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.


I appear my children on this former bank building in Florida, Our Lady Clothed with the Sun.

December 18, 2003

December 19th Holy Spirit Novena
Scripture selection is Day 3 Period II.
The Novena Rosary Mysteries for December 19th are the Sorrowful.

               

    

Schedule for December 19, 2003

       
4:00 a.m. - Mass

4:37 a.m. - Daily Message June 15, 2003

5:12 a.m. - Morning Offering and prayers

5:23 a.m. - Soothing Mary Songs

6:20 a.m. - 6:20 prayers led by Father Carter
                 Holy Spirit Novena
                 Shepherds of Christ Prayer Manual
                 Rosary

7:24 a.m. - Nursing Home May 5, 2003

7:54 a.m. - Songs

8:22 a.m. - Newsletter 2001 Issue 2 
                  (The Mass and the Sacraments)

11:00 a.m. - Songs from Jesus

11:53 a.m. - Live Rosary from January 13, 1997

1:22 p.m. - Sorrowful Rosary March 17, 1995
                    from the Red Rosary Book

2:14 p.m. - Songs from Jesus in Spanish - 
                    sung by Fernando

2:50 p.m. - Choose Life

3:52 p.m. - Songs

4:00 p.m. - Mass

4:37 p.m. - Children praying the 
                    Shepherds of Christ prayers

4:56 p.m. - Mysteries of Light July 10, 2003 #3

5:29 p.m. - Songs

6:20 p.m. - 6:20 prayers led by Father Carter
                 Holy Spirit Novena
                 Shepherds of Christ Prayer Manual
                 Rosary

7:24 p.m. - Glorious Rosary April 16, 1995
                    from the Red Rosary Book

8:08 p.m. - Tell My People read by Father Carter

9:39 p.m. - Instrumental Songs

10:14 p.m. - Consecration - July 31, 1999

11:46 p.m. - Joyful Rosary Aves

12:15 a.m. - Nursing Home #15

12:54 a.m. - Mary's Message

1:00 a.m. - The Spirituality of Fatima - 
                    read by Fr Carter & Rita Ring

1:43 a.m. - Songs from Jesus in Spanish - 
                    sung by Fernando

2:18 a.m. - Daily Messages July 29, 1998 to
                    August 10, 1998

3:50 a.m. - Songs

4:00 a.m. - Mass

           

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.

      
  
    

December 18, 2003

Rosary 6:20

Meditations Red Rosary Book

March 21, 1995

(these meditations follow at the end of the message)
 

  
 

    

A TRIBUTE TO FR CARTER

   

  

December 18, 2003 message continues

Messenger:          Today is the 3rd Anniversary

                                  of the death of our

                                  founder.

   

  

December 18, 2003 message continues

Messenger:          He did the 6:20 prayers every day

                                  then he died after

                                  the 6:20 prayers

                                  December 18, 2000 .

   

    
  

    
  

        

Given to Father Carter
on 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)

end of July 31, 1994 message given to Fr. Carter

     
  

October 13, 1994

The Birth of the Full Ministries
of the Shepherds of Christ

    "I wish to share with you part of a message which Jesus gave us on October 13, 1994. The message tells us about the expansion of the Shepherds of Christ movement:

    'My beloved priest-companion, today I come to you with another mission. I am asking you to establish Shepherds of Christ Ministries. At My request you have already begun the priestly newsletter, "Shepherds of Christ", and the prayer chapters, Shepherds of Christ Associates...

    'I am giving you this message on this day, the 77th Anniversary of the Great Apparition at Fatima, because of the close connection between the Shepherds of Christ movement and the Fatima message. The Fatima message is centered in devotion to My Heart and My Mother's Heart, especially in consecration to Our Hearts. Shepherds of Christ Ministries is also centered in devotion to Our Hearts. I will use Shepherds of Christ Ministries as a great instrument in helping to bring about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. When this occurs, My Church and the world will be experiencing the great era of peace promised by My Mother at Fatima.

    'Today, then, October 13, 1994, the 77th Anniversary of the Great Apparition at Fatima, marks the birth of Shepherds of Christ Ministries. I pour forth the great love of My Sacred Heart to all. I am Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock.'

end of October 13, 1994 message given to Fr. Carter

     
  

Apostles of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus

My dear fellow Associate Members,

Jesus is calling special apostles to join a new division of the Shepherds of Christ Movement. Here is a message from Jesus given to Father Carter:

    My beloved priest-companion, I am requesting that a new prayer movement be started under the direction of Shepherds of Christ Ministries. I am asking for volunteers who are willing to pray before the Blessed Sacrament for one hour, twice-weekly. Members of the Shepherds of Christ prayer chapters, as well as others, are to be invited to join this movement.

    These apostles are to pray for the intentions I am giving you. For part of the hour they are to use the prayers of the Shepherds of Christ Associates Handbook. They may spend the rest of the hour as they so choose.

    I will use this new prayer movement within My Shepherds of Christ Ministries in a powerful way to help in the renewal of My Church and the world. I will give great graces to those who join this movement. The name, Apostles of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, is to be given to this movement.

    I am inviting My beloved Rita Ring to be coordinator for this activity.

