Mary has requested that the daily message be given each day to the world. It is read nightly at the prayer service from her Image Building in Clearwater, Florida, U.S.A. This is according to her request. All attempts will be made to publish this daily message to the world at 11p.m. Eastern time, U.S.A. We acknowledge that the final authority regarding these messages rests with the Holy See of Rome.

Please come to Clearwater, Florida 
    on February 5, 2002 
    prayers and rosary at 6:20 P.M.

During the day we will celebrate
    the anniversary of the Rosary Factory.

       

January 30, 2002 message continues

Messenger:        Father Carter began every newsletter like this for
                                Jesus told him to.
                            Please help me reach the priests with the Newsletter
                                II Book and prayer manual.
                            You may be in your little houses and not see the
                                evil in the world, but Jesus is telling us it exists
                                and we need to pray, pray for grace for the 
                                people of the world.

  

Mark 7: 21-23

For it is from within, from the heart, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.’

January 30, 2002 message continues

Messenger:         The Mass is so powerful.
                            Jesus wants this Mass Book II out there.
                            There is so much grace that can be released when
                                we worthily attend Mass.
                            Jesus wants a strong remnant of people praying
                                as deep intercessors united to the Mass.
                            WE ARE SHEPHERDS OF CHRIST  - 

January 30, 2002 message continues

Messenger:        He is appearing and telling us what to do to help bring
                                about the Reign of the Sacred Heart.

February 5, 2001

January 30, 2002 message continues

Messenger:        Mary appears because this is so serious. 

July 5, 2000

January 5, 2002

January 30, 2002 message continues

Messenger:        Please help us and pray as Jesus
                                has told us. 

Jesus speaks:     Please pray as I have
                             instructed at 6:20. Holy Spirit Novena,
                             Shepherds of Christ Prayers and Rosary.

                            I ask you to be My warriors in My army
                                Praying for the Church and the world.

                            Please help pray for
                                7 urgent intentions.

                            Please pray your Morning Offering.

                            Please circulate the Prayer Manuals
                                and Morning Offering cards
                                for Lent.

                            Encourage this positive prayer
                                for Lent.

                            Ash Wednesday is less than 2
                                weeks away.

                                  Please duplicate prayers:
                                Holy Spirit Novena
                                Shepherds of Christ Prayers

                            Please encourage people to pray
                                them during Lent
                                Holy Spirit Novena
                                Shepherds of Christ Prayers
                                Rosary

                            I promise great grace to all
                                who pray.

                            For the days of Lent try to get
                                people to pray the Morning
                                Offering daily.

Circulate the Say Daily Card
Circulate I give my heart to Jesus and Mary

                           (These can be downloaded - make some and circulate them)

                            Please pray for grace for the Church and the world.

                            Please do this.
                            (The prayers can be down loaded on 8 1/2 x 11 sheets
                                for the Prayer Manual, legal sheet for Holy Spirit Novena)

                             Please circulate the crucifix video, please circulate
                                the Mass video.
                            Please circulate pictures of the crucifix
                                and the images.
                            I will give great grace to those who gaze on
                                these pictures with fervent love.
                            I promise this.
                            Give to alcoholics and those who are ill,
                                those in need of healing.

                            Sunday is the Super Bowl game—

                                Pray fervently every day
                                Spreading the Blood of Jesus on the world,
                                    casting the devil far away
                                Entrust the Hearts of men to Our 2 Hearts
                                Asking for a special outpouring
                                    of the Holy Spirit

                                Pray for all those attending Super Bowl
                                    parties to get a grace to change
                                    their lives and make Me, the
                                    Sacred Heart, the King and Center
                                    of their Hearts.

                                Pray for the days before Ash Wednesday.
                                    (Circulate the Holy Spirit Novena, Prayer Manual,
                                        Say Daily Card, Consecration Card)
                                Pray for all in New Orleans

                                Pray My people, pray as I have
                                    instructed.

DAILY NOVENA PRAYERS

Opening Prayer

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dear Father, we come to You in the name of Jesus, in union with Him in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in the Holy Spirit. We come to You united to the Child Jesus of Good Health and the Infant of Prague. We come to You in the perfect, sinless heart of Our Mother Mary, asking her powerful intercession, uniting ourselves to her holy tears. We come to You united to all the angels and saints, and the souls in purgatory.

