Given July 17, 2008

                    Before the fall there was harmony and
                order — after the fall disorder and disharmony.
                Concupiscence — We have a tendency toward
                sin — a struggle between holiness and rebelliousness —

                    The secret to the spiritual life is living
                in the Father's will in love — Living according
                to the Father's plan — being in one mind and one heart —
                In the Church the body in accord with Christ, the head.

                Jesus: I emptied Myself — I took the nature of a slave —
                    for love of you, My beloved —

Matthew 11: 28-30

‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’

                R. Being yoked to Christ —
               
                Being so one with Him — living the Father's will
                In this lies our happiness

                Jesus: I love you
                    You are wed to Me —
                    The Father, Son and Holy Spirit dwell in your
                        graced baptized soul —

                    When you lay upon your sheets at night —
                Pray with peace —

                Know the Father, Son and Holy Spirit dwell in your
                    graced baptized soul.

                And when you go to the Eucharist, you receive
                    Me truly present —
                    I come to you Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity
                        I come to you —
                    You receive Me truly present —
                    No less present than the day I walked the earth.
                    Live according to the Father's will —
                    God created you —

                You can be transformed in your thoughts —
                Think of all your negative - dividing thoughts
                Your strength is in God —
                Every good deed you do is because of God's grace —
                This is My world —
                You were created to serve Me —
                You were given talents to use to serve Me —
                Your talents are God - given —

                Thank Me for all I have given to you.
                For having one another as a family —
                    the Shepherds of Christ

                I am love
                In heaven there is unity, love
                Hell is division

                When you live according to God's will you
                    live in this Plan of the Father —
                    The Plan for you
                    You have order when all are living
                        according to God's will

                    I have called orders in the Church —
                    Obedience is paramount
                    Living in one mind and one heart
                        according to God's will —

                ORDER — Living according to God's will
                Orders in the Church were based on poverty, chastity
                    and obedience
               
                    In heaven these reach perfection
                    There is obedience to God's will
                    Perfect accord
                    Perfect Obedience
                    Love
                    There is no sex in heaven
                    There is not marriages,
                    But relationships in love —
                    Love — being possessed by God
                    Enjoying the beatific vision
                    There is no money in heaven

                Today's religious orders are still based on
                    chastity and obedience

                This life is in preparing for the heavenly banquet
                    Love with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
                    The Communion of Saints
                    Praising and Worshiping God

From Response In Christ

by Fr. Edward Carter, S.J.

Relationship with Members of the Church

There is but one true Church of Christ. Yet this one Church has three different states of existence. There is the pilgrim Church, the Church of this world, composed of members who have received the grace of Christ and strive for its development. They have not yet obtained the goal of their efforts, as have the members of the heavenly Church, who enjoy God in eternal happiness. The Church suffering is an intermediate state of existence necessary for those who had not achieved the required purification as members of the pilgrim Church. Although there are these three phases of the Church’s existence, there is a profound union existing between all the members. All these members possess the same basic life of grace in Christ, and this common life establishes the most intimate bonds of love. In our preceding chapter, we discussed the pilgrim Church. Let us now consider the Church suffering and the heavenly Church.

The members of the Church suffering are those who have departed from this life in an incomplete state of Christian development. Their development is incomplete in the sense that grace has not fully taken possession of them, and, as a result, they are yet closed in upon themselves to a greater or lesser degree. They as yet cannot open themselves out in complete love to the Triune God in the beatific vision. They must undergo a further purification, a purification which could have been achieved upon earth with merit. Now the purification must be achieved with no merit attached. The pain of this purification is mixed with the certain expectation of achieving the vision of God. We can hasten the advent of this vision for this people by the offering of prayers and other good works. Scripture itself refers to our action on behalf of those in purgatory in Chapter 12 of the Second Book of Maccabees beginning with verse 38.

The members of the heavenly Church are those in whom the life of grace has taken full possession and has reached its completion in the life of glory. Faith now is unnecessary, as the light of glory gives the human intellect a new strength and capacity for seeing God face-to-face. While the Christian was a wayfarer, he received the imprint of the indwelling Trinity as he shared in God’s own life. Now in heaven that grace-life and possession of God reaches its completion—the absolute completion is not achieved, however, until the resurrection of the body. The divine persons give Themselves to the beatified in a profound union far surpassing that of the indwelling of the Trinity experienced here below.

This life of heaven is still the Christ-life, for just as we possess a share in Trinitarian life here below as mediated by Christ, and exercise this grace-life as structured by Him, so also in heaven is the mediation of Christ present. In the words of Rahner, "One always sees the Father through Jesus. Just as immediately as this, for the directness of the vision of God is not a denial of the mediatorship of Christ as man."¹⁴ And not only does the humanity of Christ unite the blessed to God, but also, in some way, to the whole of creation. This is merely a completion of what is begun here below, namely, the union with Christ in His humanity establishing the Christian in a special relationship with God, with other men, and with the whole of creation. We have a glimpse, therefore, of the fullness of life which members of the heavenly Church possess.

