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 11 p.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.

March 22, 2002

March 23rd Holy Spirit Novena
Scripture selection is Day 7 Period I.
The Novena Rosary Mystery
for March 23rd is Joyful.

               

Messenger:            Here are the prayer cards in the
                       
back of the Priestly Newsletter Book II

   

                Prayer for Priests
   "Lord Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the Flock, we pray that in the great love and mercy of Your Sacred Heart You attend to all the needs of Your priest-shepherds throughout the world. We ask that You draw back to Your Heart all those priests who have seriously strayed from Your path, that You rekindle the desire for holiness in the hearts of those priests who have become lukewarm, and that You continue to give Your fervent priests the desire for the highest holiness. United with Your Heart and Mary’s Heart, we ask that You take this petition to Your heavenly Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen."

      

   

  

  

    

              

                         The Priests are calling in—asking for
                    prayer cards. Cardinals writing too.

                        We finally have a chance 
                    to get the pictures of the 
                    Sacred Heart and Immacu
late
                    Heart in the hands of the
                    priests and in the Churches
                    but we have none.

                        B&M went out of business!!

                     The Printer that printed the
                        Priestly Newsletter Book II
                        is equipped for this, but
                        we desperately need
                        funds for this.

                    We have the perfect opportunity
                        to give them to the
                        priests requesting this.

                    Many priests are so excited
                        about the Priestly Newsletter
                        Book II.

                    Oh Please keep praying
                        WE NEED FUNDS FOR
                        PRAYER CARDS—
                        we have no PRAYER
                        BEFORE THE HOLY
                        SACRIFICE OF THE
                        MASS, very few
                        PRAYER FOR UNION—
                        no PRAYER FOR PRIESTS
                   CAN YOU HELP US or
                        know someone who can
                        help us with funds for
                        this purpose.
                    Give them examples
                        of the cards and
                        tell them they are for
                        priests and Churches.

                    Please pray for this.

                    Please help us if you can.

                    Pray for John, me, Emily,
                        Doris and Joe.       

                    The Mass Book II is listed
                        in the back of the
                        Priestly Newsletter
                        Book II and many
                        priests are calling
                        for this.

                    It is ready we need
                        funds to print it.
                        Father Carter helped
                        to prepare it.

                    Can you help us print
                        the Mass Book II.

                    Pray for Ron and Ron and
                        Don and our printer.

                    Pray for picture machine
                        and scanner.

                    Pray for the ladies in Texas.

     


    

 

 

Mass Book 2

Through Him, With Him and In Him

 

 

Rita Ring

  

 

 
Shepherds of Christ Publications
Madison, Indiana

  

  

  

Acknowledgements

The editor acknowledges the use of certain book excerpts as follows:

Scripture texts used in this work are taken from The New Jerusalem Bible, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1990.

    

Copyright © 2002 Shepherds of Christ Publications

First Printing: 2002

  

     

 

This is the second of a series of books.

 

  

   

Dedication

    I dedicate this book to my beloved Jesus, to my Mother Mary, and to my Spiritual Director Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J.
    This is a labor of love. I present this book to My loving Father in the Holy Spirit, through the pierced Heart of Jesus with My Mother Mary at my side.

    

    

Preface

    This is not a complete study on the Mass. I am not a theologian. I am accounting here my personal experiences on my journey into the Heart of Jesus. I am not an English major. I majored in math and taught this subject in high school and mostly in college. I am a house-wife and mother of four. I have been married since 1969. I write this book because I want to share my love for my beloved Jesus. I love the Eucharist and the Mass so much. I want to write about that. I am accounting my experiences in the Mass and before the tabernacle. Many experiences in this particular book were received during Holy Mass.

    Under the guidance of my spiritual director, Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J., I have accounted my experiences here. He is a major part of all of my enlightenments. I am most grateful for all his gifts and time he has shared with me. This book, which contains many of my journal experiences, is a joint effort of his guidance and my accounting these experiences.

    This book, I hope, will lead you more deeply into the Sacred Heart of Jesus through Mary, our Mother, through her pure and Immaculate Heart. I hope it will help you to love God more and more through the Mass and the Eucharist. I love you. Rita.

   

  

To The Reader

    As Father Carter wrote the Newsletters in the Newsletter Book II, I attended the daily Mass he celebrated and usually another Mass sometimes with my son, sometimes by myself. These writings were basically written then and the year of his death.

    I had very many deep mystical experiences at Mass. Father Carter was a very big help on my spiritual journey. He carefully helped me prepare all of the materials in this book.

    If you read the Newsletters in Book II, you may see a common thread in my writings and his.

    Today I live to grow in a deeper, spousal love union with God. I long for God, to be so deeply united with Him forever in heaven.

    I know Jesus is always with me, loving me and wanting me to love and adore Him, to serve Him and promote His Kingdom.

    My life is lived in this deeper union with my beloved God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

    Naturally Fr. Carter is not here to discern my writing To The Reader but he did discern all others in this book. Oh I have written daily of my experiences at Mass and my continual growth in my union with God.

    I know each Person of the Trinity so deeply.

    Fr. Carter wrote a very important writing on Grace, 33 years before the end of the second millennium, 1967. That writing helped to deepen my love union with God and all others. This writing of Fr. Carter on Grace and his writing on the Mass from his book Response in Christ is at the end of this book.

    Oh I feel I live that section from the Grace writing so deeply Relationship with the Members of the Church, I love this Grace writing so much.

    At Mass I am so one with God, so united to heaven and earth.

    I will include a short excerpt from a current writing.

    Things have changed for me since Fr. Carter died. I feel so much more deeply united to the souls in heaven and on earth.

    I am united with Fr. Carter in a very deep way pleading and begging for this mission.

    Fr. Carter told us in the Movement, "Our Hearts are merged" we all pray united so deeply as a body for our beloved priests, the Church and the world.

    There are more books on the Mass I have already written about my deeper union with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the souls of heaven and earth and purgatory.

    Also there is a book prepared by Father Carter about our relationship with Mary.

    Oh it is a journey here below and I truly live for deeper union with God and all others and to be more perfected in His love, living as a deep intercessor praying for the priests, the Church and the world.

    The writing on Grace has been recorded by a tremendously wonderful Catholic Priest who has been on the radio for 20 years. It is on CD and audio tape.

    Also the writing on the Mass by Fr. Carter has been recorded by this special priest, Fr. Mike Paraniuk.

    Fr. Mike has celebrated a very powerful Mass for elderly and homebound. This is on video. It is only 30 minutes long.