Prayer for Holy Spirit

We pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on us, to be baptized by the Holy Spirit, that He will descend mightily on us as He did on the Apostles at Pentecost. That the Holy Spirit will transform us from fear to fearlessness and that He will give us courage to do all the Father is asking of us to help bring about the Reign of the Sacred Heart and the triumph of Mary's Immaculate Heart. We pray for the Holy Spirit to descend mightily on the Jesuits and the Poor Clares on the Shepherds of Christ leaders and members and on the whole Body of Christ and the world.

Protection by the Blood of Jesus

We pray that the Blood of Jesus will be spread on us, everyone in our families, and the Shepherds of Christ Movement, that we will be able to move steadfastly ahead and be protected from the evil one.

Healing

We pray for healing in body, mind, and soul and generational healing in ourselves, in all members in our families, and in all members of the Shepherds of Christ Movement, the Jesuit Community, the Poor Clares, the Body of Christ, and the world.

Prayer for Strength and Light

We adore You, oh Holy Spirit. Give us strength, give us light, console us. We give ourselves entirely to You. Oh Spirit of light and grace, we want to only do the will of the Father. Enlighten us that we may live always in the Father's will.

Eternal Spirit fill us with Your Divine Wisdom that we may comprehend more fully insight into Your Divine Mysteries.

Give us lights, Oh Holy Spirit that we may know God. Work within the heart, the spiritual womb of the Virgin Mary, to form us more and more into the image of Jesus.

Prayer to Be One with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit

We long for You, Oh Spirit of Light, we long to know God, we want to be one with Him, our Divine God. We want to be one with the Father, know Him as a Person most intimately. We want to know the beloved One, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and live and dwell in Him at all times, every moment of our lives. We want to be one with You, Oh Spirit of Light, that You move in us in our every breath.

Prayer to Be One in Jesus

Let us experience life in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, so we can say as Saint Paul, "I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me...." Let us live, united to the Mass, all through the day being one in Him. Let us be able to love and know in this elevated state of oneness with our God. We long for Thee, oh beauteous God, we love You, we love You, we love You. We praise You, worship You, honor You, adore You, and thank You, our beloved God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Prayer to Dwell in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary

We seek to be one in God, to live and dwell in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, our little heaven on earth, to experience life in the all perfect, pure, sinless heart of our Mother. We want the Holy Spirit to move in us and to be united to Jesus as the Bridegroom of our souls and be a most perfect sacrifice offered to the Father at every moment as we unite in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass around the world to help in the salvation of souls.

Prayer for the Holy Spirit and His Gifts

Come Holy Spirit, come, come into our hearts, inflame all people with the fire of Your love.

Leader: Send forth Your Spirit and all will be reborn.
All:  And You will renew the face of the earth.

We pray for the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, we ask for perfection in our souls to make us holy, holy souls likened to God.

Dear Holy Spirit, we give ourselves to You soul and body. We ask You to give us the Spirit of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord.

Prayer for the Word Alive in Our Hearts

We know, dear Holy Spirit, the Word in His human nature was brought forth within the womb of the woman. We pray that His word will be brought forth in our hearts as He lives and dwells in us. We want the incarnation to go on in our lives. Dear Holy Spirit, work in us.

Little Prayers to the Holy Spirit

Dear Holy Spirit, help us not to be ignorant or indifferent or weak, help us to be strong with the love of God.

Dear Holy Spirit, please pray for our needs for us.

Dear Holy Spirit, help us to respect God and to avoid sin. Help us to live in the Father's will.

Dear Holy Spirit, help us to keep Your commandments and to respect authority. Help us to love all things as You will us to love them. Help us to want to pray and always serve God with the greatest love. Help us to know the truth. Help us to have the gift of faith, hope, and love. Help us to know what is right and what is wrong.

A Prayer for Intimacy with the Lamb, the Bridegroom of the Soul

Oh Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, come and act on my soul most intimately. I surrender myself, as I ask for the grace to let go, to just be as I exist in You and You act most intimately on my soul. You are the Initiator. I am the soul waiting Your favors as You act in me. I love You. I adore You. I worship You. Come and possess my soul with Your Divine Grace, as I experience You most intimately.

  

Luke 21: 34-35

Be on the alert

‘Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened by debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will come upon you unexpectedly, like a trap...

