Shepherds of Christ Daily Writing        

August 12 2015

August 13th Holy Spirit Novena
 Scripture selection is Day 2 Period I.

The Novena Rosary Mysteries 
for August 13th are Luminous.


 

Jesus would like people to come to Mass in China

August 12th at 12:00
August 13th at 12:00

 

Pray for special intentions.
  

Pray for Dan & Melanie, Jimmy,
Fr. Joe, Sonny & family, Blue Book 15.

Please pray for funds & grace.

   

                  

Blue Book 15 Available
Introductory Price $5.00 plus postage

  

 

                August 12, 2015

                R. Salvation History

                    Life is in Him!

  

Galatians 2: 19-20

...I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me.

 

Romans 6: 3-4

You cannot have forgotten that all of us, when we were baptised into Christ Jesus, were baptised into his death. So by our baptism into his death we were buried with him, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glorious power, we too should begin living a new life.

 

2 Corinthians 4: 10

always we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our body.

  

                R. We have been called to share in God's life!
 

                    Excerpt from Priestly Newsletter September/October 1997

To Live in Jesus Christ (excerpt)

Christ has come to give us a share in Trinitarian life. In Baptism the Persons of the Trinity have given Themselves to us in an extraordinary fashion. The intimacy of this Trinitarian communication imprints upon us the image of the Trinity. Because Christ as man mediates this Trinitarian gift, this image also possesses a Christ-like dimension. This Christ-like, Trinitarian image within us is our life of sanctifying grace. This life of grace, this Christ-life, allows us to communicate with Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the divine Persons who dwell within us. This Christ-life allows us to pour ourselves out in love of God and neighbor.

 

                R. The Blue Books teach us about life in the
                    Trinity, intimacy with God –

                We see in salvation history – daily in the
                    readings the disobedience of the Israelites
                    against God and we see His mercy
                    toward them in forming the chosen
                    people.

                Jesus came from the House of David.
                    Men are sinners, they are disobedient,
                    but we see God's mercy to the
                    penitent sinner –

                We see Jesus' love for the sinner in taking flesh
                    and dying for the sinner so man can
                    have the gift of the Church today,
                    the priest, the gift of the Mass and
                    ultimately to be with God eternally
                    in heaven seeing God face-to-face
                    in the beatific vision.

                The story of salvation

                    The Old Testament prefigures the New Testament –

                We see Moses went up the mountain and
                    he saw God face-to-face!

                We see the gifts God gives us in the Word,
                    in the Eucharist – the Bread of Life –

                We see our vocation is to grow in the life
                    of holiness –

                We see the building of the Temple and
                    Jerusalem in the Old Testament –

                    God worked with the disobedient
                        chosen flock –

                We see God wants us to have eternal joy and
                    in baptism we see the image of
                    God, His handprint  printed on
                    our soul. We are given the virtues
                    of faith, hope and love in baptism and we
                    pray for this increase of these virtues –

       

Excerpt from The Spirituality of Fatima

by Fr. Edward Carter, S.J.

"My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You! I ask pardon of You for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love You."

Then, rising he said: "Pray thus. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications."  (3)

                                        3. Louis Kondar, SVD, editor, Fatima in Lucia's Own Words (Fatima: Postulation Center, 1976), p.62. Distributed in the U.S.A. by the Ravengate Press, Cambridge, MA.
 

  

                    R. 100 Years ago 1916

                    Next election in United States 2016

                How have we progressed in having
                    a country in the image and likeness
                    of Jesus –

                We must pray!

                God has given us the Shepherds of Christ Movement,
                    these prayers, these teachings,
                    to help in the renewal of the Church and the world.

                This is the Mighty Medicine –

                    The Mass!

                    The Bread of Life!

                The Mighty Medicine for the sick world –
 


 

                R. Our Lady said at Fatima we need devotion to
                    the Hearts of Jesus and Mary –

                    We need conversion –

                God is merciful –

                God will outpour His mercy if disobedient
                    men repent and beg for His help.

 

Romans 11: 29-36

There is no change of mind on God's part about the gifts he has made or of his choice.

    Just as you were in the past disobedient to God but now you have been shown mercy, through their disobedience; so in the same way they are disobedient now, so that through the mercy shown to you they too will receive mercy. God has imprisoned all human beings in their own disobedience only to show mercy to them all.  

How rich and deep are the wisdom and the knowledge of God! We cannot reach to the root of his decisions or his ways. Who has ever known the mind of the Lord? Who has ever been his adviser? Who has given anything to him, so that his presents come only as a debt returned? Everything there is comes from him and is caused by him and exists for him. To him be glory for ever! Amen.

   

                R. We need an intimate relationship with
                    God –

                Where we are as St. Paul says:

 

Galatians 2: 19-20

...I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me.

 

                R. We live the paschal mystery of death/resurrection.

 

Death/Resurrection

  

Shepherds of Christ
Priestly Newsletter 2000 Issue 2 

The Church - Reflection of the Trinity, Body of Christ, and Spouse of Christ

Henri de Lubac states: "The Church is a mysterious extension in time of the Trinity, not only preparing us for the life of unity but bringing about even now our participation in it. She comes from and is full of the Trinity. She is for us -- in a favourite phrase of Bossuet -- ‘Jesus Christ … communicated’. She is ‘the Incarnation continued.’ She is, as Dietrick Bonhoeffer used to say, ‘the presence of Christ on earth’ --- she speaks with ‘the authority of Christ living and present in her.’… St. Paul applies to her this same word ‘mystery’ which he had first used of Christ. She is after all, the spouse of Christ and his body." 10

Let us, then, reflect upon the Church as a reflection of the Trinity, the Church as Body of Christ, the Church as Spouse of Christ.

The Christian community is a reflection of the ultimate and absolute community -- namely, the Trinity. In a special way, we are privileged to give witness to Trinitarian life, a life of divine intimacy, a life of divine knowing and loving.

Grace, or the Christ-life, is a created participation in Trinitarian life. This Christ-life, consequently, calls us to a special existence of knowing and loving. Christian faith and love, which are created participations in the Trinity’s knowing and loving, allow us to know and love God in a special manner. Faith and love also give us a new capacity to relate to both our fellow Christians and to all others..

Because the life of the Trinity is person-centered, so must the life of the Church be person-centered. For many years, it seems, we were not sufficiently person-conscious. However, the theology that has emanated from Vatican II is helping to rectify this situation. In the pre-Vatican II Church, structures in the Church were at times treated by some as if they were ends in themselves rather than as means of serving the persons in the Church. Slowly but surely, structures in the Church are being renewed so that they might better serve their true purpose, which is to aid in the ongoing spiritual development of her members -- leading them closer to the Father, through and with Christ, in the Holy Spirit.

The Church, in turn, develops when those who make up that community develop as authentic Christians. Just as each divine Person contributes perfectly to the community life of the Trinity according to the Self-Gift of the fullness of His personhood, so each Christian contributes to the community life of the Church in proportion to the degree of his or her gift of self, according to the degree of his or her personal holiness.

Authentic interpersonal relationships help to develop community. The Trinitarian community is a community of profound relationships. Because the Church reflects Trinitarian community, her members are intended to have relationships, not only with the Persons of the Trinity, but likewise with others. Authentic interpersonal relationships not only unite in a deeper knowledge and love the persons directly involved, they also make a person more capable of loving others more deeply, and, therefore, more capable of deepening the bonds of total community. If a person is growing in the capacity to love his or her friends, for example, that person is concurrently growing in the capacity to also love all others -- both those who are members of the Church and those who are not.