The heavenly Church, as St. Thomas says, is the true Church.¹⁵ The Church of this earth and the Church of purgatory are, each in its own way, reaching out in loving hope for the heavenly Jerusalem. Vatican II puts it very simply: "The Church, to which we are called in Christ Jesus, and in which we acquire sanctity through the grace of God, will attain her full perfection only in the glory of heaven."¹⁶

The members of the heavenly Church can help us in living our life of grace until we too share its fullness with them. Their power of intercession on our behalf is but another ramification of the communal aspect of Christianity. We are meant to help others grow in Christ. We, in turn, are intended by God to receive aid from others—yes, from members of the heavenly Church, as well as from those with whom we dwell here below.

Not only can we be aided by the saints’ intercession, but the example of the canonized saints can also be of great value to us. They have concretely proved that full holiness is possible. Such an inspiration is of real worth when we are tempted to think that Christian sanctity in its higher degrees is impossible of attainment. Moreover, the canonized saints, in their diversity, teach us that there are many authentic versions of Christian holiness. They can be innovators in showing us that there are numerous possibilities in assimilating the mystery of Christ, although the basic assimilation remains the same for all Christians of all times. In the opinion of Rahner this is one of the chief roles the canonized saints exert in the life of the Church.¹⁷

 

---

NOTES:

16. Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Church, No. 48.
17. Cf. Karl Rahner, Op. cit., pp. 100-101.

                I have called you in the Shepherds of Christ to this
                    great unity with Me —
                    living this order, harmony of love
                    according to the Father's will

                R. For the poor banished children of Adam and Eve
                    being in one mind and one heart —
                        living according to the Word —
                        obeying the commandments —

                    ORDER — Not disorder
                    UNITY — Not discord

                    Being in one mind and one heart in the
                        Hearts of Jesus and Mary

                The descendents of Adam and Eve are marked with
                    original sin from the moment of conception
                    except for Mary — the sinless human creature —
                    Mary — Mother of Jesus, the Son of God

                Jesus: Why do you study so many things and yet not
                    thirst to know the truth — for the
                    life of your soul?

                    Why do you look and not see?
                    Why do you have ears that do not hear?

                And yet the weakness of the wounded human nature —
                    tension between men and women
                    lust —
                    appetites
                    dysfunction
                    addictions — some being taught to be compulsive,
                                        addictive persons —

                You are in charge of your thoughts —
                    You must discipline your thoughts —
                    Not let feelings rule your actions —

                Parenting yourselves by praying for grace
                    to do the Father's will in love —

                If you want people to treat you nice —
                    you should be nice to them —

                Be thankful
                I have gifted you with such gifts not
                    given to the greatest saints to do
                    My work —

                I have given you tremendous grace to love
                    the Eucharist — grace to love the
                    Word — grace to thirst for greater
                    intimacy with Me —
                    grace to love
                    grace to choose this way of life

                Grace upon grace —
                Thank Me for My gifts to you —
                Grace for choosing this why of life

                I give you My grace
                I have chosen you, My Shepherds of Christ
                I love you so much —
                I have taken you deeply into My Heart and
                    filled you with My gifts
                I give you Myself in the Eucharist

                The Holy Spirit fills your heart with Wisdom —
                    with love — with the fire of God's love

                Oh sweet and gentle one — let all the love
                    I have poured out on you show in
                    your lives —

                You can take the gifts, but satan wants you stopped —
                    satan feeds you with negative thoughts —
                    you listen
                    where I pour out My love and My gifts
                    You focus on the negative thoughts —

                How many days and years do you tell yourself
                    negative thoughts and worry —
                    What makes you happy is My grace
                        poured out to you

                Pray —

                Live your vocation — this pleases Me
                It is the Father's Plan you must want —
                See how important you are to helping
                    others to know God's love and go
                    to heaven

                This is your commission in baptism to
                    mature in this great love union
                    with God and to help others to get
                    to heaven —

                You are to tell the world —
                The messages, the writings I have given
                To spread the devotion to Our Two Hearts as
                    Mary said at Fatima —
                To spread it so you will live in the Father's
                    will

                Live according to the Father's Plan
                Live in this order in obedience to God —
                    not live in disorder, but harmony,
                    peace and love —

                Embrace the cross of Christ —
                Take My yoke upon your shoulders and
                    Learn from Me —

                I am Jesus, Son of God —
                I teach you to be sons of God —
                Live to love in the Father's will
                Do not be disobedient like Adam and Eve —

                Know that Abraham, and Noah obeyed and
                    their descendents were blessed —

                Abraham would not even refuse God
                    his own son

                Carry your cross —

                Live as the Father intends in suffering and joys —
                Rejoice in your vocation
                Live as your Father wants you to live --
                In holiness —
                In love
                In obedience
                In the Plan of the Father
                Not discord
                Not disobedience

                Living in one mind and one heart in the
                    pure and holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary

                Consecrating your hearts to the pure and holy
                    Hearts of Jesus and Mary

                Holy, Holy is His Name

                Oneness for the earth
                Oneness for the poor banished children of Adam and Eve
                Consecrating the earth to the Hearts of Jesus
                    and Mary

                Consecrating Churches, families, homes
                    to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary

                What is the mission of the Shepherds of Christ —
                    oneness —
                    Consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary —
                            people
                            homes
                            countries
                            churches
                            the world

                    Going to the Eucharist
                    Living by the Word

Revelation 3: 1-3,12,16-19

'Write to the angel of the church in Sardis and say, "Here is the message of the one who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know about your behaviour: how you are reputed to be alive and yet are dead. Wake up; put some resolve into what little vigour you have left: it is dying fast. So far I have failed to notice anything in your behaviour that my God could possibly call perfect; remember how you first heard the message. Hold on to that. Repent! If you do not wake up, I shall come to you like a thief, and you will have no idea at what hour I shall come upon you.

