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Shepherds of Christ Daily Writing

September 11, 2014

September 12th Holy Spirit Novena
Scripture selection is Day 8 Period I.

The Novena Rosary Mysteries
for September 12th are Sorrowful.

Pray for Dan & Amanda,
for a really special intention.

China Retreat
Sept. 10th - Sept. 13th
Mass everyday is at 12 noon.
Please tune in!

September 11, 2014

Message of June 26, 1995

(from Apostles Manual)

The Pain - Naples, Florida

Messenger: He spread His arms, He gave His all, Jesus, the Son of God, the greatest sacrifice, He gave Himself entirely for the good of all men. He opened His arms, He died on the cross.

His arms were covered with blood, His arms so weak and filled with pain, wounded. His arms, the pain shot up His arms and the final blow to each arm a nail through each precious hand.

All the agony He experienced, all the pain, and the crown, to each arm, a nail hammered into the hand.

All the nerves cut and severed by the nail, the pain shooting up His precious arms, the final blow given to His most precious members.

The legs that carried Him, that carried the heavy cross, the legs that were forced and cajoled, that continues to Calvary - the legs weakened, skinned, bleeding, beaten, burned, the legs that knew patience and perseverance, the legs connected to a sore foot that was rubbed and gashed and bleeding, the members of Jesus, filled with such pain and exhaustion, now is crowned with the final glory. The nail that was driven into the foot, the pain shot up this already weakened leg, covered with blood and wounds and pain, the final blow, the nerves severed by the hammered nail.

A blow to each hand, a blow to each foot, a blow to the head, a stamping that pressed down and continued in excruciating pain.

Jesus: They numbered all My bones. They gave Me vinegar and gall to drink. They gave Me a cloth to wipe My blood-covered flesh.

What did they give to Me? Love is giving, My dear ones. How many of you are wounded when you are not given things by your brothers you love?

My members were in such pain, the pain shot up My arms. My legs were so weak I could scarce move them. I was filled with pain within them.

To all who watched, they saw a man, weakened and covered with blood and wounds. They did not see the pain inside that shot up My legs and arms, the nerves inside My body that sent signals of deep pain to My central nervous system. They did not see the nerves inside sending pain signals everywhere.

The final blow being to each hand and foot, the severing of My nerves by the blunt and rusted nails.

An arm extended. A final blow. I beheld a nail pounded into My hand and the pain shot up My arms, unbearable to a human mind.

Do you know of the pain within My body? Signals sending messages of deep pain everywhere. I knew all of these sufferings in the garden. So great were the sufferings to My mind, I sweat blood.

My flesh was covered with wounds. My arms were stretched from their sockets. My body was beaten and bleeding, every inch of My body covered with deep wounds. But, My loved ones, you miss the depth of My love. My wounds were so deep, but the final wound, the pounding of the nails in My hands and feet, a severing of the nerves, an ending of the deepest pain, to experience even deeper pain, beyond your human comprehension, it was done to the Almighty God, a Divine Person, I suffered the final blow to each member.

The pounding in the hands and feet, the crown to each member, and they numbered all My bones. My nerves a network of pain running throughout My entire body.

The pain within the body, the pain recorded in My loving head, the pain sent by a network of nerves in My body, now records the final blows, the nails in the hands and feet, the pain being recorded from every thorn that pierced My skull, every gash to My body, the pain, the pain, the pain - a network of signals and pain, running through My body and the final hour, the pains recorded on the cross, arms outstretched - a surrendering to all pain. I surrendered to a body laden with pain.

You focus on your little problems, your little aches and pains. You discuss them and show the world your pin pricks and sufferings.

Do you want to know holiness and love? They gave Me vinegar mixed with gall. This was their offering. They gave Me a cross. They crowned My head with a crown of thorns.

This, My dear ones, is suffering, My beloved souls, I gave My life for and this is their return.

A severing of My nerves, the final blows to all the aches and pains recorded in My nervous system. This was one of the final blows - the rusted nails pounded into My hands.

You will feel little aches and pains in your hands and feet to remind you of this message. Your understanding of the immense pain within will deepen. What was visible to the eye on My battered body was nothing compared to the pains within. I gave My all. I gave My insides, My mind, My Heart, wounded for the love of men.

All functions in the body were stopped.

The final curtain, blood and water pouring out from My Heart, show that all functions of the body had ended.

Messenger: All signals that carried messages of immense pain had ended, the final act of surrender for God to die to this human body and surrender His flesh.

Jesus: An end, a beginning, the water and blood flowed from My Heart, the beginning of My life in the Church, life flowing into your spirit.

Messenger: Come give me life, abundant life. I thirst to be with Thee.

Jesus: My blood was spent. My human flesh and blood offered as the sacrifice, the sacrifice of Calvary is now made present at every Mass.

An end, a beginning, and the grace and life flow through the sacraments in the Church. My life flows to you in the Mass. Mary, the Mediatrix of all grace, stands by the side of the altar and the grace flows from the Father, through My body offered up as a sacrifice in the Holy Spirit, given through the Mothership of Mary to you in the Church.

You stand under the cross with My Mother and you receive the gift given, My Body, My Blood.

Messenger: Man is reconciled with the Father through the Divine Person, Jesus Christ, and you receive His life poured out to you as Calvary is made present in the unbloody sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Do you feel the graces poured out to you at this sacrifice of the Son of God at every Mass? Do you feel the presence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and Mary, all the angels and saints, and the souls in purgatory? Do you feel united as one at the sacrifice of Calvary sacramentally made present upon the altar through the priest? The priest who now puts on Christ and through Him the dispenser of this life given to man.

Jesus: Oh, My beloved ones, love so dearly your priest. Give him such reverence. He is the chosen instrument of God and you treat him with such ordinariness. You are so blind and so dumb in your ways.

And they numbered all My bones. Each nerve carrying a message of My love of mankind, each member in My Church carrying a special message, all united as one working in harmony according to the Father's will, each carrying a message of love to one another.

The body is many members, you are the messengers of My love. Christ is the head. The message does not flow as it should when some are cut off from the Head.

They nailed My hands and feet and My nerves were severed by the nails, such pain, undescribable in words, the severing of My nerves from the body, the severing of many members from the body of Christ.

My Body given for all on the cross, the network of nerves within carrying the messages of My love to all mankind. My body covered on the outside with blood and wounded, the pain recorded within.

Your Church, covered with blood on the outside, the slaughter of innocent babies, the homosexuality, the sins of the flesh, the members that have severed themselves from the source by their sins, but the pain is carried in the nerves inside. The blood of the Lamb shed for each and every soul, the real pain carried within. The life is weakened in your Church because the love of God is so weak in many members. The messages of love are not being transmitted as they should be. Your body shows the wounds, but your pain within is the root of the problems. The pain is from the messages of love that are not being transmitted.

Unless you seek to fill your priests and sisters with the fire of God's love, fill their hearts with burning love for God, your Church will continue to show the marks of the blood shed without. I give to you these letters as a mighty medicine for this world, directed to make men's hearts burn with love of God and love of one another. The rosaries are meditations and messages given from the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

These messages will make men's hearts burn with fire for love of God.

You have ignored the importance of these letters.

I send to you the mighty medicine to heal a hurting world.

My priests and religious need these messages. The love of God will be transmitted to the Church from these messages when you circulate these letters.

The devil has blocked the minds of men involved in these messages because of their importance to the world and the Church.

I am speaking to you to help to get these messages published and circulated as soon as possible. I give to you a mighty medicine for a sick world.

Read St. Thomas Aquinas about the medicine for the sick Church.

You know what these messages have done for you. I am Jesus. I give to you the mighty medicine for a sick world, for a sick Church, rosaries and letters from the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Your Church shows the wounds of bloodshed, abortion, homosexuality, sins of the flesh, murder of little children's minds with sex education in Catholic schools and you hold back the gifts of God's love I am giving to the Church and this world.

My arms were weak and wounded but the final blow as the nail put in My hand. It severed the nerves.

The final blow is the bloodshed in the Church, the slaughtering of children's minds in Catholic schools. My children are pure and innocent. They are not being taught messages of God's love, they are being taught messages of sick sex and coldness.

Men's hearts have turned cold. They have been severed from the life of the body. The body is decaying from within. Only with the love of God enkindled in men's hearts will this bloodshed stop.

I beg you to publish and circulate these messages in the Church. I am Jesus. I am giving you the mighty medicine for the world. Your body wears the marks of the bloodshed, only with messages of My on-fire love will it stop.

Mary leads you to Jesus. Never is she the end. The Father has a plan. Mary's messages have led men and will lead men to Jesus. Satan has tried to stop all efforts to publish and circulate these messages. I am the Almighty God. The funds will come when you circulate and publish these messages and rosaries under the Shepherds of Christ Publishing. I am working with My messengers to renew the Church and the world. Each messenger has a very vital role in the Father's plan. The significance of these messages are being overlooked. You are not studying the messages as a whole and their content. There are five unpublished Blue Books and more than four Rosary Books which I and My Mother have given to this world in the last 14 months. I have also given 15 songs of My love. I am begging you to see to the recording and publishing of this music. I beg you to listen. This is the mighty medicine for the Church and the world to draw men to the burning love of Jesus. Please harken to My call. I will send you the money. You must study and read these messages. This is a fulfillment of Fatima - these messages were given to bring priests to the burning love of Jesus. I am Jesus, your beloved Savior.

end of excerpt

April 5, 2001

September 4, 2004

Death / Resurrection

Readings of the Day

1 Corinthians 8: 1-7, 11-13

Now about food which has been dedicated to false gods. We are well aware that all of us have knowledge; but while knowledge puffs up, love is what builds up. Someone may think that he has full knowledge of something and yet not know it as well as he should; but someone who loves God is known by God. On the subject of eating foods dedicated to false gods, we are well aware that none of the false gods exists in reality and that there is no God other than the One. Though there are so-called gods, in the heavens or on earth – and there are plenty of gods and plenty of lords-yet for us there is only one God, the Father from whom all things come and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things come and through whom we exist. However, not everybody has this knowledge. There are some in whose consciences false gods still play such a part that they take the food as though it had been dedicated to a god; then their conscience, being vulnerable, is defiled,

And then it would be through your knowledge that this brother for whom Christ died, vulnerable as he is, has been lost. So, sinning against your brothers and wounding their vulnerable consciences, you would be sinning against Christ. That is why, if food can be the cause of a brother's downfall, I will never eat meat any more, rather than cause my brother's downfall.

Psalm 139: 1-3, 13-14, 23-24

Yahweh, you examine me and know me,
you know when I sit, when I rise,
you understand my thoughts from afar.
You watch when I walk or lie down,
you know every detail of my conduct.

You created my inmost self,
knit me together in my mother's womb.
For so many marvels I thank you;
a wonder am I, and all your works are wonders.

You knew me through and through,

God, examine me and know my heart,
test me and know my concerns.
Make sure that I am not on my way to ruin,
and guide me on the road of eternity.

Luke 6: 27-38

‘But I say this to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. To anyone who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek as well; to anyone who takes your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from someone who takes it. Treat others as you would like people to treat you. If you love those who love you, what credit can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit can you expect? For even sinners do that much. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to get money back, what credit can you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount. Instead, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend without any hope of return. You will have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

‘Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap; because the standard you use will be the standard used for you.’