    I pour out the great love of My Sacred Heart to all. I am Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock.

    This is indeed a special calling for us to unite in one heart with His Eucharistic Heart and pray for the following intentions:

  1. For the spread of the devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary culminating in the reign of the Sacred Heart and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart.
  2. For the Pope.
  3. For all bishops of the world.
  4. For all priests.
  5. For all sisters and brothers in the religious life.
  6. For all members of the Shepherds of Christ Movement, and for the spread of this movement to the world.
  7. For all members of the Catholic Church.
  8. For all members of the human family.
  9. For all souls in purgatory.

end of Apostles of the Eucharistic Heart message

  

  

Picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Think Only of Jesus

February 9, 1994

Jesus: My dear child, I have told you to focus on Jesus when other distractions and thoughts penetrate your mind. It takes a trained will to turn your thoughts to thoughts of Me.

I am your spouse. I am your ardent lover. I am He (smelled roses) Who loves you abundantly. I have all you need. It is in this great love and the realization of it that you will be strengthened (scent of roses is strong). You will learn to focus on Me and Me alone.

It is in training your mind and trusting in God that you develop constant union with Me. This is your test, to put aside the thoughts the devil and world put into your mind and focus entirely on Jesus, your beloved spouse.

To be rooted in Me, to learn trust, to know all I want you to do, is to constantly turn your thoughts to Me. Nothing can shake your union with Me.

You learn in your trials. It is in your trials that you are taught your mightiest lessons. Behold Me battered, bruised, beaten, in total surrender for love of you. This is the picture I want you to carry in your heart. See Me and feel My intense love. I am as present to you at this moment as I was present on the day I died on the cross.

Focus! This is your focus, Jesus Christ! Constant union with Me in your thoughts. You have a big job to accomplish and you are only able as you are selflessly fixed to Me. I must be so close to you that you wander not one second in your thoughts from our union.

This, child, is strength. I can do all things. You proceed assuredly ahead with your heart only on Me. This gives you direction and confidence. Satan will constantly try to control your thoughts. If he can control them with guilt or worry or doubt He has won the battle.

You are so precious to Me! For not one moment do you want your focus off of Me. You must let Me possess your soul.

You will be tried. You will be tested. You will be persecuted. You will feel glory. You will act and want to worry about performance. You must not think of any of these things. If you operate from Me, you do as I will you to do. You do not question how it is. Know that I did it and be happy. Do not ever listen to those who wish to trip you up. You must be unattached to the glory or the persecution. They persecuted Me to My death but I remained steadfastly about My business. I am the Way, I am the Truth, I am the Life, I am your all. You operate for Me. You are going out on a limb. If your brothers accepted everything you were saying there would not be a need for your talking. You are speaking to be heard. You are speaking to doubting Thomases. You are speaking to many who have remained closed for a long time. You are speaking as My servant. You are speaking with My might. You are being powered by the hand of God. Hear Me, little ones. No one will hear if you hold back. It is in speaking the truth and letting Me possess your soul that you will be able to do My work.

Those who are responsible for removing school prayer spoke out and spoke out plenty. To take My prayer from the schools it took many brassy and outspoken people. You cannot hold back. I come to you, dripping with blood, and I ask you, will you do My work? Can I count on you? You are My hands, you are My tongue, you are one crying in the darkness. Make ready the way for Him. He comes as a baby into your midst but His might is far beyond all the power on earth. He is God, one, true, magnificent. He is all powerful and He, My children, is coming to you. Hear Him and harken to His cry to respond with His love to one another. He loves you and you must love each other. Listen to this message of love. Love is your arms. You are My soldiers.

R. I am not going to worry about what I say or do. I will turn my thoughts to Jesus but in order to do this I must be totally fixed in Him. I must be focused on Him and Him alone. My whole work must be to spread His love and His messages. Then I can proceed steadfastly ahead. The action cannot be from me, not for one second. To have total union with Him I must become entirely selfless and let Him possess me. I love Him so deeply and I am ever ready to tell others of His immense love for them. Shout it from the housetops! Proclaim from the roof that Jesus is Lord and is totally present and in our midst this very day. Alleluia.

This is His message, to follow Him. He died in total surrender to the Father's will. We must follow the will of the Father. He has a plan for us. We must do His work. It takes total surrender to act as He prompts us to act. We must become selfless and allow Him to act in us. When He is acting, hearts are changed, people are touched. When we are acting, it is our will we are using. This is ourselves, playing a safe game, as if He died on the cross with His arms closed. He died with His arms wide open. We must let Him work in us as He desires.

