Prayer for Grace for 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
new president as he takes office. We pray that we are united as
one nation under God to work together in love as God wants.
September 10, 2017
Today's Readings
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Ezekiel 33: 7-9
'Son of
man I have
appointed you as watchman for the House of
Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth,
warn them from me. If I say to someone
wicked, "Evil- doer, you are to die," and
you do not speak to warn the wicked
person to
renounce such ways, the wicked
person
will die
for this guilt, but I shall hold you
responsible for the death. If, however, you
do warn someone wicked to renounce such ways
and repent, and that
person does
not repent, then the culprit
will die
for this guilt, but you yourself
will have
saved your life.
Psalm 95: 1-2, 6-9
Come, let us cry out with joy to Yahweh,
acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving,
acclaim him with music.
Come, let us bow low and do reverence;
kneel before Yahweh who made us!
For he is our God,
and we the people of his sheepfold,
the flock of his hand.
If only you would listen to him today!
Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,
as at the time of Massah in the desert,
when your ancestors challenged me,
put me to the test, and saw what I could do!
Romans 13: 8-10
The only thing you should owe to anyone is love for one
another, for to love the other person is to fulfil the law.
All these: You shall not commit adultery, You shall not
kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet, and all the
other commandments that there are, are summed up in this
single phrase: You must love your neighbour as yourself.
Love can cause no harm to your neighbour, and so love is the
fulfilment of the Law.
Matthew 18: 15-20
'If your brother does something wrong,
go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he
listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not
listen, take one or two others along with you: whatever the
misdemeanour, the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to
sustain the charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, report it
to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community,
treat him like a gentile or a tax collector.
'In
truth I tell you, whatever you bind
on earth
will be bound in heaven; whatever
you loose on earth
will be loosed in heaven.
'In
truth I tell you once again, if two
of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it
will be granted to you by my Father
in heaven. For where two or three meet in my name, I am there among
them.'
R. A watchman warns of a coming invasion
Like a prophet
God calls people to give teaching for Him.
God gives us the 10 Commandments –
His Law to obey
The Ten Commandments
1. I, the Lord, am your God. You
shall not have other gods besides me.
2. You shall not take the name
of the Lord, your God, in vain.
3. Remember to keep holy the
Sabbath day.
4. Honor your father and your
mother.
5. You shall not kill.
6. You shall not commit
adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false
witness against your neighbor.
9. You shall not covet your
neighbor's wife.
10. You shall not covet anything
that belongs to your neighbor.
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.’
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 7, 2014
INTRODUCTION –
(Ezekiel 33,7-9; Romans 13, 8-10; Matthew
18, 15-20) Our first reading takes us back six hundred years before
Christ as God explains to his prophet Ezekiel his responsibility as a
prophet. Ezekiel must warn God's people of their sinful ways or Ezekiel
himself will be held accountable. It is a prelude to the gospel where
Jesus instructs his followers how to help each other stay on the right
track. St. Paul's teaching on love in our second reading reminds us that
if we should try to correct one another, it should be done out of love.
HOMILY –
I want to tell you a little story. A lady I
know, I will call her Agnes, is a loving mother and grandmother. She has
a friend who has been alienated from some of her family for a long time.
Since Agnes' own family is very close to each other, Agnes made a
decision, hoping that alienation or separation would never be part of
her own family. In addition to praying for her family, which she always
did, she approached one of her adult grandchildren who was highly
respected by the other family members. Agnes asked him to be the
mediator for any problems that might arise in the future. If ever there
was a chance people would become alienated from one another, or there
would be fighting or hatred among family members, he would step in.
Agnes went so far as to instruct him in what to say. "Tell them I put
you in charge of keeping the family together and to straighten things
out. You are in charge." It was a heavy responsibility for him to
accept, but because he loved his grandmother, he promised to do as she
asked. Grandmother, who is dearly loved and respected by her family, is
also very wise. It gave her peace, knowing that when she had passed on,
someone will be watching out for the family and helping to keep them
together. She took the burden off her grandson, so the deal with some
sensitive family issues, he won't be rejected for sticking his nose in
someone else's business. He can say "Grandma left me in charge of
helping to keep our family united."