   

Romans 13: 13

Let us live decently, as in the light of day; with no orgies or drunkenness, no promiscuity or licentiousness, and no wrangling or jealousy. 
  

January 30, 2002 message continues

Messenger:          Alcohol is a drug that puts people out
                                of control sometimes. Some people
                                can't handle it. My understanding is that
                                alcoholism is a disease.
                            There have been more and more families hurt 
                                because of the disease of alcoholism.
                                I remember two distinct stories told by
                                wives who left their husbands because of the
                                dreaded disease of alcoholism.
                            The alcoholic person can't seem to control their 
                                drinking once they start drinking.
                            Children learn many times to drink from their parents.
                            Alcoholic parents model a way of life.
                            There is much abuse many times.
                            The life style centers around the drink.
                            They are always in the cycle of drinking,
                                or waiting for the next drink, anticipating
                                it, living for it.
                            Apparently alcohol doesn't affect
                                everyone the same way, because in
                                some people a person can quit 
                                drinking after a glass of wine.
                            In the alcoholic they can't control it they
                                just have to keep drinking.

                                 I remember one woman said she married
                            a man whose parents were alcoholics.
                            The parents whole life centered around alcohol.
                            The children lives centered in surviving
                            the dreadful circumstances. There 
                            was much abuse. The children
                            suffered so very much. Whenever they did
                            things at school, their parents weren't
                            there, they were drunk and didn't show
                            up. The children felt abandoned many
                            times and had to live with the horror of those 
                            drinking alcohol and not being able to 
                            control it.
                                The wife accounted to me how she
                            and the whole family was sick from living 
                            with the husband who drank. He had the 
                            disease of alcoholism. The wife did 
                            not drink. Their life centered around
                            the drinking. Her husband went to AA and quit
                            drinking. They lived a peaceable life for awhile.
                            She went to Alanon and the children were affected.
                            There is a lot of pain in an alcoholic family. A lot
                            of shame and blame many times because children
                            just learn to pass blame and shame on. Children
                            of alcoholics many times are filled with pain
                            from what seems to be robbed years of normal
                            life they experienced living in the alcoholic home.

                                At any rate, the woman's husband began
                            to drink again, maybe it wasn't the
                            first drink, but to an alcoholic, it
                            is my understanding, they can't quit
                            drinking, they just have to keep drinking,
                            they seem as if they can't control it.

                                Soon the woman's life became a nightmare
                            again. And she felt she had to leave her husband.
                            It began when he got together with his family
                            that had been drinking.
                                It is my understanding if you have
                            the disease of alcoholism, you just can't drink.
                                The nights of horror can be stories that
                            can go on and on from a child of an alcoholic.
                                Alcohol numbs the brain. Some people
                            actually black out. I remember another wife
                            who had two boys. Her husband played
                            golf most of the day, his work was mixed
                            with socializing and playing golf most of
                            the time. His deals were made on the golf
                            course. He ended up drinking from 
                            morning to night. He drank beer.
                            His wife put up with it for a lot of years,
                            she stayed with him raising the children.
                            She felt she and the family became sicker
                            from living with the alcoholic. What really
                            made her give up the marriage was when 
                            he had so many blackouts over and over
                            again he would wake up in many woman's
                            motel rooms and not know what he did 
                            or how he got there.
                                There are vacation spots of the 
                            country that cater to alcohol and 
                            everyone talks about alcohol all day. They 
                            emphasize drinking, heavy drinking, like you 
                            should drink, the whole vacation, all day.
                            Some people drink and don't even
                            know what they did all vacation.
                                Many people drink out of habit
                            and their bodies crave it. They won't
                            admit they have a problem.
                                Many spouses, put up with the
                            drinking not knowing what to do.
                            Many people don't even know better,
                            they hide the truth. I remember
                            a saying I heard "There is an elephant
                            in the living room, but nobody
                            talks about it."

                                Many people's lives have been so very
                            hurt because of alcoholic parents.
                            The poor children carry the pain of
                            the wounded parents, many shame
                            their own children. The patterns repeat
                            and repeat many times from generations
                            past.

