| Shepherds of Christ Daily Writing |
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August 12, 2025
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August 13th Holy Spirit Novena |
The Novena Rosary
Mysteries |
Tune in tonight 6:30 Mass with Fr. Mike
Prayer Service after
Fr. Mike, Joe Lee, and Jerry SchmueckerPlease tune in for Mass tomorrow 9:00am on August 13, 2025.
Prayer service for August 13, 2025 at 12:00 noon in China.
Please join us on the radio or come to China.
Pray for the Priestly Mailing.
Please Pray for Bob & special intentions.
Please pray for repose of Sheila's soul.
Consecration Prayer for Peace
I consecrate Russia and the Ukraine to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
I further consecrate the priests, the Church and the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary.
I do this in the name of Jesus in as far as I am able, united to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, praying to the Father, in the Holy Spirit, with all the angels and saints and the souls in purgatory through the powerful intercession of Mary, Queen of Peace. Amen.
I further consecrate myself, all members of my family and ask the Holy Spirit to fill us. I spread the Blood of Jesus on all above, I cast the devil into hell away from all of us and consecrate all persons, in as far as I am able, to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart.
Prayer for Grace for Election and our Country
Dear Father united to Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacrifice of Calvary sacramentally made present, celebrated around the world, in the Holy Spirit. We offer up all we do united to the Mass. We unite in one mind and one heart as members of the mystical body of Christ, with Christ our head in the pure and holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary, through the powerful intercession of Mary with all the angels and saints and souls in purgatory, and we beg for the saving grace, for our country, the United States. Please help us. We further pray for unity to always do the will of God in love. We spread the Blood of Jesus on the leaders and people of the United States and cast the devil into hell. We consecrate our country to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart and all our dioceses, and beg for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. God help us. We pray for our families, the priests, the Church and the world. In the Name of Jesus please hear us, we pray. We pray for our president and leaders. We pray that we are united as one nation under God to work together in love as God wants.
Morning Offering
Dear Father,
I offer up all I do all day united to Jesus
in the Mass, in the Holy Spirit, through
the powerful intercession of Mary, our
spiritual Mother, with all the angels and
saints, and the souls in purgatory, for
the priest, the Church, and the world.
We love You God so much.
We thank You and adore You and
petition You for our needs. Amen.
August 11, 2025
R. I can understand a little the agony in the Garden - how much Jesus knew and suffered to see it all.
So much to sweat blood.
But to know as He
knew the real "stuff".
The ineffable, the Divine,
The magnitude of God and Heaven,
Such a contrast in knowing reality -
From one spectrum to gravest evil, sin, offense against God,
All He would suffer and endure,
And then on the
other hand - know God, the ineffable, the glory of heaven,
Divine love.
Wow.
To know more
And God created us to know, love and serve Him,
He created us to
know Him,
To know
It is suffering and Resurection
Life / and Death
You don’t know without both!!!!!!
This is an insight into how Jesus saw.
He knew - He knew all,
And yet He saw the imperfections of men at their worst.
He knew, Jesus knew, He walked the earth - God-man.
He is so loving and
beautiful,
So loving to us sinners.
A work in progress,
we are
created in His image and likeness.
Oh I need You, so much, God!!!
I can see this moon against the darkness.
Christ is the light of the world and yet He walked the Earth and He knew the offenses and sins of man.
He died on the cross, how glorious indeed is the resurrection.
He is the light of
the world,
And yet, they hung the light on a cross to kill Him.
Faith is believing without necessarily seeing!!!!
Help me Jesus to rest in Your Heart of love now. I surrender to Thee. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus I place my trust in Thee.
Don't you think it is interesting Christ was living the quiet life, with Mary even at 28 (He was a man, living a quiet life, knowing what was to come).
He lived the quiet life at 18, 24.
Interesting - a normal, quiet life!!!!
R. This reminds me when Fr. Carter would raise the host.
A little
see-through host 1/2 way would come up after he raised it, almost
immediately,
I watched it like come up from behind it - every time.
I waited for it.
Once a whole host came up.
I said so somewhere in a Blue Book or Daily Writing 2003.
We are transformed more and more into His image and likeness through the Eucharist.
