This sacrament takes away original sin.

Heb 1:1-2

A. Concept of Death-Resurrection in Salvation-History

1)  Purpose of suffering in God's plan

We live in a world of human beings whose human natures have been damaged by sin

Suffering entered the human condition because of sin

God uses suffering for good if we cooperate with His plan for us

The supreme example of this is Jesus' suffering and death

Everything Jesus did contributed to our redemption

His will was perfectly formed to His Father's will

...let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it.' (Mat. 26:39)

2) Suffering leads to greater life if we cooperate with God's plan for us

When families go through suffering, 

 — if they react properly, 

 — if they ask for God's help, 

at the end of suffering they are usually brought closer together

Suffering embraced properly leads to greater life

The greatest tragedy of human suffering is not that there is so much of it, but so much of it is wasted.

Suffering can lead to greatness

ie.    Helen Keller

        Helen Keller became deaf, blind and mute

        She was a shining example for all of us.

Excerpt from Response to God's Love, by Father Edward Carter, S.J.

"Our incorporation into the mystery of 
   Christ at baptism, and the gradual 
   maturing of that life in the process 
   of becoming, is centered in the pattern 
   of death-resurrection. 
   Indeed, the theme of death-resurrection 
   is at the heart of salvation history.  
   Let us briefly consider its place in the 
   Old Testament, in the New Testament, 
   and in God's ongoing self-
   communication, always remembering 
   that any form of death — that is, 
   any form of suffering — is meant to 
   lead to greater life, greater peace, 
   and greater happiness."

{End of excerpt from Response to God's Love}

Review Theme III — Scriptural Foundations

This is a review of what was considered in the daily messages in Theme III — Scriptural Foundations of the Christian Life.

---

We are studying Christian life and how we live it.

Our object is to establish a comprehensive view of what is necessary for the maintenance and development of full Christian living.

Scriptural Foundations of the 
       Christian Life

Sermon on the Mount, a blueprint of Christian living

Our object is to establish a comprehensive view of what is necessary for the maintenance and development of full Christian living.

 

Matthew 7: 7-11

Effective prayer

‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. Everyone who asks receives; everyone who searches finds; everyone who knocks will have the door opened. Is there anyone among you who would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or would hand him a snake when he asked for a fish? If you, then, evil as you are, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

 

Matthew 6: 22-23

The eye, the lamp of the body

‘The lamp of the body is the eye. It follows that if your eye is clear, your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be darkness. If then, the light inside you is darkened, what darkness that will be!

 

Matthew 7: 21-29

The true disciple

‘It is not anyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," who will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. When the day comes many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?" Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, all evil doers!
    Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock. But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!’

The amazement of the crowds

Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, and his teaching made a deep impression on the people because he taught them with authority, unlike their own scribes.

 

Matthew 12: 46-50

The true kinsfolk of Jesus

He was still speaking to the crowds when suddenly his mother and his brothers were standing outside and were anxious to have a word with him. But to the man who told him this Jesus replied, ‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’ And stretching out his hand towards his disciples he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.’

Reference: Matthew 13: 1-23

We must live according to God's will

A wise man builds his house on ROCK

If we do not build our lives on the will of God we can collapse spiritually

 
 

Shepherds of Christ Priestly Newsletter Book 3

From 2000 Issue 3

Pope John Paul II instructs us: "The Church, as a reconciled and reconciling community, cannot forget that at the source of her gift and mission of reconciliation is the initiative, full of compassionate love and mercy, of that God who is love (see 1 John 4:8) and who out of love created human beings (see Wisdom 11:23-26; Genesis 1:27: Psalms 8:4-8)…He created them so that they might live in friendship with Him and in communion with one another.

"God is faithful to His eternal plan even when man, under the impulse of the evil one (see Wisdom 2:24) and carried away by his own pride, abuses the freedom given to him in order to love and generously seek what is good, and (instead) refuses to obey his Lord and Father. God is faithful even when man, instead of responding with love to God’s love, opposes Him and treats Him like a rival, deluding himself and relying on his own power, with the resulting break of relationship with the One who created him. In spite of this transgression on man’s part, God remains faithful in love.

"It is certainly true that the story of the Garden of Eden makes us think about the tragic consequences of rejecting the Father, which becomes evident in man’s inner disorder and in the breakdown of harmony between man and woman, brother and brother (see Genesis 3:12 ff; 4:1-16). Also significant is the Gospel parable of the two brothers (the parable of the ‘prodigal son’; see Luke 15:11-32) who, in different ways, distance themselves from their father and cause a rift between them. Refusal of God’s fatherly love and of His loving gifts is always at the root of humanity’s divisions.