   Fr. Mike speaks about the Morning Offering on this Mass video.

   Fr. Mike has recorded all 15 decades of the rosary.

   Fr. Carter has so many tapes of the Newsletters.

   We pray daily the prayers for the priests, the Church and the world, we unite and pray at 6:20. Fr. Carter prayed daily at 6:20. These he recorded on tape and disc and are available for you.

   Included are pictures of Fr. Carter celebrating Mass and an excerpt from the Newsletter 2001 #1 as he directed me to write after his death. This too is on disc and tape.

     

                                                                       
 
                                                                                                         
 
                                                                  
 
                      
 
                          
 
                                                                    
 
 
 
                                                                                                        
 
                                                                      
 

   

       

March 15, 2002 After Mass

                            I just wanted to be alone with Him after communion. I wanted
                        intimacy with Him. I can go so deeply in an ecstatic experience
                        with Him. I want to be in such deep union with Him in my heart. When 
                        I am one with Him I feel so one with the souls of the earth.
                        I feel one with those in the Church. I feel one with His chosen priests.
                        I long for the deep oneness amongst the people of the earth, as
                        He desires. My oneness with Him is always in that deep connection
                        with the Universal Church. My oneness reaches such heights in these
                        ecstatic experiences where I am so one with the Father, knowing
                        Him so intimately as His little child and loving so deeply all souls,
                        wanting so deeply in my soul the Father's will for all souls of
                        the earth.
                            My very deep connection is in such oneness with God, Father,
                        Son and Holy Spirit, I exist so deeply in God in the Mass, I want
                        what He wants, my prayer so deep within me is for the will
                        of God on this earth.
                            And I cannot help but constantly, incessantly tell God of my
                        deep, deep, burning love for Him at Mass. I am so united to God, I
                        know each Person so deeply and so intimately, the depth of this
                        union so far beyond this pen and paper. It is in knowing each
                        Person so intimately, in loving God more deeply every moment
                        of my existence here on earth that I relate so deeply with Him in
                        this Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
                            My depth of union and my knowledge of the Father ever deepens
                        my desire for completeness with my God is the thirsting
                        within my soul.
                            My relationship with Jesus, my beloved Spouse, my Divine Bridegroom
                        takes on a deeper meaning every moment of my existence. My journey
                        into the spiritual life ever deepens. The flooding love within my
                        soul for God in the Mass I cannot ever explain. The Holy Spirit
                        fills my soul with the deepened presence of God's love.

  

    

March 15, 2002 continues

                        I am one in God. I want a deeper fullness in His divine Life. 
                        I want completeness in Him. My heart longs for the beatific vision.
                            My God! I love Him so much. My deep love I cannot express.
                            I am taken into ecstasy in Him. My burning desire
                        for God in the Eucharist is so strong, I want Him, I 
                        love Him, I want His Body and His Blood. I want this
                        intimacy with my God.
                            My soul cries for mercy for all the souls of the earth -
                        "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world 
                            have mercy on us."
                        "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world
                            have mercy on us."
                        "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world
                            grant us peace."

                        At the beginning of Mass, we beg for grace to be released,
                            with all my heart I cry to our God.
                        Oh my tongue is parched and my soul longing for God.
                        I cry the day long for grace to be outpoured on the hungry
                            souls.
                        I feel so much depth in my heart when I communicate with Him.
                        I pray for the souls of the earth and our priests and our
                            Church and I know He hears me.
                        This is the promise God gave to Fr. Carter for those who pray
                            the Shepherds of Christ prayers.

      

13th Promise

Jesus speaks: "...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."

— July 31, 1994

     

March 15, 2002 continues

                        To those Churches who pray these prayers Jesus has given
                            so many promises.
                        Click on message November 4

                         Look at this my faithful ones.
                        Do you think God would give such a sign for no reason.

  

July 5, 2000

   

March 15, 2002 continues

                            And He picked a priest in good standing, author of all
                                these books on the spiritual life to carry the
                                message.
                            It is intimacy we all crave and
                                God wants this intimacy with men.
                            This is the message.
                            The sickness is this: many seek intimacy, they
                                crave this, but they look in the wrong places.
                            Jesus promised Fr. Carter greater intimacy to those
                                        who pray the prayers.
                            This is about this ever deeper union with the Father, Son
                                and Holy Spirit our souls crave.
                            The following writing was written by Fr. Carter in 1967-
                                33 years before the end of the second millennium.
                            This has been translated in 3 other languages early in
                                the seventies.

end of excerpt from March 15, 2002

               

Excerpt from the Newsletter 2001 #1
  

I Lay Down My Life for My Sheep

    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

Yes, the Good Shepherd laid down His life for us. And it is in this that we must lay down our lives daily in the Morning Offering, offering all we do as a sacrifice united to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and great grace will be released for souls. We can identify with Him in this that we offer everything we do in trying to please Him and serve Him as a sacrifice united to the Mass. The more we tell others to pray the Morning Offering, the more people will lay down their lives for souls and the more grace will be released for the troubled hearts.

Jesus’ Heart is pure and holy, our hearts are tainted.

Mary’s Heart is pure and sinless. The more we unite our offering with Their pure and holy Hearts, the more pure our offering and the greatest grace will be released for the troubled souls.

Souls, it is souls He came to save. Do we want to identify with our beloved Savior? Then we must not miss an opportunity to lay down our lives as a sacrifice for His precious souls.

Oh, how His Heart burned with love for the souls when He mounted the cross, covered with Blood and gave Himself as a sacrifice for souls.

Yes, the Good Shepherd laid down His life for His flock and we as His faithful shepherds must lay down our lives for His flock today.

There are millions of elderly that cry out daily, "Oh, God why am I here today?" In giving them a small card as simple as the ones that follow, they can offer their lives for souls which can help bring down great grace for the souls of this earth.

Say daily

God, I give you my life in union
with the Mass as an offering for
the souls, the Church and the
priests

Help us!

      



Your life is so important for souls, 
you can help bring down great grace.

 

      

Morning Offering

My dear Father, I offer you this day all my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings in union with Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in the Holy Spirit. 

I unite with our Mother Mary, all the angels and saints, and all the souls in purgatory to pray to the Father for myself, for each member of my family, for my friends, for all people throughout the world, for all the souls in purgatory, and for all other intentions of the sacred Heart.

I love You, Jesus, and I give You my heart. I love you, Mary, and I give you my heart. Amen.