The fact that the Church is here on earth a reflection of the Trinitarian Community easily leads us to reflect upon the Church as the Body of Christ, since this name given to the Church also emphasizes the communitarian aspect of the Church. St. Paul tells us: For as with the human body which is a unity although it has many parts -- all the parts of the body, though many, still making up one single body -- so it is with Christ. We were baptised into one body in a single Spirit, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as free men, and we were all given the same Spirit to drink. And indeed the body consists not of one member but of many. If the foot were to say, ‘I am not a hand and so I do not belong to the body’, it does not belong to the body any the less for that. Or if the ear were to say, ‘I am not an eye, and so I do not belong to the body’, that would not stop its belonging to the body. If the whole body were just an eye, how would there be any hearing? If the whole body were hearing, how would there be any smelling?

Now Christ’s body is yourselves, each of you with a part to play in the whole. And those whom God has appointed in the Church are, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers; after them, miraculous powers, then gifts of healing, helpful acts, guidance, various kinds of tongues. Are all of them apostles? Or all prophets? Or all teachers? Or all miracle-workers? Do all have the gifts of healing? Do all of them speak in tongues and all interpret them? (1 Cor 12:12-17; 27-30).

The concept of the Church as Body of Christ certainly emphasizes the sense of corporateness that should permeate the consciousness of the Church’s members. We depend upon each other. We each have a very important contribution to make to the life of the Church. We must think in terms of both what is good for the entire Church and, through this Church, what is good for the total human community. Even when we disagree among ourselves, we do so not because we want to glory in having the upper hand, but because we believe that to disagree here and now is necessary so that the truth might better emerge for the good of the community. St. Paul speaks to us about this sense of corporateness: So if in Christ there is anything that will move you, any incentive in love, any fellowship in the Spirit, any warmth or sympathy -- I appeal to you, make my joy complete by being of a single mind, one in love, one in heart and one in mind. Nothing is to be done out of jealousy or vanity; instead, out of humility of mind everyone should give preference to others, everyone pursuing not selfish interests but those of others. Make your own the mind of Christ Jesus. (Phil 2:1-5)

Finally, we reflect upon the Church as Spouse of Christ. Fr. Joseph Murphy, S.J., tells us: "John Paul II always quotes the rich doctrinal and patristic traditions of the Church which refer to Christ as the Spouse of the Church and the Spouse of souls, given to both in the Eucharistic mystery. For him the key to understanding the sacramentality of marriage, not to mention the nature of humanity, is the spousal love of Christ for the Church demonstrated in Ephesians 5. Christ is the Head of the Church as Savior of His Body. The Church is exactly that Body which receives from Him all that through which it becomes and is His Body. As Head and Savior of the Church He is also Bridegroom of His Bride…" 11

Here is a prayer for intimacy with the Lamb, the Bridegroom of the Soul: "O Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, come and act on my soul most intimately. I surrender myself, as I ask for the grace to let go, to just be as I exist in You and You act most intimately on my soul. You are the Initiator. I am the soul waiting Your favors as You act in me. I love You. I adore You. I worship You. Come and possess my soul with Your divine Grace, as I experience You most intimately."

NOTES:

10. Henri de Lubac, S. J., The Church: Paradox and Mystery, translated by James R. Dunne, Alba House, p. 24.
11. The Thought of Pope John Paul II: A Collection of Essays and Studies, John M. McDermott, S. J., Editor, Editrice Pontificia Universita Gregoriana, p. 135.

 

Shepherds of Christ
Priestly Newsletter 2000 Issue 2 

  • Pope John Paul II speaks of the role suffering plays in the Christian life: "Every man has his own share in the redemption. Each one is also called to share in that suffering through which the redemption was accomplished. He is called to share in that suffering through which all human suffering has also been redeemed. In bringing about the redemption through suffering, Christ has also raised human suffering to the level of the redemption. Thus each man in his suffering can also become a sharer in the redemptive suffering of Christ…

"Those who share in Christ’s sufferings have before their eyes the paschal mystery of the cross and resurrection, in which Christ descends, in a first phace, to the ultimate limits of human weakness and impotence: Indeed, he dies nailed to the cross. But if at the same time in this weakness there is accomplished his lifting up, confirmed by the power of the resurrection, then this means that the weaknesses of all human sufferings are capable of being infused with the same power of God manifested in Christ’s cross. In such a concept, to suffer means to become particularly susceptible, particularly open, to the working of the salvific powers of God offered to humanity in Christ. In him God has confirmed his desire to act especially through suffering, which is man’s weakness and emptiness of self." 2

                2. Pope John Paul II, On The Christian Meaning of Human Suffering, United States Catholic Conference, Nos. 19 and 23.
 

                R. We see Mary's role in bringing forth
                    the Christ-life in us –

 

Priestly Newsletter Book II - September/October 1997

Scriptural Reflections

In all this Mary offers an example. Selfishness was totally foreign to her. She did not belong to herself. She belonged to God. She was not closed in upon herself. She was completely open to God. When God spoke, she listened. When God pointed the way, she followed. She realized that life is not a process a person masters by carefully mapping out one's own self-conceived plans of conquest, but a mystery to be gradually experienced by being open to God's personal and loving guidance.

Selfishness, then, did not close Mary off from God's call. Neither did fear. God asked her to assume a tremendous responsibility. He asked her to be the Mother of Jesus. Mary did not engage in a process of false humility and say that such a great role was above her. She did not say that she did not have the proper qualifications for this awesome mission. Briefly, she did not waste time looking at herself, making pleas that she was not worthy, telling the angel he had better go look for someone else. No, Mary did not look at herself. Her gaze was absorbed in God. She fully realized that whatever God asked of her, His grace would accomplish. She fully realized that although she herself had to cooperate, this work was much more God's than hers.

Mary's words, then, truly sum up what is the authentic Christian response at any point of life, in any kind of situation: "I am the handmaid of the Lord," said Mary, "let what you have said be done to me".

 

Wisdom 1: 1-7

Love uprightness you who are rulers on earth, 
be properly disposed towards the Lord 
and seek him in simplicity of heart; 
for he will be found by those who do not put him to the test, 
revealing himself to those who do not mistrust him. 
Perverse thoughts, however, separate people from God, 
and power, when put to the test, confounds the stupid. 
Wisdom will never enter the soul of a wrong–doer, 
nor dwell in a body enslaved to sin; 
for the holy spirit of instruction flees deceitfulness, 
recoils from unintelligent thoughts, 
is thwarted by the onset of vice. 

Wisdom is a spirit friendly to humanity, 
though she will not let a blasphemer’s words go unpunished; 
since God observes the very soul 
and accurately surveys the heart, 
listening to every word.

 

From the Priestly Newsletter Book III by Fr. Edward Carter, S.J.

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

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

 

 

Excerpts from Feed My Soul - Cycle C
 

1st Sunday of Advent

Jeremiah 33: 14-16

    “Look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shall fulfil the promise of happiness I made to the House of Israel and the House of Judah:

        In those days and at that time,
        I shall make an upright Branch
            grow for David,
        who will do what is just and upright
            in the country.
        In those days Judah will triumph
        and Israel live in safety.
        And this is the name the city will be called:
        Yahweh–is–our–Saving–Justice.”