It’s sad most of my special gifts have been silenced.
Look at Our Lady of Clearwater.
And yet reality is
in Him, we really miss so many gifts which help us see the reality as
Jesus shows us.
Such a gift
R.
God is an awesome God.
We know this in
being greater one in Him,
filled with His life,
Beyond words.
I have knee surgery
Monday
(not too brave, am I at 79 last week.)
What a gift to us!!!!
August 12, 2025 Tuesday
Reflections on Suffering
All of the above provides an occasion to offer various reflections on suffering:
♦ The great tragedy concerning human suffering is not that there is so much of it. The real tragedy is that apparently so much of it is wasted. So much of it apparently is not coped with according to God’s will.
♦ Suffering can beautifully expand or bitterly constrict the personality. It is our choice which prevails.
♦ A willingness to suffer for a cause must accompany any true commitment.
♦ A persistent suffering is the necessity of bearing with our limitations.
♦ The fear of suffering is, for some people, one of the greatest crosses.
♦ True love, in any of its forms, must be experienced against the background of the cross. Jesus has very vividly shown us this. Strange, then, that at times we can strive to develop another pattern of loving.
♦ The suffering that is presently the most necessary for us is the one we can most consistently refuse.
♦ Happiness cannot be achieved without a proper encounter with suffering. This is a basic premise of the Christian message. It would seem, then, that we would eagerly embrace the cross. Yet how often is this the case?
♦ Being misunderstood by others precisely because we are striving to do God’s will is a not uncommon suffering.
♦ To have to unavoidably hurt others can cause the sensitive person a suffering greater than the one he or she is inflicting.
♦ There is a part of us that does not want to surrender to God. This struggle between the true self and the false self produces a unique type of suffering which is persistently present, often in milder degrees, but occasionally with an intensity that pierces very suddenly and very sharply.
♦ It is not necessarily those who suffer the most who are the holiest. We grow in holiness through suffering—whatever its degree—to the extent we encounter it in loving conformity to God’s will.
♦ The boredom that can grow out of daily routine, the frequent occasions which try one’s patience, ordinary episodes of failure, minor annoyances of various kinds, anxieties—these and other forms of the daily cross do not, taken separately, require a Christian response of heroic proportions. But in their cumulative effect over a long period of time, such occasions offer us the opportunity of becoming love-inspired Christians to an eminent degree.
♦ There is nothing in the Christian teaching of the cross that says we cannot pray for relief from our sufferings.
♦ To want to flee suffering is an un-christian attitude. So also is the attempt to make suffering an end in itself. The Christ-event did not end on Calvary.
♦ “Then to all he said: ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me.’” (Lk 9: 23).
Fr. Carter died 4 1/2 months later.
25 Years Ago Today from Fr. Carter
August 12, 2000
John 19: 25-27
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son.’ Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
This is Our Lady and the Child Jesus
from China, Indiana
HOMILY – This certainly is one of my favorite scenes in all of Scripture, and I'm sure it is relative to yourselves. Jesus, near the point of death, so tenderly gives Mary to us as our spiritual Mother, John representing all of us. We know in the natural order of things, according to natural motherhood, no matter how many children a mother has, she has a very, very special relationship with each of her children. So it is with Mary. Despite the fact that she is Mother of the whole human race, and this is so hard for us to grasp but it is so true – she has that most tender, special, unique love for each of us. If you could imagine the most loving mother possible here upon earth in the natural order of motherhood, the great love of that mother for her children would fade into just a tiny, tiny measure of the love which Mary has for each of us.In other words, she loves us much, much, much, much more than the most loving mother in the natural order of motherhood loves her children. And what a consoling thought this is. We always have to remember that God chose Mary as the human person instrument through which to give us Jesus, and her Fiat, in her saying yes at the scene of the Annunciation, she pledged that she would cooperate with the Holy Spirit in bringing Jesus into this world.That same pattern repeats itself in a different order now of course, but the pattern repeats itself in the sense that God the Father still gives us Jesus through Mary, as she cooperates with the divine action of the Holy Spirit. And so these two: the Holy Spirit in using the cooperation of Mary, His spouse, are always forming Jesus within us in a deeper fashion. What a great gift, of Mary to us as our spiritual Mother. We can never thank our Lord enough for this.St. Bernard, Doctor of the Church, which means he is not only outstanding for his holiness but for his spiritual wisdom, gives us some very, very tender and moving words concerning Mary in our life. He says, "If you will not be submerged by tempests, do not turn away your eyes from the splendor of this star. If the storms of temptation arise, if you crash against the rocks of tribulation, look to the star [that star, of course, is Mary], call upon Mary. If you are tossed about on the waves of pride, of ambition, of slander, of hostility, look to the star, call upon Mary. If wrath or avarice or the enticements of the flesh upset the boat of your mind, look to Mary. If you are disturbed by the immensity of your crimes...If you begin to be swallowed up by the abyss of depression and despair, think of Mary! In danger, in anxieties, in doubt, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let her name not leave your lips, nor your heart, and that you may receive the help of her prayer, do not cease to follow the example of her conduct...If she holds you, you will not fall, if she protects you, you need not fear."7