Imprimatur: Most Reverend Daniel E. Pilarczyk, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, January 22, 1997. (applies to this prayer only)

  
Offering Our Lives to God

Written May 29, 2000:

When we come to Mass we make an offering of ourselves, all our sorrows, wounds, joys, our complete selves. We see our lives and we put ourselves in Mary’s Heart, ask to make the offering in greatest purity. In His Heart we offer the sacrifice IN HIM and WITH HIM.

We become one with Him as deeply as possible. We dwell in His most perfect Heart offering sacrifice to God for our sins and the sins of men. Our whole being is very active in the Mass as we realize more the power of this Sacrifice most worthily offered. We want to give ourselves as completely as possible, our past, all of ourselves, now become so one in the moment of sacrifice as we become one in Him pleading and begging to our God for purification, for help, for love of Him and all others. We give thanksgiving, worship and honor to Him, our whole being given as a sacrifice on the altar IN His pure and holy Heart. Being in the Immaculate Heart of our Mother, we offer sacrifice for the Church and the world.

We offer every precious moment of our lives, united to the Masses around the world, being one in Jesus. Every moment is a moment of sacrifice united to God. This is what we do in the Morning Offering.

The pages of the book of our lives are being written. These moments of our lives are so dear to God, for we offer our lives as a sacrifice for souls.

Are we spending the precious moments of our lives offering sacrifice to God for His honor and glory and giving our lives as a sacrifice for souls?

Write a short page every day or the following day, similar to an examination of conscience, seeing the good (so much good we accomplish we overlook, so many precious moments of joy we forget) and the times we were troubled.

The devil tries to keep us focused on the problems.

We are His shepherds, helping to shepherd His flock, there is so much good we can accomplish every day.

We should write a short page every day, date it, read over it when we are troubled, keep it in a book, see how many joyful moments we have every day.

Give them to God as a bouquet of flowers placed at His feet on that last day, the pages of the life of our book.

We will want all pages to be done in love, all for the honor and glory of God.


Through Him, With Him
and In Him

We should pray the prayer from Jesus before His bitter passion.

I pray not only for these but also for those who through their teaching will come to believe in me. May they all be one, just as, Father, you are in me and I am in you, so that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me. I have given them the glory you gave to me, that they may be one as we are one. With me in them and you in me, may they be so perfected in unity that the world will recognise that it was you who sent me and that you have loved them as you have loved me.

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they may always see my glory which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Father, Upright One, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me. I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them. (Jn 17: 20-26)

Jesus’ Heart is on fire for love of us.

God the Father loves us so much, give Him the moments of our lives as a sacrifice.

Peace, Love, Oneness – One Body In Him.

Our prayers are answered. We must pray from the depth of our hearts. Giving ourselves in consecration to Jesus, consecrating our hearts to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Offer sacrifice.

Put the flowers as gifts beneath the throne of God.

Plead and beg for souls.

Offer sacrifice. Be united as a body.

And the bell tolls.

Do you hear the bells toll?

The moments of our lives we cannot live again.

We are here to love and honor God and to serve Him, to prepare ourselves for the life hereafter and to help others get there.

He is the Son of God.

He showed us how to be children of the Father.

He laid down His life for His flock.

He is the Good Shepherd.

We lay down our lives in our Morning Offering.

We lay down our lives and unite to the perfect Sacrifice of the Savior.

The moments go by with such swiftness and now here is the day, the kids are grown, the grandchildren have come, and we still say, "TOMORROW I will be about my union with God."

There are so many precious moments that could have been united as a sacrifice for special grace for ourselves and others.

When He was here on earth, He merited grace by His life and death.

We need to tap into this grace our Divine Savior came to earth to gain for us.

We must tap into this sacrifice.

The moments of our lives tick away. There are millions of souls in nursing homes that could be offering up their lives for souls. We have to unite ourselves and reach them, all the souls that will hear us and unite to this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He is the Head, we are the members of His body, the Church. We must be united in the Mass, praying every moment together, being one in Him in this Holy Sacrifice so that great grace will be released.

All our most difficult trials, when we endure them with love, can help to bring down great grace.

The moment is now.

The bell is tolling.

I can only live in this moment.

I must unite it to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, praying for souls.

Every moment, whether of joy or suffering, can be a moment of grace being released for our needs, for the salvation of souls, to make reparation to God, to honor and love Him and obey Him.

OUR LIVES ARE INDEED PRECIOUS, every moment, a moment that our Father gave us as a child of God for His honor and glory.

Alleluia – God, help us unite as a body.

Alleluia – God, help us to see ourselves all one as the family of the Father with Mary our loving Mother.

How will the page of our book look for the Father? Whether we write or not, we lived it as He willed or we lived it against His will.

Were our moments, moments to give Him honor and glory, to help promote the kingdom, to help save souls and lead others to God? Did the moments help us have a higher place in heaven? Did we mature more in our love relationship with God?

Here are the flowers over the bed where Father Carter died. Before he died he requested these news-letters be continued with his writings. Father Carter wrote 17 books and 33 newsletters in the 33 years he wrote during his life. Father Carter very carefully helped prepare this writing in those last days so his writings will continue. THE MISSION given to him by God to reach the priests was twofold.

His mission was to reach the priests with these newsletters centered in consecration and to begin prayer chapters centered in consecration to pray for the priests and the renewal of the Church and the world.

His desire being that his writings be published in future newsletters and along with other articles, that prayer chapters be begun praying these prayers.

Tapes are available with this newsletter and Father Carter, himself, prays these short prayers he gave to us in the prayer manual for this purpose. A prayer manual is enclosed. Also on the tapes, another priest reads the powerful writing of Father Carter on Grace.

In the last three months of his life, he firmly directed how he desired the newsletter to be continued.

Our precious moments are to be petals of flowers we give to our Father for that last day.

The moments of our lives are being written. He has them all recorded in our book of life.

August 8, 1946.

Today is the day I was born into the world.

What a glorious day it was, for I came and had the opportunity to gain heaven and help others do likewise.

The bell tolls.

The long night will soon be over.

A new spring day buds forth.

In the fall, the leaves give way to winter and soon we see the days are gone and past. How did we love and serve the Lord?

The trees are barren, the trees are in full bloom – the years go by, the seasons change, a small sore, a big blockage in the heart, soon the long hard nights come to a close and the glory of the long days waited, arrives. God gives His people what is their due.

How did we love and serve our God? How did we promote the kingdom on earth?

How did we live?

How did we follow in the Good Shepherd’s footsteps and lay down our lives for our friends?