"But we know that God…like the father in the parable (of the prodigal son), does not close His heart to any of His children. He waits for them, looks for them, goes to meet them at the place where the refusal of communion imprisons them in isolation and division. He calls them to gather about His table in the joy of the feast of forgiveness and reconciliation.

"This initiative on God’s part is made concrete and manifest in the redemptive act of Christ, which radiates through the world by means of the ministry of the Church." ¹³

NOTES:

13. Pope John Paul II, as in Celebrate 2000!, Servant Publications, pp. 140-141.

 

Matthew  8:18-22

Unconditional commitment

When Jesus saw the crowd all about him he gave orders to leave for the other side. One of the scribes then came up and said to him, ‘Master, I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus said, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.’

    Another man, one of the disciples, said to him, ‘Lord, let me go and bury my father first.’ But Jesus said, ‘Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead.’

 

- Jesus has a personal unique love for me

- Christ is the mediator between God and man -

 

John 6: 44

Jesus says

"No one can come to the Father except through me"

 

John 15: 11-17

I have told you this
so that my own joy may be in you
and your joy be complete.
This is my commandment:
love one another,
as I have loved you.
No one can have greater love
than to lay down his life for his friends.
You are my friends,
if you do what I command you.
I shall no longer call you servants,
because a servant does not know
the master’s business;
I call you friends,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
You did not choose me,
no, I chose you;
and I commissioned you
to go out and to bear fruit,
fruit that will last;
so that the Father will give you
anything you ask him in my name.
My command to you
is to love one another.           

---

My personal relationship with Jesus takes into account my personal uniqueness.

I am in the process of becoming.

Like a baby coming out of the womb, the baby develops intellectually. We develop more every day in our spiritual life to be more in His image and likeness if we stay rooted in Him.

 

The Christian life considered as life in the Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 2: 6-16

    But still, to those who have reached maturity, we do talk of a wisdom, not, it is true, a philosophy of this age or of the rulers of this age, who will not last long now. It is of the mysterious wisdom of God that we talk, the wisdom that was hidden, which God predestined to be for our glory before the ages began. None of the rulers of the age recognised it; for if they had recognised it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but it is as scripture says: What no eye has seen and no ear has heard, what the mind of man cannot visualise; all that God has prepared for those who love him; to us, though, God has given revelation through the Spirit, for the Spirit explores the depths of everything, even the depths of God. After all, is there anyone who knows the qualities of anyone except his own spirit, within him; and in the same way, nobody knows the qualities of God except the Spirit of God. Now, the Spirit we have received is not the spirit of the world but God’s own Spirit, so that we may understand the lavish gifts God has given us. And these are what we speak of, not in the terms learnt from human philosophy, but in terms learnt from the Spirit, fitting spiritual language to spiritual things. The natural person has no room for the gifts of God’s Spirit; to him they are folly; he cannot recognise them, because their value can be assessed only in the Spirit. The spiritual person, on the other hand, can assess the value of everything, and that person’s value cannot be assessed by anybody else. For: who has ever known the mind of the Lord? Who has ever been his adviser? But we are those who have the mind of Christ.

 

The spirit of the person within knows the person.

Other people can know a lot about us, but nobody knows me as I know myself in the depth of my being.

With regard to knowledge of God, the Spirit of God knows God.

The Holy Spirit teaches us about LIFE, about divine life.

We live a God-like life. We must listen to the Spirit.

The Spirit teaches us about the God-like life.

We live our lives after Baptism with this elevated human nature. We want to always remain in the state of grace.

We want to be filled with His grace, His life.

 

Christ is the head of the body —

 

1 Corinthians 15: 20-28

In fact, however, Christ has been raised from the dead, as the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep. As it was by one man that death came, so through one man has come the resurrection of the dead. Just as all die in Adam, so in Christ all will be brought to life; but all of them in their proper order: Christ the first-fruits, and next, at his coming, those who belong to him. After that will come the end, when he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father, having abolished every principality, every ruling force and power. For he is to be king until he has made his enemies his footstool, and the last of the enemies to be done away with is death, for he has put all things under his feet. But when it is said everything is subjected, this obviously cannot include the One who subjected everything to him. When everything has been subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to the One who has subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

 

To those who remain in mortal sin they are
     not under the head.

