Prayer for Grace for our Country

                R. God spoke through the prophets in
                the old testament.

                    Through the old testament men
                disobeyed God and things were
                bad when they did not obey the
                prophets –

                    God warned the people over and over
                again and many did not want anyone
                telling them what to do so they made
                the job of the prophet very hard.

                    Yesterday's first reading was from
                the book of Kings. Elijah was the
                prophet and he had to deal with
                Jezebel who did evil things – her
                goal was evil – she was also
                a sore loser –

                People who do bad things to God's
                messengers they use for their own
                anger inside after they are bad
                and disobey God can be revengeful
                even further and retaliate if they
                lose.

                    This is silly – to stand before God
                like He doesn't see – disobey Him –

                do evil and then retaliate if a man
                of righteousness tries to stop the evil
                and be so angry to punish him
                further for evil done by them.

                    This cycle of malicious energy
                is the work of satan who wants
                to rule over God and stop the
                righteous man from doing the work
                of God.

                    We see the story of the prophets
                and the disobedience of men all
                through the old testament.

                    We see Pharaoh with Moses. He
                was so obstinate – God sent him
                10 plagues –

                        (1) Water turned into Blood
                        (2) The Frogs
                        (3) The Gnats
                        (4) The Flies
                        (5) The Pestilence
                        (6) The Boils
                        (7) The Hail
                        (8) The Locust
                        (9) The Darkness
                        (10) Death of the First-Born 

                but He was so prideful – He didn't
                want anyone telling him what to do –
                He saw himself above everyone –
                and he could do what he wanted
                to anyone.

                    Jeremiah was sent to the King
                to warn about the Babylonian
                exile –

                    The King would not listen
                and the Jews went into exile
                for 50 years – They lost their treasures,
                their land, they were enslaved and
                the King watched his sons murdered
                and his eyes were put out –
                But God warned threw Jeremiah –
                God loves us and He created us to
                be with him in heaven –

                We know God is over us –

                The first commandment tells us God
                    must be first in our lives –

                The devil operates in hatred and chaos,
                    confusion. The devil lies and he
                    wants people to disobey God
                    and then they keep torturing
                    the righteous man, to
                    try to stop the spreading of God's
                    message of love and how we
                    are to serve Him –

                    God has given us the Shepherds of Christ
                Movement to help in the spread of the Gospel
                to the world – God has commissioned
                us in baptism to spread the Good News.

                Our true home is in heaven –

                In the Our Father it says

                    ... Thy will be done on earth as
                    it is in heaven –

                In the prayer Jesus gave us we pray –

                R. We pray to be possessed by God –

                It's all about the interior life –

                Here is a message God gave –

                R. He says it all –

                God wants to be one in us and
                we are to spread this message
                in the Shepherds of Christ –

                Where Christ is the King and Center
                    of our Hearts.

                R. Mary is sinless –

                Mary takes us to the heart of
                    Jesus –

                These Hearts are pure and perfect
                    Hearts of love –

                Remember the movies –

                    The good guys and bad guys –

                    The cowboy movies –

                The bad guys try to get away
                    with living against what
                    they should do –

                When a person doesn't care if
                    they sin –
                    and lie –
                    and do evil things to other men –

                They are not examining their
                    conscience –

                They repress the evil they do and
                    can just keep doing more
                    and more evil –

                A just man is sorry when he offends
                    God – he examines his conscience
                    and tells God he is sorry –
                    he tries to grow in his relationships
                    with other men –

                LOVE ing God and loving others and
                    seeing himself as an instrument
                    of God to spread love –

                Love is under God –

                Love lives by the Commandments
                    of God –

                Love repairs the breach –

                When a man is hired for a job they
                    are to be a good guy –
                    faithful – not sneaky and
                    keep living by an evil program –
                    every day –
                    trying to get away with evil –
                    like the bad guys in the cowboy
                    movies –
                    until there is a shot-out –

                The Sheriff has to stand by what
                    is right and the bad guy
                    tells himself he can live by evil
                    and do what he wants and
                    make it work –

                Why would anyone live this way –
                    rebelling against God
                    rebelling against the Law
                    and living to try to get away
                        with it – EXCITEMENT –
                            DRAMA –
                            REBELLION –
                            DISOBEDIENCE

                The interior union in a man –
                    interior life in God – helps
                    us – with God's life behind
                    us – NOT being WILLFUL –

                Satan tells a guy

                    Do what you want –
                    Nobody can be over you –
                    Deny what you did –
                    Repressing evil means your
                        not examining your
                        conscience –

                Then for excitement
                    what do you do with an
                    unsettled, rebellious spirit
                    inside that disobeys God –

                Keep sinning?

