Jesus, My dear, little child. I am alive and in this world. I live in the hearts of men, I live in the consecrated Host, I am forgotten and ignored and treated with such dishonor.

Speak for Me, I beg you to spread this love throughout this earth. I am sending you as missionaries into this world.

On this Ascension Thursday, I have given you great sufferings and great joy. I have allowed you to experience the highest ecstasies in My love and plunge you into deep pain in your heart for those who reject Me.

You, I send as missionaries to carry out the work I have begun. Be fearless and pray to the Spirit. This day I am giving you abundant graces to speak, and through this speaking, others are sent into this world as My apostles.

It is through the Shepherds of Christ Movement My love will be spread. Circulate My messages and rosary meditations. The love of the two Hearts will be known throughout this world through these messages and rosary meditations.

You will be fearless, everyone I send to you is a messenger to carry out My love. Circulate these letters with FIRE for I am delivering them to you in FIRE.

I am Jesus Christ, the Living God. I am allowing you to experience My life, alive in you and giving you these emotions to spread My love.

On this Ascension Thursday, I beg you to carry out the message to this world. Live My life in your life, every moment My life living within you.

I am the Way, I am the Truth, I am the Life. I have commissioned you to go out and to carry this message - the message of My immense love for ALL mankind, including My burning love for My priests and religious. Souls will turn their hearts to Me from these letters. This is the mighty medicine to turn a sick, cold world to hearts filled with the love of God.

Prayer, My beloved ones, is the lifting up of your minds and hearts to God. When you intercede to Me through My Mother's heart, I will pour out My greatest mercy.

I will not refuse hearts begging for grace for their loved ones. Pray from your whole being. Let My life live in you.

You can pray and ask God to send help. You do not know the power of a heartfelt prayer. I listen to your prayers. The Father and Holy Spirit are listening to your prayers. The more you unite with God, the greater you intercessory prayer. I am Jesus. I am alive this day. I ask you to spread My messages to the world. I am crying out in your heart on this Ascension Thursday. I ascended into heaven and I have left behind you to carry out what I began. I am with you. I am alive this day. I will unite with you and the earth will know the power of the Almighty God. I am Jesus Christ, Chief Shepherd of the flock. Lead My little ones home - home to the burning embers of My Most Sacred Heart, through My Mother's heart.

R. I cried so hard, I have never been so immersed in heartache. I heard Him shout, "I Am Alive, I Am Alive." I cried so hard, I could hardly write.

I know Him. He is alive in my being. My soul is filled with His love. I live the life of Jesus and Mary in my life. I love His life, her life - their presence forever with me. From this great gift, these rosary meditations, His life has become one with mine. I feel His life in the Mass. I hear Mary under the cross. I hear the cries for the souls going to hell for their willfulness and sins. I hear the laments of Jesus in the tabernacle - how He longs and thirsts for souls and is neglected and ignored. I hear Him tell of the sacrileges committed against the Holy Eucharist.

I heard Him this day. I felt His presence and the presence of the Almighty God as He cries out, "I am alive, I am alive, I am alive."

He is alive. We have the Mass. He gives us Himself in the Eucharist. Mary is appearing, we are given this rosary. We are sent as soldiers by Him in the Shepherds of Christ. We are thirsting for union with Him, sent by Him, apostles to go out to this world and spread His love, one with the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, one with the Trinity. He will light this earth with hearts on fire for love of Him.

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.

The earth shakes and the Son of Man appears. He lives in the hearts of all. I want hearts on FIRE for love of Me. I want vibrancy and love from My beloved ones. Hold not back My love from this world.

R. I adore you, Oh Lord, I praise you, I worship you, I bless Him with my whole soul. My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and holy, holy is His name! Jesus wants souls that are holy, on fire with the love of Jesus. Make novenas to the Holy Spirit to have hearts on FIRE with the love of God. Sound the trumpet, sound the gong - Jesus LIVES - He lives this day! Alleluia.