7. St. Bernard, as in Hilda Graef, Mary: A History of Doctrine and Devotion, Christian Classics, Vol. I, p. 237.
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March 10, 2024
Novena to St. Joseph, Patron and Father
Dear Saint Joseph,
I turn to you, you who cared and
protected the child Jesus and the
Virgin Mary.
You taught men and women, the
love of God by your example in life,
and by your faithfulness of living
your calling in greatest commitment
and love.
You loved Mary and Jesus with the
most gentle, bonds of love.
You showed us how you
lived in loving conformity to the
Heavenly Father's will.
You guided Jesus and Mary's precious
lives with the Holy Spirit, Spouse of
the Virgin Mother of God.
Protect us and our family this day and
every day of our lives, like
you did the Holy Family of Nazareth.
We seek your powerful intercession.
How intimately you knew and loved
Jesus and Mary. You were so close to
them. You showed us love.
Your heart was pure and gentle and
yet you were strong in being their
manly protector on earth, intercede
for us to depend more and more on
God for all our needs, for when we
are weak we are strong in God.
St. Joseph please intercede for a
peaceful and holy death for us and
our sick loved ones.
Amen.
St. Joseph help us now in this nine
day novena to you.
Amen.
May 14, 2024
R. Dear Holy Spirit come to me, possess
my soul, I love You, Holy Spirit.
When I am weak, I am strong in You.
Outpour Your precious love to me. Amen.
I love You, God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Dear Holy Spirit infuse in my intellect
wisdom, knowledge and understanding.
Counsel me Holy Spirit from the mind of
God.
Help me, dear Holy Spirit to know the loving
embrace of God all the days of my life.
I turn to You. Amen.
When I find doing God's desire for my life
difficult give me the gift of fortitude, dear
Holy Spirit.
Sanctify my heart to act purely for the
honor and glory of God.
I may be willing, but I need Your gift to
give me courage to act as You desire.
Help me to know and love the heavenly
Father's will for me and to do it in love
for the honor and glory of God.
Help me to always put God first in my life,
in love for God in my heart.
Help me to walk realizing, I am the creature,
God is the Creator.
Help me to be patient and strong and
persevere in my life until I rest with Thee
forever in heaven.
Please Holy Spirit give me the gift of fear
of God that I do not offend you in sins
of unloving ways against God.
You are so good and deserving of all my
love.
I worship You and love You -
Help my interior disposition at Mass to be
that of purity in pleasing the Heavenly
Father, in my offering united to Jesus in
the Mass.
Dear Holy Spirit please help me in the gift
of piety to do that which pleases my Heavenly
Father with the tenderness as His little child.
Thank you God for all You give to me.
I pray this "All for the honor and Glory of
God". Amen.
Matthew 22: 36-40
'Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?' Jesus said to him, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets too.'
Dear Holy Spirit, strengthen our will and
move like a Divine breath in our soul, to
be docile sons and daughters of our
Heavenly Father. Amen.
Alleluia.
pleas as we turn to your powerful intercession.March 23, 2024
Prayer for Sick and Caregivers at Home
R. Dear God,
I pray Heavenly Father with all my heart,
in the Name of Jesus, united to the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass, in the Holy Spirit,
with all the angels and saints and souls
in purgatory, through the powerful
intercession of Our Lady of Clearwater
to come to my aid now.