                Keep lying?

Cling to Me

May 13, 1993 

Jesus: My dear child, if you stay close to Me, then I live in you and you live in Me. I am He Who created you and I love you with such an intensity that you will never know. My words are your truth. You must abide in My heart in all things. There is no room for doubt. My ways are steadfast, direct, and without error.

    You must stay rooted in Me to ward off the power of the evil one. His grip is paralyzing and crippling. His power is stronger every day.

    When you live in Me, I am in your heart and he has no power over Me. I am your God. I am your true lover. I want to protect you. I want to guard you from this force. Stay rooted firmly in Me and he will have no power.

    I am He Who comforts you. My hand is upon you. Hold tight to Me, My child. My eyes are fixed right on you. You are My most precious child. I love you as no other can. My arms are about you. My tenderness surrounds you. My love is in your heart. You go not alone. I walk with you.

    I share every aspect of your life with you. Cling to Me, feel My presence. It is warm and secure within your chest. There is no room for fear, for I cast out fear and bring you comfort and joy.    end of May 13, 1993

                R. We are to be Imitators of Jesus –

                We are under God –

                We are under authority

                We are under laws –

                We need to love God and love
                    our neighbor as ourselves –

                Jesus came to show us the way –

                When a person cleans their heart –
                    if they don't fill it with
                    God, with love –
                    Satan can bring 7 more devils
                    to fill that empty space –

                We need the interior life – filled
                    with Father, Son and Holy Spirit
                    to be as God wants us to be.
 

                August 10, 2018

HOMILY: ... The unity that our Lord talks about presupposes some leadership. Someone has to be in charge. If you asked a dozen people to interpret some part of scripture, or to tell you what God thinks about some issue, you would probably get a dozen different answers. Someone has to have the last word if there is going to be some unity, or people will be going in a dozen different directions. Christ was no dummy. He knew that. He had a dozen Apostles with him all the time and he knew some of the debates and discussions they got into. He gave Peter the job to be the rock, the source of stability, the focus of unity, the one to hold them all together. Again we get back to the need for the Church and the way Christ established it if we are going to be faithful to Christ, and not just be going off on our own.

    Our unity with each other is not just for our own personal well-being, but it affects in a most important way the whole saving work of our Lord. Our common belief, our common set of values, our oneness in prayer and most of all in love tell the world about Jesus. Jesus said, “I pray that they may be one in us, that the world may believe that you (Father) sent me.” The church’s mission, which means your mission as well as mine, is not just to save ourselves, but to bring God’s saving grace and life to others too. Staying united is one of the primary ways we will do it. When we all go our own individual ways, our efforts become significantly less effective.

    We’re all together in this world; we’re all together in our spiritual journey too. Jesus wants us to live as one with him and as one with each other. This was his greatest desire for us his followers. This is one of the experiences that mystics have described. Mystics, those who are closest to God, have an innate sense of how interconnected we all are. I want to tell you the story of an old man whose experience at the Washington Vietnam Veterans Memorial was somehow a mystical experience. He was weeping noticeably as he stood at the Memorial. Moved by the sight, a young man waked over to the old man, put his hand on his shoulder and said, “Is one of these yours, sir?” The old man said softly, “Not one of them, son! All of them!”  end of excerpt

                R. Elisha gave total commitment to
                    his vocation and didn't look
                    back –

                Fr. Joe talked about the 4 last things –

                    Death
                    Judgement
                    Heaven
                    Hell

                His students wanted
                    peace
                    joy
                    love
                    happiness

                Jesus' days were numbered –
                    He had to follow His Father's Plan –