To those who are in hell they are not under
    the head.

In obeying the commandments
    living by the Word
    following the teachings of the Church —
    we see the truth —

We seek the vision of God.

Adam and Eve sinned

They were not obedient to God —

---

Christ is the New Adam

Christ prayed to His Father

---

We want the beatific vision someday

Man should accept Christ as Mediator.

Man is proud —

Man is disobedient

God gives us His example

Jesus perfectly obeyed the Father

Jesus is our Teacher —

Jesus has taught us obedience to the Father

Jesus has taught us about God

Jesus has taught us about love

 

John 3: 16 

For this is how God loved the world:
he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him 
    may not perish
but may have eternal life.

 

                Cardinal Newman said
                    "... everyone who breathes, high and low,
                    educated and ignorant, young and old, man and woman,
                    has a mission, has a work. We are not sent
                    into this world for nothing; we are not born at
                    random. . . God sees every one of us;
                    He creates every soul, He lodges it in
                    a body, one by one, for a purpose. He needs,
                    He deigns to need, every one of us.
                    He has an end for each of us... we are
                    placed in our different ranks and stations, not to
                    get what we can out of them for ourselves, but to
                    labor in them for Him, as He rejoiced to do His work,
                    we must rejoice in ours also."
                                    (Discourses addressed to mixed congregations)

 

Mary's Role in the Christian Life

God has put us in this world at this time —

God has perfectly ordered things —

Mary was chosen by God

Mary was 'made perfect' by God for this role —

Jesus is holy and perfect so

Mary is holy and perfect as she
    can be.

God made Mary perfect — He chose her to
    be the Mother of Jesus.

    Jesus is the essence of holiness and
        sinless.

    Man has concupiscence

    Mary Jesus' mother was sinless.

 

 

Mary was a descendant of Adam

Mary had a human father and human mother.

From the instant of conception Mary was
    preserved from original sin —

Mary is Mother of our Christ-life —

Mary was preserved from the stain of sin
    from the first moment of her
    conception in the womb of her mother

This is the Immaculate Conception of the
    Mother of God —

 

Genesis 3: 9-15, 20

But Yahweh God called to the man. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden,’ he replied. ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked. ‘Have you been eating from the tree I forbade you to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.’ Then Yahweh God said to the woman, ‘Why did you do that?’ The woman replied, ‘The snake tempted me and I ate.’

Then Yahweh God said to the snake, ‘Because you have done this,

    Accursed be you
    of all animals wild and tame!
    On your belly you will go
    and on dust you will feed
    as long as you live.
    I shall put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
    it will bruise your head
    and you will strike its heel.’

The man named his wife 'Eve' because she was the mother of all those who live.

   

Luke 1: 26-38

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, you who enjoy God’s favour! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Look! You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I have no knowledge of man?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. And I tell you this too: your cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age, has conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ Mary said, ‘You see before you the Lord’s servant, let it happen to me as you have said.’ And the angel left her.

   

The Virgin Birth of Christ is different than
    the Immaculate Conception.

In Fr. Joseph's homilies — Guiding Light: The Word Alive in Our Hearts
    we hear

 

(homilies for the remaining Sundays of the year)

 

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

December 8, 2005

(Gen. 3,9-15,20; Luke 1,26-38) The feast today is about Mary’s conception, that from the instant she began to exist on this earth, indeed from her very conception, she was holy, filled with God's grace and without sin. The gospel today can confuse us somewhat because it tells us about Jesus’ conception. It was read today, first of all, because there is no gospel telling us about the moment when Mary was conceived. And secondly today’s gospel does give us an important piece of information about Mary related to today’s feast. The angel greeted her as: “Full of grace.” Our feast celebrates what the angel stated. There was no moment in Mary’s life when God’s grace did not fill her. She was full of grace.

As we listen in on this conversation between Mary and the Angel, we learn not only about Mary but also about the child she is going to have. Mary’s son to be would be Son of the Most High and king forever. Her child will be called “holy, the Son of God.” In the midst of all our business, we pause on this Holy Day to think what it is we are happy about at this time of year.

This is why Mary was “full of grace,” so she could give birth to the source of all holiness and grace, God’s own Son. And why did he come to us? So that we too can become holy. This is what St. Paul tells us in today’s second reading: “God chose us in him to be holy and blameless in his sight.”