We pray for you from our church
in China, Indiana.

Easter

Acts 10: 34, 37-43

Then Peter addressed them, ‘I now really understand’, he said, ‘that God has no favourites,

You know what happened all over Judaea, how Jesus of Nazareth began in Galilee, after John had been preaching baptism. God had anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil. Now we are witnesses to everything he did throughout the countryside of Judaea and in Jerusalem itself: and they killed him by hanging him on a tree, yet on the third day God raised him to life and allowed him to be seen, not by the whole people but only by certain witnesses that God had chosen beforehand. Now we are those witnesses—we have eaten and drunk with him after his resurrection from the dead— and he has ordered us to proclaim this to his people and to bear witness that God has appointed him to judge everyone, alive or dead. It is to him that all the prophets bear this witness: that all who believe in Jesus will have their sins forgiven through his name.’

Colossians 3: 1-4

Since you have been raised up to be with Christ, you must look for the things that are above, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on things above, not on the things that are on the earth, because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is revealed—and he is your life—you, too, will be revealed with him in glory.

John 20: 1-9

It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,' she said, 'and we don't know where they have put him.'

So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter, following him, also came up, went into the tomb, saw the linen cloths lying on the ground and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed. Till this moment they had still not understood the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

Easter

April 12, 2009

HOMILY: This funny story is old, but even if you’ve heard it before, you might enjoy it again. There was an old couple who argued a lot, and they decided to travel before they died. One place they wanted to see was Israel. While they were there, the wife died. When the husband tried to see what arrangements he could make for her funeral, the mortician told him she could be buried in Israel for $2,000 or they could send her body home to the United States, but it would cost $20,000 to transport her. He thought for a moment and said we’ll send her to the United States. A friend asked why he would spend so much money to send her back home. He said, “one time a person rose from the dead here in Israel and I can’t take that chance.”

    Our faith tells us one person did indeed rise from the dead, Jesus Christ, and if it weren’t for his resurrection we would never have heard of him. He was a good and holy man who was a wise teacher and a powerful healer but, unlike with other religious leaders, if it weren’t for Jesus’ actual resurrection, his followers would never have had the courage to preach about him to the world. [for Sunday morning: Remember Peter who denied Christ. We hear him preaching with boldness to a pagan audience in today’s first reading.] The apostles had nothing to gain in this world from talking about him except rejection and martyrdom. But they had to proclaim him to the world because they had seen him after the resurrection, he sent them out to continue his work, he promised to be with them and they wanted to be with him and these things they couldn’t deny.

    Their “good news” about the resurrection spread against all odds, persecution, heresy, sinful leadership and a way of life that demanded unselfishness and self-sacrifice. Their promise was a promise of new life, eternal life, to those who heard the “good news” and believed in it. Their promise was a promise of risen life for those who are born again into Christ’s life. We hear Paul proclaim this in today’s epistle: “we were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.” (Rom 6,4 – from Vigil) This is echoed in our epistle for Easter Sunday from Colossians “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.” (Col 3,3-4 – Easter Sunday).

    Our bodies will rise again on the last day, but not all will rise to glory. The bible tells us in the book of Daniel: “Many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Dan. 12,2) It is not our place to decide which group certain of our acquaintances might end up in. We cannot judge anyone’s heart, only God can. It’s our place to know that we are saved, not by our own power, but through our union with the glorified and risen Christ and to find peace in knowing that God’s mercy is offered to all who seek him.

    And that is the challenge of the resurrection. Again, quoting the letter to the Colossians: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.” (Col. 3,1-2) If we want to live new life with Christ in eternity, we must live his new life now.

    Hopefully, our Easter celebration will inspire us to leave today with a new resolve to praise the Lord (this is what “Alleluia” means) and to rejoice and be glad because this is the day the Lord has made; this is the day that is a source of hope and salvation for us. Amen.

Second Sunday of Easter

Acts 10: 34, 37-43

Then Peter addressed them, ‘I now really understand’, he said, ‘that God has no favourites,

You know what happened all over Judaea, how Jesus of Nazareth began in Galilee, after John had been preaching baptism. God had anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil. Now we are witnesses to everything he did throughout the countryside of Judaea and in Jerusalem itself: and they killed him by hanging him on a tree, yet on the third day God raised him to life and allowed him to be seen, not by the whole people but only by certain witnesses that God had chosen beforehand. Now we are those witnesses—we have eaten and drunk with him after his resurrection from the dead— and he has ordered us to proclaim this to his people and to bear witness that God has appointed him to judge everyone, alive or dead. It is to him that all the prophets bear this witness: that all who believe in Jesus will have their sins forgiven through his name.’

Colossians 3: 1-4

Since you have been raised up to be with Christ, you must look for the things that are above, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on things above, not on the things that are on the earth, because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is revealed—and he is your life—you, too, will be revealed with him in glory.

John 20: 1-9

It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,' she said, 'and we don't know where they have put him.'

So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter, following him, also came up, went into the tomb, saw the linen cloths lying on the ground and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed. Till this moment they had still not understood the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

Second Sunday of Easter

April 19, 2009

INTRODUCTION: I’ve asked you to greet one another as Mass began in order to create a sense of community. This is an important theme in today’s Scriptures. People often ask me, for example: “who is that person who sits in such and such a place at the 10:00 Mass.” We have great people in our parish but most people do not know it. They just know a few close friends perhaps. It would be so easy when you are on the way to church or after Mass to just go up to someone you don’t know, put out your hand and say: “hello, I’m so and so. What’s your name?” If you forget it the next time you see them ask again. I do it all the time. The theme of community is expressed in today’s first reading by the care the early Christians had for one another. Unfortunately, this idyllic moment for the early Church did not last. There were those who tried to cheat on the system of sharing their possessions in common, there were defections from the community when persecutions came, there were heresies and there were those who broke away and began a church of their own. The unity Jesus prayed for so earnestly at the Last Supper was short-lived.

HOMILY: We heard about the early Christians’ love for one another. How they loved one another was one of the big attractions of the early Church. In today’s gospel, there is another very clear picture of how important community is. The apostles were gathered together on Easter Sunday night when Jesus appeared to them. But Thomas wasn’t with them. We’re not told why. Maybe he was daring enough to go out for food and supplies while the others huddled together in fear that the Roman soldiers or the Jewish religious leaders might come to get them next, maybe he was depressed and wanted to be left alone, maybe he just went out for a walk. For whatever reason Thomas missed getting to see Jesus. He was absent from the community. While all the other apostles as well as the women who had seen Jesus earlier in the day were excited about the resurrection, he must have had a miserable week. It’s interesting that it wasn’t until a week later when Jesus showed himself again. This second appearance is likely an indication, perhaps inspired by Jesus himself, that, from the beginning, the first day of the week was to be the day for the Christian assembly to gather together to celebrate and to participate in Jesus’ saving death and resurrection.

    When Thomas was with the others Jesus appeared again. Thomas came to believe. This event shows us how hard it is to believe sometimes, and it also shows us how gathering with the faith community can help our own faith. We don’t know whether Thomas actually felt Jesus’ hands and side, but Thomas’ mind and heart moved beyond mere physical recognition to the most explicit profession of faith in Christ to be found in the Scriptures: “My lord and my God.” It is an expression we were taught to say to ourselves when the priest held up the host and the chalice at the consecration. I still say it in my mind. I wonder how many other people do.

    Even the forgiveness of sins, a spiritual power which Christ entrusted to his apostles and which we hear about in today’s gospel, when it was officially administered sacramentally, was, originally, administered not privately, but was expressed as a reconciliation with the community. People who had sinned seriously were, in effect, excommunicated; they could not participate in the Mass or Communion and they had to do penance before they could officially rejoin the community. That’s the way the sacrament of reconciliation was performed in the first few hundred years of the Church’s history.

    St. Paul tells us people who think they don’t need the Church are like a part of the body that says I don’t need the rest of the body. We need to be part of a faith community to be nourished spiritually. Jesus promised he would be with us when two or three are gathered together in his name. As he tells us in John 6, we especially need to meet him weekly in the Eucharist to be taught by him in the Scriptures and to be fed by his body and blood without which there is no life in us.

    May our gathering together today help us experience his peace, recognize him in faith, unite us with him in love, and deepen our love for one another. Amen.

Third Sunday of Easter

Acts 3: 13-15, 17-19

It is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, who has glorified his servant Jesus whom you handed over and then disowned in the presence of Pilate after he had given his verdict to release him. It was you who accused the Holy and Upright One, you who demanded that a murderer should be released to you while you killed the prince of life. God, however, raised him from the dead, and to that fact we are witnesses;

    ‘Now I know, brothers, that neither you nor your leaders had any idea what you were really doing; but this was the way God carried out what he had foretold, when he said through all his prophets that his Christ would suffer. Now you must repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out,

1 John 2: 1-5

My children, I am writing this
    to prevent you from sinning;
but if anyone does sin,
we have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ, the upright.
He is the sacrifice to expiate our sins,
and not only ours,
but also those of the whole world.

In this way we know
that we have come to know him,
if we keep his commandments.
Whoever says, ‘I know him’
without keeping his commandments,
is a liar,
and truth has no place in him.
But anyone who does keep his word,
in such a one
   God’s love truly reaches its perfection.
This is the proof
that we are in God.



Luke 24: 35-48

Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised him at the breaking of bread.

They were still talking about all this when he himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you!’ In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, ‘Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts stirring in your hearts? See by my hands and my feet that it is I myself. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.’ And as he said this he showed them his hands and his feet. Their joy was so great that they still could not believe it, as they were dumbfounded; so he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ And they offered him a piece of grilled fish, which he took and ate before their eyes.

Then he told them, ‘This is what I meant when I said, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms, was destined to be fulfilled.’ He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘So it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.

Third Sunday of Easter

April 26, 2009

INTRODUCTION: We take so many of our blessings for granted until, God forbid, we lose one. Take for example the ability to walk. We injure a knee or some part wears out and we find it painful or impossible to do many of the things we just took for granted. What if we were lame from birth and could never join in other kids’ games because we couldn’t run or walk. There used to be a sick joke about a kid like that who wanted to be on the local baseball team, so his buddies let him play and they used him for third base!

A very short time after Jesus’ ascension Peter and John were on their way to the Temple to pray. There was a lame man sitting at the Temple entrance. In that culture, it was bad enough to be handicapped, but a person like that was looked down upon because it was everyone’s belief that he must have been a great sinner and he was suffering for his sins. The lame man asked Peter and John for a little money as they passed. Peter said, “I don’t have any money, but I will give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk.” Then Peter helped him to his feet and he was healed. He was so excited, he jumped and danced and praised God. Of course, this created quite a commotion and everyone wondered what had happed. Peter took the opportunity to explain. He credits it all to Jesus. Today’s first reading is part of his explanation.

HOMILY: I’m sure most of us have had wonderful life-changing events we could talk about, getting a good job; meeting a wonderful person who changed our life, whether it was a teacher, a friend, or someone who eventually became our spouse; the birth of a dearly loved son or daughter; inheriting a large sum of money; finding a cure for a chronic illness. The lame man I talked about in my introduction, whose healing is described in the third chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, certainly had his life changed dramatically by this encounter with Peter and John.

