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September 14,
2014|
September 15th Holy Spirit
Novena |
The Novena Rosary
Mysteries |
September 14, 2014 - Exultation of the Cross
April 5, 2001
Feast of the Holy Cross
Numbers 21: 4-9
They left Mount Hor by the road to the Sea of Suph, to skirt round Edom. On the way the people lost patience. They spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the desert? For there is neither food nor water here; we are sick of this meagre diet.’
At this, God sent fiery serpents among the people; their bite brought death to many in Israel. The people came and said to Moses, ‘We have sinned by speaking against Yahweh and against you. Intercede for us with Yahweh to save us from these serpents.’ Moses interceded for the people, and Yahweh replied, ‘Make a fiery serpent and raise it as a standard. Anyone who is bitten and looks at it will survive.’ Moses then made a serpent out of bronze and raised it as a standard, and anyone who was bitten by a serpent and looked at the bronze serpent survived.
Philippians 2: 6-11
Who, being in the form of God,
did not count equality with God
something to be grasped.But he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
becoming as human beings are;
and being in every way
like a human being,
he was humbler yet,
even to accepting death,
death on a cross.And for this God raised him high,
and gave him the name
which is above all other names;so that all beings
in the heavens, on earth
and in the underworld,
should bend the knee at the name of Jesus
and that every tongue should acknowledge
Jesus Christ as Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
John 3: 13-17
No one has gone up to heaven
except the one
who came down from heaven,
the Son of man;
as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert,
so must the Son of man be lifted up
so that everyone who believes
may have eternal life in him.
as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert,
so must the Son of man be lifted up
so that everyone who believes
may have eternal life in him.
For this is how God loved the world:
he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him
may not perish
but may have eternal life.
For God sent his Son into the world
not to judge the world,
but so that through him
the world might be saved.
Feast of the Holy Cross
September 14, 2008
INTRODUCTION
– (Numbers 21: 4b-9, Philippians 2:6-11, John 3:13-17) Our first reading takes us back over a thousand years before Christ, to the time when Moses was leading God’s people from slavery in Egypt to the freedom of the Promised Land. The trip through the desert was extremely difficult and at times the people complained bitterly. One of their difficulties was an encounter with a nest of poisonous serpents whose bite brought intense suffering and burning pain and then death. The serpents were called saraph serpents, for saraph means “fiery.” The people saw this as punishment for their complaining. But God gave them a way to be healed from the serpent’s bite. The remedy might remind us of the symbol often used today as an icon of the medical profession. In today’s gospel, Jesus compares this event to his crucifixion.HOMILY
– During Holy Week we focus on the sufferings of Christ crucified. Today our focus is more on the glory and victory of the cross. In Jesus’ day the cross was an instrument of torture, brutality and shame. The Romans reserved it for the worse criminals and enemies of the Roman Empire. If a criminal was a Roman citizen, he or she was exempt from crucifixion because it was such a terrible way to die. Roman citizens were simply beheaded. But Jesus has turned the cross into a symbol of victory, a symbol of hope, a symbol of sacrifice and infinite love. St. Paul tells us in Galatians (2:20) “I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.”Over and over the Scriptures tell us through the cross Jesus saved us, but early Christian art seldom pictured the cross. They didn’t need to. Father Foley in Saint of the Day said: “It stood outside too many city walls, decorated only with decaying corpses, as a threat to anyone who defied Rome’s authority.” Included in this group of those who defied Rome’s authority were the Christians who would not worship pagan gods, but only the Father, the Lord Jesus and the Spirit. The emperor Constantine who made Christianity legal in 313 also eliminated crucifixion as a form of capital punishment. Once the Roman Empire actually ceased crucifying people, then images of the cross appeared in Christian art. These first images of the cross did not include an image of the suffering Christ, but they were crosses decorated with jewels and precious metals. Incidentally it was a vision of the cross that led to the conversion of Constantine. He was assured in the vision that in the sign of the cross he would conquer Maxentius, a rival to the throne, and he would become emperor of Rome.