                                To my understanding alcoholism is
                            a disease and the person who has
                            it can't drink a little bit, they
                            need to quit drinking, to take the
                            first drink, leads them into drinking
                            and the nightmare repeats.
                                Vacation areas can talk about
                            drinking, but they aren't showing you
                            the wounded lives that are left behind
                            from an alcoholic who gives into
                            drinking.

                                Lets face it, children copy their
                            parents. Parents who are alcoholics
                            can be sober and teach their children
                            about the dreaded effects of alcoholism
                            rather than hiding it.

                                Children of alcoholics are wounded.
                            There is a pattern in many alcoholic
                            homes and the pattern repeats and
                            repeats many times from generation 
                            to generation.

                                People that live in alcoholic homes
                            are wounded many times from the disease.

                                It isn't a pretty site to have vacations
                            ruined and Christmas Day ruined
                            and birthdays ruined because of
                            alcoholic parents.
                                The alcoholic should realize that they
                            are hurting the lives of others and
                            quit drinking. The alcoholic needs help.

                                Many times it almost seems impossible for 
                            them to quit because of the disease. Many
                            do not admit the problem to themselves.

                                There are so many behavior patterns
                            taught to children. They watch and
                            watch and watch.

                                Some think about drugs and
                            alcohol and uppers. You have
                            to ask yourself - have I lost
                            control? How am I affecting
                            the lives of others around me
                            because of addictive behaviors?
                            Does my life center around alcohol
                            or drugs or other addictive behaviors?

Galatians 5: 19-21

 When self–indulgence is at work the results are obvious: sexual vice, impurity, and sensuality, the worship of false gods and sorcery; antagonisms and rivalry, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels, disagreements, factions and malice, drunkenness, orgies and all such things...

January 30, 2002 message continues

Messenger:       Do I get up and spend my whole day
                            waiting for when I can reward myself
                            with alcohol and drink all night
                            until I go to bed, only to get up
                            and begin the cycle over again?
                            Or maybe I can go for three or
                            four days without the drug or
                            alcohol, but then something someone
                            says always gives me an excuse
                            to drink and I handle it with
                            alcohol or some other substance
                            that really changes my behavior
                            and affects those around me.

                            Alcoholism and drug abuse is
                            still a major problem in this
                            world and it affects marriages,
                            it affects children, it affects those
                            dealing with the alcoholic. It can
                            be at work or anywhere in the
                            world.

                            Some people live twenty years in a 
                            marriage that has affected their
                            lives and the lives of their children
                            so painfully and they never even
                            would admit that alcohol is a major
                            part of their problem, but their
                            lives are a nightmare.

                                There is something majorly wrong
                            when dad or mom lives to drink
                            and the whole family is forced to
                            hide the problem, because they
                            are supposed to "save face."

                                It isn't a pretty site when an
                            alcoholic who has been recovering
                            is coaxed by "friends" to just
                            take a little drink and they
                            are back "off the wagon" hurting
                            themselves and others.

                                I put here the Prayer for Union
                            with Jesus.

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

January 30, 2002 message continues

Messenger:     I beg that you do what Jesus asks
                            us to do and to pray the Shepherds
                            of Christ prayers for the priests,
                            the Church and the world.

                        A lot of people handle the pain
                            inside through methods to numb
                            the pain.

                        Sex was given to man as a gift
                            from God, but He gives us
                            the Commandments.

The Ten Commandments
 

1.   I, the Lord, am your God. You shall not have other gods besides me.

2.   You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.

3.   Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.

4.   Honor your father and your mother.

5.   You shall not kill.

6.   You shall not commit adultery.

7.   You shall not steal.

8.   You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

9.   You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.

10.   You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Mark 7: 21-23

For it is from within, from the heart, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.’

January 30, 2002 message continues

Messenger:     I can't go into it here—
                            all the sins that we can commit—
                                but man is in need of healing.

                        We need to pray for healing for the souls
                            of this earth.

                        So many are looking for relief in so many
                            different places.

                        We will only be happy, truly happy
                            and be complete with God.

                        We live in a desertland here below.

                        We want to be satisfied.

                        We have pain from many wounding
                            relationships.

                        People hurt us many times and
                            do not even know how deeply
                            they hurt us.

                        Some children suffer abandonment
                            from some parents and
                            abuse from some parents.
                            Children are suffering when
                            they are neglected by drug or
                            alcoholic dependent parents.