Today we hear again about the Resurrection of Jesus. Easter is too big a feast to celebrate just one day. We celebrate it for fifty days, and then we continue to celebrate it every Sunday when we gather in faith to meet our risen Lord in the Eucharist. Our gospel today takes us back to Easter Sunday. In the afternoon of Easter Sunday, Jesus appeared to two of his disciples. They were walking away from Jerusalem, discouraged and depressed over Jesus’ death. Jesus walked with them, talked to them about the Scriptures, and when he broke bread with them they recognized him. They came running back to the upper room to tell the others. When they got there, they were told Jesus had appeared to Peter and then suddenly Jesus appeared to all of them. In spite of the appearances in the early morning to the women, to the two disciples, and to Peter, Luke tells us the apostles were “terribly frightened.” I suppose that would be a normal reaction. Jesus assured them he was very much alive and very well. They could see him and touch him. To give them further proof, he asked for something to eat. He ate something they themselves had prepared to convince them he was real and that they weren’t seeing a ghost or seeing him was something out of their own imagination. I have to pause here to tell you something cute. I’ve told this before so pardon me for repeating it: A mother proudly told her pastor: “My teenage son has finally learned one bible verse. It’s Luke 24, verse 41 where Jesus says to his disciples: ‘Do you have anything here to eat?’”

Whatever wonderful life-changing events we might think of, the Resurrection of Jesus is the most wonderful life-changing event ever. Because Jesus rose from the dead, our world is a different world. Because Jesus rose from the dead, evil and hatred and suffering have been overpowered. They still hang around inflicting difficulties on us, but their power has been broken by the glory of the Resurrection. Because Jesus rose from the dead, death no longer has the last word over any of us. Death has been overcome by life, eternal life. Even sin will not win out, but forgiveness in Jesus’ name will destroy sin. Sin and evil will keep on trying to pull us down and destroy us, but in Christ we are raised up. We must be careful not to give in to sin’s destructiveness, John tells us in today’s second reading, and the way not to give in is to keep his commandments so his love can be perfected in us. Because Jesus rose from the dead, even fear cannot hold on to us for long, for Jesus came to us offering us peace. Notice that Jesus’ first word to the apostles was “peace.” Our world is a totally different world now after Jesus’ Resurrection. But if it continues to look the same to all of us, with evil and hatred and suffering, maybe we who have been changed by the resurrection are not doing what Jesus said to do. We heard him say at the end of today’s gospel: “you are witnesses of these things.” This world-changing event has happened and we hope to share in its blessings. It partly depends on us, however, to bring those blessings to the world around us through the witness of our lives, our goodness, our love, our peace and our joy. Let’s pause for a moment to ask ourselves how we can witness more fully the Resurrection. Amen.

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Acts 4: 8-12

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, addressed them, ‘Rulers of the people, and elders! If you are questioning us today about an act of kindness to a cripple and asking us how he was healed, you must know, all of you, and the whole people of Israel, that it is by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, and God raised from the dead, by this name and by no other that this man stands before you cured. This is the stone which you, the builders, rejected but which has become the cornerstone. Only in him is there salvation; for of all the names in the world given to men, this is the only one by which we can be saved.’

1 John 3: 1-2

You must see what great love
    the Father has lavished on us
by letting us be called God’s children—
which is what we are!
The reason why the world
    does not acknowledge us
is that it did not acknowledge him.
My dear friends,
    we are already God’s children,
but what we shall be in the future
    has not yet been revealed.
We are well aware that when he appears
we shall be like him,
because we shall see him as he really is.

John 10: 10-18

The thief comes
only to steal and kill and destroy.
I have come
so that they may have life
and have it to the full.
I am the good shepherd:
the good shepherd lays down his life
   for his sheep.
The hired man,
   since he is not the shepherd
and the sheep do not belong to him,
abandons the sheep
as soon as he sees a wolf coming,
   and runs away,
and then the wolf attacks
   and scatters the sheep;
he runs away
because he is only a hired man
and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd;
I know my own
and my own know me,
just as the Father knows me
and I know the Father;
and I lay down my life for my sheep.
And there are other sheep I have
that are not of this fold,
and I must lead these too.
They too will listen to my voice,
and there will be only one flock,
one shepherd.
The Father loves me,
because I lay down my life
in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me;
I lay it down of my own free will,
and as I have power to lay it down,
so I have power to take it up again;
and this is the command
   I have received from my Father.

Fourth Sunday of Easter

May 3, 2009

INTRODUCTION: Last week I spoke about how Peter and John healed a crippled beggar in the Temple. The healed man jumped up and down and was walking around which caused a great amount of commotion in the Temple. The people wanted to know what happened and how it had happened. Peter gave all the credit to Jesus who, in his risen presence, healed the man through the Apostles. When the Jewish religious leaders, many of whom did not believe in any kind of resurrection, heard Peter’s witness, they arrested Peter and John and took them to court. Today we hear a portion of Peter’s testimony. The important thing to notice is not only what Peter had to say about Jesus but also his boldness. The court didn’t know what to do with Peter and John because all the people were excited about the healing of a man who had been lame for over 40 years. So the court warned the Apostles not to talk about Jesus any more. The Apostles would not be intimidated, however, for they were now filled with the Holy Spirit. [Acts 4, 8-12]

HOMILY: Jesus tells us: “I am the good shepherd.” Today is often called Good Shepherd Sunday because every year on the fourth Sunday of Easter, we hear a passage from St. John’s 10th chapter [Jn. 10, 11-18] which is about Jesus as our shepherd.

    Today Jesus tells us about two kinds of shepherds. There is the kind of shepherd who owns his or her own sheep and there are shepherds who are hired by a farmer to protect and care for sheep that belong to someone else. The second kind, the hired shepherds, run away when danger comes, while those who own their sheep fight hard to protect what is their own, sometimes getting hurt badly or even getting killed. Jesus is telling us he would be killed to protect and save us, but he would return to life again – which he did. This shows us, first of all, how much he cares for us. He would fight to the bitter end for us. It also shows us how powerful he is that he can lay down his life and take it up again. Peter tells us in today’s second reading that Jesus is the only one we can safely follow in order to be saved,.

    Jesus tells us something else about shepherds today - they know their sheep and the sheep know their shepherds. It’s just the same way we know our pets at home. How do they know one another so well – because they spend a lot of time together. Sheep take a lot of care and the shepherd is with his or her sheep 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Jesus is with us all the time and knows us better than we know ourselves (all the hairs on our heads are numbered – do any of us know ourselves that well?) If we don’t know him very well, we need to spend more time with him; and that’s called prayer.

    When I think of shepherds, I always remember 20 years ago when I climbed Mt. Sinai (I’m glad I did it then, because I couldn’t do it any more – it’s very rugged and steep) and on the way down, I saw a shepherd and her sheep on a near-by hill. It was just getting dark. She started playing her flute and headed in a direction away from where we were; the sheep just fell in line following her. It was all the sheep trusted her knew how much they depended on her. It was a beautiful scene.

    The metaphor is obvious. Christ is our shepherd. He wants us to trust him and follow him. Sometimes following him can get a little frightening; we don’t know where he’s taking us or what he might ask of us. Sometimes when he takes us through the desert, as shepherds need to do at times when they want to bring their sheep to better grazing ground, we ask why is he doing this to us? That’s why he is always telling us we need to have faith in him. That’s also why we need to pray - so we will have faith in him. Amen.

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Acts 9: 26-31

When he got to Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him: they could not believe he was really a disciple. Barnabas, however, took charge of him, introduced him to the apostles, and explained how the Lord had appeared to him and spoken to him on his journey, and how he had preached fearlessly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. Saul now started to go round with them in Jerusalem, preaching fearlessly in the name of the Lord. But after he had spoken to the Hellenists and argued with them, they became determined to kill him. When the brothers got to know of this, they took him to Caesarea and sent him off from there to Tarsus.

The churches throughout Judaea, Galilee and Samaria were now left in peace, building themselves up and living in the fear of the Lord; encouraged by the Holy Spirit, they continued to grow.

1 John 3: 18-24

Children,
our love must be not just words
    or mere talk,
but something active and genuine.
This will be the proof
    that we belong to the truth,
and it will convince us in his presence,
even if our own feelings condemn us,
that God is greater than our feelings
    and knows all things.
My dear friends,
if our own feelings do not condemn us,
we can be fearless before God,
and whatever we ask
we shall receive from him,
because we keep his commandments
and do what is acceptable to him.
His commandment is this,
that we should believe
    in the name of his Son Jesus Christ
and that we should love one another
as he commanded us.
Whoever keeps his commandments
remains in God, and God in him.
And this is the proof
    that he remains in us:
the Spirit that he has given us.



John 15: 1-8

I am the true vine,
and my Father is the vinedresser.
Every branch in me that bears no fruit
he cuts away,
and every branch that does bear fruit
     he prunes
to make it bear even more.
You are clean already,
by means of the word
     that I have spoken to you.
Remain in me, as I in you.
As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself,
unless it remains part of the vine,
neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine,
you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me, with me in him,
bears fruit in plenty;
for cut off from me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me
is thrown away like a branch
—and withers;
these branches are collected
     and thrown on the fire
and are burnt.
If you remain in me
and my words remain in you,
you may ask for whatever you please
and you will get it.
It is to the glory of my Father
      that you should bear much fruit
and be my disciples.

Fifth Sunday of Easter

May 10, 2009

INTRODUCTION [Acts 9, 26-31; I John 3, 18-24; John 15, 1-8] Many of the Jews, because they were under Roman occupation, had two names - a Roman name and a Jewish name. Thus Paul also had the name Saul. Most of the time he is called Paul, but occasionally, as in today’s first reading, he is called Saul. You remember he was a zealous Pharisee and a fierce persecutor of all who believed in Christ. On one occasion, as he was on his way to Damascus to search out Christians and arrest them, Jesus appeared to him. He immediately discovered Christians had it right and what he was doing was entirely wrong. His life turned around completely and he began preaching and teaching about Jesus. Even after three years in and around Damascus, preaching that Jesus was the Son of God, the Christian community in Jerusalem was not convinced that he was for real. When he first showed up in Jerusalem, the disciples were afraid to trust him. Barnabas was a disciple they did trust and he testified that Paul was genuine. The Hellenists, in the first reading, were Greek speaking Jews who saw Paul as a traitor to Judaism.

HOMILY Happy Mothers’ Day to all our mothers. Friday we had May crowning and so the statue of Mary is still here to remind us of Mary, our spiritual mother, today too. On a Mother’s Day card, a six year-old girl wrote her Mother: “Dear Mom, I’m going to make lunch for you on Mother’s day. It’s going to be a surprise. P.S. I hope you like pizza and popcorn.”

    In a recent comic strip, For Better or For Worse, Elly, a young mom, had a horrible day caring for her two toddlers who were sick. Looking for sympathy, Elly called her own mother looking for an understanding ear. She told her mom what a horrible 24 hours she had, getting up every half hour during the night and caring for her toddlers all day – first one, then the other. She said to her mom “you don’t even get a chance to think about yourself.” Then she added I guess you went through all this with me and my brother, didn’t you?” There was a pause, then Elly said to her mom, “Er, Mom…did we ever thank you?” “Thanks” is in order constantly, but especially today. Thank you mothers for your love and unselfish dedication and patience. Without you the world would come to a screeching halt.

