September 10-13

The Retreat in August

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Our Father Newsletter

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Given August 25, 2008

                  Destructive habits are vices.

                    Constructive habits are virtues.
                    Virtues make us more and more like God.
                    Man lives as God intends —

                    We are pursuing good.
                    We want to live in the truth.
                    We were made for truth and good.

                    Man can achieve greater knowledge of God.
                    Man can live a life of love —
                    Man has a free will to choose to love.

                    There is so much love in the world.
                    The intellect is to seek truth.

                    Man is to will to love.
                    Man is to be prudent and to seek God's
                        will —
                    Man is to be just to his brothers.

                Prudence helps us to judge rightly.

                The joy of singing and playing performing
                    music is an art.

                This appreciation comes from a heart
                    in the liturgy to express emotion
                    and to join in unity in those
                    words of a song.

                A wise person is a person that seeks
                    to think with the mind of God —
                    thus singing to the Holy Spirit can
                    help one Call upon the Holy Spirit
                    and be filled with right reason
                    when judging things —

                One must seek right reason in all things
                One must want justice for others —
                One seeks truth and acts in love from
                    this —

                A codependent person — playing games
                    hurting others is far from
                    reaching greater purity —

                In living a holy life - one seeks a
                    good end —

                One who provokes or acts out anger
                    toward others is seeking a bad
                    end.

                Man must be concerned with the right
                    way to act —
                    that way that is pleasing to God.

                Prudence is the right way to perform
                    man's human acts —

                It's goal is for good

                A person wills to provoke another — to
                    do them harm — to get even —
                    to punish because of possessiveness
                    or greed, anger, envy, seeking
                    dominance over others for dominance
                    sake.

                The goal of the person's actions is to an
                    evil, vindictive act done toward
                    another — it shows that the end
                    is to produce an evil goal.

                One may have an 'art' because of habits of
                    passive-aggressive behavior for example —
                    one becomes very polished by this
                    bad habit of producing discord,
                    isolation, disharmony and hatred —
                    these negative emotions are felt
                    by visitors, just as harmony,
                    love, oneness, happiness are positive
                    emotions —

                In singing to honor God — with love and
                    calling on the Holy Spirit a place can
                    feel warm and secure and people know
                    that unity, accord, happiness —
                    "Come Holy Spirit"

                A person steeped in negativism, willfulness,
                    selfishness, anger, discord, dishonesty,
                    can bring this dark emotion to the
                    floor.

                People like alcoholics, controlling people can
                    manipulate with work they are
                    expected to accomplish by injecting
                    isolation, disharmony, impossibility
                    in their attitude —

                Filling one's mind with negative, persecuting
                    thoughts is not prudent.

                A person acts on negative thoughts filled with
                    bitterness — These thoughts can be far from
                    truth and the end may be to work out
                    unfinished business in relationships with
                    others or they may be selfish habits acquired
                    and thwarted social skills.

                    A person may use manipulation to try to
                force others to comply with their selfish
                rules through some power over —

                    Jesus shows us love. He was wounded
                for our sins — He was covered with wounds
                He sweat blood — An innocent person may
                be punished by someone who is jealous.
                The jealous person can inflict wounds on another
                because of their jealous impure thoughts.
                The innocent person can be hurt by the actions of
                years of impure habits inflicted on others —
                trying to get even or manipulate
                someone, punish someone, because of skills
                like a two year old —

                A toddler of one has their experience of
                dealing with others fairly, sharing —
                a child bullied by their siblings when
                interacting with others may bite to get
                their way — these adults without skills
                of getting along may try to punish someone
                in adulthood to get their way.

                    At Church on Sunday the priest talked about
                how all the different dominations were
                formed and the Pope can be traced back to
                Peter, but these religious denominations started with
                a man or woman who said "the buck stops
                here, I want things my way, I will start
                my own denomination."