Sunday is a special day to praise Him, to love Him, to pray to Him - His day to be honored and worshipped in a special way. Pray from a pure and holy heart, a heart that sings for love of the Lord. Pray from your whole being. end of May 25, 1995

2) Mark 16: 15-20

And he said to them, ‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These are the signs that will be associated with believers: in my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.’ 

    And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven; there at the right hand of God he took his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.

3) Jesus ascended into heaven --
    He gave power to the Apostles
    to baptize, heal.

4) Go and preach the Gospel to the
    whole world.

5) We have the 7 sacraments in
    the Church.

6) May 16, 1998 - Prayer to the Father

My Father,

        With my whole heart I desire to consecrate the whole world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I wish with my whole being for the salvation of souls and that man live according to Thy Holy Will. I pray my Father that we may be one in You and Your Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit that we may intercede to You for this cause.

        It is this burning desire within my soul to spread the consecration to the far ends of the earth, that the cries of Your children are cries of glory and honor and adoration, praising God as their God.

        My Father, at this moment a soul hangs on the edge of death. For all eternity they will go to a place. It is not the plot of this soul as it trods this barren land to decide on the edge of death. You created us that we would grow in our oneness with God, that we would mature more and more in our image and likeness to God.

        And so My Father, I pray with every cell in my body for this earth. In the name of Your Son Jesus I consecrate all the souls of this earth to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the Holy Spirit in union with the Holy sacrifice of the Mass with all the angels and saints and the souls in Purgatory.

        I beg You Father for mercy.
        I beg You Father for assistance.
        I beg You Father to help us to spread this consecration to the far ends of the earth.

        Please help us. We are helpless little ones coming in the heart of our Mother, bleeding from our wounds and our sins.

        Your Son, Jesus Christ, shed the last drop of His Blood for the salvation of mankind. We wish to unite in this sacrifice, sacramentally made present in the Mass all over the world at every moment. Help us to make reparation to You for the sins of men.

        Please my Father, help us. Held in the heart of Mary and the Heart of Jesus we come as the children of Eve to beg for the Reign of the Sacred Heart and the Triumph of Mary's heart. Look upon our love, Your shepherds in the Shepherds of Christ, our sacrifices and devotion to You Our Beloved Father. Come by the means of the Holy Spirit and sanctify us and make us whole, that we are one in Your Son Jesus, praying to You, Father, in the name of Your Son Jesus in the Holy Spirit united with all the angels and saints, in the heart of Mary. We beg for help for special intentions concerning the Movement. We beg for help to reach the Churches to give these prayers of Jesus to them, to reach the schools and the family. Help we cry as poor banished children of Eve. Help us Father to do this work the Good Shepherd has entrusted to us. Help us to be one in You that we act as intercessors to help this world to be turned to God as their God, loving, honoring and adoring Him as the Lord of Host is truly present on His throne.

        We are Your children Father, we implore You to answer our prayer.
        We love You, we worship You, we adore You, we thank you and we sing from the bottom of our hearts, Holy God we Praise Your Name. Alleluia

7) We are to live the life, death and
    resurrection of Jesus in our lives.

8) Jesus said
    "Do not let your hearts be troubled."   Ref. John 14

9) Jesus said to have faith in Him.

10) Jesus said:
    "In my Father's house there   
    are many dwelling places."    Ref. John 14

 

The Descent of the Holy Spirit

1) Acts 2: 1-4

When Pentecost day came round, they had all met together, when suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of a violent wind which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and there appeared to them tongues as of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak different languages as the Spirit gave them power to express themselves. 

2) Sing: Come Holy Ghost

3) Sing: Veni Sancte Spiritus

4) From the Lectionary

5) The Apostles were transformed
    from fear to fearlessness.

6) The Holy Spirit is described
    as breathe or wind.

7) Jesus breathed on them and said
    "Receive the Holy Spirit."