 
1st Sunday of Advent
December 3, 2006 

INTRODUCTION: The prophet, Jeremiah, lived during one of the most devastating times in the history of Israel.  He witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Babylonians.  He saw many of his fellow citizens enslaved and taken into exile.  Yet his words reflect hope and not despair.  His hope is based not on human capabilities but on God's faithfulness to God’s promises.  Jeremiah recalls God’s promise to his people made over 400 years earlier, during the time of King David, that God would bring to the throne a successor to the King who would bring peace and security to Jerusalem.  We still wait for peace and security not only in Jerusalem but all over the world, but the promised one, a descendant of the House of David has begun his reign.  The gospel tells us one day he will come in great glory to establish the kingdom of God forever.   

 

2nd Sunday of Advent

Baruch 5: 1-9

Jerusalem, take off your dress of sorrow 
    and distress, 
put on the beauty of God’s glory 
    for evermore, 
wrap the cloak of God’s saving justice 
    around you, 
put the diadem of the Eternal One’s glory 
    on your head, 
for God means to show your splendour 
    to every nation under heaven, 
and the name God gives you 
    for evermore will be, 
‘Peace–through–Justice, 
    and Glory–through–Devotion’. 
Arise, Jerusalem, stand on the heights 
and turn your eyes to the east: 
see your children reassembled 
    from west and east 
at the Holy One’s command, 
    rejoicing because God has remembered. 
Though they left you on foot 
driven by enemies, 
now God brings them back to you, 
carried gloriously, like a royal throne. 
For God has decreed the flattening 
of each high mountain, 
    of the everlasting hills, 
the filling of the valleys 
    to make the ground level 
so that  Israel can walk safely 
    in God’s glory. 
And the forests and every fragrant tree 
    will provide shade 
for Israel, at God’s command; 
for God will guide Israel in joy 
    by the light of his glory, 
with the mercy and saving justice 
    which come from him.

 

2nd Sunday of Advent
December 10, 2006 

INTRODUCTION: In today’s first reading, we hear from Baruch, the secretary of Jeremiah the prophet and apparently a prophet himself.  He lived during the Babylonian exile over 500 years before Christ.  When the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, they destroyed everything and took most of its citizens to Babylon as captives.  The prophet Baruch addresses Jerusalem and tells the city to rejoice, God will bring back the captives and Jerusalem will prosper again.   

 

3rd Sunday of Advent

Zephaniah 3: 14-18

Shout for joy, daughter of Zion, 
Israel, shout aloud! 
Rejoice, exult with all your heart, 
daughter of Jerusalem! 
Yahweh has repealed your sentence; 
he has turned your enemy away. 
Yahweh is king among you, Israel, 
you have nothing more to fear. 

When that Day comes, 
    the message for Jerusalem will be: 
Zion, have no fear, 
do not let your hands fall limp. 
Yahweh your God is there with you, 
the warrior–Saviour. 
He will rejoice over you with happy song, 
he will renew you by his love, 
he will dance with shouts of joy for you, 
as on a day of festival.

 

3rd Sunday of Advent
December 17, 2006

INTRODUCTION:  Our theme for today, as it often is, is summed up in the Psalm Refrain: “Cry out with joy and gladness, for among you is the great and holy one of Israel.”  Our first reading from the prophet Zephaniah goes back about 700 years before Christ.  The Assyrians were the dominant force in the Middle East and were an unusually warlike, brutal people.  Their capital city was in northern Iraq near modern day Mosul.  Our first reading comes from a time shortly after the Assyrians wiped out the northern part of Israel.  They brought severe suffering upon the southern part of Israel too, the area around Jerusalem, but they did not conquer it.  Jerusalem would still stand for another 130 years until the Babylonians conquered it.  The Babylonian empire, as you might remember, was centered around Baghdad and it was after they destroyed the Assyrian empire that they moved on to conquer many other nations in the Middle East which included Judah and Jerusalem.   (It sounds very much like what’s going on over there today, doesn’t it?)  Meanwhile back to Zephaniah 700 years before Christ after the northern part of Israel had been devastated.  Jerusalem was struggling to recover from the near destruction they had suffered, but they didn’t learn their lesson.  Idolatry and immorality were rampant among the Jews.  The king of Judah himself offered his own son as a human sacrifice to the pagan gods.  Most of Zephaniah’s book records his efforts to correct abuses among God’s people.  His book ends on a note of hope, however, as he addresses those who are faithful to God.  He tells them to rejoice and assures them God will rejoice and sing too because of his love for them and for all the blessings that will be theirs.  Can any of us begin to imagine what it would sound like to hear God singing?   

There is something we should be aware of when we hear the second reading too.  St. Paul is sitting in prison somewhere when he wrote this, and prisons in those days were really bad.  Today’s prisons would look like a luxury hotel by comparison.  Yet Paul can be joyful and he is able to encourage the Philippians to have no anxiety and to rejoice always.   

 

4th Sunday of Advent

Micah 5: 1-4

But you (Bethlehem) Ephrathah,
the least of the clans of Judah,
from you will come for me
a future ruler of Israel
whose origins go back to the distant past,
to the days of old.
Hence Yahweh will abandon them
only until she who is in labour gives birth,
and then those who survive of his race
will be reunited to the Israelites.
He will take his stand
    and he will shepherd them
with the power of Yahweh,
with the majesty of the name of his God,
and they will be secure,
    for his greatness will extend
henceforth to the most distant parts
    of the country.

He himself will be peace!

 

4th Sunday of Advent
December 24, 2006 

INTRODUCTION: The capital of Assyria was in what is today, northern Iraq. The Assyrian army was powerful and was famous for its savagery. They had destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and did considerable damage to the southern kingdom. They surrounded Jerusalem and were calling for its surrender. Naturally the citizens of Jerusalem were terrified. We hear in today’s first reading words of hope spoken to God's people by the prophet Micah. The book of the prophet Micah is very short and this is the only time in three years we hear from him. He promises salvation would come out of an unimportant little village about seven miles south of Jerusalem, the birthplace of King David: Bethlehem. This savior would rescue God's people and lead them to peace.

 

6th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 17: 5-8

Yahweh says this,
Accursed be anyone
     who trusts in human beings,
who relies on human strength
and whose heart turns from Yahweh.
Such a person is like scrub
    in the wastelands:
when good comes, it does not affect him
since he lives in the parched places
    of the desert,
uninhabited, salt land.

‘Blessed is anyone who trusts in Yahweh,
with Yahweh to rely on.
Such a person is like a tree by the waterside
that thrusts its roots to the stream:
when the heat comes it has nothing to fear,
its foliage stays green;
untroubled in a year of drought,
it never stops bearing fruit.

 

6th Sunday of Ordinary Time
February 11, 2007

INTRODUCTION: Life is full of options for people in the world today, but the Bible tells us that all our options ultimately will be reduced to two.  We either make God the center of our lives or we don’t.  Choosing to make God the center of our lives will lead to true happiness, making any other choice may satisfy us temporarily, but it will in the end leave us disappointed and unhappy.  This was crystal clear to Jeremiah the prophet who lived at the time of the Babylonian exile.  His way of expressing this truth is crystal clear too.

 

First Sunday of Lent
February 25, 2007

INTRODUCTION – (Deut 26:4-10; Rom 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13) Any person who has a sense of spirituality knows deep down that we owe our Creator recognition, respect, worship, gratitude and honor. Throughout the history of the human race, honor and recognition were offered in a variety of ways. It was not unusual to find that many primitive tribes offered human sacrifices. God was not honored by this practice, and he revealed this to the Jewish people. Instead they made offerings of the various foods that sustained their lives to indicate they recognized that all they had, including life itself, came from God. In our first reading we hear Moses instructing the people in the proper way to offer their tithes and the first fruits of their land. The reading leads us into the  gospel where Jesus tells Satan, and what he tells him is a reminder to all of us, that we owe worship to God only.