Holiness is something few people strive for. All of us want to get to heaven, but most of us would probably tend to say I just want to get inside the door. We should do more than just try to get inside the door. We are called to be holy. Most of us never think that becoming holy is our vocation. We usually think holiness is for someone else, like the saints or people in religious orders. That’s because we do not understand holiness. We think being holy means spending all day praying or wearing ourselves out doing good things for others and never having a chance to have any fun. I think holy people probably have as much fun as any of us, but there’s something greater than fun. It is joy and peace and love. To be holy means to be close to God. The closer we are to God, the more we will be filled with love and joy and peace - both in this life and throughout eternity.

Our vocation to holiness is illustrated by the two stories we heard today.

The first story was about our first parents who originally were very close to God and were very happy. That was the symbolism of the Garden of Eden. But that wasn’t good enough for them. They wanted to be like God himself. So they rebelled against God and they lost all they had.

The second story, the annunciation, illustrates Mary’s constant attitude of being willing to say “yes” to God. It was only through her openness that the Son of the Most High has come to us. St. Luke tells us Mary was not only holy and always ready to do whatever God wanted of her, but he also tells us she was joyful. Holiness and joy are connected. After the angel left Mary, St. Luke told us about Mary visiting her cousin and she was full of joy. She expressed her joy in the beautiful hymn “the Magnificat.” My soul gives glory to the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

In reflecting on the holiness of Mary, we may feel as if we were treated unfairly. We were born with original sin. The deck was stacked against us from the beginning. But we forget that when we were baptized we were filled with God’s life. The very same grace that filled Mary at the moment of her conception, filled us when we were baptized. So holiness is possible for us too. Our two stories can show us there are two ways each of us can go in life. We can follow the example of our first parents, Adam and Eve, or we can follow the example of Mary. The first will lead to sorrow, the other to joy. To imitate Mary, all we have to do is say “yes” to whatever God asks of us.

   

Luke 1:46-55

And Mary said:
My soul proclaims
    the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit rejoices
    in God my Saviour;
because he has looked upon
    the humiliation of his servant.
Yes, from now onwards
    all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty
    has done great things for me.
Holy is his name,
and his faithful love extends age after age
    to those who fear him.
He has used the power of his arm,
he has routed the arrogant of heart.
He has pulled down princes
    from their thrones
        and raised high the lowly.
He has filled the starving with good things,
    sent the rich away empty.
He has come to the help
    of Israel his servant,
        mindful of his faithful love
--according to the promise
    he made to our ancestors--
of his mercy to Abraham
    and to his descendants for ever.

    

Mary is closer to Christ than any other
    human being. Jesus took on
    Mary's flesh —

    Jesus was carried in Mary's womb —
    Jesus lived with Mary for 30 years —

Mary is full of grace

The more we are filled with His grace — the
    greater our holiness

Christ showed us about obedience to the Father —

When we sin we are not obeying God's will
    for us

    Mary conceived Christ as a Virgin —
        so she is the Virgin Mother of God

    We honor Mary is her Virginity
    We honor Mary in her Motherhood

We are to go to the spiritual womb of the
    Mother of Jesus and the Holy Spirit
    works in her Immaculate Heart
    to make us more and more in the
    image of Jesus —

Jesus was conceived in the womb of the
 Virgin Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit.

    Mary was a Virgin —

    Jesus came that men would be
        reborn spiritually of the Holy Spirit —

    Mary is the New Eve —

Christ is the most perfect child
    ever to be born.

Mary is truly the Mother of God —

   

Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, pray for us (repeat after each invocation).
Holy Mother of God,
Holy Virgin of virgins,
Mother of Christ,
Mother of the Church,
Mother of divine grace,
Mother most pure,
Mother most chaste,
Mother inviolate,
Mother undefiled,
Mother most amiable,
Mother most admirable,
Mother of good counsel,
Mother of our Creator,
Mother of our Savior,
Virgin most prudent,
Virgin most venerable,
Virgin most renowned,
Virgin most powerful,
Virgin most merciful,
Virgin most faithful,
Mirror of justice,
Seat of wisdom,
Cause of our joy,
Spiritual vessel,
Vessel of honor,
Singular vessel of devotion,
Mystical rose,
Tower of David,
Tower of ivory,
House of gold,
Ark of the Covenant,
Gate of heaven,
Morning star,
Health of the sick,
Refuge of sinners,
Comforter of the afflicted,
Help of Christians,
Queen of angels,
Queen of patriarchs,
Queen of prophets,
Queen of apostles,
Queen of martyrs,
Queen of confessors,
Queen of virgins,
Queen of all saints,
Queen conceived without original sin,
Queen assumed into heaven,
Queen of the most holy rosary,
Queen of families,
Queen of peace,