Jesus is very wise too. He is telling
his followers that same thing in today's gospel: "I want you to be in
charge of straightening things out when there are problems and
disagreements and fights and when people make up their own rules that
lead my followers into separation and disunity." We, you and I and the
rest of the Church, who have been put in charge have done a far from
perfect job in this regard with so much division among Christ's
followers. In theological language we refer to this as "fraternal
correction;" that is, correcting a brother or sister who is being led
astray from the many teachings of Christ, especially the one very dear
to his heart, "that all may be one." Obviously, Jesus is talking about
some major problems here when he outlines these three steps that,
hopefully, may lead a straying or offending member of the community back
toward reconciliation.
Jesus taught us, though, that before
we go correcting other people, we should look to ourselves first. There
is a story about a mother in India whose son had an insatiable desire
for sweets, and she brought him a long way to talk to Gandhi, so he
would convince her son not to eat so many sweets. Gandhi told her to
bring her son back in two weeks. When mother and son returned two weeks
later, Gandhi told the boy to stop eating so much sugar and the boy
agreed. The mother asked Gandhi: "why did you not just say this to the
boy two weeks ago and save me the hardship of traveling back here?"
Gandhi replied "Two weeks ago I ate too many sweets. I needed to see if
I could stop before I counseled the boy." (Celebration: Sept 7, 2014 -
Homily) Jesus tells us if we try to take the gnat out of our brother or
sister's eye, we first need to remove the beam from our own eye. (Mt.
7,3)
It is a delicate thing to remind
someone that what they are doing is not right. In my ministry, I have
had successful and rewarding moments when I have seen people respond to
my encouragement to make some change in how they were living, on the
other hand I have also been told to "get lost." Even knowing what
happened to Jesus who tried to teach God's way, I still try to do what
Jesus sent me to do, for I shudder when I read today's passage from
Ezekiel where God tells Ezekiel "if you do not speak to the wicked
person about their wickedness, I will hold you responsible for the
consequences of his or her wrongdoing." I may have a lot to answer for
because of things I didn't say or do and it frightens me.
Love is the motivation behind any
form of fraternal correction. Paul tells us today: "owe nothing to
anyone except to love one another." We don't go around finding fault
with people because we enjoy it, we do it because we love them and we
hate to see them doing things that will cause themselves harm, either
spiritually (or physically). I include the idea of physical harm because
a brother or sister may be destroying themselves by eating or drinking
too much or smoking or getting no exercise or getting hooked on
pornography or recreational drugs. The consequences of those things are
addictive and destructive as we know.
Often our words of wisdom or
encouragement, even offered in love, fall on deaf ears. In today's
gospel, Jesus gives us one more way to help our brother or sister who is
straying from the path of righteousness. Jesus encourages prayer for the
person. As a matter of fact, even before we dare to offer advice or
criticism to another, we should pray for the right words and then if we
are pushed off or told to mind our own business, we should keep on
praying for them. I think St. James summarized everything I have tried
to say when he ended his epistle: "whoever brings back a sinner from the
error of his way will save his (or her) soul from death and will cover a
multitude of sins."
R. The devil is always working to weaken authority
try to get the person to disobey authority
and to push them down – so that
the devil can tempt the person
under to call the shots above
authority –
This is out of order –
God works in structure –
Power from God comes through
the just authority –
If a person raises themselves
in power over just authority
they may try to make the
persons under them and
the authority act in the way they
want –
which is disorder – out of place –
God wants obedience to just
authority –
In religious communities it
would be utter bedlam
if people of dysfunction
had rule to act out their dysfunction
when they have power –
Power is given to run things
according to God's Plan –
to help bring His Might
behind things –
Power comes from God –
A person wanting power and
not really having the authority
can push even harder to
get their way if they hold
the purse strings, needed
materials etc. –
Coercing the authority to bring
dysfunction – brings with
it deterioration with
the dysfunction, control,
manipulation.
People in dysfunctional families
may be afraid of authority
because of dysfunction in homes
and want control so no one is
allowed to operate over them –
so they make scenarios of
controlling money, needed materials
to force their dominance
so they are in control –
It is OUT of ORDER –
We see God the Father is obeyed
when Jesus says "Not My will
but Thine be done"
Jesus shows us that He obeyed
His Father's will to His death
on the cross.