                If we follow Jesus we can
                    handle suffering more easily and
                    this will lead us to serve
                    God as we should and follow
                    in Jesus' footprints –

INTRODUCTION – (1 Kings 19:16b,19-21; Galatians 5:1, 13-18; Luke 9:51-62) Today’s gospel reading brings us to a critical point in St. Luke’s gospel. St. Luke tells us at this point in his gospel that Jesus turned his face toward Jerusalem. From this point on, Luke wrote that everything Jesus said or did took place while he was on his way to Jerusalem. This part of Luke’s gospel is referred to as the “journey narrative.” When Jesus decided to go to Jerusalem, he knew what was ahead for him; nonetheless, he started his journey with courage and determination. He warned those who would follow him that following him would require sacrifice, and there wasn’t time for second thoughts or to be indecisive.

    Our first reading was chosen to correspond with the idea of total commitment to one’s call. It tells about two Old Testament prophets, Elijah and Elisha, who lived about 850 years before Christ. Elijah was getting old and his life was coming to an end. At God’s command he chose Elisha to replace him. Elisha was busy farming and Elijah came up to him and placed his mantle on Elisha’s shoulders. This gesture symbolized God’s call – that Elisha should replace Elijah. It would be similar to my taking off my vestment and putting it over someone’s shoulders. The point would be obvious. The reading tells us Elijah had 12 yoke of oxen which would indicate that Elisha must have been quite a prosperous farmer. When he sacrificed his animals and burned his equipment, he was indicating his total commitment to his vocation. He broke completely with his former way of life and did not look back.

HOMILY – A man rushed into the jewelry store one morning and said he needed a pair of diamond earrings right away. The clerk showed him several pairs and immediately he picked out a pair. The clerk asked if he wanted them gift wrapped. The man said, “That would be great, but make it quick. I forgot today is the anniversary of my wife and me and right now she thinks I’m taking out the trash!” (Reader’s Digest - Laughter the Best Medicine, pg 68) Time was short for the man to get home with his wife’s present. Time was short for Jesus too. He knew well what was ahead for him, and he couldn’t even wait for a man to bury his father. I often wondered if the situationwas such that the man’s father was fairly healthy and it might have been many years before his father would die. Jesus didn’t have that much time.

    Our gospel today begins by telling us Jesus was determined to journey to Jerusalem. He knew what to expect when he got there. He predicted: “it is impossible that a prophet should die outside of Jerusalem.” (Lk. 13:33) We heard him in last week’s gospel telling his disciples that he would suffer greatly, be rejected and be killed and on the third day be raised. For the next four and a half months, every Sunday gospel will fit within St. Luke’s framework of what is called Jesus’ “journey narrative.” His journey would take him through Samaria, which as we hear in today’s gospel, was not very friendly toward the Jews. James and John wanted to punish the Samaritans who did not welcome them, but that was not Jesus’ way of doing things. The Samaritans would be the losers because they rejected Jesus. Who knows how many of their sick citizens might have been healed, or how many pearls of wisdom Jesus may have left with them if they had welcomed him. Next we have three sayings of Jesus that emphasize the attitudes that are required from those who would follow him, attitudes requiring sacrifice, sometimes sacrificing our comfort, pleasure and worldly security, sometimes having to put family obligations aside to honor our obligation to God, and always knowing we have to make time for our responsibility to obey and honor God.

    This week our nation celebrates its freedom. Unfortunately, in the minds of many people today, freedom means doing whatever you want. If everyone could do whatever they wanted, there would be anarchy and not freedom. St. Paul says today, “you were called for freedom.” He goes on to make sure we know freedom is not giving in to every urge or impulse we experience. Freedom is being free to do whatever you should. The freedom we fought for was the freedom to be able to live up to our responsibilities and obligations as we saw them and not as some king or queen saw them. God knows we need laws to guide us and he has given us a few. The framers of our Constitution who fought for our freedom knew we needed laws too. You may have heard the famous quote by James Madison (Federalist 51) who said: “if men were angels, no government would be necessary.” You may not have heard the rest of it where he said: “in framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”