My loved one is very sick and he (she)
needs your help, God.
Outpour Your grace for me in this time
of need to have patience and wisdom to
deal with this now.
I give this sickness up to You, my God.
Please help me in dealing with this and
helping them in doing the right thing
and dealing with this.
I surrender this problem to You, my
Divine God.
Please send Your angels to help me.
Spread us all with the Precious Blood of
Jesus, cast the devil into the fires of hell,
dear Holy Spirit come to my aid.
I consecrate my home, ourselves to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, Thank You.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus I place my
trust in Thee.
Child Jesus of Good Health, help us.
St. Joseph, Patron of a Holy Death
come to our aid.
Amen.
July 29, 2024
R. Dear Mary,
My Mother, I love you so much.
Please take care of my needs in my family.
Ask your precious Son Jesus to help me
and my family.
You are the Mother of Jesus. You cared
so lovingly for Him in your life on earth.
You are His most perfect disciple.
Oh Mary, I love you so much, you are my
spiritual Mother.
There are many of my friends I ask you
to pray for, too.
I know your powerful intercession from
the wedding of Cana.
You stood beneath the cross on Calvary,
after you endured the bitter treatment of
your precious Son Jesus.
Oh Mary, you know so well the trials and
pains of life. Help me now, I turn to your
powerful intercession.
You stand by the altar at Mass and intercede
for Grace for us all day long, please never
abandon me, your little child.
Oh Mary I love you so, so much.
Oh Mary you are the Queen of Peace, please
help us in peace in the world, the Churchs,
the family, the work place for all your little
children of the world.
We need your help for peace now, hear our
August 9, 2025
Sorrowful Mysteries
The Agony in the Garden
1. Matthew 26: 36-46
Then Jesus came with them to a plot of land called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, 'Stay here while I go over there to pray.' He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him. And he began to feel sadness and anguish. Then he said to them, 'My soul is sorrowful to the point of death. Wait here and stay awake with me.' And going on a little further he fell on his face and prayed. 'My Father,' he said, 'if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it.' He came back to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, 'So you had not the strength to stay awake with me for one hour? Stay awake, and pray not to be put to the test. The spirit is willing enough, but human nature is weak.' Again, a second time, he went away and prayed: 'My Father,' he said, 'if this cup cannot pass by, but I must drink it, your will be done!' And he came back again and found them sleeping, their eyes were so heavy. Leaving them there, he went away again and prayed for the third time, repeating the same words. Then he came back to the disciples and said to them, 'You can sleep on now and have your rest. Look, the hour has come when the Son of man is to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up! Let us go! Look, my betrayer is not far away.'
2. Jesus sweat
blood in the garden.
3. Jesus knew of all the suffering
to come.
4. Jesus is the Son of God.
5. Jesus loves us so much He paid
for our sins.
6. Jesus is our Savior.
7. Act of Contrition
Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. But most of all because I offend Thee my God who art all good and worthy of all my love, I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Amen.
8. An angel
appeared to comfort
Jesus.
9. Jesus always did the will of the
Father.
10. Come to me, Lord and possess
my soul.
The Scourging at the Pillar
1. Luke 23: 15-19, 22
...As you can see, the man has done nothing that deserves death, so I shall have him flogged and then let him go.' But as one man they howled, 'Away with him! Give us Barabbas!' (This man had been thrown into prison because of a riot in the city and murder.)
And for the third time he spoke to them, 'But what harm has this man done? I have found no case against him that deserves death, so I shall have him flogged and then let him go.'
2. Jesus was beaten
raw for our
sins.
3. Jesus' body was covered with
wounds from head to toe.
4. Jesus stood in a puddle of His
own blood.
5. Jesus shed the saving blood.
6. Jesus' Heart is on fire for love
of us.
7. Jesus' body was a bloody mess.
8. The men that beat Jesus - beat
Him and beat Him.
9. They were angry men.
10. They laughed as they tore
His flesh.