                        When someone drinks, they can
                            spend hours and hours drinking
                            and forget how long they were
                            even drinking.

                        God intends us to take care of ourselves.
                        We can't do everything that might
                            bring us pleasure.

                        We really need to pray for grace for
                            the world.

                         Is there a way you can help to spread
                            the Morning Offering prayer?

                        We must open our hearts and pray
                            that grace is released for
                            the souls of the earth to follow
                            the right path.

                        We pray so fervently for grace for the
                            priests, the Church and the world.

                        Jesus gave this promise to Fr. Carter
                            July 31, 1994 the feast of St. Ignatius.

~ July 31, 1994 ~

Words of Jesus to Members
of Shepherds of Christ Associates:

    "My beloved priest-companion, I intend to use the priestly newsletter, Shepherds of Christ, and the movement, Shepherds of Christ Associates, in a powerful way for the renewal of My Church and the world.

    "I will use the newsletter and the chapters of Shepherds of Christ Associates as a powerful instrument for spreading devotion to My Heart and My Mother's Heart.

    "I am calling many to become members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. To all of them I will give great blessings. I will use them as instruments to help bring about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. I will give great graces to the members of Shepherds of Christ Associates. I will call them to be deeply united to My Heart and to Mary's Heart as I lead them ever closer to My Father in the Holy Spirit."

- Message from Jesus to Father Edward J. Carter, S.J., Founder, as given on July 31, 1994,
feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola, Founder of the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits)

         

January 30, 2002 message continues

Messenger:     The people of the earth must
                            make the Sacred Heart of Jesus
                            the king and center of their
                            hearts.

                        This will bring us true happiness.

                        Why does Mary appear, She appears
                            to tell us this.

Isaiah 9: 1

                        The people that walked in darkness
                           have seen a great light;
                        on the inhabitants of a country
                           in shadow dark as death
                             light has blazed forth.

       

---

  

January 30, 2002 message continues

Messenger:     I loved Sunday's readings.

                        When the Mother of God appears
                            on a building for over five
                            years daily, you should
                            take notice.

                        This is serious business.

                        We are soldiers in His army.

                        Jesus came to the earth to set the
                            captives free.

                        There was lots of sin down here.

                        I love what Fr. Carter wrote in the 
                            Spirituality Handbook.

                              Father told me how important this
                            little book was to Jesus.
                        We need to study it and pray the
                            prayers.
                        We need to listen to Jesus.

                        Jesus has appeared on the building
                            in Clearwater, Florida.

February 5, 2001

January 30, 2002 message continues

Messenger:     This will soon be one year ago when
                            I took this picture.

                         This is how Jesus appeared one week
                            before Good Friday last year
                            April 5, 2001.

April 5, 2001

January 30, 2002 message continues

Messenger:     We have the handbook on tape with Fr. Carter reading
                            it. Jesus intended us to study the handbook.

Excerpt from the Handbook

An Overview of the Spiritual Life

    The Christian life is rooted in the great event of the Incarnation. We must consequently always focus our gaze upon Christ, realizing that everything the Father wishes to tell us has been summed up in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It only remains for us, then, to strive to understand with greater insight the inexhaustible truth of the Word Incarnate: "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days He has spoken to us by a Son, Whom He appointed the heir of all things, through Whom also He created the world." (Heb. 1: 1-2)⁷

    What was the condition of the human race at the time of Christ's coming? In some ways, people were much the same as we are today. There were those just being born into this world of human drama. There were those who, in death, were leaving it, some of whom had grasped but little of life's meaning. There were those who were healthy and vigorous. There were those who were sick and lame. Some especially felt the burdens, the grief, the suffering of the human condition. Others were ebullient and desired all the pleasures life could provide. There was some good being accomplished. Immorality, however, was rampant. What St. Paul tells us concerning the time that immediately followed Christ's existence certainly could also be applied to the time of His entrance into the world. It is, in short, an ugly picture that St. Paul depicts for us (Rom. 1: 22-32).

    Into such a depraved condition Jesus entered, with a full and generous Heart, to lead the human race from the depths of sinfulness to the vibrant richness of a new life in Himself. Through His enfleshment, this Christ became the focal point of all history. The authentic hopes and dreams of the human family, now so overshadowed by the ugliness of sin, came converging upon this Christ. He would gather them up in Himself, give them a new luster and brilliance and dynamism, and would lead the human family back to the Father in the Holy Spirit.