 

Third Sunday of Lent
March 11, 2007

INTRODUCTION – (Exod 3:1-8a, 13-15; 1 Cor 10:1-6, 10-12; Luke 13:1-9) Our psalm refrain, “The Lord is kind and merciful,” describes our theme for today. We hear about God’s desire to bring his people, suffering as slaves in Egypt, into freedom. He chooses Moses to be the one to demand and obtain their freedom. Moses wasn’t happy to have to do this. He had escaped from Egypt himself because he had killed an Egyptian who had attacked an Israelite. Now God tells him he has to go back and deal with the Egyptian king. God gives Moses a special gift, God’s name: “Yahweh,” translated as “I AM.” What is so special about that? It was like giving someone your private phone number. God was assuring Moses of a special relationship Moses would have with him and letting Moses know he could call on God whenever he needed him.

In our second reading Paul reminds us of how many blessings and marvels God’s people experienced as God led them through the desert to the Promised Land. But in spite of all the wonderful things God gave them, they were unable to enter into the Promised Land. In the end they had failed to continue trusting in God. He tells us not to be like them.

The theme that “the Lord is kind and merciful” shows up again in the gospel in a short parable about a fig tree. It was given opportunities of every kind to produce fruit, but it failed to do so. “The Lord is kind and merciful,” but he expects us not to take his mercy for granted. With the help of his kindness, he expects us to grow in goodness and holiness.

 

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
 July 15, 2007

INTRODUCTION – (Deut 30:10-14; Col 1:15-20; Luke 10:25-37) The Book of Deuteronomy is a series of sermons addressed to the people of Israel by Moses right before they were to enter the Promised Land. Moses had led them from the slavery of Egypt and was with them for many years as they traveled through the Sinai desert. You might remember Moses knew he would die before the people could enter their Promised Land, so he is in a sense giving them some last words of wisdom before he would have to leave them. Today’s first reading begins with an incomplete sentence: “If only you would heed the voice of the Lord...” The sentence presupposes a thought such as: “God will bless you, if only you would heed the voice of the Lord...” The passage goes on to stress that what God wants from his people is no hidden mystery. God has been very clear as to how he wants us to live. This concept connects with today’s gospel when a scholar of the law asks Jesus to interpret for him what God wants of any of us. Jesus’ reply to the man’s question shows that he already had the answer he was looking for. Almost instinctively, we all know what God wants of all of us. Knowing it is not the problem, but living it is.

 

 

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 38: 4-6

    The chief men then said to the king, 'You must have this man put to death: he is unquestionably disheartening the remaining soldiers in the city, and all the people too, by talking like this. This man is seeking not the welfare of the people but their ruin.' King Zedekiah answered, 'He is in your hands as you know, for the king is powerless to oppose you.' So they took Jeremiah and put him into the storage-well of the king's son Malchiah in the Court of the Guard, letting him down with ropes. There was no water in the storage-well, only mud, and into the mud Jeremiah sank.
 

 
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 19, 2007

INTRODUCTION: Unfortunately suffering and turmoil have been part of everyday life in the Middle East for a long time.  Our first reading takes us back 600 years before Christ when the land we now know as Iraq had the name Babylon.  The Babylonians were in power at that time in history and the king and his army’s ambitions were to conquer all the nations around them.  The events in our first reading occurred at a time when the Babylonians were trying to take Jerusalem.  Jeremiah, God’s prophet, told the Jews it was useless for them to fight or to try to defend themselves; they should just go ahead and surrender or Jerusalem would be destroyed.  Such talk was viewed as unpatriotic and Jeremiah was considered a traitor.  Many of the Jewish leaders decided to kill Jeremiah and they persuaded their king, Zedekiah, to give in to their wishes.  He allowed Jeremiah to be thrown into a cistern to die.  Later, Ebed-Melech, a Cushite (which means an Ethiopian), one of Jeremiah’s friends, persuaded the king to change his mind.

 

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
 September 16, 2007

INTRODUCTION – Our first reading (Exodus 32,7-11, 13-14) takes us back to the time of Moses, about 1300 years before Christ. The people of Israel were slaves who had just escaped from Egypt through God’s power and Moses’ leadership. God had just made them his people at Mt. Sinai through a covenant in which they pledged to honor Yahweh as their only God. God then called Moses to the top of Mt. Sinai to speak further with him. With their leader out of sight, the people got into trouble. Probably following the customs of the Egyptians, they tried to represent their God in animal form and they fashioned for themselves a golden calf. This is where our first reading begins. God is angry with his people. Notice, in speaking to Moses, he calls them “your people.” Moses becomes an intercessor for the people and “convinces” God to be forgiving. His prayer displays total unselfishness. God, of course, forgives them. In the second reading we hear St. Paul describe what a sinful person he once was and how God was merciful to him (1 Tim, 1,12-17). Jesus gives us three beautiful parables on forgiveness in today’s gospel (Lk.15,1-32).

 

Christ the King
November 25, 2007

INTRODUCTION: When the first king of Israel, King Saul, was killed in battle, the southern part of Israel chose David as their king. The northern part chose Ishbaal, King Saul’s son, to be their king. Ishbaal was inept and after seven years of chaos, the northern tribes turned to David and asked him to rule them also. This is where our first reading comes in. David was a successful leader and, in spite of some serious misbehavior, was viewed throughout Jewish history as an ideal king. The Jews always hoped for another king like him. When a king assumed his office, he was anointed and thus the ideal king the Jews longed for was often referred to as “the anointed one.” The Hebrew word for this is “Mashiah,” or as we say it: “Messiah.” When Mashiah is translated into Greek we have “Χριστός.” So when we call Jesus “Christ” we are in effect saying Jesus, the King. Christ’s kingdom is not an earthly one, as St. Paul tells us, but it is eternal and a sharing in God’s own authority and power.

 

 

                From Blue Book 16

September 5, 1997

Pittsburgh, PA Rosary

Jesus: My beloved ones, I have called you to this rosary that you will become more intimately united to Me for I give to you My Sacred Heart My specially chosen ones.

Song: Here I Am Lord

Jesus: And I stand by your bed at night and I am with you at every single second, at every moment, no matter where you are I speak to you and I tell you to not be afraid, for I am with you guarding you and watching you, caring for every breath that you take. I am Jesus, I am the Son of God and I have called you, My shepherds, to go into this world and to spread My love to the far corners. Do not be discouraged by the events at hand. Never are you to feel discouraged but encouraged for I have called you and you are My apostles that will lead the light across the darkened land. I am with you at every moment of the day. Here I am with you today.

Song: One Bread One Body

Jesus: I have called you, My beloved ones, that you may be one, that you will lead this world and it will be one. And I have united you in the deepest oneness with each other and given you an abundant sharing of My love to share with one another, that this world will know unity through you. I have molded you, My special shepherds, into soldiers of love, soldiers that will be one living according to the Father’s Will, according to the Father’s Plan, leading the flock into greater oneness through the guidance of Fr. Carter. I have asked you here tonight to tell you of My Plan for each one of you, for you have been called by Me on this special night, the 5th of September, 1997.