Once Constantine gained control of the Roman Empire, he went to the Holy Land with his mother, St. Helen, to discover the places where Jesus lived and died. Constantine and his mother had churches built in Bethlehem and the Mount of Olives but the most famous church he built is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built over the hill of Calvary and the tomb of Jesus. It was in the process of building the Church of the Holy Sepulcher that Jesus’ cross was found. How did they know it was Jesus’ cross? Legend has it that the men working on this project found three crosses and they didn’t know which one was Jesus’ cross. They touched each of the crosses to a woman who was dying and when she was touched with the third cross, she was instantly healed. Today’s feast of the Holy Cross goes back to that time, around the year 320 AD. It celebrates the finding of the true cross and the dedication of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher. So that’s why this feast is celebrated in the middle of September and not during Lent as wemight expect.
Today’s gospel is sometimes called the gospel in miniature. These few verses express the essence of the entire gospel: God’s offer of eternal life through the sacrifice of Christ, a sacrifice offered out of love for us. God so loved the world, God so loved you and me that he gave us the greatest gift, the gift of his son, so we would know the greatest blessing: eternal happiness with him.
Today we approach the cross not with sorrow but with joy, not as a symbol of death but of life, not as a sign of defeat but of victory, not as a cause for fear but of hope, not as an instrument of cruelty and hatred but of eternal love. On a practical level, I know somehow it was inevitable if Jesus were to be true to his mission. If he had run away from it, he would not have risen and his message would have soon been forgotten. Today Christians make up one third of the world’s population. If Jesus had abandoned his mission to change the world through love, perhaps some obscure history book might have had a sentence or two about this person who did a lot of healing and was a good preacher, but for the most part his ministry would be forgotten. This is just a superficial explanation of the mystery of the cross. There is much more to this mystery, but each of us has to discover it for ourselves. To come to a deeper understanding takes lots of prayer – and that’s what the Mass does for us each week, it reminds us of God’s love and the hope and joy and freedom and peace and salvation it gives us. Amen.
August 29, 1994
Dear Friend,
I give my heart to Jesus and Mary with you in love.
Thank you so much for your donation.
It is because of your help we can do what Jesus and Mary tell us to do.
We finally got Fr. Joe's last homily book out to all priests in the United States.
We printed 40,000 and we needed most of them for the pope, the Cardinals of the world, all Bishops in the United States, and all priests in the United States.
Fr. Carter was told to spread the Shepherds of Christ Prayers all over the world.
We have them in 8 languages with the Church's Imprimatur.
We will send Fr. Joe's new edition of homilies out as soon as we get it done, before the new cycle begins with the first Sunday of Advent.
We start with the pope, all Cardinals of the world,
all Bishops in the United States, and all priests in the United States.
Jesus gave Fr. Carter this message to send the Priestly Mailing to all priests in the United States and the hierarchy.
Jesus told Fr. Carter to spread the prayer chapters all over the world.
The beauty of this Movement is all these priests probably keep Fr. Joe's book close at hand and in the back are the prayers Fr. Carter said Jesus gave him 20 years ago when Fr. Carter, S.J. (doctorate in theology) founded the Movement praying for the priests, the Church and the world at the direction of Jesus, he said in this message enclosed that Fr. Carter said Jesus gave him on the Feast of St. Ignatius 20 years ago.
Feast of St. Ignatius
From the hand of Fr. Carter 20 Years ago as Jesus delivered this message.
We are directed by Jesus to pray 8 days a month for the priests, the Church and the world.
We earnestly do this.
4 days in Florida ending on the 5th.
4 in China ending on the 13th with 3 or 4 Masses and the exposed Eucharist.
Every month we have usually 5 to 6 Masses and 8 days of prayer.
If we want the world to change we need to pray to God and Fr. Carter our founder told us Jesus wanted us to pray the prayers on the enclosed Prayer Brochure Centered in consecration to the Sacred Heart and Mary's Immaculate Heart.