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)

On September 22, 2000, Father Carter went into surgery. They opened him up and found out he had cancer. His disease was very advanced. He spent the last days preparing this writing to continue his mission – to write the priestly newsletter for priests and others interested in the spiritual life. He is the founder of the Shepherds of Christ Movement. Father Carter, S.J., authored some 17 books revealing deep insights into the divine mysteries. His writing is not complete in the 33 newsletters he was permitted to edit. His writing is seen in the whole body of material he authored in the 33 years he wrote. He wrote the following prayers for prayer chapters to pray for the priests, the Church, and the world. For the past six years the newsletter has been distributed around the world with circulation increasing to approximately 75,000 priests in English and Spanish. Now the newsletter is translated into French and we are currently translating the first twenty page newsletter into Portuguese.

The first book Father wrote in 1967, Response in Christ was soon published and became the book of the month. It was then translated into Polish, Italian, and Portuguese. This began Father’s writing career. Thirty-three years later, God has called him home after touching so many souls with his writing and his work to help bring about the Reign of the Sacred Heart through all he did for sisters, priests, and laity. He founded the Shepherds of Christ Ministries to pray for priests and to help bring about the renewal of the Church and the world.

In addition to circulating the newsletter to approximately 75,000 priests, bishops and cardinals, he began prayer chapters praying prayers for the priests, the Church and the world, honoring the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

For the past six years, a strong body of people have given their lives supporting this effort to get the newsletter into the hands of the priests and to pray for them and for the renewal of the Church and the world.

We try to get as many people as possible, in nursing homes, prisons, schools, and families to say the morning offering and offer their lives as a sacrifice united to the Mass for the priests, the Church and the world.

We try to tell people all over about the prayers in the red prayer manual Father Carter wrote so we can pray them for the priests, the Church and the world.

People all over the world gather every evening at 6:30 and pray these prayers for the priests, the Church, and the world.

Father Carter’s vision was that the Sacred Heart of Jesus would be the King and Center of all men’s hearts and that the Sacred Heart of Jesus would be honored and loved by men.

Father Carter’s love of Our Lady is shown in his writings. He always saw himself as a little baby in her arms. In his room that last day was a holy card of Mary holding the Child Jesus, which was the only holy card we saw in his room. It looked as if he had held it. It looked used. In going through his personal holy cards, he had so many holy cards of Mary holding the Child Jesus.

He worked hard to publish the twenty page newsletter. It was a review of the spiritual life. He said he had to do it. He went into surgery September 22, 2000. His funeral was December 22, 2000, exactly three months later.

In these months he struggled with chemotherapy. He wanted the newsletter to continue and directed how it should be done with his writings. This newsletter was reviewed by him in those sick days and finished on October 16, 2000. Here is the holy card from his funeral Mass.

This picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was his favorite one. He said how it helped him to become closer to Jesus. It was on his ordination card and now on his obituary card.

 

Sacred Heart of Jesus,
I Trust in You.

I Give My Heart to Jesus and
Mary with You in Love.

Father Edward J. Carter, S.J.

Born January 15, 1929

Ordained to the Holy Priesthood

June 10, 1962

Was Diagnosed with Cancerc

September 22, 2000.

Founder of the Shepherds
of Christ Movement

A Movement to Pray for the Priests and
Help in the Renewal of the Church
and the World.

Shepherds of Christ Ministries
PO Box 193
Morrow, Ohio 45152-0193
Telephone (toll free) 1-888-211-3041
(513) 932-4451 Fax: (513) 932-6791
Internet www.sofc.org

   

Besides writing those thirty-three years, Father Carter taught over 30 years at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. He even taught class in the Autumn semester 2000, until he became so sick he couldn’t go.

What will follow is a song dedicated to Father and all priests. The Shepherds of Christ members are committed to praying for the priests. The prayers Father gave us follow, the prayers used in the prayer chapters. Also follows is a very powerful excerpt from his book Response in Christ on Grace, entitled "The Christian Life of Grace". In this section Father considers:

1) What is Grace?

2) The Graced Christian

a) Relationship with the Father
b) Relationship with Christ
c) Relationship with the Holy Spirit
d) Relationship with Mary
e) Relationship with Members of the Church
f) Relationship with Man and His World

Prayer manuals for churches wishing to use the short prayers given by Father Carter can be obtained free of charge by calling (toll free) 1-888-211-3041 or (513) 932-4451.

These prayer manuals are available in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Also the little morning offering cards are available in various languages.

A Priest is a Gift from God

   

My dear priests and sisters and all men, help all to offer their days in the Morning Offering. Special cards are available for children, youth, and adults. The more we circulate the little card to the elderly and young and to all, the more people with consecrated hearts unite to the Mass all day as they try to live according to God’s will, the more great graces will be released on the world for all souls, for our priests and the Church.

We offer every precious moment of our lives united to the Masses around the world, being one in Jesus. Every moment is a moment of sacrifice united to God. This is what we do in the Morning Offering. The pages of our lives are being written. These moments of our lives are so dear to God, for we offer our lives as a sacrifice for souls.

There is so much grace that can be released as we unite as a body and pray for the priests, the Church and the world. We are all gathered as a ministry praying at 6:30 p.m. We unite to the Mass and pray the prayers in the red prayer manual every day praying as a body for the priests, the Church and the world, followed by the rosary.

Please help lead souls to Jesus – fruit for the Kingdom! These are your children, the ones you lead to Jesus in churches, schools and nursing homes. You have so many children, lead them to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Send them to the fires of His Heart. He gave His life for their souls – they are your children, they are crying and being led astray! The print, radio, television and movie media often depict lifestyles opposed to God’s ways and the Ten Commandments.

Please help us to reach God’s people that they will consecrate their hearts to Jesus and Mary and pray as a body, united to the Mass for the priests, the Church and the world.

What will change the world? What will change hearts? God’s grace. The Mass goes on all day and we as members of the body of Christ need to unite and pray together as a body so that great grace is released for our priests, the Church and the world.

A primary mission of the Shepherds of Christ Movement is the priestly newsletter, the second most important mission is to pray for priests and the renewal of the Church and the world. Besides English, our materials are becoming available in Spanish, French, and Portuguese with the help of priest and lay translators and their bishops.

The priestly newsletter is not just for priests, but also for brothers, sisters, and laity who are interested in the spiritual life. It is centered in consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. It features writings regarding our union with Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit and Mary. The newsletter also stresses the Eucharist, the Church, prayer, and one’s responsibility regarding the social order. The newsletter stresses sound doctrine as found in Scripture, the writing of Popes, and other Church documents. It also presents selected writings from the saints and competent priest-theologians and others. If you would like it sent to you, please call and we will add your name to our mailing list free of charge.