    Jesus is telling us today, without him, all of our lives would go nowhere. He tells us: “Without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither.” When we grow up and leave home, our love and our connection with our parents may remain with us, but we are really on our own. It can never be that way with Jesus. We need our Lord when we’re 60 or 70 as much as when we’re 6 or 7. We need him all the time. If we reflect deeply, we know there is a power greater than ourselves that we depend on and that we constantly need to sustain us. We are connected with that power through Jesus, the true vine.

    The prophets, hundreds of years before Christ, used the vineyard as an image of Israel. Just as a farmer would cultivate his vineyard and care for it and expect to harvest grapes from it, so God would care for his people and expect good works from them: devout worship, obedience to his commandments, justice and love for the poor and vulnerable. Jesus is telling us today that through our union with him we are God’s people.

    Jesus has tried to tell us that in many ways. I would like to mention just five statements where Jesus uses metaphors that tell us how important it is that we remain united with him. Notice each of these begins with the words: “I am.” Last Sunday we heard him tell us “I am the good shepherd.” “I am the light of the world.” “I am the bread of life.” “I am the resurrection and the life.” And the fifth one we heard today: “I am the true vine.” If we had time we could reflect upon how vital each of these items is: shepherds for sheep, light and food for us, the vine for one of its branches. Since vine and branches is the theme of today’s gospel, let us stay with that image for just another few minutes.

    Quite simply, a vine is an organic structure that is nurtured by the rain and the sun; it is fed by the sap that flows through the stem and the branches; it grows and produces fruit. Jesus tells us he is the true vine, drawing life from the Father and communicating that life to all those who remain united with him. In other words there is a mysterious, living connection between each of us and Christ and a mysterious and living connection uniting us with one another through our union with Christ.

    St. Paul used a similar metaphor when he wrote that we are the body of Christ. He tells us Christ is head of the body and we are the members. We are feet, hands, arms, legs, etc. through whom Christ lives in the world today. We are united with Christ and with each other through the Spirit. Pope Pius XII wrote an encyclical called the Mystical Body of Christ describing this union. This is not a connection we can examine under a microscope or test for in any other way, other than the test Jesus gave us when he said “by their fruits you will know them.” The way we live our lives shows whether we live in Christ or not.

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Acts 10, 25-26, 34-35, 44-48

and as Peter reached the house Cornelius went out to meet him, fell at his feet and did him reverence. But Peter helped him up. 'Stand up,' he said, ' after all, I am only a man!'

Then Peter addressed them, ‘I now really understand’, he said, ‘that God has no favourites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

While Peter was still speaking the Holy Spirit came down on all the listeners. Jewish believers who had accompanied Peter were all astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit should be poured out on gentiles too, since they could hear them speaking strange languages and proclaiming the greatness of God. Peter himself then said, 'Could anyone refuse the water of baptism to these people, now they have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?' He then gave orders for them to be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterwards they begged him to stay on for some days.

1 John 4: 7-10

My dear friends,
let us love one another,
since love is from God
and everyone who loves
is a child of God and knows God.
Whoever fails to love does not know God,
because God is love.
This is the revelation
of God’s love for us,
that God sent his only Son into the world
that we might have life through him.
Love consists in this:
it is not we who loved God,
but God loved us and sent his Son
to expiate our sins.

John 15: 9-17

I have loved you
just as the Father has loved me.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments
you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept
my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.
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.

Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 17, 2009

INTRODUCTION: The issue in today’s first reading (Acts 10, 25-26,34-35,44-48) is how the Apostles (who were Jews) should deal with Gentiles (who were pagans) when these Gentiles came to believe in Jesus. The Apostles believed God revealed his law to Moses. Shouldn’t pagan converts to Jesus be required to also follow all that was in the Jewish law: circumcision, strict dietary laws, special feast days, etc.?

    St. Peter, the leader of the community, received the answer to this question in a most unusual way. While Peter was in prayer, God gave Peter a vision of many different birds and animals. Many of them were birds and animals the Jews were not allowed to eat, such as pork, shrimp, clams, oysters and many other creatures. (Lev. 11,1-23) God told Peter to eat them. Peter said he would never eat anything forbidden. God said to him: “What God has made clean, you are not to call unclean.” God said this three times to Peter. When the vision disappeared, God told Peter there were some men coming to see him and he was to go with them to the home of a Gentile named Cornelius, a high officer in the Roman army. A strict Jew was not allowed to enter a Gentile’s house, but God told him to, so he did. When Peter got there he spoke to Cornelius and his relatives and friends about Jesus. As Peter finished speaking, Cornelius and all who were with him were filled with the Holy Spirit. This event is the background for today’s first reading. Peter’s entire speech is not included in the reading. The liturgy wants to get right to the point - that God’s love in Jesus is meant for all people. Peter had finally understood what God had told him in his vision, and without requiring these pagans to be circumcised or requiring them to accept Jewish traditions and customs, he gave the order that they should be baptized.

HOMILY: (2nd Reading: I Jn: 4,7-10; Gospel: Jn 15,9-17) Probably for most people it may seem like we celebrated Easter two months ago. But the Church continues to celebrate it. Our daily Masses and prayers all reflect an Easter theme and they are filled with Alleluia’s. Liturgically it’s a beautiful time of the year. We will celebrate Easter for two more weeks.

    Every Easter I can’t help wondering why Jesus offers us a share in his risen life, why God wants us to live with him forever. Why doesn’t God just forget us? In this immense universe God created, we are so small. Why should God go to all the trouble he did to bring us eternal life? Maybe we’ve never asked ourselves these questions. Maybe we think we are such charming, wonderful creatures that God can’t help loving us. Well, we know we humans are not always such wonderful, charming individuals, but it is true that God can’t help loving us because that’s the way God is. God is love St. John tells us in today’s second reading. Just like the sun has to shine because that’s what the sun does, God loves us because that’s what God does. Yet in spite of our imperfections, God’s love reaches out to all people. This was the big revelation we heard about in today’s first reading. The Jews presumed they had a monopoly on God’s love. Indeed, they did have a monopoly in that God gave them the special gift of his revelation before the time of Jesus, but Jesus fulfilled all that had gone before and revealed that God is calling all people to know his saving love.

    We need to know that even though God can’t help loving us, because God is love, we will never know the joy he wants to share with us, unless we follow the path he has marked out for us. In today’s gospel he tells us, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete.” But just like the clouds can block the light of the sun, our sins, our indifference, our neglect can get in the way of God’s love that is there for us. He has told us what we need to do. He summed it up in his new commandment: “Love one another as I love you.” This is called a new commandment because previously he told us to love our neighbor as ourselves. That’s possible for any of us to do, but being able to love as Jesus does, to “love one another as I have loved you…,” that’s really asking a lot. Jesus is God. Can we love like God does? We can, but only with the help of his Holy Spirit who dwells in us and who seeks to transform us into being like Christ.

    One of the ways he has loved us is that he laid down his life for us. Can we do that for someone? Many people do. We read about heroes all the time who have risked their lives for someone else. There are people who have dedicated their lives to a job or a vocation where they are less interested in getting rich than they are in doing good for others. I asked the school children in our upper grades yesterday “who would be willing to give up their life for another person?” Only one girl raised her hand. When I asked them if you saw a friend crossing the street and there was a car coming they didn’t see it, would you risk your life to run into the street to push them out of the way? Quite a number would. I think many of us are more Christ-like than we imagine ourselves to be. I can’t help but mention those who sacrifice their time and energy to serve those who are the most vulnerable in society - the poor, the aged and the unborn.

    We have to know that when Jesus talks about “love” he’s not talking about the mating instinct, which is good but which is too often exploited in the media as the only kind of love that has any importance. Jesus is talking about giving of ourselves for the benefit of another as he did for us. When he talks about “love,” he’s not just talking about warm fuzzy feelings, which come and go, but he is talking about a dedication and commitment to serve God and others. When he’s talking about “love,” he’s not talking about always speaking of love; he’s talking about action: “Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my heavenly father.” Words are important and I think married couples should tell each other they love each other and they should do it all the time, but love is more than words.

    Love is the key to everything: it explains why God created us, it explains why Jesus came to earth, it explains why God wants us to live with him forever, it explains the Mass we celebrate, and it explains how we are to act toward one another. Amen.

Feast of the Ascension

Acts 1: 1-11

In my earlier work, Theophilus, I dealt with everything Jesus had done and taught from the beginning until the day he gave his instructions to the apostles he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. He had shown himself alive to them after his Passion by many demonstrations: for forty days he had continued to appear to them and tell them about the kingdom of God. While at table with them, he had told them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for what the Father had promised. ‘It is’, he had said, ‘what you have heard me speak about: John baptised with water but, not many days from now, you are going to be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’

Now having met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, has the time come for you to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority, but you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit which will come on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to earth’s remotest end.’
As he said this he was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. They were still staring into the sky as he went, when suddenly two men in white were standing beside them, and they said, ‘Why are you Galileans standing here looking into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way as you have seen him go to heaven.’

Ephesians 1: 17-23

May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, how rich is the glory of the heritage he offers among his holy people, and how extraordinarily great is the power that he has exercised for us believers; this accords with the strength of his power at work in Christ, the power which he exercised in raising him from the dead and enthroning him at his right hand, in heaven, far above every principality, ruling force, power or sovereignty, or any other name that can be named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. He has put all things under his feet, and made him, as he is above all things, the head of the Church; which is his Body, the fullness of him who is filled, all in all.

Mark 16: 15-20

And he said to them, ‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These are the signs that will be associated with believers: in my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.’

And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven; there at the right hand of God he took his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.

Feast of the Ascension

May 24, 2009

HOMILY – (Acts 1:1-11; Eph 1:17-23; Mark 16:15-20) In our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke gives us a very graphic, easy to picture description of the ascension of our Lord. But he can’t describe to our satisfaction what happened to Jesus after “a cloud took him from their sight.” The cloud tells us there is much more to the ascension than we can comprehend right now. The world of God will always be mysterious to us until we get to experience it ourselves. To the extent that they can, the letters of Paul and of others in the New Testament make many attempts to describe theologically what lies beyond that cloud. For example, today’s second reading tells us Jesus’ ascension took him “far above every principality, authority, power and dominion and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come.” In other words, he is greater and more exalted than all of creation. Although he was always Son of God, now, even in his humanity, he is seated at the right hand of the Father in eternal glory. It is a glory that is beyond anything we know at present but hope to share with him someday.

    I find it interesting that in the Acts of the Apostles (our first reading) St. Luke tells us Jesus ascended 40 days after Easter, but if we read the conclusion to the gospels of Mark, Luke and John, Jesus is described as ascending to the Father on Easter Sunday. This has always baffled me, but I have tried to reconcile this confusing time element by assuming Jesus’ mystical, theological entrance into the glory of the Father happened almost immediately after the resurrection. Jesus, however, made many appearances to the apostles and to others after his resurrection and I think of the ascension 40 days later, as described in today’s first reading, as the last of those appearances.

    What does any of this have to do with us? How can we apply it to our own spiritual lives? I want to give four suggestions about the ascension that might have some meaning for us.