I will say, "Yes, Lord, I move steadfastly ahead to do Your work. You are He Who operates my soul." I know my might comes from Him Who is all powerful. I know my intentions are for love of You and You alone. I am Yours to use.

end of February 9, 1994

    

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

         

  

Shepherds of Christ Priestly Newsletter

Excerpt from 1998 - ISSUE THREE

The Holy Spirit in Our Lives

    Archbishop Luis M. Martinez tells us: The true Director of souls, the intimate Master, the soul of the spiritual life, is the Holy Spirit. Without Him, as we have already said, there is no sanctity. The perfection of a soul is measured by its docility to the movement of the Spirit, by the promptitude and fidelity with which its strings produce the divine notes of the song of love. A soul is perfectly holy when the Spirit of love has taken full possession of it, when the divine Artist finds no resistance or dissonance in the strings of that living lyre, but only celestial strains coming forth from it, limpid, ardent, and delightfully harmonized."10

Note:
10. Archbishop Lius M. Martinez, The Sanctifier, Pauline Books and media, p. 18.

end of excerpt 

  

  

Picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Holy Spirit

June 30, 1994

R. Dear Spirit, oh, Holy Spirit, how little I tell You of my love! You are indeed a Person. You are God. It is through Your gifts that I receive the knowledge of God, to know, love and serve Him more. Open me, oh, Spirit. Open this closed heart of mine and fill me with the fire of Your love. Impart to me the tongues of fire I need to do the work God wants me to do. Give me Your love so I can love God more than myself. Help me to surrender to You and let You live and dwell in my heart in such union!

Oh, Spirit of God, open my eyes so I can see more and more with Your gifts what I need to see to serve and to love You. Help me to love my brothers as You want me to, to know how to love as God wants me to.

Mary, you are the spouse of the Holy Spirit. It is through Him that Jesus was conceived in your womb. Draw me to your Spouse, the Holy Spirit, to greater union with Him. Help me to love the Holy Spirit more and more through your Immaculate Heart.

Help me to grow in my intimacy with You, oh, Holy Spirit. Help me to hear what You want to tell me. You are the love between the Father and the Son. Help me to know the fire of this love. I want to know more Your love for me. I want to love You more, to grow in deeper union with You.

Mary, help me to love the Holy Spirit through your Immaculate Heart.

Father, Son, Holy Spirit: three Persons in one God. Each Person to be loved individually, yet God to be loved as One, in union with Mary! Such burning in my heart for each Person, a burning to love God, three in one, through Mary's Immaculate Heart.

I could spend such joyful hours dwelling on this immense love. God is present and truly in our midst and in our hearts. I cannot love my brothers as God wants me to if I do not know God. When I am filled with the love of God, then I can love my brothers as He wants: "that you are willing to lay down your life for your brother." It takes that intimacy, that oneness, to know God, to love as God wants me to love.

To love you, my brother, I must constantly try to be more united with the one, true, magnificent God. Through Mary, I learn to love God more intimately.

Open me, oh, Spirit of the living God. Open my heart to love, to the fire of Your love. Enkindle it deep in my heart. The love of the one, triune God!

Oh, Mary, help me to love God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, through your Heart.

Praise God in His magnificence. Praise God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! Let us pour out our abundant love, through Mary, on Them. Teach us to love You, God. Help us, in our littleness, to give You love through Mary's sinless Heart. I can grow in my intimacy with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

end of June 30, 1994

 

  

Shepherds of Christ Priestly Newsletter

Excerpt from 1998 - ISSUE ONE

Life in Its Tenderness

     Life can be hard. Sometimes the harshness of life seems all too much for us. We would like to withdraw from the mainstream of the human condition, and hide, curled up, in a far away corner of human existence where this harshness of life cannot touch us. There, we think, we can feel so peaceful, and warm, and secure. But we know this is unrealistic thinking. We know such thoughts, pleasant as they may seem at times, are, in reality, flights of fantasy.

    And yet we do need alleviation from the harshness of life. We need means whereby its blows are softened, or compensated for. One of these means is to allow the tenderness of life to exercise its proper role. God intends this. He has planted the touch of tenderness in the work of His creation. We see many examples of this in the animal kingdom. A mother dog, for instance, playfully and tenderly paws her little pups.

    God has also made the human heart for tenderness. The human heart of Jesus is the perfect example of this. More than once Jesus displayed a sense of manly tenderness. We can picture Jesus saying: Jerusalem , Jerusalem , you that kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often have I longed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you refused! (Mt. 23:37)

    God has made us, then, to experience touches of tenderness. We need to open ourselves to this tenderness of life. If we do not, can we long endure the painful and brutal dimension of life? If there were not touches of tenderness, who could properly endure the death of loved ones, or sickness, or emotional distress, or loneliness?

    The tenderness of life assumes many diverse forms. There is the tenderness which unites man and wife—the touch and the look and the kiss of tenderness. There is the maternal touch of tenderness—and because of it the baby feels secure, wanted, loved. There is the warm, receptive smile of a friend. The gentle, encouraging word is also a form of tenderness. Husky athletes visiting a hospital for crippled children offer a touching scene also. Perhaps clumsily, yet very sincerely and tenderly, these hulking men stroke a young brow or caress the blond hair of a little disabled child. Food baskets delivered to the poor at Christmas are other reminders to us that the tender, loving concern of the human heart, in some degree at least, still looks out for the world’s disinherited. A mother, tearfully and joyfully embracing her son returned from war’s battlefields, offers a classic scene ranking high on the list of manifestations of life’s tenderness. Two little boys, one black and one white, hugging one another in their gleeful playfulness—a tender scene like this can do much to diminish the harsh blemish of prejudice.