I come to you today also to ask for your help. Will you please help to spread the priestly newsletter and tapes of Father Carter delivering the priestly newsletter to all priests possible? Could you help us to form prayer chapters to pray for the priests and the Church and souls? We need your help!

Here are the prayers that so many pray every day at 6:30, especially for the priests. Prayer chapters have helped many priests in parishes and people in these parishes to grow in greater holiness.

Will you form a prayer chapter in your parish and pray with us at 6:30?

One priest praying the prayers can tremendously boost the prayer power.

These are the prayers Father Carter gave us to pray in the Shepherds of Christ Prayer Manual. The prayer manual is the little red book included.

Once again we remind you that this newsletter is audiotaped. Father Carter very reverently recites these prayers on tape. Fr. Mike Paraniuk reads the powerful writing of Fr. Carter on grace. Tapes are available on request from the address below.

 

end of excerpt from Newsletter 2001 #1

     

End of "To the Reader" and beginning of text

  


     

  

April 28, 2000

The Sacred Host

    So good is our God to give us this visible sign. My heart hungers and thirsts for Him in this great gift given.

    Today at the consecration of the Mass the priest consecrated the Host in a silver dish. My heart longs to see the beautiful white consecrated Host so much I could hardly stand it, I desired it so much. He lifted the dish and took out the beautiful consecrated Host and a see-through Host the same size appeared above the Host. I often see a small transparent halo surrounding the top of the Host. This appeared as such:  

    I had such a burning in my heart to see the consecrated Host and I heard the words "are not our hearts burning within us."

    My heart ached with joy and wanting to be in this ecstatic state forever, but I was so aware of souls and the Sacrifice being offered, longing to be so one with Jesus as I dwell in Mary’s pure Heart, so that my heart would be so deeply united to Jesus’ in this Holy Sacrifice to the Father.

    I want so much in that moment of consecration. I want my sacrifice united to His so deeply so that grace will be outpoured for our needs. I beg and I cry for the souls in the world, all of us who so desperately need God’s grace and mercy.

    Oh, I want to offer such a Holy Sacrifice from the depth of my soul for grace and help from God. Oh, God, I am so sorry for our sins. Oh God, oh God, help us, I plead and I beg and I cry, I want it so much. I want all souls to love Him as I love Him and to unite in this Sacrifice as holy little children of the Father, pleading to God for help.

       

April 3, 1996

The Bell Tolls at Every Moment

    I was at All Saints, April 3, at the 6:45 a.m. Mass. At 7:00 a.m. the bells rang at the Consecration of the Mass. The Sacrifice of Calvary rings out all over the world and I can be joined at every moment to this Sacrifice. We unite to this Sacrifice praying for ourselves and our brothers. The bell tolls at every moment I live. Whether I am doing dishes, being with my family, or whatever, I make this my offering united to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass being offered around the world. I make my Morning Offering. United to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass being celebrated around the world, I give myself completely to the Father in the name of Jesus in the Holy Spirit with all the angels and saints. I make this offering of my life to help in the salvation of souls. My offering is most pure and holy as I unite to the pure and holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

    What is pleasing to my Father is that at every second I am trying to live in His will operating in love. My heroic or mundane tasks are most important as I give them in sacrifice united to Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

    I live in this way, always united to the sacrifice of Calvary being made sacramentally present on our altars around the world through the hands of His beloved priests.

    This is the moment of sacrifice. The bells toll all over the earth and Christ, Chief-Priest and Victim, gives Himself in the Mass through the hands of the priest. I give myself in love to help in the work of redemption.

       We unite in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to help in the work of redemption of souls.

    This is the secret of the contemplative in action. He hears the bell toll and realizes at every moment of his life that he is united to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and helping in the act of redemption in his very living. He gives himself as a sacrifice, living according to God’s will.

    The contemplative in action unites in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass wherever it is being offered around the world and becomes one in that offering. The Father looks down and sees the Sacrifice of His Son. This is the most pleasing offering we can make to the Father, the offering of His Son. This is for the redemption of souls.

    Christ lives in us in the world today. We give ourselves selflessly in love. We model our lives after the great gift of love—Jesus giving Himself as a Sacrifice for us that we might be saved.

    Heaven unites with earth in the Sacrifice that continues in the Mass around the world. Our lives are joined in celebration of Christ’s redemptive act for the salvation of mankind.

     

March 10, 1999

Consumed by the Fire of His Love in the Mass

    I adore You, I worship You my beauteous God. I loved Him so intently in this Mass, wanting only to worship and adore Him. My focus was worshipping my beauteous Father. My soul was filled with the presence of God’s love in the Spirit. I had intense oneness with my beloved Spouse Jesus Christ, offering sacrifice to God. I wanted to exist in the depth of union IN HIM, knowing all I know and the struggles, but experiencing all this intently in Him. I want to exist dwelling so deeply in Him. The self unites so deeply with the Almighty God and in that point the self is so completely immersed in the Divine God. My soul was filled with awe for God. He possessed my soul in the Mass and all I crave is deeper union with Him, being existent IN HIM IN SUCH A HEIGHTENED DEGREE. This is joy, to be filled by the Almighty God and living existent in Him in this elevated state in the Mass. Come to me Lord and POSSESS MY SOUL.

    Take me away from this place. I want to be where all I know is myself existent in You. The walls around me drop off and my state is that of an elevated union with my Divine God. He gives Himself to me. I am in awe, I adore and love Him. I want to bend low and worship Him. He is truly all-holy, worthy of all honor and praise. I was consumed with awe for love of Him, wishing only to worship Him and to bend low, filled with awe and thanksgiving for this awesome gift of Himself. God gives us the greatest gift of the Mass. With Christ we offer this most Holy Sacrifice to the Father, wanting only to please Him, worship Him and praise Him. We bend and bow low to our most beauteous God, Lord of heaven and earth. Fill me with Your grace that I will be in awe of You and bend low to Your great wonders in the Mass. My God, I adore You, I worship You, I love You.

    

April 21, 2000

We Are the Brides of Christ

    He gives Himself to me so completely in the Eucharist, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.

    My life is in the state of becoming more pure for Him.

    My white a sign of His undaunted love for the Church, His Bride.

    Children are born, the weary travelers grow to be more perfected in Him.

    Our food is His Body.

    The gift to His Bride - Himself.

    The child is born to adore Him, to be wed to Him.

    Was ever a bride so honored as to be the bride of Christ? No man can compare to this Groom, the perfect One Who waits with such love for His spouse.