    First of all, we must keep a balanced sense of who Jesus is. Sometimes we may feel very chummy with Jesus. He is our brother, our friend, our daily support, one who is understanding and loving; but he is still so awesome, so greatly exalted. He is Lord and God, he has the authority to tell us how to live and he deserves our adoration and honor. It’s fine to feel close and intimate with Jesus and he wants us to; otherwise why would he give himself to us so freely in the Eucharist. We have to balance this closeness with his greatness as our Creator to whom we owe all we have and all we are,

    Second, when Jesus’ finished the job the Father had given him, he handed that job on to us. One of the last things he said was: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” Would that we could be half as enthusiastic about our faith as the people who sell products on TV worth $19.99!

    Third, even though we can’t see his risen body, he is still with us. The last words in Matthew’s gospel are: “I am with you always.” Of course, the Eucharist gives us the same message each week.

    My last point is an inspiration that came to me early this week as I began to meditate on the ascension. It was an idea that kept reoccurring. It seemed as if our Lord was telling me: “be sure to say this about the ascension.” Where Jesus has gone is where he wants to bring us. He didn’t come to this world just because he was bored with being in heaven and needed something else to do. He came to us and took on our human flesh for only one reason: to take us to himself and to share his life with us. At the Last Supper he told us: “I am going to get a place ready for you and I will come back and take you with me so that where I am you also may be.” Our real home is not in this world, as much as we may love our homes. Our home is to be with God. His ascension shows us what he has in mind for us. We say we believe this each week: “I believe in the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting.” Today’s feast is a lesson about not getting too attached to our present lives. As the letter to the Colossians said on Easter Sunday: “seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father.”

    When life is comfortable for us, we don’t like to see things change. That was true of the apostles too. The apostles didn’t want Jesus to leave them, but he challenged them to move from a comfortable familiarity with him to a new way to be with him. Sometimes too he challenges us to move into unfamiliar territory, sometimes in little ways and sometimes in major ways. Sometimes events themselves, even tragic and unpleasant ones, disrupt our lives and force us to change. Life never stays the same, but the essentials of our faith continue to anchor us and call us to set our sights on what is ahead for us if we stay united with Christ. Somehow God can draw good out of everything for those who love him. If we stay one with him, we shall one day share his glory. That is our hope, no matter what comes our way.

Pentecost Sunday

Acts 2: 1-11

When Pentecost day came round, they had all met together, when suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of a violent wind which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and there appeared to them tongues as of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak different languages as the Spirit gave them power to express themselves.

Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, and at this sound they all assembled, and each one was bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language. They were amazed and astonished. ‘Surely,’ they said, ‘all these men speaking are Galileans? How does it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; people from Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya round Cyrene; residents of Rome—Jews and proselytes alike—Cretans and Arabs, we hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.’

1 Corinthians 12: 3-7, 12-13

Because of that, I want to make it quite clear to you that no one who says ‘A curse on Jesus’ can be speaking in the Spirit of God, and nobody is able to say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.

There are many different gifts, but it is always the same Spirit; there are many different ways of serving, but it is always the same Lord. There are many different forms of activity, but in everybody it is the same God who is at work in them all. The particular manifestation of the Spirit granted to each one is to be used for the general good.

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.

John 20: 19-23

In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, 'Peace be with you,' and, after saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord, and he said to them again, 'Peace be with you.

'As the Father sent me,
so am I sending you.'

After saying this he breathed on them and said:

Receive the Holy Spirit.
If you forgive anyone's sins,
they are forgiven;
if you retain anyone's sins,
they are retained.

Pentecost Sunday

May 31, 2009

HOMILY – (Acts 2:1-11; 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23) The feast of Pentecost is a very ancient feast that goes back 1000 years before Christ. It was one of the three most important Jewish feasts, and it is one of our three most important feasts. Originally it was a harvest feast. Gradually it came to be a celebration of God giving his Law to the Hebrews at Mt. Sinai and establishing them as his own special people. It was as the Jews were celebrating this feast that the Holy Spirit came upon the first believers in Christ. They were sent forth in power to all people to proclaim God’s saving love demonstrated in Jesus’ death and resurrection. As I was preparing what I was going to say today, I referred to a book I have, entitled I Believe in the Holy Spirit by the Dominican theologian Fr. Yves Congar. The book is almost 700 pages long. It impressed me how much could be said about Pentecost and the Holy Spirit. Just out of curiosity I investigated how often the Holy Spirit was mentioned in the New Testament and I came up with a total of 233 times. I’m not going to try to say it all, so relax! Reading sections of the book, though, makes me realize how fortunate I am that in my job I have the opportunity and the gift to be able to read and reflect on the profound mystery of God and his presence with us in Jesus through the Spirit. (And I receive a salary for doing this! Sometimes I feel guilty taking it for something I enjoy doing so much – but then again there are enough stresses at times that make me think I shouldn’t feel guilty about taking a salary.) I am grateful to be a priest and realize that I have been greatly blessed. It just so happens that 45 years ago today I was ordained. My sister Rita, who is also one of my most avid fans, decided to have a memorial card printed for my anniversary with a prayer for priests on the back of the card. I put some on the radiators in case anyone would want one.

    I would never have survived as long as I did without the help of God’s Holy Spirit. Most of the time I was not even aware that God’s Spirit was helping me. It’s somewhat like that story of the footprints in the sand. Only as I look back do I see the movement of the Spirit keeping me sane through difficult times, giving me ideas when I couldn’t think of the right thing to say, encouraging me when my situation was overwhelming, giving me courage when I was afraid, helping me to pray when my spiritual life seemed to go dry, giving me peace when I lacked it. No wonder Jesus calls the Spirit the “Paraclete,” a word which is hard to translate but which means something like: “advocate, mediator, helper, intercessor or comforter.”

    Many of us probably remember from catechism class naming the fruits of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit we hear about in the letter to the Galatians (second reading on Pentecost). They tend to be personal qualities such as love, joy, peace, patience, (kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, selfcontrol). The gifts of the Spirit include some personal talents but they tend to be more oriented toward building up the community of believers such as the gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, fear of the Lord, as well as the gifts of healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirit, speaking or praying in tongues, interpretation of tongues, teaching, pastoring, and a whole lot of other ways to help us in our ministry to one another. In speaking of the gifts, we cannot forget the greatest of the Spirit’s gifts which we often hear about at a wedding. St. Paul tells us the greatest of all the Spirit’s gifts is love. St. Augustine, in trying to help us to know for sure whether the Spirit dwells in us, said: “Ask your inner self, if you are full of charity, you have the Spirit of God.” (I Believe in the Holy Spirit, vol. 2, pg 82)

    It’s easy to focus on the activity of the Spirit in our personal lives as the Spirit comes to us through prayer and through the sacraments. But as we celebrate Pentecost, we cannot forget on that occasion the Spirit was given to the Church to guide and direct it and to help it to grow. The Spirit came to the Apostles (and perhaps the other 120 members of the early community of believers) not just for their personal enrichment, but to send them out to all people to proclaim God’s love shown to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. It remains our task as Church today, as a community of believers to proclaim God’s love. We do this as we gather here in faith right now, but we must also share that love and mystery with others to the extent that we are able.

    Jesus encouraged us in St. Luke’s gospel to pray for the Spirit when he said: “What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy spirit to those who ask him?” (Lk. 11:11-12) Amen.

Trinity Sunday

Deuteronomy 4: 32-34, 39-40

‘Put this question, then, to the ages that are past, that have gone before you, from when God created the human race on earth: Was there ever a word so majestic, from one end of heaven to the other? Was anything like it ever heard? Did ever a people hear the voice of the living God speaking from the heart of the fire, as you have heard it, and remain alive? Has it ever been known before that any god took action himself to bring one nation out of another one, by ordeals, signs, wonders, war with mighty hand and outstretched arm, by fearsome terrors—all of which things Yahweh your God has done for you before your eyes in Egypt?

Hence, grasp this today and meditate on it carefully: Yahweh is the true God, in heaven above as on earth beneath, he and no other. Keep his laws and commandments as I give them to you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper and live long in the country that Yahweh your God is giving you for ever.’

Romans 8: 14-17

All who are guided by the Spirit of God are sons of God; for what you received was not the spirit of slavery to bring you back into fear; you received the Spirit of adoption, enabling us to cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit himself joins with our spirit to bear witness that we are children of God. And if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and joint–heirs with Christ, provided that we share his suffering, so as to share his glory.

Matthew 28: 16-20

Meanwhile the eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.'

Trinity Sunday

June 7, 2009

INTRODUCTION – (Deut 4:32-34, 39-40; Rom 8:14-17; Mt 28:16-20) Since history began, humans have honored many gods of many different types (a practice we call polytheism). Only one group of people, the Hebrews, beginning with Abraham, were limited to the worship of one God (a practice we call monotheism). It’s only in modern times that people have called into question the existence of God (a practice we call agnosticism or atheism). I am only aware of one exception to the practice of polytheism among all nations and that was a short period in Egypt when the Pharaoh Akhenaten, the father of the famous King Tut, permitted only the worship of the sun god, Aten. This short period of monotheism in Egypt disappeared shortly after Akhenaten’s death and his famous son returned things to normal: the veneration of many gods. By the way, Akhenaten lived about 500 years after Abraham, so Akhenaten did not invent monotheism. I have a little story about Abraham that’s not in the bible. It’s found in Jewish and Islamic literature. When Abraham was a little boy he lived with his parents in Ur (an area in southern Iraq). Abraham’s father made statues of the gods people worshipped then – that was the way he made his living and there were lots of gods (over 700 of them) so he must have been kept busy. One day Abraham’s father had to go on a business trip and he left Abraham in charge of the shop. Abraham felt disgusted with all those statues of gods and goddesses and broke them all – except for one he left standing in the corner. When his father came home he scolded Abraham for what he had done and little Abraham denied doing it. He pointed to the god standing in the corner and said “He did it.” (Kind of a foreshadowing of Abraham’s loyalty to one God.) The Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Romans, and the Greeks worshipped many gods. The names of some of the Roman gods are still familiar: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto. Israel was unique among all the nations in its worship of one God, even though at times they allowed themselves to be seduced by the decadent worship of their pagan neighbors. In today’s first reading we hear Moses giving some last minute instructions to God’s people before they enter the Promised Land. He tells them there is no other God than the Lord (Yahweh) and that only by being faithful to their God will they prosper. It’s still good advice for today’s world where polytheism and paganism have been replaced by atheism, hedonism and materialism.

HOMILY – Don Auberger told me last evening thathis little niece in the first grade came home after school one day and told her mother she didn’t understand the Trinity. They were studying it in school and were going to have a test and she couldn’t figure it out. Mother tried to talk to her about faith but she wasn’t convinced. She said, “I’m going to look it up on the Internet.” I know there’s a lot on the Internet, but if someone finds the Trinity explained, would they let me know.

    We’re dealing with a mystery, a mystery no one can fully understand (at least not in this life – maybe in the next) because it’s a mystery of who God is and God is too great for our small minds to fully comprehend. Yet, this is a mystery we cannot casually ignore because it is one of the foundational truths of our faith. Our understanding of Jesus as God’s Son and our understanding of the Holy Spirit would be seriously flawed without our belief in the Trinity. If there are still mysteries in our universe, we shouldn’t be surprised that God who is greater than all his creations would be mysterious to us. Yet, God wants us to know him and so God continues to reveal God’s self to us. The Hebrew people learned from God that there were not many gods but only one, even though all the nations around them for centuries believed differently. When Jesus came, God taught us more about who God is – a lot more.