R. Mary appeared almost everyday from July 5th of 1994 to September 5, 1995 at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Center in the Sorrowful Mother statue. She said she appeared as Our Lady of Light. She was surrounded by a celestial mist. On this September 5th, 1997, two years later we come at the request of Our Lady to pray this rosary. It is a great gift given by Our Lady of Light, Our Lady in the Americas, Our Lady of Fatima. We have been called as apostles in order to help lead this world into consecration, into oneness in which there will be one flock and one shepherd. And let us, with all our hearts, thank the Almighty God for the great gifts that They have given to us and ask Mary please to help us to honor her in a special way in this rosary. For Mary is blasphemed by many of her beloved children, in her motherhood and in her virginity and in her Immaculate Conception. And children are being taught this day to dishonor their Mother, the Mother that will take them into deeper spiritual relationship with God. Mary is the Mother most pure. Mary is the singular vessel of devotion that will lead the souls into this immense union with God. There is no other way and this is the reason that Christ came into this world in the Virgin Mary. Let us honor her for she has greatly given us these gifts and graced us with her presence in a special way on the 5th of every month. It was a great honor that Mary appeared for two years and four months on the 5th of the month. And it was a great sign that Jesus appeared on the cross on December 5th, 1996, dead on the cross at the point of death, after all these daily apparitions of Mary. When Jesus appeared on the cross December 5, 1996, His mouth was moving because Jesus said later that night in a rosary of the 5th, “no one was listening.” This was 12 days before Mary appeared at Clearwater December 17, 1996. And it is a great gift that Christ appeared a second time on the cross, August 20th of 1997, glorified and glistening in light and that we heard the Father speak and He said, “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” The gifts are given but this world is slumbering and asleep and they are not aware that God has contacted the earth. And they will feel the vibrations of the chastisement when He shakes them in their seats for they have ignored God. And with all of our attempts to alert this world of the warnings, we have been blocked endlessly. But this does not change the intention of the Father and His Will for us. For the blocks were put there by men. But the messages were given by God that man would be warned and would change his ways. And so when the Father speaks that He will lessen the chastisements and or avert them if we start the prayer chapters, we must realize the urgency of this situation and take this mission with greatest seriousness. For God the Father speaks to be heard and He says as He appears, “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.”

Sorrowful Mysteries

The Agony in the Garden

l. R. And the Father spoke in the message on January 11th and He said that He is speaking through His Son, Jesus, in these messages revealing His Plan. And He called His Son, God-Made-Man, for it is through Jesus that the Father reveals Himself and it is a great honor indeed that He gives to us these revelations. He has called us. He has appeared, Our Beloved Jesus, on the cross adorned in light. The victory is in the priests’ hearts that are being changed through the Priestly Newsletter and through our prayers. Sufferings or not, the victory is in what is happening for the renewal of the Church and the world. It is not in how we suffer, how we are stepped on, how we are ignored. It is in what is happening in the world as these revelations from the Almighty God are circulated and priests’ hearts are turned to consecrated hearts, consecrated to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

2. R. And so this morning, I wrote this: Today I understood the Mass most greatly for we were joined, a few of us, with Fr. Carter at Mass. There may have been ten of us in the chapel of the Monastery in Pittsburgh. I experienced for the first time the beauty of being consecrated with the priest and with the people that I love. I experienced oneness in Him bound together by this great thread of love between each one of us and the priest. And I hear Mary speak and she says: “I stood beneath the cross of my Son and I cried.” And I heard her speak and say this, this morning. “I stood beneath the cross of my Son and I cried.” At this monastery, this monastery is the example of how Mass will be celebrated in the future. And it is greatly through what we do, although we are pressed on, although we are tired and withered, it is in what we do that majorly the Reign of the Sacred Heart will take place and that priests with consecrated hands, consecrated in their hearts to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary will celebrate the Mass. And there will be oneness in this Mass. And so Jesus knelt in the garden and He sweat blood for the souls for all of us — for the souls walking in darkness. Today Jesus sweat blood in the garden. Today many treat the Blessed Sacrament with such indifference and with such neglect. And so in the garden He sweat blood. Oh Jesus, Jesus, what do we do to shake this earth, to tell them of Your bountiful love for them? For they do not hear and they do not listen. And we have learned that it is only in Your grace that this world will be changed. We are Your instruments and we long to be one in You that You will operate through us. But He has taught us that it is not in the busyness, it is not in what we do alone, but it is what He does through us in the grace He outpours. We need grace from God to accomplish this work - pray with all your hearts and cooperate with the grace.

3. R. We pray the Our Father, we pray for the Kingdom, the power and the glory are Yours. This is the begging for the Reign of the Sacred Heart. Let us pray the Our Father, please. We beg in the Our Father for the Reign of the Sacred Heart. This is what we pray when we pray the Our Father. Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. And we pray for the Kingdom, thy Kingdom come, thy Will be done. How will Thy Kingdom come? It will come by Thy Will being done on earth as it is in Heaven. And now on this earth there is such willfulness. And this is what the consecration does, it leads men into one mind and one heart. And we walk around weary and we wonder. But it is all there in the Mass and so much more that we have not even comprehended or has been brought to light to us. The beauty of the Mass is unveiled more and more each and every day. And so we pray, Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, asking for thy Kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven according to the Father’s Will. And then we say, give us this day our daily bread. And how will there be oneness? The greatest oneness is achieved when men go to Mass and go to the Eucharist. But how will it be achieved? Brothers, if there is any anger or division in your heart towards any man, it blocks the unity between you and God. And so then in the Our Father we say, give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses. A cleansing of ourselves so that we will be one at the reception of the Eucharist. For if I have anger in my heart towards one person, I do not unite in deep oneness with Jesus. And so we say, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. I see now how the Mass flows in great unity. This is not disconnected. It is connected to be one with each other with Him, as we are to be one body in the Eucharist. We cannot have division in our hearts with anybody. The Our Father is so important in the Mass where we beg the Father to help us to bring about the Reign of the Sacred Heart. How will this be done? It will be done by doing the Father’s Will on earth as it is in Heaven. It will come when we are all doing His Will on earth as they are in Heaven. It is the willfulness of the earth, the division that is in men’s hearts that is stopping the Heart of Jesus from Reigning in men’s hearts. So we pray, give us this day our daily bread. Let us be one in this. Forgive us our trespasses. Help us not to be divided with others, to forgive them so that when we go to this Eucharist (this morning, right here, there will be this immense oneness between us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.) And so we pray, deliver us from every evil. Why? That we will be one in this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And grant us peace in your mercy. Keep us free from sin. Why? Because sin keeps us from oneness. And protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of Our Savior. All of this is for thy Kingdom come. Thy Kingdom come will come when men are realizing that God is truly present in the Holy Eucharist, when thy Will is done on earth as it is in Heaven, when we are forgiving one another for our trespasses, when we are going to the Eucharist and receiving Him in oneness with each other. We want His will. For it is not in Sue’s will or Joe’s will or Kathy’s will. We will be one in the Father’s will.

4. R. We are praying for the Reign of the Sacred Heart to come in our hearts. What is in the hearts of men? Look at the Mass. Here it is Sunday and you are at Mass and you look across the pew and there are men there. Are you in one mind and one heart? If you are so immensely united to God in your heart and you turn to your brother to shake his hand, do you feel connected? It is in consecration that we will be one flock and one shepherd. We must spread this consecration to the Churches and to the priests. This morning is how it will be. And so we see Jesus in the garden with the blood that goes to the ground. And it is because we are blind men and the Kingdom of God will come and He will Reign in the hearts of men when they give their hearts to Jesus. But in order to give yourself to Jesus, we must go through Mary, for Jesus Himself came to this earth in the womb of the Virgin Mary.