    Nature also offers us signs of tenderness. There is the delicate touch of snowflakes against the cheek, or the gentle fall of a steady rain. Rolling meadows offer their soft bed of greenness for springtime picnics. And the soft breeze lies tender against the brow made warm by the summer’s sun.

    We can act falsely grown-up, and tell ourselves we don’t need the tenderness of life, saying that to be very much concerned with it is a sign of childishness or weakness. We can say all this—but that will not change the fact that God has delicately woven the touch of tenderness into the tapestry of human life. To be open properly to the tenderness of life is simply to recognize one of the dimensions of our humanity. It is to be more human and happier than we would otherwise be.

end of excerpt from the Newsletter

  

  

Picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Surrender

Excerpt from March 10, 1994

Jesus: I am so tired. You do not give but bits and pieces. You hold on to what you want and give Me some. I want your all. I want total surrender. I showed you how to surrender when I died on the cross. I am not asking for this. I am asking for you to do My will. You are so attached to pleasing people that you do not see the whole picture. I make My ways clear here. You do not listen. You do what you think is a good thing and you do not even come to Me. I want your all. I want surrender.

R. Love includes giving up what you don't want to give up. Love is saying, "Yes, Lord", even when you would rather do it your way. It is in your surrender and love of God that you teach mighty lessons to those around you. You teach by your being in love with Jesus. I love you, Jesus. I give of My bounty, not little bits and pieces I stingily let go of. Jesus, my Lord, my God, my All, how can I love You as I ought? Do I give My all, or do I say, "Oh, Lord, you can't mean that you want this," and hold on to what I want.

Do I hold on to people and don't even know it, or do I put You first, Lord, above all persons, places and things? I see how really attached I am to everything, things I do not even know I am attached to. It is easy to give lip service to surrender and tell God to possess our soul and make me selfless, but do I really mean it? This is what keeps us from increased union with Him! It is in total surrender, of living for love of Him and Him alone, that we are free. And what freedom! The bittersweetness to let go, to find freedom from all we hold on to! The things we hold on to most are what keeps us from our increased union with Him.

"Oh, not that, Lord! Oh, do I look at your crucifix and see You letting go?" You held not one thing back. Your arms open wide, nailed to the cross! Total surrender!

What does He ask of me today that I want to hold on to? Holding on to things stops my freedom. To be totally free, I must let go. I cannot hold on and let go at the same time. Freedom is obtained in letting go. See yourself with your arms tight, holding on to all you possess.

Jesus: I call you to surrender. Open your arms as I did when I died on the cross. Let all your sacred worldly possessions drop around you and you will experience the joy of being free, united only to Me, of letting go and knowing that I, God, tend to your every need. To My death on the cross I loved you and I love you this way this very day. Let go and give it all to Me. I will care for you far better than you could for yourself. I am God and I love you more than you can love yourself.

Jesus is dead, hanging on the cross, arms outstretched. His feet are not even on the ground. He is hanging by nails on a piece of wood. What do we hold on to? He wants us in midair in total surrender. Oh, little ones, how you squander your possessions. How you hold on to people. How you won't let go. See Me in total surrender.

I gave My very life for you. What do you hold on to, My little ones? Little bits and pieces you give to Me and you hold tight to your lives. They will be up in smoke and all that will remain will be the things of God. Not one pair of shoes do you take with you, only your love, given to God and others.

end of March 10, 1994

   

 

   

From a Lenten Homily, March 24, 2000

Live in the Moment

    Today’s Gospel in its story certainly points ahead to Jesus in His Passion and death. And as we read passages such as this during the Lenten season, we are reminded once again that the Church in her Liturgy of the Word gives us an opportunity to undergo a purification, an ever deepening cleansing of ourselves so that we may be a more fit instrument for receiving the great graces which are to be given to us at the time of the Resurrection memorial on Easter. And so all in all, Lent is a time of purification to prepare us for ever-greater gifts of the Lord. It’s a time of self-discipline, a time to renew our efforts to be self-disciplined in the service of the Lord. Self-discipline is an aspect of purification. And I suggest that one of the most difficult acts of self-discipline in the spiritual journey is to concentrate on the present moment. We have a very strong tendency to disregard the importance of the present moment by focusing in a wrong way on the past or in a wrong way on the future. There are proper occasions for thinking of the past and the future. For example, we have to learn from the past and we have to prepare for the future, but our great emphasis has to be upon the present. There is a Latin axiom which says, age quod agis, age quod agis, which means: do what you are doing, concentrate on the present. And of course we are familiar with that term in the history of spirituality: the sacrament of the present moment. And so the discipline of Lent certainly encourages us to include in a deeper self-discipline a greater determination to get as much as we can out of the present moment. People with a terminal illness have an opportunity as they prepare for death for increased prayer, contrition, love of God. However, some are taken very, very quickly. But for those who have the opportunity of knowing with some certainty the time of their death, I’m sure as they look back on their lives, they are saddened by the many times they did not use time and opportunities for the service of the Lord properly, and are overjoyed at those times in which they did use the present opportunity properly. A great means we have of living in the present properly is a greater focus upon our Lord. For if I have that awareness of the fact I am united with Jesus here and now, why should I be concerned so much about the future or the past? Yes, a great help in living in the present and deriving all the good we can from it for ourselves and others is an ever greater focus upon Jesus, because the more I focus upon Jesus and the more I live with Him in the present moment, the more I am satisfied with the present moment. And so let us in our Lenten activity resolve to grow in that self-discipline - which is very difficult at times - to really live in the presence with the fullness of our being as much as is possible, with the help of God’s grace. Now is the day of salvation. Now is the day of salvation.