Anyone who proves victorious I will make into a pillar in the sanctuary of my God, and it will stay there for ever; I will inscribe on it the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which is coming down from my God in heaven, and my own new name as well.

'...but since you are neither hot nor cold, but only lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth. You say to yourself: I am rich, I have made a fortune and have everything I want, never realising that you are wretchedly and pitiably poor, and blind and naked too. I warn you, buy from me the gold that has been tested in the fire to make you truly rich, and white robes to clothe you and hide your shameful nakedness, and ointment to put on your eyes to enable you to see. I reprove and train those whom I love: so repent in real earnest.'

                Life is life in Him

                Being alive means being filled more and more with
                    God's grace —

                Repent and wake up
                Don't be like the foolish virgins

                Victory is found in living the Pascal Mystery —
                    of Death/Resurrection

                Life/Death —

Deuteronomy 30: 19-20

John 15: 1-8

I am the true vine,
and my Father is the vinedresser.
Every branch in me that bears no fruit
he cuts away,
and every branch that does bear fruit
     he prunes
to make it bear even more.
You are clean already,
by means of the word
     that I have spoken to you.
Remain in me, as I in you.
As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself,
unless it remains part of the vine,
neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine,
you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me, with me in him,
bears fruit in plenty;
for cut off from me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me
is thrown away like a branch
—and withers;
these branches are collected
     and thrown on the fire
and are burnt.
If you remain in me
and my words remain in you,
you may ask for whatever you please
and you will get it.
It is to the glory of my Father
      that you should bear much fruit
and be my disciples.

                Isn't it foolish to not live as Christ wants —
                    to be willful against God's will —
                    to cause problems being in disorder —
                    problems for ourselves and others —
                    DISCORD against God's will —
                                                God's Plan

1 John 4: 7-11

My dear friends, let us love one another, since love is from God and everyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. Whoever fails to love does not know God, because God is love. This is the revelation of God's love for us, that God sent his only Son into the world that we might have life through him. Love consists in this: it is not we who loved God, but God loved us and sent his Son to expiate our sins. My dear friends, if God loved us so much, we too should love one another.

                Letting go
                Acting in harmony with each other

                Not like single entities — seeking dominance
                    for dominance sake

                Not like a square peg in a round hole —

                Pulling back

                Anticipating together how we are to operate
                    as a unit doing God's work —
                    like the body, finger and toe

                When a toe is sore the whole body suffers —
                Maybe the toe isn't even sore — just
                    willful to work against the other
                    members

                It is God's plan we are united — one in
                    the Hearts of Jesus and Mary

                God made man and woman to be united and
                    live as a family

                Religious orders in the Church are to be really
                    acting like a strong unit — helping
                    in one mind and one heart to strengthen
                    the Church — to love the body of Christ and
                    to be obedient to Christ the head —

                We see the Trinity —
                    The most perfect community —

                We come from parents

                They taught us about love and community —
                    oneness — interaction — solving
                    conflicts to win — to do God's work
                    which is why we were created —

                We see the imperfection of men in the Bible —
                Jesus gives us the New Covenant —
                He shows us how to be a son of God
                Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life
                Jesus is soft and gentle —
                Jesus is love
                Jesus is meek and tender of heart
                Jesus speaks with authority to Pilate

John 19: 10-11

Pilate then said to him, 'Are you refusing to speak to me? Surely you know I have power to release you and I have power to crucify you?' Jesus replied, 'You would have no power over me at all if it had not been given you from above; that is why the man who handed me over to you has the greater guilt.'

                We come in humility to be
                    taught by Jesus

                Why do we want to be dominant?
                Why don't we just want God's will and
                    have fun — because we are dong God's
                    will and we love Him so very much

                Let go

                Just do what God wants

                People who want control, want an agenda
                    because they are afraid to let go can
                    be like a jumping bean inside —

                They have to be the chief — every one under them —

                They make misery for themselves and others forcing things
                    that aren't God's will just to be in
                    control

                Christ is the head of the Church
                Christ is the head of the body

                We are to be in the Catholic Church
                        ONE
                        HOLY
                        CATHOLIC (universal)
                        APOSTOLIC in the world
                                             reaching out
                                             trying to lead souls to heaven

     Adam and Eve                     New Adam & New Eve

                The Mass is the Sacrifice of Calvary
                    sacramentally made present

New Adam and New Eve

 

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