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: Grant, we beseech You, O Lord God, that we Your servants may enjoy perpetual health of mind and body and, by the glorious intercession of the blessed Mary, ever virgin, be delivered from present sorrow, and obtain eternal joy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

We fly to your patronage, O holy Mother of God. Despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

 

Sing: Immaculate Mary

Sing: Hail Holy Queen

Jesus came into the world to save men
    from sin

Christ is the Savior of man -

Christ gave to God from the first
    moment of His existence in
    the womb of Mary —
    perfect obedience —

Adam disobeyed — we all have a wounded
                            human nature because of
                            Adam

 

Shepherds of Christ Priestly Newsletter Book 3
From 2000 - Issue 3

 

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

---

^NOTES:

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

The Church

We live out our spiritual lives within the Church. The Church is a multi-splendored reality. Let us reflect upon some of the key ideas connected with the Church.

• 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." ¹⁹

• Fr. Bruno Forte tells us: "The Church comes from the Trinity, reflects in itself the Trinitarian communion—oneness in diversity—and journeys toward the Trinity, to the final handing over of all things to Christ, so that he might hand them over to the Father and God might be all in all. As ‘a people gathered in the unity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,’ the Church is the Church of the Father. In his universal salvific plan, God has willed it to be a sign and instrument of the unity of people among themselves and with him. It is the Church of the Son, who through his incarnation and the paschal mystery has placed it in history as His Body. It is the Church of the Spirit, who makes the Risen Christ present in human history and enriching the people of God with charisms and ministries, leads it toward the promised future goal." ²⁰

• 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 communal 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)

• Some two thousand years ago Christ walked the earth teaching, healing the sick, forgiving sins, extending His mercy and kindness. By such a life which culminated in death and resurrection, Christ redeemed the world. This objective redemption was accomplished by Christ alone. Through it, He won for people of all time the necessary graces for their salvation and sanctification.

However, it is necessary that such graces be distributed to each individual as one plays out his or her part in the drama of human existence. Such a distribution of grace is the work of subjective redemption.

Jesus still walks the earth as the work of redemption continues. However, He now walks the earth according to a different type of existence. He does not walk the earth in His physical body, but rather in His Mystical Body, the Church, the People of God. Through the members of His Church, Christ continues to be present as He teaches, administers the sacraments, extends His mercy — all done through the members of His Body, the Church. This mystical Christ, in turn, derives all supernatural power from Christ, the Head, who reigns gloriously with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

The Church, therefore, is the earthly continuation of Christ’s redemptive Incarnation. This mission which the Church has, although a great responsibility, is also a great privilege. In proportion as each Christian offers and commits himself or herself to Christ, the Church in her entirety more and more mirrors forth Christ to the world. This Christ, whom the Church portrays to the world, is the Christ who is Prophet, King and Priest.

• We now 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…" ²¹

• The Church is a mother to us. Henri de Lubac speaks concerning this beautiful truth:

"The Church is my mother because she brought me forth to a new life. She is my mother because her concern for me never slackens, any more than do her efforts to deepen that life in me, however unenthusiastic my cooperation. And though in me this life may be a fragile and timid growth, I have seen its full flowering in others...

"Happy those who from childhood have learnt to look on the Church as a mother! Happier still those whose experience, in whatever walk of life, has confirmed its truth! Happy those who one day were gripped by (and whose appreciation of it ever grew) the astonishing newness, richness and depth of the life communicated to them by this mother!" ²²

• Avery Dulles, S.J., the well-known theologian who has written much about the Church, observes: "The Church, as I have already contended, is essentially a mystery of grace, a wonderful encounter between the divine and the human. Even in its visible structures, the Church is not a mere organization to be judged on grounds of efficiency, but a sacrament of God’s saving deed in Jesus Christ. From this it follows, in my judgment, that the Church’s forms of speech and life, and indeed its entire corporate existence, must be such as to mediate a vital communion with Christ the Lord. The Church must be a place of prayer and worship, praise and witness. Any institutional change in the Church must be carefully assessed for its effect on the spiritual life of the members. Does it intensify their faith, their hope, their charity? Does it help them to center their lives on Christ and to ground their existence in the God who raised him from the dead?"²³

• Fr. Gerald Vann, O.P., speaks movingly about our life in the Church:

"If you live in the Church and try to use the power of the Church to increase the life of the Church, then the power of the Church will make you yourself whole; and in your wholeness you will help to make your family and make your world. But you will be building for a more than earthly beatitude because you will be building the city which is eternal. Here you build in shadow, you build for a future which is invisible, and so you can only build in hope. And often your plans will be wrecked and your dreams come crashing about your ears, and you will need the strength of the Rock which is Christ to give you patience and fortitude...