5. R. And this is a big connection from the beginning of the Our Father to the part where He says deliver us from every evil to the part where it goes to finally that we respond with open arms we should cry out for the Kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and forever. And we are hugged and we are in one heart and we come so close to being one. For in this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we can get such grace to love like Jesus. Our loving and knowing capacity is elevated in baptism. And when we hug one another, when we shake hands with one another, it is Him living in us that is loving our brother and Him living in them that is loving. St. Paul says in Galatians, “It is no longer I who live, but He who lives in Me.” The Scriptures in the Mass are talking about Him, in Mass one in Him, all through the Scriptures, all through the Mass. We are to live in Him. Be one in Him. It is the lip service love that is so hard to handle. And Christ sweat blood in the garden for men are off for their fancy frills and their days at the park. And Sunday has turned into a day of great pleasure and selling and the Almighty God is forgotten in the hearts of many men.

6. R. And what is the Mass? It is the shout for victory that the Kingdom of God is at hand. And we are to teach the people these things through the teachings that God has given to us. Not to me, not to Fr. Carter, to us. We are the main apostles to help to spread greater fervor and participation in the Mass, and grace is outpoured on the earth at Mass. We say God we want to be one in You. Outpour Your grace. We will be one for we are one body in Him.

7. Song: One Bread One Body

8. R. Many times, when I have done the kiss of peace in Church I have felt so disconnected. A quick nod, a hand up, so, so cold. And it is so difficult many times to feel this connection in the Mass. Today, I was in my heart in the Mass with my Shepherds of Christ brothers I love so dearly. We hugged and were one greater than ever before. For we gave His love to each other right in the Mass. I just said, “I love you”, and it was coming from the love that was inside of me. It was His love, His love in me that was going out to them. And His love in them that was coming back to me. We exchanged His love with each other so deep in our hearts. And then we beg Him for mercy on this world, Lamb of God, I want to get down on the ground and beg Him, please send mercy on this world and on me for the sins that I have committed and the sins of this world. Lamb of God. He was the little lamb taken to the slaughter. Do you see Him in the garden with the blood that comes down His cheeks and He falls to the ground, to the muddy ground. And there it is the Precious Blood of the Almighty God shed for the sins of men. And how do we say, Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. They scratch their heads and they look around and the words come out of the mouth with such labor. When God has given His life for men. And this is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the sacrifice of Calvary sacramentally made present in the Mass. Half asleep. And where is the answer, my friends? It is in the priests whose hearts are consecrated to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Grace is outpoured through the hands of the priests to the faithful and they are fed. We love our priests — pray the prayers Jesus gave to pray for them. This is our mission. The world is not doing what God intends them to do. This is why He sends the messages. It is only in consecration that this will happen. How can the priests stand there and teach the people that which he does not know. But God is teaching in the Priestly Newsletter. And so our mission is blocked. But our truth is in the Scriptures and it is in Him. Lamb, Lamb of God, the Son of God took flesh, came to this earth and sacrificed His body to pay for the price of the sins. And do we even say the words with conviction? Are we really begging God to give mercy to us? Or are we thinking that we do not even need His mercy? We are thinking about the food that we will have afterwards or the Sunday fun. And God gives to us Himself as the Lamb, the Lamb of God. And so we should fall on the floor and beg God for mercy. When we have begged Him, when we have asked for forgiveness for our sins, when we tell Him that we are not worthy, and we walk the aisle to the banquet, Jesus gives us Himself in the Holy Eucharist. Jesus is the Bridegroom of our soul. And after all we have done, the Son of God gives us Himself, the bridegroom of our soul.

9. Matthew 22: 1-8

Parable of the wedding feast

Jesus began to speak to them in parables once again, ‘The kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding. He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come. Next he sent some more servants with the words, “Tell those who have been invited: Look, my banquet is all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding.” But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them. The king was furious. He dispatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town. Then he said to his servants, “The wedding is ready;

R. The Son of God gives Himself to sinful men and He is ignored and forgotten by some. And do the guests come to the wedding feast? And how are they dressed? Are their souls white and pure? Or do they come with the wrong attire?

Matthew 22: 8-11

“The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the main crossroads and invite everyone you can find to come to the wedding. So these servants went out onto the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests. When the king came in to look at the guests he noticed one man who was not wearing a wedding garment,

R. And there are so many messages in the Blue Book that says: “how is your soul?” And He talks about being the bridegroom of our souls in the Blue Books and He talks about having a stain on the bride’s dress and how would you come. And when I got these messages I didn’t know what He was really talking about. Read them. December 27, 1993, February 11, 1994. How pure we must be. How a bride wouldn’t come with a big stain on her dress. I didn’t realize that the Scriptures and everything is leading to this. But He said it in there, He said it in the messages. And I told the person He told me to tell it to. Jesus wants this union with each soul as the bridegroom of our soul. And they said, “Ah, no Rita, that’s for you.” In the Bible it talks about this spousal union between the soul and God. And this is how it will be in the Reign of the Sacred Heart. The references to the wedding, the references are in there in the Blue Books. Read those messages where He talks about the purity that He wants from the soul. And they laughed and they laughed on December 29th when He talked about us coming to the tabernacle. Read the beauty of the message. When He says, “I give you Myself and you take Me to the gas pump or to K-mart”. And they laughed and yellowed up the book. God spoke to us and it is the truth. The banquet is prepared. He gives us Himself, the bridegroom of our soul. And the people are off and out the door, pumping gas, with the Son of God within their bodies.

10. R. But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. How is the state of your soul? Is there a big stain on the wedding dress as He said? It was in the February 11th message.

Matthew 22: 12-14

and said to him, “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” And the man was silent. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot and throw him into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.” For many are invited but not all are chosen.”

 

The Scourging at the Pillar

l. R. And we want the comfort. We want all the things that we want that lead to what? And what of the banquet of the Lord?

2. R. The banquet is prepared, August 21st, the day after Jesus appeared victorious on the cross and the Father spoke. The banquet is prepared and the cup runs over for He has invited the souls to the wedding feast and He is the groom.

Jesus: How is your gown, My beloved soul? For I give Myself to you and I am rejected by the souls. Do you come with your garment pure for the feast? I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I give Myself to you. Will you come to the feast and share in the victory for the soul is transformed. It is saturated with My life. I give you My Body and My Blood. You are transformed.

R. I see how the priest takes ordinary bread and wine and it is transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus. So what makes me think in all my imperfections, He cannot change me with all my imperfections. In the Eucharist He gives me Himself and I am transformed more and more into His image. I receive Jesus and I am changed.

3. R. Jesus cast the man out who came to the wedding banquet and was not dressed properly. Anyone who comes to receive Him must be in the state of grace. They must be baptized and have been accepted by the Church and given the right to receive Him. It is the elect He gives Himself to. We have been called to come to the banquet and receive Him. We must be found worthy.

4. R. And He spoke in an all night message that He gave to me that is in the Apostles Manual. And sometime later, He talked, I believe it was on January 5th and I wrote it in the margin here as He woke me out of bed, I sat on the floor and I wrote this. And I thought I lost it, and I found this the other day. When He gave me another all night message and this is what He said:

January 5, 1997

Jesus: ...Open yourself, Oh Jerusalem, your time is come you will be a light to the people in darkness, many will walk whence you come and the earth will be shakened and the light will come across a dark sky and enlighten their minds.

Oh stiff-necked people, you are so stiff in your ways, let the Spirit envelope you and lead you on your way.