Authority is a friend when
operating according to God's will
and under God. Like these
scriptures we see a person
in authority is to correct and
discipline those who are disobedient
to God.
The person underneath dis-regarding
and disobeying authority by force –
to act in dysfunction and control
is hurting the growth of the
group, family etc.
In an alcoholic home the
people can be forced to
dance around the dysfunction
of the alcoholic while another
can help enable him or her.
It is a merry-go-round called
denial.
Just authority is necessary
for order and growth and is a
friend.
The fear of a person trying
to push down authority may
be trying to always operate and
control everything with a thirst
for power on their part.
It can be from abuse, loss
of power as a child etc. –
This usurp of power against
justice is disorder and tries
to stop correction, directions
and being accountable for
their actions – It becomes
bedlam and dysfunction –
run by a manipulative individual
seeking control and ultimately afraid
of authority.
Luke 4: 1-13
Filled with the
Holy Spirit, Jesus left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into
the desert, for forty days being put to the test by the devil.
During that time he ate nothing and at the end he was hungry. Then
the devil said to him, ‘If you are Son of God, tell this stone to
turn into a loaf.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Scripture says:
Human
beings live not on bread alone.’
Then leading
him to a height, the devil showed him in a moment of time all the
kingdoms of the world and said to him, ‘I will give you all this
power and their splendour, for it has been handed over to me, for me
to give it to anyone I choose.& Do homage, then, to me, and it shall
all be yours.’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Scripture says:
You must
do homage to the Lord your God,
him alone you must serve.’
Then he led him
to Jerusalem and set him on the parapet of the Temple. ‘If you are
Son of God,’ he said to him, ‘throw yourself down from here, for
scripture says:
He has
given his angels orders about you,
to guard you,
and again:
They will
carry you in their arms
in case you trip over a stone.’
But Jesus answered
him, ‘Scripture says:
Do not put
the Lord your God to the test.’
Having exhausted
every way of putting him to the test, the devil left him, until the
opportune moment.
R. Satan wants power and control –
Vows in many religious orders have been
taken for centuries of poverty,
chastity and obedience –
Otherwise there would be
disorder and bedlam as people
make their own dysfunctional
dances and try to force others
to operate in dysfunction.
They can try to force their
rule and independence
disobeying the superior
and unity with the community.
The devil wants division –
The devil wants to tear apart families,
religious communities, the Church,
corporations, schools etc. –
The devil wants disorder and
chaos.
We are called to spread the
devotion of the Two Hearts where
people make Jesus the King and
Center of their Hearts –
obey God and are one in the
Hearts of Jesus and Mary, obeying
God's law and living by
the Word – under the authority
of the Church.
This is order –
In baptism we receive a sharing
in Divine Life and the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit dwell in the graced, baptized
soul. The gift we receive is
the abundant sharing of
Divine Life –
A person can operate against authority
for satan and try to force their
way and be tearing things apart
for their independence and control
and manipulation.
Grace is like water on a
sponge – We need to give our
hearts to Jesus and Mary –
and cooperate with the grace we receive.
A person doing their own control
over the authority is operating
in disorder.
If a person refuses the grace
God wants to give them it
is like water on a hard rock –
We are to live as members, united
in the Church – the mystical
body of Christ –
We pray together in the Hearts
of Jesus and Mary to unite under God
who is the ultimate authority
in our lives –
Our life is lived to grow in
relationships of love with God
and others and ourselves under
the Father's Plan – obeying
the Father's will –
Our heavenly Father who
created us and we are not to
offend Him, but obey God.
Given
October 29, 2016
R.
Please spread blessed holy water
(You can also mix Jesus and Mary water
with your blessed Holy Water if you have it.)
in your yard, around your house,
in the state you live in.
And ask God to bless your state
Ask God to bless the United States
Pray all prayers through the intercession of
Our Lady of CLEAR – WATER.
Ask the Lady of CLEAR - WATER
to help with the blessed water.
Mary has appeared to me for 22 years,
in Ohio and Florida.
Copyright
© 2014 Shepherds of Christ.