    God revealed his Son whose name was Jesus: a holy man, a great teacher and powerful worker of miracles but most of all one who was brutally executed and rose to life three days later. After his resurrection, Jesus was immediately venerated as Lord and God by his followers. This put the early Christians in a bad place with the Jews, because they were seen by the Jews as polytheists and it put the early Christians in a bad place with the pagans, because the Christians would not worship pagan gods. There were serious struggles among the Christians themselves as to how to explain and verbalize their faith that God is one but Jesus is God and the Father is God (and the Holy Spirit fit in this somehow as well). It would be three hundred years before the language was developed and the concepts clarified that the Church could say Jesus is equal to the Father in every respect and yet distinct from the Father. We profess each week the Creed that formulates this faith: that Jesus is the “only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made.” When one takes into account all that was said about Jesus in the Scriptures, no other description of Jesus could logically be accepted or believed. Yet many people were put to death – by Jews, by pagans and by fellow Christians over this belief.

    Because it took a little longer to describe how the Spirit fit into this picture, I didn’t say much about the Holy Spirit yet. Christians still argue over the Holy Spirit. We, Roman Catholics, claim the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son whereas the Greek Church/the Orthodox Church, which is separated from the Holy Father, claims that the Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son. Some theologians see this issue as the main obstacle to union between the Eastern and Western Churches.

    If anything, the mystery of the Trinity communicates that God is a family – a family so closely united that although they are three persons, they are one God. Oneness is not only an important characteristic of God, but God wants us to share that oneness with him and one another (it’s what he prayed for with such passion at the Last Supper) and yet we have over 400 different groups who call themselves followers of Christ who can’t get along with one another.

    Today’s mystery is just a peek into who God is, a peek that should inspire us to function more like a family - not a divided family but a united one. This peek into the mystery of God shows us another aspect of this characteristic of unity: God is not sitting alone, God is not needy for a few friends to talk with or to enjoy; the three persons are in such perfect oneness with each other that they are overflowing with love. It is in their overflowing love that God wants us to be part of God’s community of love, part of God’s family; and here we touch another deep-down mystery: Why would God love us so much to let us share God’s life and want to make us part of God’s family? In today’s celebration of the Eucharist, perhaps we’ll understand or experience God’s love more fully. Amen.

From the Lectionary

Pentecost Sequence

Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
    Shed a ray of light divine!

Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
    Come, within our bosoms shine!

You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul's most welcome guest;
    Sweet refreshment here below;

In our Labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
    Solace in the midst of woe.

O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
    And our inmost being fill!

Where you are not, man has naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
    Nothing free from taint of ill!

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
    Wash the stains of guilt away;

Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
    Guide the steps that go astray.

On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
    In your sev'nfold gift descend;

Give them virtue's sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
    Give them joys that never end. Amen.
Alleluia.

May 30, 2012

R. Bright and shiny —

Always doing our best

                Where we will to do God's will
                    with all our heart —
                    Will with zeal —
                    Filled with the Holy Spirit

A bell isn't a bell if you don't
ring it —

                Ring out the Good News with
                    zeal —
                    determination
                    will

Tell Jerry to ring the bell
again —

Pray with faith —
Hope in your heart —

Work hard to do our best —

                Look at how Jerry worked
                    to become all he could
                    be —

Pray —

God wants us to see a new
bright world —

Open our eyes —

Be united —

Don't close down
Don't close in on ourselves!

Sing: We gather to ask the Lord's
blessings —

Love from the heart —

Unity —

                Being forced out of
                    necessity to work
                    together —

                Get rid of expectations that
                    put us on a pity pot
                    if they don't happen —

                Don't try to make others
                    react in anger for
                    control —

Act as God wills, don't
manipulate and play games

Love is giving for the good
of the other —

Love is an act of the will —

                We are given so much — not to
                    be thankful to God
                    for our gifts is being
                    ungrateful —

                We must learn to forgive
                    each other —
                    We are not to think we
                    can hurt others for our
                    own control —

Song: Give Me Your Heart oh Jesus
Give Me a Heart like Yours

                If we want people to
                    love us — we should
                    be loving —

Be Kind —
Be like Jesus —

What would Jesus do?

                Smile because we are to
                    be beautiful to show
                    the Jesus inside —
                    love and light —

                We know in the month of the
                    Sacred Heart we are to honor
                    our beloved Sacred Heart —

Think of His Heart of Love —

                Do good as
                God wants —
                Give and love!!

Mothers give so much —
It is good to be grateful —

                We want to pray for
                    knowing God's will —
                    Not just plan our
                    days, our future
                    without God —

1 Corinthians 13: 4-8

Love is always patient and kind; love is never jealous; love is not boastful or conceited, it is never rude and never seeks its own advantage, it does not take offence or store up grievances. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but finds its joy in the truth. It is always ready to make allowances, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes. Love never comes to an end.

Exultation of the Cross

Stations of the Cross

February 22, 1995

1. Jesus Is Condemned to Death

Jesus: My dear child, with angry hearts and hatred on their faces, they poked at Me and condemned Me to death. I stood so silent, My hands tied, in perfect peace, because I knew the Father's love. I knew the Father's Will. You too will stand your trials in perfect peace, the more you realize the immense love the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have for you. Pray to the Spirit to transform you more and more into My image and, through this transformation, you will be led ever closer to the Father. Oh, how I love you!

2. They Give Jesus the Cross

Jesus: They gave Me a heavy cross, laden with the sins of the world. They placed it on My shoulder. It was so heavy I felt as if My shoulder would break. I ask you to carry little crosses, to experience little pains. I could not remove this cross from My shoulder. The weight was unbearable. It is through My suffering and death that you receive new life. It is through your sufferings this day that you will grow in your life with Me. Oh, child, I loved you so much that I took up the cross of salvation. I love you. Please realize that I am talking to you here. To My death I loved you. Oh, how I love you!

3. Jesus Falls the First Time

Jesus: The cross was so heavy I could hardly walk. I held on to My cross for greatest love of you and in compliance with the Will of My Father. It became so hard to walk! The cross was so heavy! I fell. I fell and the cross fell on Me. They poked at Me, they struck Me, they demanded I get up. The pain from the instruments they used to poke Me and strike Me was so great! I somehow managed to get up.

When you fall under the weight of your cross, come to My Eucharistic Heart. I am no less present in the tabernacle and in the Eucharist than on the day I carried My cross. I wait with the same love that I had for you when I carried this cross and suffered such agony. Oh, how I love you!

4. Jesus and Mary Meet

Jesus: I saw the face of My beautiful Mother. She was weak, her face reddened and full of tears. I saw her tender heart, her love, her anguish, her pain. I saw My dear Mother Mary. My Heart was comforted by the sight of her, but torn by her suffering.

Mary: As I looked into the eyes of my beloved Son, I saw His love. His head, bleeding and wounded. His body weak. His clothes covered with blood. I looked into His eyes and I saw His love for you. I call out to you today. I appear today with a face full of anguish and tears. I appear to call you back to the love of my Son. See through my eyes, as I peer into His eyes, the love He has for you this day to give of Himself for you. Oh, He loves you so much, my little children. See through my eyes the love of my Son. Oh, how He loves you!

5. Simon of Cyrene Is Forced to Help Jesus Carry His Cross

Jesus: The cross was so heavy I could not move. My persecutors became angry and forced a man to help Me. The cross was so heavy the two of us could barely move it. How is your cross today? Does it seem so heavy you cannot go on? I am forever watching you. When you are suffering the greatest, I am very close to you. It is in immense suffering that you realize My great love for you. Pray for grace to do always the Father's Will. Pray for grace to grow in your knowledge and love of Me.

6. Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

Jesus: My face was covered with blood. From the crowd Veronica came forward with a cloth to wipe My face. On the cloth I gave to you an imprint of My bloodied face. This, My children, remains with you this day as a sign of My immense love for you. But more than any cloth, look beyond the visible consecrated host. I, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, remain with you, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the Eucharist this day, waiting and longing to be with you. Oh, how I love you!

7. Jesus Falls the Second Time

Jesus: Oh, dear ones, the road became harder and harder to walk. The cross was becoming heavier, My body weaker and weaker. My shoulders and arms hurt so much! My head throbbed as I walked. The blood came from My body, from My head to My feet. I was covered with open wounds. I could not go any farther. I stumbled and fell. Again they poked at Me, only harder, and with such hatred they kicked Me. Such vileness in the hearts of men! My greatest agony was not the agonies of My body, but the agonies of My heart for the love I have for all My precious souls. I loved them so dearly. I loved those who persecuted Me. Oh, how I love you!

8. Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem

Jesus: The women came to Me with their children, their tender hearts crying and wanting to comfort Me. I saw their love, their care. I saw the coldness of men's hearts for all time, the hatred, the anger, the sins, all the souls that, despite all of My sufferings and death, would be condemned to eternal damnation. I told the women to weep not for Me, but for themselves and their children. My greatest agonies were the agonies of My Most Sacred Heart. Oh, how I love you!

9. Jesus Falls the Third Time

Jesus: I fell hard the third time. I was so weakened I could not go on. My body collapsed under the cross from such exhaustion! My child, My child, My greatest agonies were not the wounds to the body. They were the wounds I experienced to My heart. Do you know a little more now how I love you? It is in meditating on My Passion and death that you will realize My immense love for you. When you fall, when you struggle, I give you the grace to get up. I never give you more than you can handle. Your strength will come from Me. Come to My Eucharistic Heart. I am waiting for you this day. Oh, how I love you!

10. Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments

Jesus: They took Me to the hill to crucify Me. They angrily stripped Me of My garments. They took off My clothes to whip Me. They had covered My bloody wounds with a dirty purple robe. Now, total surrender-they took off My clothes. I showed you the way to surrender, always complying with the Will of the Father. It is in living in His Will that you will have peace and joy, and life eternal some day. Oh, how I love you!

11. They Nail Him to the Cross

R. See Mary as she holds the little Baby Jesus. See her as she washes His tender hands and feet. See her now as she watches as they pound into those same hands and feet the gigantic nails that fix Jesus to the cross.

Mary: Oh, my dear ones, my heart was torn in my chest as they nailed His hands and feet to the cross. I ask you this day to walk the Passion with me and see through my eyes the love He has for you. He truly was nailed to the cross.

Jesus: They pounded the nails into My first hand, then they stretched My body and nailed My other hand. The blood poured from these wounds that went totally through My hands. My pain was so immense, but then they nailed My feet! You do not know what pain I suffered, My child. My children, My children, for each one of you I suffered this pain. Oh, how I loved you!

12. Jesus Dies on the Cross

(Silence.)

R. He hung for three agonizing hours on the cross against the darkened sky. His greatest agonies were not the agonies of His body, but those of His Heart for the great love He has for each and every soul.

Jesus: I gave Myself to you, My dear ones. I gave My all. I hung with My arms spread in total surrender. My head was punctured; My hands and feet were nailed to the cross. I gave Myself to you. I give Myself to you this day in the Eucharist. I give Myself to you. I, God, give you Myself! What more do you want?

Song: Oh, burning Heart, oh, Love divine, etc.