A country of stiffs, a people of planning and prodding, of deliberating and wondering — you lack faith, Jerusalem, you lack faith in God.

Oh walk naked into the cold night, you are cold in your hearts and naked in your clothing — I clothe you with glory, I light your face with light, but you turn your cheeks to the darkness and stay stiff-necked in your hearts. Oh cold and dark hearts, reach for the light that you may know the glory that awaits the sinners and enlightens their minds. end of excerpt

5. Hail Mary

6. R. And so I woke the other night by the sound of my own voice as I was speaking and the word that I spoke was: the word of God is born within us. Jesus is the Word. There is a birth, a bringing forth of His Word living within us.
   

From the Priestly Newsletter Book III by Fr. Edward Carter, S.J.

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

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

R. The Word is in us. He lives in us. We dwell and live in Him. We hear the Word at Mass. We are united to Jesus in our hearts.

7. Hail Mary
8. Hail Mary

9. John 1: 1-5

In the beginning was the Word:
the Word was with God
and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things came into being,
not one thing came into being
except through him.
What has come into being in him was life,
life that was the light of men;
and light shines in darkness,
and darkness could not overpower it.

10. John 1: 6-11

A man came, sent by God.
His name was John.
He came as a witness,
to bear witness to the light,
so that everyone might believe
through him.
He was not the light,
he was to bear witness to the light.
The Word was the real light
that gives light to everyone;
he was coming into the world.
He was in the world
that had come into being through him,
and the world did not recognise him.
He came to his own
and his own people did not accept him...

 

The Crowning with Thorns

l. R. The consecration will help the Word be born more deeply in our hearts, in the priests’ hearts. And what is happening when the Word of God is spoken? Is it as a two-edged sword that penetrates the heart and the soul?

John 1: 11-12

...He came to his own and his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God,
 

2. From Tell My People by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J.

The Holy Spirit

Jesus: “My beloved friend, tell My people to pray daily to the Holy Spirit. They are to pray for an increase in His gifts. My people must realize that the Holy Spirit comes to transform them. The Spirit desires to transform you more and more according to My image. Those who are docile to His touch become increasingly shaped in My likeness. He performs this marvel within Mary’s Immaculate Heart. The more one dwells in My Mother’s Heart, the more active are the workings of the Spirit. The Spirit leads Mary to place you within My own Heart. In both Our Hearts, then, your transformation continues. The more you are formed after My own Heart, the more I lead you to the bosom of My Father. Tell My people all this. Tell them to pray daily for a greater appreciation of these wondrous gifts. I am Lord and Master. All who come to My Heart will be on fire to receive the gifts of the Spirit in ever greater measure! I love and bless My people!”

Reflection: The Holy Spirit is given to us to fashion us ever more according to the likeness of Jesus. And the more we are like Jesus, the more Jesus leads us to the Father. Do we, each day, pray to the Holy Spirit to be more open to His transforming influence? Do we strive each day to grow in union with Mary? The greater our union with our Mother, the spouse of the Holy Spirit, the greater is the transforming action of the Holy Spirit within us. end of excerpt

3. Hail Mary
4. Hail Mary

5. Matthew 11: 25

At that time Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children.

R. Some youth today don’t even know the commandments. Are we teaching them what is important? They know so much about how to tidy up their room, they know so much about washing their hands, they know so much about the purity of the body, but the purity of the soul and the relationship of their soul with God is not even of much importance to many of the parents that are teaching their children.

6. R. Mary appeared as the Sorrowful Mother daily for fourteen months. The prophesy of Simeon says, “this Child is destined for the fall and the rise of many in Israel.” This was Our Lady’s house and in the Big Boom card it said, “This is My Mother’s house, a house divided against itself will fall.”

7. R. Every time Mary appeared while we were meditating on the Finding in the Temple, what ended up happening was I felt as if I had swords inside of my heart. And to say this now, I feel the same horrible pain inside of me. During those two mysteries of the rosary, looking at Mary with the sword in her heart alive at the Holy Spirit Center, few were listening to what she was saying. I felt it as if the inside of my heart was torn in half every time I did the Finding in the Temple. Now I look at the Holy Spirit Center, they ignored Mary’s message. And on the Big Boom card the message said, “This is My Mother’s house. A house divided against itself will fall.” Mary appeared for nine months in the Rosary chapel. Out of the fourteen months that she appeared everyday, she appeared nine months in the Rosary chapel. And then they moved Mary’s statue to the Sorrowful Mother chapel. She appeared another five months in the Sorrowful Mother chapel and it was there greatly that the Shepherds of Christ Movement blossomed and grew. Many times the whole room was filled with people praying fervently in their hearts the prayers that Jesus gave to Fr. Carter to help bring about the Reign of the Sacred Heart. The Father was so strong on the anniversary of when the wing fell off, March 22nd, how we must circulate those cards. He was so strong that He wanted this message circulated, “A house divided against itself will fall.” The one corner where the Sorrowful Mother was and where the Shepherds of Christ Movement blossomed before we were asked to leave two more times for a total of three times while Mary appeared and was ignored in her own house daily. I ask you to look at the Holy Spirit Center to see the two wings, to hear the message, “a house divided against itself will fall”, to see the room where Mary appeared in as the Sorrowful Mother for five months when the Movement blossomed and to see that the other end of the building fell off in minutes.

8. R. The Holy Spirit works in the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We are blind men walking in darkness until we dwell there in the heart of Mary. And we look at the prophesy of Simeon which is what Simeon said, “that a sword too will pierce your soul, Oh Mary.” And she appeared to me everyday with a sword in her heart.

9. Luke 2: 22-23, 33-35

Jesus is presented in the Temple

And when the day came for them to be purified in keeping with the Law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord — observing what is written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord — As the child’s father and mother were wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘Look, he is destined for the fall and for the rise of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is opposed— and a sword will pierce your soul too — so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’

R. Mary appeared to me daily at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Center for 14 months. The children of Light were to come forth majorly from the Holy Spirit Center and they were to carry the light into the darkness and He would Reign majorly on His Throne in the tabernacle. And the message is to bring about the Reign of the Sacred Heart in which He would be the King on His Throne in the Churches, these messages were and are being blocked. And so I hear the words of Simeon again. “This child is destined for the fall and the rise of many in Israel.” And He spoke over and over again and said, how the people coming there were bumping into the building. For they did not have love in their hearts and we could not do what the Father had intended us to do, until we turned our hearts to hearts that were in love with God and with each other.

10. R. And so the message says, “the Holy Spirit Center is My Mother’s house. A house divided against itself will fall.” They rejected the sign given.

Luke 2: 34

Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘Look, he is destined for the fall and for the rise of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is opposed—

R. Mary appeared for five months in the Sorrowful Mother chapel with a sword in her heart. And Simeon says, “A sword too will pierce your soul Oh Mary.”

 

The Carrying of the Cross

l. R. And why is this brought out on this day? Because this day, September 5, 1995 was the close of the daily apparitions of Our Lady as Our Lady of Light at the Holy Spirit Center, to me. It was on September 11th they called me and told me to come in, that day, I was told that the Shepherds of Christ Movement could only say Our Fathers and Hail Marys there. And I could not receive messages and we could not say the prayers.

2. R. And Jesus was crowned with thorns and the blood poured down His face. For the men are blind and they do not see that the Almighty God loved us to His death on the cross and that He gives Himself this day to us in the Holy Eucharist. And He is ignored and forgotten. And the angel came at Fatima and the angel told us that the Almighty God is ignored. This is eighty years ago. And she tells us what we must do when she appears to the visionaries at Fatima. And it is to give our hearts to Jesus and Mary, that Jesus will Reign on His Throne. And the angel told of the Eucharist and they disobeyed. And Mary comes and she appears to the visionaries and they block the part that would take the children of Light to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus.