The Crowning with Thorns
1. Matthew 27: 27-31
Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus with them into the Praetorium and collected the whole cohort round him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet cloak round him, and having twisted some thorns into a crown they put this on his head and placed a reed in his right hand. To make fun of him they knelt to him saying, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ And they spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head with it. And when they had finished making fun of him, they took off the cloak and dressed him in his own clothes and led him away to crucifixion.
2. Jesus is crown
was not of jewels.
3. They wove a crown of thorns
and pounded it into Jesus' head.
4. Think of how they hit Him on
the head over and over again.
5. His eyes bled, His teeth went into
His tongue, His ears bled, and
His head dripped with the saving
blood for our sins.
6. The head is so important to the
man.
7. They mocked Jesus and spit on
Him.
8. They gave Him a dirty purple
robe.
9. They gave Him a scepter to hold.
10. They mocked Him as King.
Jesus is the King of Kings and
Lord of Lords.
The Carrying of the Cross
1. 32 Years Ago - On His Passion - August 23, 1993
Jesus: My dear child,
I was condemned to death, death on a cross. They gave Me a big cross and made Me carry it. They stood around and glared at Me. It weighed on My shoulder and I pulled at it until it finally moved. Every step was almost impossible as I dragged it, weighing so heavily on My shoulders.
2. On His Passion continues
Jesus: My shoulder felt as if the bones inside would crack and the cross would fall through to the ground. I couldn’t drag it any more. I tried, I fell. I fell and its weight fell on Me. A guard hit Me with something sharp. It really hurt because he wanted Me to move, and fast! People were watching — on with the show! How dare I fall in the middle of the show! He hit Me again and the blow really stung Me. I got up because it hurt so badly. I tried to walk on.
3. On His Passion continues
Jesus: My Mother was in the crowd. She looked at Me and her face looked red and hurt. Tears rolled down her cheeks like rain and as her eyes met Mine, I was hurt so by her sorrow! She was always by My side, silent and loving. She was My Mother of love! She is always there next to you when you suffer.
4. On His Passion continues
Jesus: I fell again and he (the guard) really hit Me. It (the cross) was so heavy that he and I together could barely move it. It seemed as I walked, heavier with the sins of the world heaped on it. My hands were bleeding. Blood ran from the wounds of My thorns and My head throbbed, seeming to make the wounds in My head bleed even more. Some of the Blood was dried, some of it running all over My Body. I had so many cuts and bruises — and people watched and laughed!
5. On His Passion continues
Jesus: I am Jesus, Son of the Living God, and they laughed and mimicked Me! Oh, such hardened hearts! How vile can men’s hearts become? The devil’s grip is paralyzing and crippling.
The walk was so long up a hill and over rocks — the cross had to be lifted over the rocks. My Body was bleeding so badly! My Heart was pounding. I knew that the salvation of all men depended on My love. Therefore, I went through such agony.
6. On His Passion continues
Jesus: I thought of My intense love for you — that many would go to heaven because of My suffering — and I continued to the top of the hill. At the top they laid Me on the cross and with a big hammer nailed My hands to it. It was the worst (suffering) yet. My hands were nailed with big nails and the big hammer. Then, as if that weren’t enough, with a big nail they nailed through both feet.
7. On His Passion continues
Jesus: Then they lifted the cross and banged it into (a hole in) the ground. My shoulders ached from how I hung. My head bobbed and My neck ached and they laughed and said, "Now save Yourself." I hurt so much! I suffered this way for hours — which seemed like forever — and they glared at Me and laughed! My Mother watched in such agony.
8. On His Passion continues
Jesus: For love of you, to My death I gave you My Body. My child, I shed My Blood and gave you My life that you might be with Me forever in heaven — not for a day, a month or a year, but forever with Me in heaven.
9. On His Passion continues
Jesus: I am the true Bread come down from heaven. He who eats My Flesh will have life forever. For the drink I give you is My Blood and food you eat is My Body. Who would lay down his life for a friend? I did, for you. I love you this much, child. Forget about those who reject you. You have My life that I gave you and I give you life eternal.
10. On His Passion continues
Jesus: I am the One true God. I am the Light of life. He who abides in Me will have life eternal, for the drink I give is My Blood and the food I give is My Body. Drink and eat and have everlasting life.