end of Father Carter's homily

 

   

Excerpt from Newsletter 2000 Issue 2

Suffering: A Source of Life

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. (Jn 10:11-15)1

Yet ours were the sufferings he was bearing, ours the sorrows he was carrying, while we thought of him as someone being punished and struck with affliction by God; whereas he was being wounded for our rebellions, crushed because of our guilt; the punishment reconciling us fell on him, and we have been healed by his bruises. We had all gone astray like sheep, each taking his own way, and Yahweh brought the acts of rebellion of all of us to bear on him. Ill-treated and afflicted, he never opened his mouth, like a lamb led to the slaughter-house, like a sheep dumb before its shearers he never opened his mouth. (Is 53:4-7)

Truly the Good Shepherd had laid down His life for His sheep. That magnificent Heart, overflowing with love for His Father and all of us, had beat its last.

On the third day, Jesus rose: ‘Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple: are you going to raise it up again in three days?’ But he was speaking of the Temple that was his body, and when Jesus rose from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and what he had said. (Jn 2:19-22)

Yes, the Good Shepherd died and rose for our salvation. Behold, the paschal mystery of Jesus!

When we are baptized we are incorporated into Christ's paschal mystery of death and resurrection. St. Paul speaks of this marvelous union with Jesus: You cannot have forgotten that all of us, when we were baptised into Christ Jesus, were baptised into his death. So by our baptism into his death we were buried with him, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glorious power, we too should begin living a new life. (Rm 6:3-4)

Christ has structured the Christian life by the way He lived, died, and rose from the dead. It is obvious, then, as Paul tells us above that the pattern of death-resurrection must be at the heart of the Church’s life. Individually and collectively, we continually die in Christ so that we may continually rise in Him. Thus we pass over in a process of ongoing religious transition to a greater participation in Christ’s resurrection. It is true that our participation in Christ’s resurrection will reach its completion only in eternal life. Nevertheless, we begin the life of resurrection here upon earth, in the here and now of human life, in the midst of joy and pain, in the experience of success and failure, in the sweat of our brow, in the enjoyment of God’s gifts. As Christians, we should have a sense of dynamic growth concerning our here and now life of resurrection.

We cannot maintain the life of resurrection or grow in it without a willingness to suffer. This does not mean that we need to feel overwhelmed and heavily burdened in our lives. The greater portion of suffering for most Christians seems to be an accumulation of ordinary hardships, difficulties, and pains. At times, however, deep suffering, even suffering of agonizing proportions can enter into one’s life. Whether the sufferings one encounters are of the more ordinary variety or of the more rare and extreme type, Christians must convince themselves that to relate properly to the cross is to grow in resurrection, and growth in resurrection means we will also have an increased capacity to help give resurrection to others.

"Those who share in Christ’s sufferings have before their eyes the paschal mystery of the cross and resurrection, in which Christ descends, in a first phace, to the ultimate limits of human weakness and impotence: Indeed, he dies nailed to the cross. But if at the same time in this weakness there is accomplished his lifting up, confirmed by the power of the resurrection, then this means that the weaknesses of all human sufferings are capable of being infused with the same power of God manifested in Christ’s cross. In such a concept, to suffer means to become particularly susceptible, particularly open, to the working of the salvific powers of God offered to humanity in Christ. In him God has confirmed his desire to act especially through suffering, which is man’s weakness and emptiness of self." 2

"Instead of making us compassionate for others we can squander compassion on ourselves. Suffering is meant to enlarge our hearts, not shrink them. With suffering goes the grace of patience, peace, fortitude, penitence and love. All this can be missed if we make the mistake of turning in upon ourselves as the result of our trials.

"To the Jews the cross was a stumbling block, and to the gentiles foolishness. What is it to us? Often it can be an emblem merely, the significance of the symbol forgotten. The cross is something in which we are, by reason of our Christian inheritance, inextricably involved. Do we yield to it or harden ourselves against it? The cross is not just two planks fitted together on a certain day in the history of the world, and of all the relics which we venerate the most sacred, but a fact of our human experience which may or may not be sacred according to what we do about it." 3

"Apart from the consideration of the life of the Redeemer, certain undeniable facts of history justify this contention. The saints, in all ages, have been persons whose lot it was, generally speaking, to undergo greater trials and sufferings than others are called upon to endure. Yet they were habitually happy, buoyant and joyous human beings…

"The saints were not violently wresting words from their literal meaning when they proclaimed themselves happy. For the happiness they enjoyed was that which is proper to, and satisfying for man…