So far we have sent 17,000,000 Priestly Newsletters around the world to priests and hierarchy.
Since these books of Fr. Joe's are probably in most priest's drawers in their desks all we need is one Cardinal or the pope to help us to endorse these prayers in the back of every homily book.
Please say the Shepherds of Christ Prayers praying for the priests, the Church and the world.
We need to pray now more than ever.
We can have a network of holy people dedicated to the Sacred Heart and Mary's Immaculate Heart in one mind and one heart praying for the world as Fr. Carter said Jesus told him to pray.
We usually print 20,000 of Fr. Joe's books and send them to the pope, all Cardinals of the world all Bishops of the United States - right away before December
and 4 states Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Florida.
Then we proceed until we reach every priest in the states that are on the Archdiocesan list.
We send a Prayer Brochure with every book and the prayers are in the back of the book too.
This costs $33,000 to send out the first batch and print 20,000 books for the rest of the priests.
This takes us a while to do but usually we are done a few months later.
We then have to print another 20,000 books of Fr. Joe's for the priests in the United States.
Cardinal George told me to do this 7 books ago.
If you can help with a donation it will help us do what Jesus asked Fr. Carter to do and we have done in the Priestly Mailing now for 20 years.
Fr. Joe's homily book is like a weekly Priestly Newsletter if the priest uses it once a week.
In the past we had a lot of the money from a person helping us a lot in the core of the Movement, but we needed that money for bills this year.
In any event please help us if you can and for sure pray your prayers in the prayer manual and pray for the Priestly Mailing.
We can use volunteers in China and Florida just to come and help us - a day, two days a week -whatever you can do.
Come during retreat and pray with us for the priests, the Church and the world.
Thank you for your donation and all your help.
Please spread the prayer chapters to others, the Blue Books and spread the homily books to deacons, music ministers, and the school principal and planner of things in the parish and education.
Thanks for all your help,
Sincerely,
Rita and the Shepherds of Christ Ministries, Servants, Handmaids, and all involved.With much love,
Rita Ring (Co-founder)
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Excerpt from November 4, 2001
Jesus speaks:
To those who pray My prayers I- A deeper understanding of the
Divine Mysteries through fervent
recitation of the litanies.- I promise a deeper love in your heart
for your God and a deeper love
for your fellowmen.- Those who pray the prayers fervently
will experience a deep union
in My Heart and My Mother's heart,
they will be given special insights
into My unfathomable love for men
and experience a thirsting within
themselves to want to help souls
through intercessory prayer and sacrifices.- They will have a deeper love of the Mass
through this deeper consecration.
[consecration to Their Hearts]- They will know Me more intimately.
- They will want to live their lives to
help save souls.- They will have a deeper love for the priests shepherds.
- They will have a deeper love and dedication
to the Church. (I founded)- They will want peace on the earth.
- They will want peace in their own hearts.- You will experience a fearlessness the more
you pray the Holy Spirit Novena prayers
given to you.- As you meditate on the scriptures you will
understand more fully the plan of
the Father to lead the souls into the
great Reign of My Sacred Heart.- You and all who pray the Holy Spirit Novena
and the Shepherds of Christ Prayers will be
united in a deep oneness with each other
and the souls of the earth.- The more you pray these prayers (both sets)
you will live in the truth as you
dwell in Our Hearts.- You will be given gifts of the Holy Spirit.
- You and your family will be protected by
My Precious Blood and your families
will receive special protection
against satan from fervent recitation
of the prayers. (the Holy Spirit Novena
and the Shepherds of Christ Prayers)- I promise to take you and the members of
your family in a special way
into My Sacred Heart. I will lavish
you in the fires of My love.- The priests and the people of the Church and the world
will receive special graces from the fervent
recitation of these prayers. (both sets)- I will unite My people in a deeper love
from the graces granted from
fervent recitation of these prayers.- I give these prayers from My image site
in Florida.