                    Now look hundreds of thousands of
                denominations because of men who had to
                do it their way

                Protestant — means "Protest"

                This is what the priest said —
 

                Do you see all the divorces

                    Lots of marriages — 2 walls
                    Add female and male differences

                Life is really short

                People leaving home saying

                        "I will get love"

                    not

                        "I will give love, like Jesus"

                We are working on an art LOVING
                working on giving for a good end,
                not selfish —
                not creating slavishly dependent relationships
 

                I often watch people want their own way
                    they were alone and wanted to stay that way —
                    but if they begin to live with another or others —
                    they can create walls —

                When one communicates or talks — another can
                    come back with a mean remark —
                    that causes division —

                    "Hi dear how are you"

                        or a sweet wife may say

                    "Oh you sure look fat today"

                        he may say

                That husband wants to be left alone —

                Some people develop an art with others —
                    art seems not the right word —
                    passively-aggressively polishing their
                    tactics — provoking

                Put this person in charge and others are subjected
                    to this unloving, unhealthy,
                    atmosphere

                It is an act of the will to give into negative
                    thinking —

                A person who wants to be alone —
                    may go into a room, a car, with others —
                    making excuses why it isn't safe —

                "I have a headache"

                "I have a cold"

                "I am cold in there"

                "I am dizzy"

                    Even though it may be the truth or it may not be —
                        this person can make a situation
                        so they can be alone out of necessity

                    It is what is familiar to them —
                    So we eat with others and like it —
                    They just never want to eat with anyone

                Jesus was always eating with His Apostles —
                He loved them and He spent time with them —
                teaching them to be more and more like Him —

                God made Eve from the rib of Adam —

                Adam was first, but everybody else on earth
                    came from Adam through birth
                    in a womb, but Eve came from
                    Adam's side —

                    Prudence deals with the right way to do
                human acts —

                Every act has a good or bad goal —

                Prudence is to have goodness of will —

                The will chooses how to act.

                Man can steal from others — this is an evil
                    goal —

                Man can try to provoke someone else and
                    work against a good another is
                    trying to accomplish out of love
                    for others.

                    A person can act in desolation and
                        be counseled by the devil to do evil —
                        they give in — hurting others and this
                        is evil —

                    Another person, like Joseph in the scriptures,
                        was pure —
                        his brothers acted for a bad goal and
                        put him in a cistern.

                    Sarah in the Bible was jealous of Hagar's son — so she
                        sent Ishmael and Hagar away to die
                        with bread and water and God intervened and gave
                        them a well —

                Jesus is the fountain of life — in the Church
                    He outpours His grace to heal our
                    wounded human nature so we will
                    do good acts —

                Prudence is the virtue that helps one to have
                    a good habit to do a good goal —

                If one is prudent in his life, in his actions
                    he will be happy and have successful
                    living —

                A man who is not prudent has a lot of
                    failure and misery

                We seek to be perfected as our Heavenly Father
                    is perfect —

                For every thing our earthly father may have
                    failed at — Our Heavenly Father will
                    help us to have a greater life of success
                    and be happy living a more perfected
                    life.

                Prudence is a virtue that makes a difference
                    for a successful life and happiness.

                Prudence directs man's acts to moral good
                    and avoid moral evil —

                Man may reason it is wrong to steal,
                    but will steal anyway —

                Because of appetites and wills opposed
                    to God's will — man can freely
                    choose evil — even though
                    he knows it is wrong —

                He gives into temptation

                God gives us the commandments —

                A young Catholic girl getting pregnant,
                    may choose abortion for fear
                    of what others may think — she
                    may be convinced it is wrong
                    but do it anyway

                A person's appetites can be opposite
                    to what is God's will and man can give
                    in —

                    When we work together in unity in the Shepherds of
                Christ in the Church for a common good — to help
                others — there is strength in unity —

                    The devil tries to divide — Even if 10 are
                united — one negative 11th can work against
                that unity — giving into the devil to try to
                block that strength of being entirely united
                in one mind and one heart.

                    I use the example of a watch, each piece
                working in tip-top shape to give the correct
                time —

                    Christ calls the Church - members of His
                mystical body —

                    A body is united, a toe, an elbow