3. Hail Mary

4. R. Mary’s womb is the holy city. This is what He gave me on January 5th of this year after He gave that All Night Message. Her womb is the holy city. The city of Light begins in her womb. It is the temple of the Lord, the Ark of the Covenant, bare baby, bare flesh laid bare.

January 5, 1997 - Jesus: ...“Open yourself, Oh Jerusalem, your time is come you will be a light to the people in darkness, many will walk whence you come and the earth will be shakened and the light will come across a dark sky and enlighten their minds.”

5. January 5, 1997 - Jesus: “Oh stiff-necked people, you are so stiff in your ways, let the Spirit envelope you and lead you on your way.

A country of stiffs, a people of planning and prodding, of deliberating and wondering — you lack faith, Jerusalem, you lack faith in God.”

6. R. And it is a sign that will not be accepted. And how was it with Christ? For the Almighty God, Himself, carried the cross to Calvary and they hung Him on a tree to His death.

7. R. And He spoke to me on January 5th and He said —

January 5, 1997 - Jesus: “Oh walk naked into the cold night, you are cold in your hearts and naked in your clothing — I clothe you with glory, I light your face with light, but you turn your cheeks to the darkness and stay stiff-necked in your hearts. Oh cold and dark hearts, reach for the light that you may know the glory that awaits the sinners and enlightens their minds.” end of excerpt

8. Psalm 132: 13-14

For Yahweh has chosen Zion,
he has desired it as a home.
‘Here shall I rest for evermore,
here shall I make my home as I have wished.

9. R. And it speaks in Revelation and it says —

Revelation 21: 1-3

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared now, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride dressed for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice call from the throne, ‘Look, here God lives among human beings. He will make his home among them; they will be his people, and he will be their God, God – with – them.

R. But it will not happen without going to the heart of Mary. It says in the Magnificat as Mary speaks, “All generations will call me blessed.” Is our generation calling the Virgin Mary blessed?

10. R. We have gone full circle for Eve sinned and the light was dimmed. And now the time is nigh as Mary says in the December 19th message. For He will separate the children of Light from the children of darkness. For then it speaks in Revelation further and it says —

Revelation 21: 4-5

He will wipe away all tears from their eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness or pain. The world of the past has gone.’ Then the One sitting on the throne spoke. ‘Look, I am making the whole of creation new...

Isaiah 61: 10a

I exult for joy in Yahweh,
my soul rejoices in my God,
for he has clothed me
in garments of salvation,
he has wrapped me in a cloak
of saving justice,

 

Jesus Died on the Cross

l. R. The wedding feast has been prepared and the guests have not come. Look at our altars. Look at our tabernacle. The Churches are locked and the Son of God dwells within. And He is not loved and adored, He is forgotten and treated with indifference by many.

2. R. And we wanted cakes and pies and frills and He gave us so much more. Jesus gave us the gift of Himself. Jesus gave us the Bread of Life.

3. R. The Good Shepherd is the Lamb of God. We must become docile as little lambs. He was not haughty. He entered the world as a baby. He died, the Lamb, taken to the slaughter, the Lamb of God.

4. R. It is by the Blood of the Lamb that we are saved.

5. Hail Mary
6. Hail Mary

7. R. And so I say to you blood can be a great fear to so many. For it is a mystery how it comes and how it will be released, yet beneath the surface of the skin if we prick our finger, it pours forth when a person is wounded. And He speaks and He says —

Jesus: Do you control the flow of the blood in your body? Oh you silly men, that which is what is so necessary for life, blood, air, a heart beating, pumping blood, you have no control over your life. Yet you spend your life plotting and planning and your life is constantly on the line out of your own control.

8. Jesus: You are blind and bolted to the earth. You cannot see clearly the things of God nor do you have the inspiration to comprehend what I send you as great lights to enlighten you. You are busy for your silly things, it is the things of the heart, the things of the Spirit that will lead you to the true treasure that is everlasting.

9. Jesus: Your body is not the end! You can worship your body. You lack grace and wisdom and understanding. Yet in order to learn, you must realize you are to be childlike and dependent on God. Oh silly earth, you are not rooted in God. You do not hear the dying words of your Savior on the cross. You do not hear the gifts, you do not hear. You have given it little attention.

10. Jesus: You tend to the lilies that are attended to by Me. You do not tend to that which will make you saints. Oh silly ones, come to Me now and let Me walk you through these trials on this earth. The earth is experiencing trials because of their willfulness, because of their willful ways.

September 3, 1997 - Jesus: “Why would the Father bless you in your willful ways? I am angered at the earth. I am angered at those who ignore these messages and miss their time alone with Me. You cannot comprehend what I am telling you. The sun will glisten and the earth will be lighted by its light. A light to enlighten the pagans. A light I give to you in your hearts. Oh Lady of Light shining so bright.

For I give to them a light to enlighten them. So many today have turned their hearts from God. It is for thee I call. I call out to thee, My chosen soul, from the deepest recesses of My Heart and I am ignored and forgotten. I am God, God, you silly ones. I speak here and I am ignored. I give you My light, a light to enlighten the pagans, to enlighten the hearts and the minds, to bring about peace, justice and purity in your heart. You will have all that you need. I am God, the Mighty One.”

R. And He gives to us His Body and His Blood. The banquet is prepared and in the new era there will be this spousal relationship between the souls and the Almighty God. No matter how far this earth has veered from the truth, this is the Plan of the Father. From the beginning of Genesis to the end in Revelation, the Plan of the Father will unfold. And He appeared on the cross to me two times; once on December 5th, at the point of death with His mouth moving because no one would listen, after Mary appeared on the 5th of the month for two years and four months and she was ignored. And then He appeared on August 20th, 1997 glistening in glory and white. And He said to us shepherds that the victory was won for we will know a time of great blossoming and the Movement will spread to the far ends of the earth. He said —

Jesus: Oh no, no, My sweet ones, the victory is not in what happens to you personally. The victory is how the priests are in their hearts, how the people have turned their hearts to consecration and love of God and when you lay flat on the ground, My shepherds, do not be discouraged for I hung on the cross as you saw Me at the point of death in brutal suffering and pain with hallowed cheeks and blood smeared all over My body and the wounds within My whole body were so deep and the victory that came forth was the sharing in My Divine life on Easter Sunday. And I give to you sufferings and the victory is won in your participation in My life, not in your body and how you are pleasurely seeking it here.

After Rosary:

R. And so there is a fight. There are two kingdoms and one, the head is Lucifer, and the other is God. And we are truly undergoing this spiritual warfare that is beyond our comprehension. And I have seen, as He has shown me, how every time He gave a very, very, very important message, a very important gift from Heaven to bring about the Reign of the Sacred Heart, that the devil worked in another person giving a false message on the same exact date that caused great confusion and blockage of the message that He gave. And so we must be aware in our lives that as we are given great gifts from Him, things that will lead to bringing about the Reign of His Heart. Satan is real and that he will try to block whatever it is that will lead to building up the Kingdom of God. And He works through people, well meaning people that do not even understand how they are blocking His Plan through their willfulness. But His Plan will unfold despite the willfulness of so many. And the Reign of the Sacred Heart will come in the hearts of all men that give their heart to Him.

 

 

 

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