R. They pierced His Heart with a lance and what flowed forth was blood and water, the sacramental life of the Church, water for Baptism and blood for the Eucharist. His life, death and resurrection live on in the Church this day.

13. Jesus Is Taken Down from the Cross and Placed in the Arms of His Mother

R. His totally lifeless body was placed in the arms of His most loving Mother. As she had held the little baby body in her arms, she now received His bloodied, bruised body in her arms. This is how He obeyed the Father's Will. Jesus gave His life for us. The Father gave His only Son because He loves us so much. Mary, His Mother, our Mother and the Mother of the Church, is forever by His side. See Jesus in the arms of His loving Mother under the cross. This is love.

Mary: I held His lifeless body in my arms. See through my eyes the love He has for you this day. He gives Himself to you today in the Eucharist. He loves you so much!

14. Jesus Is Locked in the Tomb

R. His enemies rolled the stone up to the tomb and were pleased to have buried Jesus. Mary, outside the tomb, wept bitterly. The cold reality that He was dead! But death has no power over Jesus for on the third day He rose, triumphant, from the tomb! We are partakers in His divine life. Death has no power over Jesus. He is with us this day. He comes to bring us life to the full. He loves us so much!

end of excerpt

Mary's Message
from the Rosary of August 27, 1996

Mary: I stood beneath the cross of my Son, and my Heart was in such pain for I saw Him before my eyes. I saw Him covered with blood. I saw Him die. My Heart, my children, my Heart to watch my Son, but my Heart, my Heart, how I suffered for my little children of the world that give in to this world and give up the love of my Son. O my little children of light, I give you this message. Carry this light into the darkness for your Mother Mary, for I stood beneath the cross and I cried. I cried for the little ones. I cried for the young ones, the ones that do not care and will lose their souls. How do I make you see for you will not listen to me? What can I do? I come. I appear. I beg. I plead. I give you these gifts from my Son, and you reject me. I do not deliver messages very often anymore for I have been ignored. The message is the same. You do not read the messages I have given to you. Please help me. Help the little children. I appear. I appear. I appear, and I am ignored. I stood beneath the cross, and I cried. I cried, and my Heart was in such anguish for my little children, for I am searching for them this day as I searched for the Child Jesus. Please, please help me. I cannot hold back the hand of my Son any longer. I am Mary, your Mother. I ask you to help my children. You are my children of light.

end of Mary's Message

THE SEVEN SORROWS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
AT A SHEPHERDS OF CHRIST MEETING

February 22, 1995

1. The Prophecy of Simeon
Mary, Joseph and the child Jesus went to the temple. Simeon, the prophet, inspired by the Holy Spirit, met them and told Joseph and Mary of the great sufferings of Jesus and Mary. He told Mary that a sword would pierce her heart. From that point on, Mary ever remembered the prophecy of Simeon whenever she beheld her child. When she looked at His little body, even as an infant, she knew He would suffer. Every time she clothed Him and watched Him at play, her heart was torn in her chest as she knew what He would suffer. And a sword, too, shall pierce your Heart, O Mary!

2. The Flight into Egypt
Joseph was told by the angel to flee. Joseph, Mary and the child Jesus had to flee because of what might happen to Jesus. They had to pack for a long stay. The child Jesus was so small! They left on their journey, hearts full of fear, trying to protect Jesus. They were forced to flee into Egypt.

3. Jesus Is Lost, In the Temple
Imagine the sufferings in Mary's heart when she realized the child Jesus was not with them. Think of how it would be to lose your child and not know where he was or if anything happened to him. With sorrow in their hearts, Mary and Joseph returned to Jerusalem to look for the child Jesus. And a sword, too, shall pierce your heart, O Mary!

4. Jesus Carries His Cross
Song: See the eyes that look at Mary, her tender infant child. See the child's Heart beat so tenderly, the Savior of the world!
See the eyes of Jesus and Mary as they met on Calvary. Mary's Heart knew Jesus' Heart so well! From the first moment of conception and throughout His life, Mary was so connected with Jesus and now she peered into His eyes. The crown of thorns adorned His Head! Blood ran down His face! A heavy cross on His back! Wounded, His whole body covered with bleeding wounds! And her whole life flashed before her, the life that she had spent with Jesus. This was the beloved child that she had held in her arms when Simeon told Mary that 'a sword, too, shall pierce your Heart, O Mary!'

5. Jesus Dies on the Cross
Mary stood under Jesus' cross as He was put to death. The child that she had held in her arms as Simeon prophesied, And a sword, too, shall pierce your Heart, O Mary! Now Jesus is dead on the cross! He gave His flesh, He gave His blood so that we might be with Him forever in heaven. He held not back. He gave His all. He calls out to us this day to see through the eyes of His mother as she appears and calls out with a Heart of great love, "Return to the love of my Son! He is with you this day. He remains with you, no less present than the day that He hung on the cross, in the Eucharist. He longs for you to come and be with Him. He is in your brother. How can you not love your brother when Jesus died for your brother?"

Her Heart was pierced with a sword. His Heart was pierced with a lance. What came forth was blood and water, the sacramental life of the church. He lives with us this day in the Church. He gives to us His sacraments, the source of His life! He gives to us the Sacrament of Penance whereby any sin that we commit can be taken away through the priest. He wants us to be so close to Him! He gives us everything to be close to Him. But we see with such limited vision only those things that are right before our face, when the true reality is that which we don't see with our eyes, the reality of the invisible divinity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in the consecrated Host! This is reality! This is our life! This is our power! This is God! And a sword, too, shall pierce your Heart, O Mary!

6. Jesus Is Taken Down from the Cross
If we ever doubted for one second that we were loved, we could visualize the picture of Mary as she sat beneath the cross with the lifeless, battered, bruised and bloodied body of her Son in her arms, the same child that she held when Simeon prophesied her suffering. He gave His last breath. He gave the last beat of His Heart. He gave His all! This is the way He complied with the Will of the Father. He came to show us the way. He died in perfect peace. To His death He was in peace because He knew the Father's love. The Father loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son for love of us! The Spirit descended upon the Virgin Mary and the Word was made flesh! The love of the Two Hearts! Such immense love beating for us!

In all love there is suffering. Her Heart was pierced with a sword. His Heart was pierced with a lance. And a sword, too, shall pierce your Heart, O Mary!

7. Jesus Is Locked in the Tomb
And now Jesus, His body lifeless, is locked in a tomb! What cold reality for Mary to realize that His body is now gone! A stone separated her from her Son!

He gave His last breath! He gave the last beat of His Heart for love of each one of us! And she comes to us this day with her sweet, beautiful voice and she asks us to go to her Son and love Him! How can we refuse Jesus who spread His arms and gave His life for each and every one of us? How can we not trust Him when He loved us so much that He allowed them to tear His flesh, to crown Him with piercing thorns and, lastly, to hang Him on a cross? He truly gave His life for us! He, truly God, is with us this day, the same as the day He died on the cross, in the tabernacle! And we take it so lightly! Death has no power over Him! Locked in the tomb for three days, He rose triumphant on the third day as He had foretold. He comes to give us life. He gives us the sacrament of Baptism that initiates us into His life, that makes us children of God and heirs of heaven if we remain in the state of grace. He asks two things: love of God and love of one another! He came to show us the way and His way is love. To His death on the cross He loved each one of us! He calls out to each one of us here today to be His soldiers, to march on a world that has forgotten God, that has forgotten what it is like to love! It is a battle to live in this world. But the battle is won with hearts that are filled with His love, empowered by the grace and might that He pours out in the Eucharist. He calls out for us to come to the Eucharist and to the tabernacle and be fed with His very flesh and blood. To feed on Divine Life, the greatest nourishment, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God! This is the love He gives. This is the love He asks us to share.

end of excerpt

Given August 9, 2000

     Oh, there is not one so fair as thee, my beloved Mother Mary.

     Of all the maidens that God could have chosen it was you, oh shining Star of Heaven.

     Oh Mary, Mother of us all.

     She doth appear as a wonder so fair indeed,

     A permanent sign of God's love.
      A Woman clothed in gold.
      One that glistens with the radiance of a golden tone,

     Her beauty dancing in the sunlit hours of every day.

     In morning splendor, in dancing light at noon day as the sun glistens on her rainbow glow and at night she has appeared on special dates in golden splendor and light.

     Would you quote the Scripture for Mary so fair.

     "Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, robed with the sun, standing on the moon, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant, and in labour, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth." (Revelation 12: 1-2)

     Would you see her as she appeared in little villages in the 20th century, tucked in hills and out of the way places.

     If you missed these enormous signs from heaven, of one so fair, she appears there clothed in the golden sun of the day, reflecting her radiant beauty painted by the hand of the Father. She is His chosen maiden so fair.

     She appears daily, she is there by day and beneath the black shadows of night, she does not slumber, but calls to her children of light to come through her golden doorway and let the light of Christ shine in their souls.

     She appears one so fair, by day and sometimes by night clothed in radiance and golden, her garment hemmed with glistening sunlight. She once appeared to a few and her visits fleeting in remotest places, she remains a Woman Clothed with the Sun, the sun dancing on her garments of rainbow color on a busy, busy corner for all to see, in the state of the sun, sunny Florida. She is a Woman painted by the brush of God.

     And do you know the wonder of one who calls the children far and wide, to hear the voice of her Son, Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the Flock.

     Mary, the heavenly maiden, to call them home to His Heart.

     Oh, of one so fair, do we not boast and praise our God and thank Him for such a wonder.

     Oh, to Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, we cry, help us to do what you asked for at Fatima and help us in our mission of telling the world of your Son's desire to spread His Movement so men will be Shepherds of Christ.

end of excerpt

August 22, 2000

Today is the Queenship of Mary

Coronation of Mary

Messenger:

The Queen mounts her throne among shouts of joy
The angels surround this heavenly throne
Her children love her and worship their God.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus reigns in the hearts of her children.

He is the King of their hearts.
She is the Queen of their hearts.
A New Adam, a New Eve are recognized by the once enslaved children of Adam and Eve.

A trumpet blare for one so fair, a blare of music for our starved ears.

From the Magnificat, Mary speaks with the lilt of the voice of one so pure and holy. (NOTE: Read this with the lightness of the voice of the Virgin filled with the Holy Spirit and in the humility of one so fair.

Luke 1:46-55
The Magnificat

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.

Messenger:

Among shouts of joy our Lady speaks liltingly in a heavenly voice
and we gape at the sound of her sweet voice
and behold the beauty of this maiden so sweet and fair.

God the Father speaks:

Amen, amen I say to you My beloved Apostles of the Sacred Heart. You may worry and struggle now, but a King looks on you with the greatest love as you surrender more and more everyday to do My will that this day will come to your earth, the day of the Reign of the Sacred Heart.

Do not get caught up in the mysteries of the way men act and perceive things, but put your gaze ever more on the mystery of My Divine Son and how much He truly loves you.

You are caught in the wonder of the earth and the firmament. My beloved, so much more glorious is the insight into My Divine Mysteries.

My plan is given here to bring about the Reign of My Son's Sacred Heart and the triumph of your Mother's Immaculate Heart.

I am a God of justice and of right.

I am your heavenly Father.

I am the Carpenter, the One with the plan.