8) Jesus said:
    "‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me! 
    Let anyone who believes in me 
        come and drink!"  Ref. John 7: 37-39

9) "The Spirit of the Lord is upon
    me, because he has
    anointed me."   Luke 4: 18

10) Luke 11: 20

But if it is through the finger of God that I drive devils out, then the kingdom of God has indeed caught you unawares.

 

The Assumption

1) Mary was taken body and soul up to heaven.

2) 1 Corinthians 3: 16

  Do you not realise that you are a temple of God with the Spirit of God living in you?
 

3)
 

4) Galatians 5: 19-24

When self-indulgence is at work the results are obvious: sexual vice, impurity, and sensuality, the worship of false gods and sorcery; antagonisms and rivalry, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels, disagreements, factions and malice, drunkenness, orgies and all such things. And about these, I tell you now as I have told you in the past, that people who behave in these ways will not inherit the kingdom of God. On the other hand the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control; no law can touch such things as these. All who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified self with all its passions and its desires.

5) Revelation 12: 1-2

Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, robed with the sun, standing on the moon, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant, and in labour, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth.

6) Mary was taken up to heaven -
    We too, one day, want to go to heaven, we hope.

7) Sing: Immaculate Mary

8) Mary is the Mother of Jesus.

9) Mary is our Mother.

10) Mary is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit.

 

Mary is Crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth

1) August 22, 2000

 

Today is the Queenship of Mary

R. The Queen mounts her throne among shouts of joy The angels surround this heavenly throne Her children love her and worship their God.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus reigns in the hearts of her children.

He is the King of their hearts.

She is the Queen of their hearts.

A New Adam, a New Eve are recognized by the once enslaved children of Adam and Eve.

A trumpet blare for one so fair, a blare of music for our starved ears.

From the Magnificat, Mary speaks with the lilt of the voice of one so pure and holy. (NOTE: Read this with the lightness of the voice of the Virgin filled with the Holy Spirit and in the humility of one so fair.

Among shouts of joy our Lady speaks liltingly in a heavenly voice and we gape at the sound of her sweet voice and behold the beauty of this maiden so sweet and fair.

God the Father speaks:

Amen, amen I say to you My beloved Apostles of the Sacred Heart. You may worry and struggle now, but a King looks on you with the greatest love as you surrender more and more everyday to do My will that this day will come to your earth, the day of the Reign of the Sacred Heart.

Do not get caught up in the mysteries of the way men act and perceive things, but put your gaze ever more on the mystery of My Divine Son and how much He truly loves you.

You are caught in the wonder of the earth and the firmament. My beloved, so much more glorious is the insight into My Divine Mysteries.

My plan is given here to bring about the Reign of My Son’s Sacred Heart and the triumph of your Mother’s Immaculate Heart.

I am a God of justice and of right.

I am your heavenly Father.

I am the Carpenter, the One with the plan.

You are but children of Mine, creatures of the earth, and yet My love for you is so great. I gave you My only begotten Son as One offered for your sins and, men, you smite Me, your Father.

You ignore your Mother when I give you such gifts in your churches of her presence forever with you and the Holy Spirit working with her bringing forth your holiness.

I painted with My hand your Mother pleading to her young ones, and she appears everyday, and you ignore this sign and gift I give you.

What more could convince you? You want another sign and another while you sheepishly continue your sinful ways.

My children, My children, help Me to reach your brothers, oh please, they have plugged up their ears and covered their eyes.

How is it your Creator cries to the creatures and they ignore Him?

Now the beauty of one so fair July 5, 2000, I painted as a golden wonder before you and allowed such photography that all might know Our heavenly presence when Mary speaks in the Rosaries from the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. And My Son delivers, in these rosaries, the message I give to you as your heavenly Father.

Oh children of the earth, be attentive and listen to Me, I plead as your heavenly Father that your wills be aligned to My will and you serve Me.

Oh children of Eve, your Mother Mary cries to Me, for she pleads your case, and I have given in to her requests that the children be spared if they turn from their ways and love their God.