    Among the freedoms we enjoy is freedom of religion. Our Constitution say: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The Supreme Court has consistently held that the right to free exercise is not absolute. For example Mormons may not practice polygamy. A devotee of paganism cannot initiate human sacrifice. We live in a time where there are those who want to put more restrictions on the exercise of Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. Just to name a few examples: a human fetus is not human enough to be guaranteed the right to life, a Catholic college like Notre Dame or Xavier is not religious enough to qualify as a religious organization in the Affordable Care Act. We are soon going to be taxed by being required to pay for birth control and for abortion inducing drugs, even though we are conscientiously opposed to them. The IRS will see to it. And what is one to make of the Supreme Court decision this week on marriage? There are many in our society who have no time for religion, who claim no religious affiliation and who consider religion useless, superstitious, antiquated, authoritarian and even harmful. As a people of faith and as a nation we believe that freedom is an unalienable right given by our Creator. As we have had to defend our freedom as a nation many times in order to preserve it, we have to defend our freedom as religious people and it is our right to do so. Amen.

                August 9, 2018

                R. Jesus came and taught and healed –

                Jesus is real –

                He really loves us so much –

                Mark tells us to preach the Gospel to
                    the world.

                Jesus came to deliver the Gospel message.

                Fr. Joe Robinson's books teach the Gospel
                    message – They go to almost 40,000
                    priests and hierarchy yearly –      

                August 8, 2018

                R. The interior life –

                The interior disposition

                A consciousness of God and the
                    supernatural –

                Awareness of the mystery of Christ –

                Insight into the hidden mysteries –

                Life is in God –

                God does communicate Himself
                    to us –

                God takes possession of the
                    mystic –

    I long to unite in the deepest union with Him in the Eucharist. I long for the Mass. I long for Thee, oh God. My every moment, I join as I did to You December 15 under the cross, where I felt Your presence. You whisked me away, and I was totally absorbed in that moment of celestial union with You. For that time, I existed only in You, in the deepest union, and I was in this moment existing in You. The earth stopped, and I touched the heavens, all my bodily cares were existent in You. I existed in Your Divinity, my being was in You. There was no desire or wish or wanting, for in that moment, I had all I wanted in You. I was satisfied and wanted nothing but to remain in that embrace. You were the Being, and my being existed in You, but I was only as I was in You - merged in You, knowing and being in Your Divinity and being so full as to feel complete in myself.

    You are so enormous, and You surrounded me in a burning embrace, the presence of red fire. I was not little, or "nothing", but existed in this enormous power and being so complete!

    I touched eternity, and in that embrace, I knew all the waiting was worth the glory. You enveloped my being, and I was truly merged in the Divine Presence. I was merged in Your being. I existed IN You, with You, in the highest union with You, although I knew I was still distinct from You.

    I was fused and absorbed in You, feeling complete and satisfied. To describe this union is far beyond any work of my pen and paper. I pray for the reader of this page to receive the grace to share this experience with Him, I will now live for this union-to be forever merged In Him, to be One in Him, to reach higher perfection as I exist in Him, for He takes the lowly and gives to them a sharing in Himself. He merges with us and we exist in Him. The word "in" - I could write pages about. I long for the deepest union with Him, where I am swept up in the heavenly embrace of the Divine God, and I am IN Him.

    This is heaven on earth: to be merged as one with Divinity, although remaining distinct from God, to take our feeble hearts, our lowly status and to unite ourselves with the Divine, Almighty, powerful God and in this union to be meshed with Him, that His power dominates and our humanity reaches its heights of fulfillment in this union, in this oneness with Him.

    The word I have looked for is "oneness." I understand some of the meaning of the words "One in Him." Oneness is the word to describe this union of our humanity with His Divinity. The depth to which we could meditate on oneness with God is incomprehensible. In that moment, the earth stood still, and He, my Divine Lover, the Bridegroom of my soul, took me to Himself, and I knew the embrace of the Divine God.

    Nothing on the face of this earth can describe our union with Divinity. Oh, good God, that creatures are so ungrateful regarding Your divine love. I am so sorry. Let me help make reparation to Your adorable Heart. Please unite with me now that I may more deeply love Thee.