You are but children of Mine, creatures of the earth, and yet My love for you is so great. I gave you My only begotten Son as One offered for your sins and, men, you smite Me, your Father.

You ignore your Mother when I give you such gifts in your churches of her presence forever with you and the Holy Spirit working with her bringing forth your holiness.

I painted with My hand your Mother pleading to her young ones, and she appears everyday, and you ignore this sign and gift I give you.

What more could convince you? You want another sign and another while you sheepishly continue your sinful ways.

My children, My children, help Me to reach your brothers, oh please, they have plugged up their ears and covered their eyes.

How is it your Creator cries to the creatures and they ignore Him?

God the Father speaks:

Now the beauty of one so fair July 5, 2000, I painted as a golden wonder before you and allowed such photography that all might know Our heavenly presence when Mary speaks in the Rosaries from the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. And My Son delivers, in these rosaries, the message I give to you as your heavenly Father.

Oh children of the earth, be attentive and listen to Me, I plead as your heavenly Father that your wills be aligned to My will and you serve Me.

Oh children of Eve, your Mother Mary cries to Me, for she pleads your case, and I have given in to her requests that the children be spared if they turn from their ways and love their God.

She wanted to come to you as the Woman adorned in sunlight by day and fashioned in a special way by nightfall in golden mystical light in the dark night, as her favored children sing so fervently songs of praise and love to God, and they sing to her, a Mother who has never forgot them.

Oh children, listen to Me and help Me reach your willful brothers through your fervent prayers. My Son gave Himself as a Sacrifice for your sins, meriting the graces available to you the sinful children of Eve, and you will not even pray after I have granted this special gift of Mary on the building.

Your eyes do not see her, or you would have changed your ways by now.

What sign would you respond to, My silly earth?

Mary Image Building with Mother and Child

God the Father speaks:

I give you My Son with you in the Eucharist, and you do not treasure this gift as you should.

God remains with you today. Jesus, My Son, feeds you with His Body and Blood. He is truly present in His Divinity and Humanity. You need to pray as He has instructed, especially before the tabernacle.

Amen.

I am the Father, I have spoken, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.

Jesus speaks:

I am the Son of God, on this glorious feast sing songs of great praise to your God and love Him.

Unite to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and pray to be possessed by God.

Mary is your Mother, she is the one, pure, spotless, human person. She was conceived without sin, you must listen to her, it is the Father's will. You must be brought forth from her Immaculate Heart, her spiritual womb, as a child of God, a child of the light.

Let the scales drop from your eyes as you sing praise and see, as never before, the glory and wonder of your God.

Prayer for Union with Jesus

Come to me, Lord, and possess my soul. Come into my heart and permeate my soul. Help me to sit in silence with You and let You work in my heart.

    I am Yours to possess. I am Yours to use. I want to be selfless and only exist in You. Help me to spoon out all that is me and be an empty vessel ready to be filled by You. Help me to die to myself and live only for You. Use me as You will. Let me never draw my attention back to myself. I only want to operate as You do, dwelling within me.

    I am Yours, Lord. I want to have my life in You. I want to do the will of the Father. Give me the strength to put aside the world and let You operate my very being. Help me to act as You desire. Strengthen me against the distractions of the devil to take me from Your work.

    When I worry, I have taken my focus off of You and placed it on myself. Help me not to give in to the promptings of others to change what in my heart You are making very clear to me. I worship You, I adore You and I love You. Come and dwell in me now.

-God's Blue Book, January 17, 1994

Blue Book 13

$4.00 plus postage

The Blue Books tell us about God's love for us.

Blue Book I
The Plan of the Father, disobedience
to God, His Plan and relationship
with us is Personal –
He gives us the Mass – it is awesome –

Blue Book II
The Fire of His Love –
God loves us so much.
Jesus gives us His Heart of on-fire-love.
Jesus gives us Himself in the Holy Eucharist.
Jesus tells us we need to take both feet
    off the ground, have faith and
    follow Him –
    God is the sure way, but we
    must pray for faith.
                                Seek True Treasures –
                                Love!!
                                Prayer for Union with Jesus –
                                Jesus calls the priest January 17, 1994.

Blue Book III
Love God, Love One Another
Jesus calls us to see each other as
    brothers.
Not to size each other up and put
    each other in categories –
    make ourselves high and others
    low –
Jesus tells me He will give me lights
    and I will see.
                            Is our glass half-full or half-empty?
                            The Carpenter message!

Blue Book IV
Mary began to appear July 5, 1994 every day.
Fr. Carter went too beginning July 10th.
I received the rosary meditations.
Mary tells us about the love she has for
    Jesus and us (relationship).
Jesus tells us about the love He has for
    Mary and us (relationship).
The love of the Two Hearts.
                            Fr. Carter got this message.
                            I got this one.

                Jesus gives Fr. Carter the Prayer Manual Prayers –
                Jesus tells Fr. Carter to start the Priestly Newsletter
                    to 75,000 priests - every other month.

September 5, 1994 Jesus says our messages Fr. Carter
and mine will merge.

Blue Book V
October, November, December 1994
Deeply rooted in the Spousal Relationship –
Our mystical marriage to God –
Jesus tells us about pure love –
I get the songs –
A Song from Jesus,
I Love You Jesus
God's Love

                R. Blue Book VI A, B, C
                January, February, March 1995
                Jesus and Mary appear every day –
                I received lots of rosary meditations –
                Focused on the Rosary.
                These rosaries will go into the Red Rosary
                    Book with Rainbow –
                I received the Stations of the Cross
                    and the 7 Sorrows

Blue Book VII
April, May, June 1995
Mary still appeared every day –
Sometimes Jesus
Jesus gave me the long Morning Offering
    June 8, 1995
This is a big book –
The rosaries were really important –
The Mystery of the Trinity
                            I'm Alive, I'm Alive, I'm Alive message –
                            Mystical experiences –
                            Pentecost
                            Intimacy with God
                            Glory, Glory, Glory Lord song

Blue Book VIII
July, August, September 1995
See Through the Eyes of Mary
Jesus wants us to grow in the mystical life.
Mary appeared giving rosaries –
They made me leave the Holy Spirit Center where
    she was appearing every day in September 1995.

August 13, 1995

Mary: "God calls you to love God and love one another. Come to my heart, live and dwell in my heart. As I love, you will love more and more. My dear little children, I am Mary, your mother, your mother to lead you on your way."

Jesus said the title of this book should be “See Through the Eyes of Mary”

Blue Book IX
October, November, December 1995
The Mass Book
He Wrapped me in His Divine Embrace
December 15, 1995

This is the beginning of a series of books on the Mass.
Fr. Carter was closely united in all these experiences in this book.

Blue Book X
January, February, March 1996
On the Mass –
Jesus appeared transfigured in January
    3 days in a row at Holy Cross-
    Immaculata –
Jesus wants unity between priests and
    people messages January 20 & 21, 1996.
March 26, 1996 - 1st Great Vision

Jesus: (excerpt) ...I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I am the Almighty God. I say to the rocks to fall and they fall and to the grass, grow, and it grows, and to the sun, shine, and it shines. I give to you My love in these letters. Filled with My love, you will conquer this earth, not with weapons and powder or force, but with fires of My love. The fire will wipe out the hatred in the cold hearts and the earth will be covered with My celestial light. The earth will rock and I will appear in the heavens adorned in power and glory and the contrite hearts will be saved. I came to separate the sheep from the goats, the light from the darkness. I come and no one pays Me heed...

Blue Book XI
April, May, June 1996
About the Mass
This book is how we help in the work of redemption.

November 21, 2013

Jesus: I call you to live your lives as devout members of the mystical body of Christ. I have given these writings that men will realize that they are to live united deeply to the Mass going on around the world. Your lives, given as an offering, a sacrifice every moment in union with the Mass going on around the world. Your life, a sacrifice, offered to the Father, in union with the Mass in oneness with Me, in the Holy Spirit through the intercession of the Blessed Mother with all the angels and saints and the souls in purgatory.

Your lives given as members of My mystical body can help to bring down great graces for the priest, the Church and the world.

Blue Book XII
July, August, September 1996
About the Mass
Mary appeared all night

Mary's Message from the Rosary of August 27, 1996

Solidarity in Christ – Rosaries on Tom's Farm
Fr. Carter a pillar of light.

July 4, 1996

   This message was received before a live statue of the Sorrowful Mother after Communion.
   Message from Jesus: "Peace will abound when nations, churches, families and individuals are consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary."
   "Fr. Carter is a pillar of light to the dark world. This is the explanation of the photo. It is through him, I will turn darkness to light. Circulate this message with the picture. Encourage all to consecrate their hearts to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to join the Shepherds of Christ Chapters, and the Apostles of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus Movement to pray for your Church and your world. This is My Movement for renewal of the Church and the world, based in consecration, joining your every act to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, praying the rosary, and making reparation to Our Hearts, especially on First Fridays and First Saturdays. It is through your prayers and sacrifices many souls will be helped to be saved. Grace will flow from those whose hearts are consecrated to Our Hearts and the fire of My Love will light up this darkened world."
   As you look at the picture, you see Fr. Carter's arm and hand on your left. This picture of Fr. Carter was taken July 2, 1996 at the Tuesday Shepherds of Christ Meeting at Tom Arlinghaus' Farm.

Blue Book XIII
October, November, December 1996
Jesus called the 13ths, October 13th,
November 13th, December 13th
   on Tom's Farm.
Jesus appeared at the point of death
   on the cross December 5, 1996.
Mary appeared in Clearwater –
  December 17, 1996.

                Given March 21, 2014

                R. Pray for These Things

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                    Jack, Jean, Amanda, Special intentions
                3) Pray for the priests, the Church and the world!
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                    also for the spread of priests doing prayer chapters.
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               10) Pray for Jeff - sales & health. Pray for Nick.
               11) Blue Book 14 cover; Blue Book 13 – all involved.
                    For our Publisher and all involved
               12) All intentions on my list, Jerry's list.
               13) Priests getting Fr. Joe's book.
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               15) Donors and members and their families.
               16) Healing of the Family tree.
               17) Dan & Melanie, Catherine & mom, Gary, Mary Jo,
                    Jim & statues, Fr. Ken, Monsignor, Kerry, Tom & wife.
               18) All who asked us to pray for them.
               19) All we promised to pray for.
               20) Rita, John, Doris, Sheila, Jerry, Regina, Sanja,
                    Betty, Sophie, Lisa, Eileen, Fr. Mike, Louie,
                    2 Dons, Mary Ellen, Fr. Joe, all priests helping us,
                    Ed, Jimmy, Steve, a special couple, Rosie & all involved.
               21) 2 babies and moms.
               22) Funds and insurance.
               23) Jerry's garage.
               24) In thanksgiving for gifts, graces, & blessings received.
               25) Spread the Blood of Jesus on all of us here.
               26) Consecrate all hearts.
               27) Cast the devil out of all of us here and all in Movement.

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Mary's Message
from the Rosary of August 27, 1996

Mary's Message from the Rosary of August 27, 1996

Blue Book 4	Blue Book 5	Blue Book 6A	Blue Book 6B	Blue Book 6C
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Mary's Messagefrom the Rosary of August 27, 1996

Mary's Message from the Rosary of August 27, 1996

Mary's Message
from the Rosary of August 27, 1996