My child, that is all you need to know. Love one another and be good that you may enter into My Kingdom.
The Crucifixion
1. From Priestly Newsletter Book 1
St. Thomas Aquinas on the Sufferings of Christ
These thoughts of Thomas Aquinas easily follow from our previous considerations:
“Why did the Son of God have to suffer for us? There was a great need, and it can be considered in a twofold way: in the first place, as a remedy for sin, and secondly, as an example of how to act.
2. St. Thomas Aquinas continues
“It is a remedy, for, in the face of all the evils of which we incur on account of our sins, we have found relief through the passion of Christ. Yet, it is no less an example, for the passion of Christ completely suffices to fashion our lives. Whoever wishes to live perfectly should do nothing but disdain what Christ disdained on the cross and desire what he desired, for the cross exemplifies every virtue.
3. St. Thomas Aquinas continues
“If you seek the example of love: Greater love than this no man has, than to lay down his life for his friends. Such a man was Christ on the cross. And if he gave his life for us, then it should not be difficult to bear whatever hardships arise for his sake.
4. St. Thomas Aquinas continues
“If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross…Christ endured much on the cross, and did so patiently, because when he suffered he did not threaten; he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and he did not open his mouth. Therefore Christ’s patience on the cross was great. In patience let us run for the prize set before us, looking upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who, for the joy set before him, bore his cross and despised the shame.
5. St. Thomas Aquinas continues
“If you seek an example of humility, look upon the crucified one, for God wished to be judged by Pontius Pilate and to die.
6. St. Thomas Aquinas continues
“If you seek an example of obedience, follow him who became obedient to the Father even unto death. For just as by the disobedience of one man, namely, Adam, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man, many were made righteous.
7. St. Thomas Aquinas continues
“…follow him who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Upon the cross he was stripped, mocked, spat upon, struck, crowned with thorns, and given only vinegar and gall to drink.
8. St. Thomas Aquinas continues
“Do not be attached, therefore, to clothing and riches, because they divided my garments among themselves. Nor to honors, for he experienced harsh words and scourgings. Nor to greatness of rank, for weaving a crown of thorns they placed it on my head.”2
2. St. Thomas Aquinas, as in The Liturgy of the Hours, Catholic Book Publishing Co., Vol III, pp. 1335-1336.
9. From Priestly Newsletter Book 1
On the Resurrected Christ
Here are words of Melito of Sardis, bishop, which, speaking of the Resurrected Christ, complement the previous words of Aquinas on the Suffering Christ:
“The Lord, though he was God, became man. He suffered for the sake of those who suffer, he was bound for those in bonds, condemned for the guilty, buried for those who lie in the grave; but he rose from the dead, and cried aloud: Who will contend with me? Let him confront me. I have freed the condemned, brought the dead back to life, raised men from their graves. Who has anything to say against me? I, he said, am the Christ; I have destroyed death, triumphed over the enemy, trampled hell underfoot, bound the strong one, and taken men up to the heights of heaven: I am the Christ.
“Come, then, all you nations of men, receive forgiveness for the sins that defile you. I am your forgiveness. I am the Passover that brings salvation. I am the lamb who was immolated for you. I am your ransom, your life, your resurrection, your light, I am your salvation and your king. I will bring you to the heights of heaven. With my own right hand I will raise you up, and I will show you the eternal Father.”3
3. Melito of Sardis, bishop, as in The Liturgy of the Hours, op. cit., Vol II, pp. 554-555.
10. From Priestly Newsletter Book 1
St. Ambrose on the Paschal Mystery
These thoughts of St. Ambrose help us to continue our reflection on the Paschal Mystery:
“We have died with Christ. We carry about in our bodies the sign of his death, so that the living Christ may also be revealed in us. The life we live is not now our ordinary life but the life of Christ: a life of sinlessness, of chastity, of simplicity and every other virtue. We have risen with Christ. Let us live in Christ, let us ascend in Christ, so that the serpent may not have the power here below to wound us in the heel.”4
4. St. Ambrose, as in The Liturgy of the Hours, op. cit., Vol II, p. 204.
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