"God planned an unbroken life of happiness for man. The Fall modified, but did not prevent the realization of this plan. Suffering, but not unhappiness, becomes the condition of the earthly portion of men’s existence. God does not make unhappiness here to be the price to pay for happiness hereafter. To be happy, in the minds of all men, is to fare well, that is, to live excellently... The Saviour Himself suffered intensely, but He lived the highest life possible for men. He was, therefore, happy. He assured men that He could share His own blissful experience with them. It may appear paradoxical to associate happiness with the mental image of One Who is called the Man of Sorrows. But an analysis of the nature of happiness will show that it was fully realized in the earthly life of the Saviour…" 4

"He comes to it gladly! This is a strange thing, for the cross is a symbol of shame, and it is to be His deathbed. Already He sees the very shape of His death in the wide-spread arms. From this moment He will be inseparable from it, until He dies on it. He will labour and struggle under the weight of it… Yet Christ welcomes the cross. He embraces it. He takes it into His arms. He lays His beautiful hands on it tenderly, those strong hands of a carpenter that are so familiar with the touch of wood." 5

end of excerpt

    

  

ROSARY MEDITATIONS

March 21, 1995

THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES

This rosary was said by candlelight during the Tuesday Shepherds of Christ meeting. Jesus told Rita to pray this rosary in front of the Pieta statue in the back of the Rosary chapel. Rita was in an ecstatic state. Some present at the Rosary saw Jesus alive in the statue and blood running from His wounds. During the crucifixion His face was white. Mary was seen crying.
  


  

The Agony in the Garden

  1. R. Be there with Jesus in the Garden in the darkened night as He kneels. Before Him He sees all the sufferings He is about to undergo.
  2. R. His Heart is in such anguish to see before Him all the souls that will be lost despite all the sufferings He is about to experience.
  3. R. We tap ever so lightly at the door of His Heart. He is an endless, burning furnace of fire, on love for each one of us. He says, "You do not know even the smallest amount of the immensity of the love that I have for you. You must come into My Heart. It is in My Heart that I lavishly give you My great love."
  4. R. Think of the Heart of the Virgin Mary from the first moment of conception and how she carried the child within her womb, how she watched Him at play. All through His life Mary was there, to His death on the cross. How her Heart knows the Heart of Jesus! She stood under the cross. She held His lifeless body in her arms under the cross. It is through the Heart of Mary that we will more tenderly embrace the love that Jesus has for us. See Him as He kneels in the Garden, His Heart in such anguish. His sweat became as great drops of blood upon the ground. He knew all the souls that would reject this immense love that He has, who would not even care, who would go about their days without even thinking of Him. Yet He longs to be so united to each one of us so that every action we perform is an acton we do in oneness with Him. Jesus' Heart was in such anguish that His sweat became as great drops of blood on the ground.
  5. R. Think of the mystery all through this rosary! Think of the mystery! There is a mystery when there is blood! The blood comes from deep within. Think of the mystery that Jesus sweat blood! He was in such anguish!
  6. R. He tenderly calls to us day after day. Do we hear His gentle call, deep within our hearts, to be joined ever closer to Him? How many times do we reject the love that Jesus outpours to us because we are not sensitive to the little call that He makes to us in our hearts. He suffered in the Garden for all the souls He loved so dearly, some of whom would reject Him totally.
  7. R. He suffered in the Garden for all of our sins, for our haughtiness and our pride, for our lack of compassion and mercy for our brothers. Yet He gives to us unconditional love and asks us to love one another. In the Our Father we say, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those…" He suffered for all the times that we say no to forgiving our brothers. We forgive some but not all and think it is okay. Jesus loves each and every soul.
  8. Jesus: Come to My open Heart through My pierced side. Look at the wound in My side. Suffering helps you reach My immense love. Enter My Heart through My pierced side and fall deeply into the abyss of My great love.
  9. Jesus: Do not let your hearts turn cold! You must come to Me with hearts that are soft and ready to love. Put aside all the hardness in your hearts, for a soul that is haughty and angry cannot unite with My love. I long to be in the deepest union with each one of you present. So deep! You cannot fathom the great love that I have for you. You must clean your hearts of all the debris. Sweep away the unforgiveness and come into My Heart through My pierced side.
  10. Jesus: My Heart was in such agony that I sweat blood. Do you know, even a small amount, the immense love that I have for you? I was born a helpless baby in the town of Bethlehem and I gave My flesh and My blood for love of you.

Song between decades: I come to you with greatest love, I am your loving Savior. I am your God, I died for you. I come to you this day.