    Oh, Divine Lover of my soul, let me help make reparation to Your adorable Heart for the neglect and indifference against You.

Song from Jesus: I come to you with greatest love. I am your loving Savior. I am your God. I died for you. I come to you this day.

    He allowed me to experience such pain in my heart - wanting Him so badly, so many times-and then on Dec. 15, 1995 - He gave Himself to me in the deepest union.

    Nothing satisfies the soul but Him. He wants the nuns and priests to love Him. He chose them to spread His love.

    Souls are hungry. They will only be fed with His burning love. Priests need to talk about Jesus' love for us from the pulpit. Priests need hearts burning for love of Jesus. This will feed the hungry souls - lip service love doesn't do it.

    He is alive today. He is a Person. He wants us to love Him.   end of December 17, 1995

 

                R. Christ gives us grace –
                Christ gives us loving
                    communication –

                Christ gives greater interior
                    union –

                God is love and in Him
                    is NO darkness –
                    no lies – no hate –

                Our life is to learn to love
                    ever greater, God
                    and others and ourselves
                    as possessed by God.

                We open ourselves up to God.

                The devil working on a person
                    more and more brings
                    them closed in on
                    themselves –
                    SHUT - in
                    TURNED - in
                    CAVED - in
                    Darkness

                Life is a life of
                    love –

                Our life is lived to
                    love God more –

                Interior Union –

                Communication in loving
                    God – deep in our
                    heart and soul –

                Life is lived for this!

                The Christian life in us
                    is a life of living
                    lovingly – expressing
                    love – growing in
                    love –
                    living the Christ-life
                    like St. Paul says –

                We must grow in these
                    relationships of
                    relating properly to
                    God, others and loving
                    ourselves as God desires.

                God gives us the infused
                    supernatural capacity
                    to grow in faith, hope
                    and love in baptism –
                    these are good habits –

                We have the capacity to
                    partake in God's
                    knowing & loving
                    activity –

                God gives us the other virtues
                    to grow in and
                    develop –

                God gives us the gifts of the
                    Holy Spirit and we pray
                    to the Holy Spirit for these –
                    Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel,
                    Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety
                    and Fear of the Lord.

                The gifts help perfect
                    the virtues –

                We are to mature in
                    the virtues and we
                    need the gifts of
                    the Holy Spirit.

                The Virtue of Humility
                    from Priestly Newsletter 2000 #3.

                        Excerpt from Shepherds of Christ Priestly Newsletter 2000 #3

Humility

Humility is a very important virtue given to us for the spiritual journey.

Humility is both the realization of what we are as creatures of God and the concrete implementation of this realization in our Christian lives. Humility, therefore, is not an exercise in self-depreciation; it is not telling yourself that you are no good, that you really have nothing of any significance to contribute to the service of God. Humility is based on truth. It is compatible with the recognition that God has given a person certain gifts, even great gifts, of nature and grace. If we do not recognize our God-given gifts, we do not thank God for them as we should, nor properly develop these gifts according to His will. God wants us not only to recognize the good that is in us, but also to realize the source of this goodness. Although we have a responsibility to cooperate with His graces, God is the One Who is chiefly responsible for what we are. If one person has advanced to a level in the Christian life that is beyond the level of another, it is ultimately because God has given that person greater graces.

If humility is based on truth and, consequently, allows us to properly recognize our gifts, it also necessitates that we admit to the evil within us, which is also part of the truth and must be acted upon. Humility not only bids us to admit that there is evil in us, but also tells us that, as creatures of God, we should conform to His will and work against this evil side of our persons. In summary, humility allows us to properly evaluate both the good and evil within ourselves.

Here is a quotation from St. Paul which helps us to preserve, and grow in, humility: Who made you so important? What have you got that was not given to you? And if it was given to you, why are you boasting as though it were your own? (1 Cor 4:7).

And in the Letter of James we read: Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up. (Jm 4:10)

   

 

                R. God created us.

                        23. FIRST PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION

                            Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God 
                        our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.

                R. God promised to take
                us deeper into His
                Heart and Mary's heart
                if we pray the Shepherds of
                Christ prayers.
 