    Christ was radically to release us from the dominion of sin and elevate us to a new level of existence. This life Christ has given us is not a type of superstructure which is erected atop human existence. Although nature and grace are distinct, they do not lie side by side as separate entities. Rather, grace permeates nature. The Christian is one graced person. The Christian is one who has been raised up, caught up, into a deeper form of life in Christ Jesus. Nothing that is authentically human in the life of the Christian has been excluded from this new existence. Whatever is really human in the life of the Christian is meant to be an expression of the Christ-life. The simple but deep joys of family life, the wonderment at nature's beauty, the warm embrace of a mother for her child, the agony of crucial decision making, the success or frustration that is experienced in one's work, the joy of being well received by others, and the heartache of being misunderstood-all these experiences are intended to be caught up in Christ and made more deeply human because of Him.

    Jesus has come, then, not to destroy anything that is authentically human, but to perfect it by leading it to a graced fulfillment. This is the meaning of the Word's becoming flesh, the meaning of the Incarnation. The more God-like we become through Christ, the more human we become.

    We, through our incorporation into Christ which occurs at Baptism, are meant to relive the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In doing so, we are not only accomplishing our own salvation, but we are assisting in the salvation of others also. The Incarnation continues all the time. Christ, of course, is the one Who fundamentally continues the Incarnation. But He enlists our help. The world no longer sees Jesus, no longer is able to reach out and touch Him. We are the ones who now, in some way, make Christ visible and tangible. In union with the invisible, glorified Christ, and depending on Him as our source of life, we continue the Incarnation in its visible and temporal dimensions. This is our great privilege. This is our great responsibility.

    The Christian is initiated into the mystery of Christ, into his or her role in prolonging the Incarnation, through Baptism. In the words of St. Paul: "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by Baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." (Rom. 6: 3-4).

    It is not sufficient, however, that we be incorporated into Christ through Baptism. All forms of life require nourishment. So, too, our life in Christ must be continually nourished. How can we continually keep in contact with Christ? There are various ways. We contact Christ in a most special way through the liturgy, above all in the Eucharistic liturgy. Here the entire course of salvation history, as centered in Jesus, is sacramentally renewed and continued. Through our most special and most personal meeting with Jesus in the Mass, we are more deeply incorporated into Christ. Also, we should remember that all the sacraments make up part of the Church's liturgy.

    The reading of Scripture provides another special opportunity for meeting Jesus. This is true for both Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament prefigures the New Testament and leads to it. It is obvious, however, that we meet Christ especially in the pages of the New Testament. How true it is to say that not to be familiar with Scripture is not to know Jesus properly. We should resolve to read from Scripture daily.

    We also meet Jesus in our interaction with others. Everyone we meet, everyone we serve, is in the image of Jesus. We have to take the means to grow in this awareness. If I truly believe that everyone has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, how should I treat everyone?

    These, then, are some of the ways we keep in contact with Jesus. Common to the various ways of meeting Jesus is a certain degree of prayerful reflection. Our contact with Jesus in the liturgy, in Scripture, and in our interaction with others, and so forth, will not be all that it should be unless we are persons of prayer. The light and strength of prayer enables us to keep in contact with Jesus as we should.

    We live out our Christ-life in an atmosphere of love. Indeed, the life Jesus has given us is centered in love. It has its origins in the mysterious love of God: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (Jn 3: 16).

    Our new life in Jesus has arisen out of God's fathomless love. Christ, in His descent into human flesh, has established a milieu of love. The life He came to give can flourish only in the framework of love. Indeed, we can summarize the meaning of the Christian life by stating that it is our loving response to God's love. The pierced Heart of Jesus, this Heart which shed its last drop of blood in the greatest love for each one of us, is the symbol of God's tremendous love for us. Christ's Heart also calls us to respond by giving ourselves in love to God and neighbor. Yes, Jesus invites us to respond to God's love by giving ourselves in love to Him in an ever closer union. The more closely we are united to Him, the greater is our capacity to love God and neighbor. The more closely we are united with Jesus, the more closely He unites us to the Father in the Holy Spirit, with Mary our Mother at our side.

January 30, 2002 message continues

Messenger:     Here are the prayers of the Prayer Manual