   


  

Jesus Is Scourged at the Pillar

  1. R. Think of Jesus! Visualize Him, totally present, His body here! See Him as they lead Him away. They poke at Him! They pull His hair! See this so clearly in your mind. A person named Jesus being led away!
  2. R. What a sight for our eyes if we truly saw what happened there, if we saw them with such violence and anger tie Jesus, our friend, to the pillar and then take out weapons and beat His flesh!
  3. R. This is your best friend, Jesus Christ. They have tied Him to a pillar and they are beating Him with instruments that are tearing His flesh. The blood is pouring down His body!
  4. R. They shout at Him and they holler angry and ugly remarks. He does not respond, only grunts as they hit Him harder. To their own exhaustion they beat Jesus. Watch this!
    Jesus: It is in your heart that you will know Me, My dear children. You must visualize more and more the lives of Myself and My Mother. As you go through these mysteries of the rosary, put yourself there. See as if you were present. Experience what I went through. It is in knowing Our lives that you will know the great love that We have for you.
  5. R. He stood in a puddle of His own blood!
  6. R. This is my beaten friend Jesus! He shed His blood for love of me so that I may be with Him forever in heaven.
  7. R. Hear the blows that they give to Jesus! Listen! Hear the blows! These are the blows that He suffered for love of each one of us. He suffered those blows for each and every soul, the poor beggar, the person that is a little different, the person that is not as rich as I am, the person that is somewhat short, the person that I think looks strange. Jesus stood at the pillar and was beaten for each one of these persons. These are my brothers! When Jesus came to the world, He made us brothers with God!
  8. R. If I stood at the pillar next to you, Jesus, and they beat my back and tore my flesh, if I did it for someone here and they did not even think about me, how my heart would ache. But you are God! You, who are infinite Love, suffered this brutal persecution for love of each one of us. How did Your Heart ache, Jesus, when you suffered your bloodied flesh and knew that people would not even think about You?
  9. R. And what do you ask of me, Jesus? To love God and love my brother! To become more closely united to You as You outpour divine love and divine life!
  10. Jesus: I call you to purity. I call you to open up your hearts, to rid yourselves of anything that is impure. I long to be closely united with each of you. People are watching you! If you call yourselves Christians, then you must act as I would act! Do you preach the Gospel in your actions? Is your way the way of love? I came to show you the way. Will you follow Me? Will you love all your brothers as I ask you to do? People are watching you, My faithful Christians, apostles that I send into this world to spread the love of My Most Sacred Heart. You are being watched and are teaching so many lessons through your example. I call out to you today to rid yourselves of all impurities in your heart. Then you will receive a reward that far surpasses anything you can gain on this earth. You will receive closer union with My Most Sacred Heart. I love you! I love you! I love you! Moment by moment, second by second, I am there to provide you with everything you need. You must surrender and trust in Me!

Song between decades: I come to you with greatest love…

  


  

Jesus Is Crowned with a Crown of Thorns

  1. Jesus: They tore My flesh! They beat My body! I shed My blood! They pounded into My head a sharp crown of thorns that pierced My head and punctured My forehead!
  2. R. Jesus, You bled for love of each one of us. Help us to realize during this Lenten season the immensity of Your love as we meditate on Your wounds, the wounds to Your most precious Head, the wounds that you suffered to Your hands and feet. How would it be to rub our hands across Jesus' head, to touch the puncture wounds from the thorns! He truly suffered this for love of us!
  3. R. The thorns were pounded into His head and He bled down His face and into His hair. Think of His hair covered with blood from the thorns that punctured His head!
  4. R. Let me kiss your wounds, dear Jesus, the wounds that you suffered for love of me! Let me enter into the wound in Your side. The more deeply I enter into this wound, the more I enter the abyss of the endless love of Your Most Sacred Heart.
  5. Song: Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne. His regal scepter knows no bounds, all kingdoms are His own. All Christians come and sing to Him Who died for thee. And hail Him as our Savior King for all eternity.
  6. R. Jesus is God! He is the King of all Kings! God took on a human nature and came into this world a helpless baby. Now He is spit upon and taunted, He is hollered at and He sits on a mockery of a throne.
  7. R. We look for love in so many places when, minute by minute, second by second, Jesus is inside of our hearts telling us how He is truly there and loving us.
  8. R. If you put your fingers into the nail marks in His hands and into His side, would you believe that, minute by minute, second by second, He loves you so much, and that He is God and will provide you with all your needs?
  9. Song: Only this I want, but to know the Lord. And to bear His cross and to wear the crown He wore.
  10. R. Minute by minute, second by second, hear the soft, gentle voice within your heart say, "I love you, I love you, I love you. It is in realizing this immense love that there is love to give to others.

Song between decades: I come to you with greatest love…

  


  