She wanted to come to you as the Woman adorned in sunlight by day and fashioned in a special way by nightfall in golden mystical light in the dark night, as her favored children sing so fervently songs of praise and love to God, and they sing to her, a Mother who has never forgot them.

Oh children, listen to Me and help Me reach your willful brothers through your fervent prayers. My Son gave Himself as a Sacrifice for your sins, meriting the graces available to you the sinful children of Eve, and you will not even pray after I have granted this special gift of Mary on the building.

Your eyes do not see her, or you would have changed your ways by now.

What sign would you respond to, My silly earth?

I give you My Son with you in the Eucharist, and you do not treasure this gift as you should.

God remains with you today. Jesus, My Son, feeds you with His Body and Blood. He is truly present in His Divinity and Humanity. You need to pray as He has instructed, especially before the tabernacle.

Amen.

I am the Father, I have spoken, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.

Jesus speaks:

I am the Son of God, on this glorious feast sing songs of great praise to your God and love Him.

Unite to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and pray to be possessed by God.

Mary is your Mother, she is the one, pure, spotless, human person. She was conceived without sin, you must listen to her, it is the Father’s will. You must be brought forth from her Immaculate Heart, her spiritual womb, as a child of God, a child of the light.

Let the scales drop from your eyes as you sing praise and see, as never before, the glory and wonder of your God. 

2) August 9, 2000

R. Oh, there is not one so fair as thee, my beloved Mother Mary.

Of all the maidens that God could have chosen it was you, oh shining Star of Heaven.

Oh Mary, Mother of us all. She doth appear as a wonder so fair indeed,

A permanent sign of God’s love.

A Woman clothed in gold.

One that glistens with the radiance of a golden tone,

Her beauty dancing in the sunlit hours of every day.

In morning splendor, in dancing light at noon day as the sun glistens on her rainbow glow and at night she has appeared on special dates in golden splendor and light.

Would you quote the Scripture for Mary so fair.

“Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, robed with the sun, standing on the moon, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant, and in labour, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth.”  (Revelation 12: 1-2)

Would you see her as she appeared in little villages in the 20th century, tucked in hills and out of the way places.

If you missed these enormous signs from heaven, of one so fair, she appears there clothed in the golden sun of the day, reflecting her radiant beauty painted by the hand of the Father. She is His chosen maiden so fair.

She appears daily, she is there by day and beneath the black shadows of night, she does not slumber, but calls to her children of light to come through her golden doorway and let the light of Christ shine in their souls.

She appears one so fair, by day and sometimes by night clothed in radiance and golden, her garment hemmed with glistening sunlight. She once appeared to a few and her visits fleeting in remotest places, she remains a Woman Clothed with the Sun, the sun dancing on her garments of rainbow color on a busy, busy corner for all to see, in the state of the sun, sunny Florida. She is a Woman painted by the brush of God.

And do you know the wonder of one who calls the children far and wide, to hear the voice of her Son, Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the Flock.

Mary, the heavenly maiden, to call them home to His Heart.

Oh, of one so fair, do we not boast and praise our God and thank Him for such a wonder.

Oh, to Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, we cry, help us to do what you asked for at Fatima and help us in our mission of telling the world of your Son’s desire to spread His Movement so men will be Shepherds of Christ.

3) Sing: Hail Holy Queen
 

4)

May 5, 1995

Consecrate Your Churches, Home, and Workplace to Our Hearts

Jesus: I want you to consecrate the human race to Sacred Heart of Jesus. I want to be enthroned in all homes, churches, and businesses.

June is the month of the Sacred Heart. I want to be king and center of all hearts. I will keep My promises given to St. Margaret Mary of Alacoque. I promise all this from My most Sacred Heart. Consecrate your chapter to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Consecrate the church or room in which you hold your meeting.