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                R. Our will is most important
                    to grow in the
                    spiritual life –

                We must give our will
                    to God's will –

                In religious life one takes
                    a vow of obedience –

                It is justice to show
                due respect to one's
                superior and to be
                obedient under this vow
                or promise –

                Taking a vow or promise
                Jesus says we bind
                ourselves to be
                obedient to our
                superior in religious
                life and to respect
                authority –

                Sin is committed if
                    one does not obey
                    in religious life the
                    obedience of a just
                    and legitimate superior
                    they themselves subjected
                    them to before God.

                This vow of obedience
                    allows the religious
                    to give their interior
                    and exterior life to
                    God –

                Pride is a deadly sin where
                    a person seeks or forces
                    dominance for dominance
                    sake above those they
                    are under. It is a deadly
                    sin –
                    Jesus says and the
                religious rule of consecrated
                people say nothing like
                constant disobedience
                and submission to the
                religious superior –
                weaken the chance of
                growth in the spiritual
                interior life.

                Obedience to the superior
                    and respect for authority
                    in religious life is
                    paramount –

                Obedience helps keep a
                    religious from
                    growing more and
                    more proud and
                    doing what ever they
                    willfully decide to do.

                Obedience leads to greater
                    submission and
                    humility –

                Mary is the perfect handmaid
                    of the Lord –

                She was most humble –

                There must be self-denial
                    of willful opposition and
                    argumentation against
                    one's superior –
                    against sinning against
                    the commandments of
                    God –

                The theological virtues grow
                    in God's grace when
                    one lives in obedience
                    to authority –

                Obedience brings the
                    soul to understand
                    living under the will
                    of the heavenly Father –

                Self-sacrifice is taught
                    to us by Jesus and Mary and
                    priests giving themselves
                    as servants in the
                    Church.

                Selfishness is a big enemy
                    to the spiritual life –
                    how can one grow in
                    love when they are
                    closed in on themselves –
                    isolating and living
                    in the deadly sins
                    as a way of life –

                Christ is to be witnessed
                    most profoundly by
                    religious – that is
                    their Vocation – to be
                    like Christ!!

                Most Christ - like –

                So others can follow their
                    example of the religious
                    and grow more and more
                    in the image of God.
                    Christ-like WORK –

                Jesus: This virtue of obedience
                    by religious is not to
                    be challenged by the
                    religious – it is to
                    be the way one lives!

                It is a paradox of a
                    religious to live in
                    constant rebellion
                    and disrespect of
                    their superiors –
                    It cannot be tolerated –
                    If it is it will close
                    the institution as
                    greater and greater
                    sin corrupts the
                    place by disrespect
                    and disobedience –
                    selfishness and sin.

                Successes and failures
                    come depending on the
                    way a religious
                    obeys and lives in
                    respect and love
                    for the institution
                    and the structure
                    that demands authority
                    is to be obeyed and
                    respected always –

                Obedience leads to
                    living a virtuous
                    life –

                It should be the religious
                    wishes whole-heartedly
                    to live their vow of
                    obedience and respect
                    to those over them –

                Disobedience leads to
                    destruction when it
                    is forced upon
                    the institution by
                    willful religious –

                The Motive of why you
                    act must always be
                    motivated by deep love
                    of God and others –

                Love for their vocation –

                Love for their service –

                Love for holiness –

                Love for the Church
                    and the world.

                You will give to those
                    things you love –

                You pray to love your
                    calling given by
                    God.

                Obedience is a matter
                    of loving God and others.

                Do you love yourself
                    more than God?

                Who is first in your life?

                I paid a precious
                    price for you because
                    I love you so to
                    call a person
                    My Spouse.

                I was rejected and
                    abused and I did
                    it for love of you –

                I was abandoned by
                    those I loved and
                    I did it for you –

                I sweat Blood in the
                    Garden for you.

                This is Shepherds of
                    Christ –
                    Handmaids and
                    Servants are
                    Handmaids and Servants
                    of Jesus –

                Don't forget the calling
                    you were called
                    to –

                Handmaids and Servants
                    of Mine –
                    You are Mine –
                    Don't forget it!