        

March 26, 2000

Living in the Moment

    At Mass Friday Fr. Carter gave the homily. He said we should only live in the present, not the past and future. It bothered me because I am so united to every minute of my life, my journey to Jesus. At Mass I see Him, as I saw Him at the point of death, I see Him transfigured, I am in the ecstasies when He took me into the highest heights and revealed Himself in the Masses. At every moment I live, I live to be possessed by God for all eternity. My thoughts are so deep in prayer in Him. My whole being past and future is one when I offer sacrifice at Mass and all through the day.

    In questioning him later, He said that when he offers Mass he is in that moment so one with God, he cannot worry about the work he must do later for God, even if it is a paper that reaches the world. He is in that moment one with God and must put aside worries past and future.

    This is a key in the spiritual life. Although our souls may be so caught up in the sufferings or anticipations of that day, we bring ourselves to the altar and give all to Jesus and focus on Him. After the reception of the Eucharist, sometimes our souls are troubled about other matters and we are not attentive to Him as we should be. In those golden moments the Almighty God is so one with us, and we must embrace the beauty of that moment and give our attention and love to him, the Divine King that comes to us. We cannot even imagine the grace that could be outpoured if we participate so fully in that Mass, giving ourselves over to that great moment of sacrifice.

     

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 present 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.

     

August 4, 1999

     About the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

    My God, this is all I care about—this union with You for all eternity, the rapture of existing in You in the deepest possible, most mature relationship.

    My life is a journey to grow in an always deeper relationship with God here on earth so that my relationship with Him in eternity may be as deep as possible.   Oh, the glory of it all, this rapturous union, existing in such depth with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

    Since the writings of the day August 2, 1999, morning Mass and 6:20 p.m. prayers (appeared August 3, 1999 Internet), I understand more fully the idea of total consecration. My life was given to Him at Baptism and now there is that complete surrendering of my life, of my will given to Him.

    I identify so profoundly with Him in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I see the meaning of consecration and the prayer He gave me December 27, 1995, the Prayer before the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is, indeed, a most powerful prayer, for He acted in my soul so that it would be written for us to pray so we can advance more profoundly to a deeper union in Him in this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
    

A Prayer before
the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

    Let me be a holy sacrifice and unite with God in the sacrament of His greatest love.

    I want to be one in Him in this act of love, where He gives Himself to me and I give myself as a sacrifice to Him. Let me be a holy sacrifice as I become one with Him in this my act of greatest love to Him.

    Let me unite with Him more, that I may more deeply love Him. May I help make reparation to His adorable Heart and the heart of His Mother, Mary. With greatest love, I offer myself to You and pray that You will accept my sacrifice of greatest love. I give myself to You and unite in Your gift of Yourself to me. Come and possess my soul.

    Cleanse me, strengthen me, heal me. Dear Holy Spirit act in the heart of Mary to make me more and more like Jesus.

    Father, I offer this my sacrifice, myself united to Jesus in the Holy Spirit to You. Help me to love God more deeply in this act of my greatest love.

    Give me the grace to grow in my knowledge, love and service of You and for this to be my greatest participation in the Mass. Give me the greatest graces to love You so deeply in this Mass, You who are so worthy of my love.

                                                                           -God's Blue Book, December 27, 1995
   
  

    I must stop here and define sacrifice. A sacrifice is a consecrated offering. The Mass is a Sacrifice. One of its purposes is to make atonement to our God for man's sins. We are coming to the altar of sacrifice as sinners, connected to one another as creatures of God, going to God and begging mercy and forgiveness for our sins. We are sorry we have sinned and we recognize our dependence on Him and His grace.

    Today I was given great grace in the Mass, including the ability to dwell in Him in great depths. He takes over my being as I exist in Him. It is He Who chiefly pleads in the Sacrifice to the Father. I felt as if the flood gates of heaven opened on the earth as I existed in Him.

    I was with Him on the cross and my heart was consumed with love, the pain and anguish of the body I no longer felt, for the love for the souls He loves consumed my heart.  I felt His love in me and all He wanted was for them to be saved. I wanted them to be loving and as the Father wished from the beginning. The love I felt for each precious soul was so immense, for His desire was that not one be lost, not one, but that every soul be saved . I kept hearing the song One Bread, One Body, as it played within me as my soul joined in.  The emotion was so strong for oneness that it made me cry harder, wanting it so very much. It was as if a chorus sang the song, but it came from the depth of my heart as I was one in Him and existed in Him.

    It is hard to account this, for things happen, so many things happen all at once in the Mass around the Consecration and thereafter.

    A chorus sings as He hangs on the cross. It was as if my soul left my body, for all I knew was love, the love for souls, the fire of burning divine love within my being wanting only creatures existing in Him for all eternity.

    I knew the intensity to a small degree of the offering of Himself completely to the Father. I knew the pleading He did with His whole being in satisfaction for the sins of men.

    I knew more the purity of a God-made Man giving Himself as a Sacrifice and the power of it for all of the vile sins of all men for all time.

    I knew Him in His love, He was consumed for souls. I knew the complete offering of Himself, the begging for souls to be saved. His whole being was consumed with wanting souls saved. From deep within He offered Himself because of the greatness of His love.

    Love is a consuming force.

    God is love.

    I was with Him on the cross, experiencing to a small extent the desires of His Heart for His beloved creatures. I was participating in the Mass in which the Sacrifice of Calvary is sacramentally made present for us today. I realized as I participated in the Mass in Him that He in this oneness in my soul was pleading for His beloved souls in Me.

    I begged for mercy, mercy for all generations, for all my ancestors and I could hear Him in the words of the Mass, He being so one in the priest, offering this Sacrifice to the Father for His beloved souls.

    Oh mercy, we plead for mercy from our God. I heard the words of Jesus in the priest and I heard the words, "through Him, with Him and in Him".

    We offer sacrifice, consumed in the deepest love in the holy all-pure Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

    We empty ourselves, for this is what He did.

    He, God, emptied Himself completely and gave Himself for love of His precious souls so that they would be saved.

    We offer ourselves, I emptied myself. I want this most complete Consecration to Them so that I can partake to the greatest possible degree in purity in this Sacrifice and plead as He did for His precious souls. I am pleading in Him for our earth, for all priests, for all souls, as I exist in a place of deepest love for Them, pleading for forgiveness, wanting to make reparation to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary for the offering of sacrifices that could have been more pure and holy and for ignoring Them entirely many times.

    I plead as I exist in the New Adam, as I am united to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the New Adam and the New Eve.