Today is First Friday. I want you to circulate the message I gave to you on consecrating your homes to My Sacred Heart. Make booklets available for people to be able to consecrate their homes and businesses easily. Use the message I gave to you when you consecrated your home.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus will reign and the Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph. Consecrate all homes and businesses to Our Two Hearts. Tell all to have displayed and honored, pictures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. May and June are the months of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Tell all to consecrate their homes to Our Two Hearts. I am the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On this day, the 5th of May, 1995, First Friday, I request that you spend the next two months encouraging all to do this consecration.

Gather your friends and say the prayers I have instructed you to say. Sing "To Jesus Heart All Burning" and "Immaculate Mary." May these Two Hearts of love give all members of the human race peace, joy and love in their hearts.

R. Jesus said He desires to be honored by men in the Blessed Sacrament.

Jesus: Circulate the Blue Book messages. They promote this devotion. How My Heart is filled with happiness by the souls who come to the tabernacle and sit with Me. I am Jesus Christ, I wait and long and thirst for My precious souls to come. The souls of men have turned cold. I want souls to come to daily communion and be with Me in front of the tabernacle.

Men's hearts have turned cold. They do not know what love really means. I want hearts that are filled with fire for love of God. Men's hearts have turned to stone.

You are to promote devotion to My most Sacred Heart. I want hearts that burn with love for My Heart. It is through Me that you will know the Father's love. I am the Way, I am the Truth, I am the Life.

Offer a holy hour for the indifference, ingratitude, and sacrileges committed against Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, the Sacrament of His greatest love.

R. He promises great graces to those who give reparation to His Sacred Heart and who tell others about offering reparation to Him.  end of May 5, 1995

5) Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

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!

6) Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

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.

7) Song: The Rosary Song

8) Song: Ave, Ave, Ave Maria

9) Song: See the Eyes That Look at Mary

 

10) From the Priestly Newsletter 2000 Issue 3

The Theology of Consecration

A. Boussard gives an extremely fine and concise sketch of the theology of consecration:

"By the Incarnation, in and of itself, the Humanity of Jesus is consecrated, so that in becoming Man, Jesus is ipso facto constituted Savior, Prophet, King, Priest, and Victim of the One Sacrifice that was to save the world. He is the ‘Anointed’, par excellence, the ‘Christ’ totally belonging to God, His Humanity being that of the Word and indwelled by the Holy Spirit. When, by a free act of His human will, He accepts what He is, doing what He was sent to do, He can say that He consecrates ‘Himself’. In Christ, therefore, what might be called His ‘subjective’ consecration is a perfect response to the ‘objective’ consecration produced in His Humanity through the Incarnation.

"And what Christ does brings with it a ‘consecration’ for His disciples, a very special belonging to God, since He imparts to them His own life precisely by making them participate in His own consecration.

"Through Baptism Christians also are consecrated and ‘anointed’ by the power of the Spirit. They share, in their measure, in the essential consecration of Christ, in His character of King, Priest, and Prophet (cf. 1 Peter 2:9; 7 Peter 1:3-4; Rev. 5:9, etc.). With Christ and through Christ, they are ‘ordered’ to the glory of God and the salvation of the world. They do not belong to themselves. They belong to Christ the Lord, who imparts His own life to them…

"The vocation of those who have been baptized is to ‘live’ this consecration by a voluntary adherence—and one that is as perfect as possible—to what it has made of them. Living as ‘children of God’, they fulfill subjectively their objective consecration; like Jesus, they consecrate themselves. This is the deeper meaning of vows and baptismal promises, together with the actual way of life corresponding to them. The baptismal consecration is the fundamental one, constitutive of the Christian. All consecrations which come after it presuppose and are rooted in it…"⁵⁷

57. A. Boussard in Dictionary of Mary, Catholic Book Publishing Co., pp. 54-55.
 

Sing: A Priest is a Gift from God

 

 