Jesus Carries His Cross to Calvary

  1. R. He came to serve. He came into the world in such poverty in a stable in the town of Bethlehem. He left this world hanging on a cross. Both were bare wood! He came to show us the way! Meditate on this mystery as He carries His cross. The Son of God! He took on human form for love of us. He came to show us how to love.
  2. Song: We were made for service to care for each other. We were made to love each sister and brother. With love that will last our whole life through…
  3. R. Jesus came and He loved and He preached the Gospel. His way was love. He always acted in love and they condemned Him to death. When we preach the Gospel, when we act from love, why do we expect people to treat us differently when they treated Jesus this way? But He came and carried His cross to show us His way and His way is the way of love. He promises to us an everlasting reward far beyond our comprehension. Look at the Virgin Mary and the Pieta. Look at her face and see through her eyes as she watches her Son, with the cross on His back, covered with blood and wounds. This is her beloved Son! Look at her face. She comes today to ask us to go into this world and to spread His love. She asks us to open up our hearts and put aside any hatred or anger that we have, for if we do not spread this love, who will spread love into this world? Open up your hearts! Be not hardened but be as Jesus has asked us to be, with hearts that are filled with love, going into battle in a world that has forgotten God. He calls us this day to be His soldiers, to spread the fire of His love throughout the world. You may be persecuted, you may be spit on. Whatever happens, remember what they did to Him. His way is love and His reward is everlasting life.
  4. R. These are rosaries from the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. See their eyes as they gaze at one another on the way to Calvary. Look at her face here! The horror, on top of more horror, to behold her beloved Son in such anguish! She asks us to see through her eyes the suffering that her Son endured for love of us. The more we realize the love He has, the more we will go into the world and take this love to others. We are soldiers of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
  5. R. He wants to become one with us so that it is no longer we who operate, but it is He Who operates in us, so that our every action is an action that we perform with Jesus, and the might is the might of the Almighty God within us! In order to unite this way with Him, we must be ever pure. Love unites only with love! If our hearts are filled with hatred and anger for any person, we cannot be one with Him. He longs for this love. He longs to be one in us! He wants to penetrate our souls with the fire of His love. Pray to the Spirit so that the Spirit moves inside of you.
  6. R. See the horror in Mary's face and in her eyes. How would your face look if you were looking at your Son, covered with blood and wounded, as He fell under the cross? How would your face look? How would your heart be? It is through Mary's pure and sinless Heart that she will take us deeper and deeper into the Heart of Jesus. There is such oneness between these two Hearts, such connection between them! Look at the Pieta and see her, see her face, as she watches the Passion of her Son!
  7. R. They hit Him on the head and the blood ran from the corners of His mouth. His face was covered with blood and Veronica wiped His face.
  8. Jesus: My children, My children! I do not tell you things to be taken lightly. In My Heart I am longing for such union with you but you do not hear. You close your eyes and plug up your ears. You do not listen time and time again. I have come to you this evening and I have asked you to pray in front of this statue. I ask you to meditate on this. You do not know what I am saying to you. You take these words lightly. This world is in pain. You do not know the sufferings that are about to befall you. I ask you to listen, to listen to Me! I am truly Jesus Christ and I come to you this day and I beg you to spend your waking hours spreading My love throughout this world! I beg you to help save souls from damnation. Your actions are so important to Me and the plan of the Father. You are here because you are called and you have answered this call. Each and every one of you present I send into this world as warriors to spread My love. You listen and you take it so lightly but you will know that I am truly calling you for this world is in such sin and pain. To the little work that you do I will apply My grace to lead souls to My Most Sacred Heart. Surrender and become one in Me for I truly am calling you to the highest union for it is in this union that I can operate through you. As long as you resist My call there are many souls that will not be touched. I beg you to take Me seriously. Meditate on this statue (the Pieta). Meditate on this, My children.
  9. Jesus: I carried My cross on My back And I fell under the cross. See Me as I crawl with the cross on My back.
  10. Jesus: This is the love that I have for each and every soul. The bodily agonies I experienced were nothing compared to the agonies I experienced in My Heart for the souls that would be condemned to eternal damnation despite My sufferings. I beg you this day to answer My call.

Song between decades: I come to you with greatest love…

  


  

Jesus Is Crucified and Dies on the Cross

  1. R. He hung for three agonizing hours against the darkened sky. He gave His flesh! He gave His blood! He gave the last beat of His Heart, the last breath in His body! Covered with blood and weakened, He hung on the cross!
  2. Jesus: I speak and so many do not listen! I am crying out to you to listen to My voice here, to read My letters for they are truly letters of love that I give to each one of you. It is in reading these letters that you will know more and more the immensity of the love that I have for you. You are My soldiers that I send into the sick world with the medicine to heal so many hearts. You are the chosen ones I have called here to this Center. Please, I beg you, take My call seriously, for I am truly Jesus and I speak to you this day. So many take My plea lightly. I beg! I plead! I ask Rita to talk more and more about My pleadings. You do not know how I am longing for you to be so close. How I want you to surrender and let Me operate in your hearts! You tap ever so lightly when there is an ocean of My love that I want to give to you. Surrender your hearts and read My letters of love for it is in these letters that you will know My love more and more.
  3. Jesus: I give Myself to you at every Eucharist and you take it so lightly! Take Me seriously, My children, for I am truly with you with much love! How it wounds My aching Heart that you do not listen.
  4. Jesus: I am sending you into battle in a world that is godless, that has forgotten God, but with your hearts filled with My love. Will you answer My call?
  5. Jesus: Surrender! Surrender! Surrender to the God Who gave His life for you!
  6. Jesus: As Mary walked by My side on the way to Calvary, as she stood under the cross, she is by your side in all your sufferings. You are never alone.
  7. Jesus: I give you My very own Mother!
  8. R. As she held His little baby body, she now holds His lifeless body in her arms under the cross.
  9. Song: At the cross her station keeping stood the mournful Mother weeping. Close to Jesus to the last.
  10. R.This rosary is from the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, so united, one with each other. To love Jesus is to love Mary. To love Mary is to love Jesus.

Song after last decade: I come to you with greatest love…

          

      

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