I appear there daily as the Sacred Heart.
Some see Me, some do not, but there
is a special presence there.
My Mother appears there for her children.- In the five years of her apparitions many
souls who have come have been
given special graces of conversion.
Many have been given grace to lead
them into a deeper love union with
God and the Blessed Virgin.
- The image site in Florida has touched
the world.- I outpour great grace to those who come
to the site.- There are tremendous graces of healing
granted to all who come.- People who come rarely leave unchanged.
- The grace granted works in their lives and in
their hearts, long after they have gone.- A reminder of their visit only need be given
and they experience a memory of
that moment.
I
ask you to circulate the prayers I have
given, the Shepherds of
Christ Prayers
and the Holy Spirit Novena
prayers.
End of excerpt from November 4, 2001
Given March 21, 2014
R. Pray for These Things
1) Pray for the Pope & hierarchy to help us start prayer chapters.
2) Pray for Dan, Sally Jo, Richard, Carol, Margaret, Sue,
Jack, Jean, Amanda, Special intentions
3) Pray for the priests, the Church and the world!
4) Pray for the spread of prayer chapters,
also for the spread of priests doing prayer chapters.
5) Pray for the spread of Blue Books.
6) People going to Florida and China.
7) Vocations to all 7 categories.
8) Pray for spread of Consecration and Rosary.
9) Pray for pope helping us.
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.
14) Pray for Fr. Joe's new book, cover & funds for printing & postage.
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.
We need money for Blue Book 13 and
Fr. Joe's new homily book
(we sent almost 40,000 to priests,
cardinals, bishops)
Can you please help us?
888-211-3041
The Wedding RosaryCrystal Image Rosary
$40 plus shipping
Special First Communion Rosary with Image Center
in a gift box
white blue red
and an 8 x 10 picture of Our Lady of Clearwater
and a 4 x 6 picture of Our Lady of Clearwater$10 plus postage
Original Image Rosary
8mm glass beads
in a matching gift box$40 plus shipping
Special Sale Statues with image glass
15" Pilgrim Virgin Fatima – $85
12" Our Lady of Fatima – $75
plus shipping
while supplies lastCall Regina 1–727–776–2763
Call Rosie 888–211–3041
In Spanish with the Imprimatur
Also we are ready to print
5000 copies of the
Parents and Children's Rosary Book
in SPANISH.
Can you help with a donation?
Give the gift that counts.
Give to your priests Fr. Carter's Books plus postage.
Tell My People $5.00
Response to God's Love $8.00
Response in Christ $8.00
God's Blue Books 4, 5, 6A, 6B, 6C, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
$4.00 each plus postage
Blue Book 4
Blue Book 5
Blue Book 6A
Blue Book 6B
Blue Book 6C
Blue Book 7
Blue Book 8
Blue Book 9
Blue Book 10
Blue Book 11
Blue Book 12 & 13
Old Mass Books with the Imprimatur
$2.00 plus postage
New Mass Book with Imprimatur
$8.00 plus postage
New Parents & Children's Book with the Imprimatur
$8.00 plus postage
Fr. Joe's Cycle A – Steadfast to the Sun – Starts in Advent
$5.00 plus postage
Give the gift that keeps on giving!
Give to your priest.
Fr. Carter's Priestly Newsletters Book II
$6.00 plus postage
Special sale statue with glass
27" Statue of Our Lady of Fatima
$175 plus postage
Get a canvas print of Mary's image
with a sliver of glass and a little
bottle of Jesus and Mary water.
The glass will be fixed behind the
back of the picture.
$200.00 plus postage
Dan called and gave the report to me, when I hung up I saw this rainbow and took a picture for him.
Shepherds of Christ
Ministries P.O. Box 627 China, Indiana 47250
Telephone: (toll free) 1-888-211-3041 or (812) 273-8405 FAX:
(812) 273-3182
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© 2014 Shepherds of Christ.