"And when death has come to you...the Church will bless you for the life you have added to it, and there will be men to heed you better than they did when you were here...

"But you, for your part, will be no longer in the shadow but in the glory of the Light inaccessible; you will be in the City that is yours because you helped to build it; you will see Him at last as He is, and be wholly with Him; and you will have no more any mourning or weeping or any other sorrow, for all these former things will have been transmuted into happiness and peace, and you will walk with Him—together with all those you have helped to bring to Him, even until the end of the world—you will walk with Him in happiness for ever, in the cool of the eternal evening." ²⁴

        19. Henri de Lubac, S. J., The Church: Paradox and Mystery, translated by James R. Dunne, Alba House, p. 24.
        20. Fr. Bruno Forte, He Loved Them to the End, St. Paul Books & Media, p. 74-75.
        21. The Thoughts of Pope John Paul II: A Collection of Essays and Studies, John M. McDermott, S. J., Editor, Editrice Pontificia Universita Gregoriana, p. 135.
        22. Henri de Lubac, S.J., The Church: Paradox and Mystery, op. cit., pp. 2-4.
        23. Avery Dulles, S.J., The Resilient Church, Doubleday & Company, p. 39.
        24. Gerald Vann, O.P., The Heart of Man, Longmans, Green and Co., pp. 151-152.

 

 

Foreward

    God created us in His image and likeness and God is love. We were created for Him. Fr. Carter in writing the Priestly Newsletter 2000 Issue 3 was editing his masterpiece on the Spiritual life.

    The Father, Son and Holy Spirit dwell in the graced baptized soul. In learning to live more deeply in God, recognizing how God created us to be more and more in that image and likeness of Him and recognizing how vital consecration to the Pure and Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary are – I state clearly what the mission in these Priestly Newsletters hope to accomplish –

    Greater intimacy with God – Greater life IN HIM. Living out the Pascal mystery we go to the fountain of His life outpoured to us in the Church.

    We love our priests so very much and thank God for calling them and their “yes” to this awesome vocation God gives to these men. We give our lives praying for the priests, the Church and the world in this network of prayer chapters and circulating the Priestly Newsletter begun by Fr. Carter May 31, 1994. Our lives are a mystery unfolding more and more IN HIM.

    God is preparing us through our cooperation to be living forever in the beatific vision. The Church and the sacraments is the primary way God helps us.

    We go to the Eucharist to be saturated more and more with His grace and we sing, read, and ponder the Word of God as it lives more and more in us.

    So we can say with St. Paul
        ...I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me. Galatians 2: 19-20

    As we go to the Pure and Holy Heart of Mary – the Holy Spirit works more and more performing His marvelous wonder – bringing us forth more and more in the image of God – The incarnation goes on in us in the spiritual womb of Mary her Immaculate Heart.

    Mary takes us to the Heart of Jesus and there we dwell in the vat of love of Jesus’ most burning Heart and experience the greatest treasures of knowing and loving God and others more deeply through His Pure and Tender Heart of love.

    We live out our baptismal commitment dwelling in deep love in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

    The cover of this book pictures Christ’s image in stone – Our stony hearts are molded more and more in His image as we grow in the spiritual life.

    Mary takes us to the Heart of Jesus who takes us to the bosom of the Father –

    Oneness in God – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit the perfect community – our model for oneness – a glimpse of life forever in the embrace of the Almighty God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

    After communion filled so deeply with His presence – I touched you God and in that embrace I knew You in great oneness – I tasted greater insight into Your Divine Mysteries and I knew that all
we do here in dwelling in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary and leading souls to deeper intimacy with God – deeper love of the Eucharist – living deeper life in God would help lead men to deeper
oneness as members of the body of Christ, deeper intercessors and deeper love in God.

Rita Ring, Co-founder
Shepherds of Christ Ministries

  end of excerpts from Shepherds of Christ Priestly Newsletter Book 3