Birth of John the Baptist

June 24, 2012

INTRODUCTION – (Isaiah 49:1-6; Acts 13:22-26; Luke 1:57-66, 80) We are familiar with John the Baptist from the readings during Advent. John was the prophet who immediately preceded Jesus and foretold his coming. John’s birthday usually falls on a weekday, but it is considered such an important feast that when it falls on Sunday, it takes precedence over the Sunday readings. If you are curious why the feast of his birth is today, consider this. The feast of the Annunciation is celebrated on March 25. When the archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary, the archangel told her that her cousin Elizabeth was already in her sixth month. So add three months to March 25 and we are at June 25. (Since John’s birthday is the 24th – he must have come a day early). The liturgy usually puts the feast day of saints on the day they died and entered into eternal life. But there are only three birthdays. This is because their birth is considered especially holy since they were born free from any sin.

    [eve] – Our first reading is from Jeremiah, a prophet who lived 600 years before Christ. As God was telling Jeremiah he was to be a prophet, the reading describes that role. This description of a prophet fits John the Baptist as well.

The gospel is the annunciation to John’s father, the old priest Zechariah, that he and his elderly wife would have a child, a special child who would prepare God’s people for the coming of the Messiah.

    [morning] – In today’s first reading, the prophet Second Isaiah, who lived about 500 years before Christ, speaks of some mysterious person who was identified simply as God’s servant. This poem and three others in Isaiah’s writings are known as Servant Songs. The early Church found these songs described Jesus in a most uncanny way. They are usually read during Holy Week. Today, however, the liturgy applies this second of the Servant Songs to John the Baptist because it states: “the Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.”

    When the archangel Gabriel had appeared to John’s father Zachariah nine months earlier, he told him his wife Elizabeth would have a son and he was to be named John. Zachariah and Elizabeth were a very old couple and Zachariah didn’t believe the angel. Not smart! He lost the ability to speak because of his lack of faith. (It’s like the angel was telling him, “keep your mouth shut and your lack of faith to yourself.”) Once Zachariah gave his child the name he had been told to name him, he showed he fully accepted all that the angel told him and his ability to speak returned.

HOMILY – Since I gave a long introduction, I do not have a very long sermon. One of Aesop’s most famous fables is the story of the ant and the grasshopper.

    The story goes like this: In a field one summer’s day, a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart’s content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil a kernel of corn he was taking to the nest. “Why not come and chat with me,” said the Grasshopper, “instead of toiling and moiling in that way?” “I am helping to lay up food for the winter,” said the Ant, “and recommend you to do the same.” “Why bother about winter?” said the Grasshopper; we have got plenty of food at present.” The Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came, the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew: “It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.”

    Even 2500 years ago, people knew the importance of preparing for the future. It’s still just as true today. If we do not learn this lesson when life is good, we’ll learn the hard way when it’s too late. This goes for education, investing, health and all kinds of important areas of life. John the Baptist’s role in life was to insist on the need to prepare. He called people to repent and prepare for the coming of God’s kingdom. His message is as important today as it ever was. There is a kind of new age theology that follows the attitude of the Grasshopper. It says don’t worry. Everybody is going to be in heaven in the end (except for someone like Hitler). Although God wants all people to be saved, there are abundant passages in the Scriptures that warn us that we cannot take salvation for granted. Jesus, who came to save us and who revealed to us so clearly the love of God, warned us: “The door to heaven is narrow. Work hard to get in, because many will try to enter and will not be able.” (Luke 13:23) Jesus’ message at the beginning of his ministry was the same message as John the Baptist: “repent and believe in the gospel.” The word “believe” means more than saying, “I believe.” It means putting our belief into action. Statistics keep coming out that fewer and fewer people are coming to Church, which is an indication that more and more people believe that worship of God is not all that important. I think it’s the entitlement mentality. We feel entitled to be happy (even eternally), no matter what we do or how we live. That’s not what the Scriptures tell us. I think the most important lesson we can learn from this feast of John the Baptist is to prepare. The fact you are here today is one good sign that you understand we need to prepare to meet our God. Amen.