    I know a little more of this greatest Sacrifice. God gave His Son as our Savior. He came through a human person, pure and spotless, Mary the Immaculate Virgin.

    Help me to spread this knowledge of this most powerful gift, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in which the Sacrifice of Calvary is sacramentally made present so that we will all partake more fully in this great act of offering Sacrifice. Pray that great grace and mercy will be outpoured on the earth. Unite all your activities to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the Church and the world and the intentions of the Shepherds of Christ Movement, His Movement, by saying the Morning Offering.
    

Morning Offering

    My dear Father, I offer you this day all my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings in union with Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in the Holy Spirit.

    I unite with our Mother Mary, all the angels and saints, and all the souls in purgatory to pray to the Father for myself, for each member of my family, for my friends, for all people throughout the world, for all the souls in purgatory, and for all other intentions of the Sacred Heart.

    I love You, Jesus, and I give You my heart. I love you, Mary, and I give you my heart.
     

    At the end of this little Morning offering say,

    "We offer our day to help in the salvation of souls, for our priests, the renewal of the Church and the world and for the Shepherds of Christ intentions."

    Oh God, Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, HAVE MERCY ON US.
  

    
   
I feel as Lucia in this vision at Mass. Pray with me like this at Mass.

    

August 2, 1999

Consecration

CONSECRATION - Giving of oneself to God through the Virgin Mary.  This makes the sacrifice a most pure offering through her mediation.

Consecration - We must put aside all the problems and focus on emptying ourselves, giving ourselves as A HOLY SACRIFICE to God.

    The most perfect Sacrifice, Jesus, the Son of God.

    This Sacrifice is made sacramentally present in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
  

Fr. Edward Carter, S.J.

   
   
Today is a special time for devotion to the two Hearts, August 2nd.

      I saw in my heart my friend, Genevieve, before Mass at the funeral of her husband. I saw her so beautiful there and felt deep in my heart her sorrow. I envisioned our Lady behind her and begged her for comfort for my friend. I saw Genevieve as a baby in the arms of our Lady and I knew George, her husband, as a baby also in the care of our Lady. Their lives flashed before me and I thought of the time when they were taken into God's family in a special way through Baptism and brought into the Church. Their lives flashed before me and it seemed so short: babies, married, children, and then an end, and a beginning, that for which we live for: life with Him in heaven for all eternity.

    I was very happy when at the gospel the priest read the gospel of Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to the temple. (Lk 2:22-32 reference). The priest began:
   

   
Luke 2:22-24

Jesus is presented in the Temple

    And when the day came for them to be purified in keeping with the Law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord--observing what is written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord--and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is prescribed in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.
    

    Purification, that is what tainted man should seek. Many of us baptized Catholic were baptized as babies.

    Through Baptism we receive a sharing in His divine life. The stain of original sin is removed, but we still have this fallen human nature to contend with. At the end of our lives we go to Him. Our time here is a time to be made more pure.

    In Father Carter's Spirituality Handbook he speaks of consecration.

From the words of Father Carter:

Consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary

    To consecrate means to make sacred, to make holy. Only God can make a being holy. So to speak of our consecration is to speak of God's activity in making us holy, His activity of giving us a share in His own holiness. At Baptism we receive a share in God's life, a share in His holiness. Christ is the Mediator of this grace life. We are baptized into Christ, into His death and resurrection. In Baptism we become holy by sharing in the holiness of Christ. We become consecrated, sealed with the divine holiness. We belong to the Father, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit.

    On our part, we must respond to God's consecration of us. We must live out the consecration of Baptism. We must realize what God has done for us in Christ and live according to this awareness. We need to live the life of holiness and grow in it. In other words, we must develop the life of grace, the Christ-life.

    What God has done for us in Christ involves Mary. God has given us a Christ-life, our life of grace, and Mary is the Mother of this Christ-life. Consequently, living out our life of consecration to God-living out the Christ-life-includes allowing Mary to increasingly be the Mother of our Christ-life.

    Consecration to Mary, therefore, is an aspect of our consecration to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is entrusting ourselves entirely to her maternal love so that she can bring us ever closer to Jesus, so that we can increasingly live out our consecration to God in Christ.

    At Fatima, Our Lady asked that we consecrate ourselves to her Immaculate Heart. Mary shows us her heart as a symbol of her love for God and us. She asks us to make a return of love to her, to consecrate ourselves to her, to give ourselves to her completely. She wants us to entrust ourselves to her completely so that she may help us love God and neighbor.

    As stated above, consecration to Mary is an aspect of our consecration to God in Christ and she has asked for consecration to her Heart so that she may assist us. Christ, in turn, invites us to live out this consecration to Him through consecration to His Sacred Heart. We see the divine symmetry: consecration to the Immaculate Heart helps us to live out consecration to Christ Who reveals His Heart as symbol of His life of love in all its aspects, including His tremendous love for each of us individually. His Heart also asks for our love in return, a return which ideally is summed up in consecration to Jesus' Heart. Through this consecration we give ourselves completely to Jesus through the Immaculate Heart. In this consecration to Jesus, we promise to strive to live according to His Father's will in all things. (Edward Carter, S.J., Mother at Our Side, Shepherds of Christ Publications)
        

    At Baptism, we are consecrated to God.

    Our lives are a journey to deepen this life of consecration in the pure, holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

    It takes our wills to give ourselves completely to God. This is what we are doing in the Shepherds of Christ, trying to do as our Lady requested at Fatima, giving ourselves in consecration to God.

    In Father Carter's last newsletter he explains consecration more fully through a quote given.

    From newsletter Issue 4, 1999, A. Boussard's "Theology of Consecration":
   

  
THE THEOLOGY OF CONSECRATION

    A. Boussard gives an extremely fine and concise sketch of the theology of consecration: "By the Incarnation, in and of itself, the Humanity of Jesus is consecrated, so that in becoming Man, Jesus is ipso facto constituted Savior, Prophet, King, Priest, and Victim of the one Sacrifice that was to save the world. He is the 'Anointed', par excellence, the 'Christ' totally belonging to God, His Humanity being that of the Word and indwelled by the Holy Spirit. When, by a free act of His human will, He accepts what He is, doing what He was sent to do, He can say that He consecrates 'Himself'. In Christ, therefore, what might be called His 'subjective' consecration is a perfect response to the 'objective' consecration produced in His Humanity through the Incarnation….

    "Through Baptism Christians also are consecrated and 'anointed' by the power of the Spirit. They share, in their measure, in the essential consecration of Christ, in His character of King, Priest, and Prophet...

    "With Christ and through Christ they are 'ordered' to the glory of God and the salvation of the world. They do not belong to themselves. They belong to Christ the Lord, who imparts His own life to them...

    "The vocation of those who have been baptized is to 'live' this consecration by a voluntary adherence--and one that is as perfect as possible--to what it has made of them. Living as 'children of God', they fulfill their objective consecration; like Jesus, they consecrate themselves. This is the deeper meaning of vows and baptismal promises, together with the actual way of life corresponding to them. The baptismal consecration is the fundamental one, constitutive of the Christian. All consecrations which come after it presuppose and are rooted in it..." (Dictionary of Mary, Catholic Book Publishing Co., pp. 54-55)
       
  

    The newsletter is God's enormous gift to reach the priests and the people so that they will give themselves more completely to God.

    When we die, what do we take with us?

    The world was quite different outside of St. James Church this morning.

    The world was busy people going here and there in their busy schedules. But inside the church we were faced with the cold reality of death. The reality hits home when we see here the body of the one who has died.

    By the waters of Baptism he received this special sharing of divine life as a baby as he was washed clean of original sin.

    Christian burial, Christian Baptism, a soul no longer locked in original sin, a sharing in God's divine life.

    God our Father, give to souls of this earth the grace to WILLINGLY serve You and give themselves to You.

    This is consecration, the gift of self to God, the dying of the false self. Jesus gave Himself completely on the cross. He rose victorious on the third day. He came forth from the new tomb, Christ the first-fruits, Christ the Child of Mary. We are the children of Mary. She is our spiritual Mother, we are the children that come forth from her spiritual womb, her Immaculate Heart.

    There is a tape on consecration. "Consecration #2".

    An end, a beginning, a short life here. Some live as if this life is their end. They do not see, their eyes are blinded, they hold on to the world. We need to work more and more to spread the consecration to the world. In the spiritual womb of Mary the Holy Spirit works with His spouse forming us more in the image and likeness of God and giving us lights that we will see. We need to see.

    Mary wants her children to be children of light, that they will walk in the light. 

               
    "...he who is your teacher will hide no longer, and you will see your teacher with your own eyes." (Isaiah 30:20)

    How could we think Christ's last words on the cross were not important to us? In His dying moments, He gave us His Mother.

    He came, our Savior, our King, our Almighty God. He took flesh in her womb, through the power of the Spirit, He was carried in her arms as a helpless baby, He went to the temple and there Simeon said..."Now Master, you can let your servant go in peace, just as you promised; because my eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared for all the nations to see, a light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of your people, Israel." (Luke 2:29-32), and "..You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected--and a sword will pierce your own soul too--so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare." (Luke 2:35).

    Israel, being the holy city in which He built His temple, in which He lived, in which the Blessed Virgin walked and talked and carried the Son of God in her womb.

    For nine long months she carried Him within her womb. Oh children of Mary, some of you listen to His dying words on the cross, some of you do not hear. And darkness covered the earth. For as Simeon predicted, this child is destined for the rise and fall of many in Israel. Many would reject their Mother. The Lady, clothed as the sun, the woman that carried the Light within her womb for those long nine months while He was formed within her body through the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Counselor, the One who is forming the Church into all it is to be.

    Christ showed us the way.
      

Consecration

    In the Mass we give ourselves completely to God and unite with the priest and with Jesus, Chief-Priest and Victim, in that Sacrifice of Calvary sacramentally made present.

    There are special graces granted to the whole world when we, baptized members of the Body of Christ, give ourselves to God at the consecration of the Mass. Our lives should be lived united to the Mass at every second. We should willingly give ourselves to God.
   

Revelation 12:1-2

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

Revelation 12:10-11

    Then I heard a voice shout from heaven, 'Salvation and power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ, now that the accuser, who accused our brothers day and night before our God, has been brought down. They have triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word to which they bore witness, because even in the face of death they did not cling to life.
    

1 Corinthians 15:21-25

    As it was by one man that death came, so through one man has come the resurrection of the dead. Just as all die in Adam, so in Christ all will be brought to life; but all of them in their proper order: Christ the first-fruits, and next, at his coming, those who belong to him. After that will come the end, when he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father, having abolished every principality, every ruling force and power. For he is to be king until he has made his enemies his footstool,

     

December 7, 1999

I Experienced So Much at Mass

    We unite to Him, He is reigning now, people will partake more fully when He reigns in all hearts.

    He is lifting the veil and reigning in our hearts now, as it will be when there is the reign of the Sacred Heart.

    I am one with Him in the Mass. It overwhelms me to experience this. I am overwhelmed with His love for all in the Mass.

    I feel tremendous, overwhelming love for Him and from Him, I am filled with immense love for all, for all heaven and earth and souls in purgatory as I am one in Him.

    I feel immense unity with all He created and love for all.

    When I am in immense oneness, I am overwhelmed with experiencing the Mass through His Heart and Mary’s Heart. I cannot describe it in words.

    I loved God to such depth - loving God from her Heart and His Heart.

    I was overwhelmed with the love of God and all He created because of my union with Him.

    In this oneness great grace is outpoured.

    How tremendously great it is when the priest is intensely one with Him.

    HE LIVES AND REIGNS now - so many are missing it.

    I experience the Mass as He reigns in my heart.
 

  
Zephaniah 3: 9-10, 14-20

Conversion of the nations

Yes, then I shall purge
the lips of the peoples,
so that all may invoke
    the name of Yahweh
and serve him shoulder to shoulder.
From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,
my suppliants will bring me tribute.

Psalms of joy in Zion

Shout for joy, daughter of Zion,
Israel, shout aloud!
Rejoice, exult with all your heart,
daughter of Jerusalem!
Yahweh has repealed your sentence;
he has turned your enemy away.
Yahweh is king among you, Israel,
you have nothing more to fear.

When that Day comes,
    the message for Jerusalem will be:
Zion, have no fear,
do not let your hands fall limp.
Yahweh your God is there with you,
the warrior-Saviour.
He will rejoice over you with happy song,
he will renew you by his love,
he will dance with shouts of joy for you,
as on a day of festival.

Return of the exiles

I have taken away your misfortune,
no longer need you bear
    the disgrace of it.
I am taking action here and now
against your oppressors.
When that time comes
    I will rescue the lame,
and gather the strays,
and I will win them praise and renown
when I restore their fortunes.

At that time I shall be your guide,
at the time when I gather you in,
I shall give you praise and renown
among all the peoples of the earth
when I restore your fortunes
    under your own eyes,
declares Yahweh.