Shepherds of Christ  
       Daily Writing        
 

 

May 25, 2010

May 26th Holy Spirit Novena
Scripture selection is Day 5 Period I.

The Novena Rosary Mysteries  
for May 26th are Joyful.

 

The Lord gave an urgent message to print
Tell My People on April 10th.

Can you please help us?

1-888-211-3041

  

 

May 25, 2010

    

 


 

                Response to God's Love

                Jesus: I call you to respond to the love
                I have given you — You have been
                given unique talents by Me —
                You are to operate according to the
                will of the Father — You are unique
                with individual talents given by
                God to do My work — to use them selfishly
                for your own vain glory is wrong —
                You are to use your talents for the
                honor and glory of God —

                    It is about the heart — That the
                heart is likened to mine —

                Song: Give Me Your Heart Oh Jesus —

                Jesus: I call out from the depth of My
                Heart to purify your hearts — A
                heart that gives into more and more evil
                becomes more and more corrupted
                and more and more blinded — the
                vision of the corrupted heart is
                covered with volcanic ash — the
                vision is distorted more and more by the
                evil — distortion toward God — not seeing
                as God wants, but seeing with an
                uninformed conscience — the one with
                a corrupted heart does not see their
                brothers in love, but in greed, possession,
                anger — to use them for one's own
                power and glory —

                And more than the others they lie to
                themselves about their sins — if
                a spiritual director tries to change
                their evil on the family or community they
                become enraged and defend their debase
                actions trying to prove their ill deeds
                as right when in fact they were
                sinful and wrong — they may stoop
                to punish and provoke others for
                their own darkness within wishing
                to realize their own discomfort from
                their evil, for evil causes misery —

                    To be as you were created, with a
                heart likened to Mine, makes one
                happy — to succumb to evil makes
                one's heart bleed with misery — become
                hard and calloused in heart and hurt
                others because of the hatred and blackness
                in oneself —

                    The devil wants you to not deal with
                your child of the past — to not look at
                unhealed hurtful relationships —
                he baits you with pride "Oh I handled
                that" and then you punish yourself
                most of all with a hard, unyielding
                heart — you become more and more angry
                having deprived yourself of real
                intimacy with God and others now,
                and you in your darkness cry
                like a fish out of water — hurting
                others in your isolation, anger and
                darkness, gasping for breath —

                    When life is just a breath
                away, but the grip of darkness
                you have given into instead of
                forgiveness, love and unity and
                peace —

                    You have chosen, acted out and
                are stuck in blackness, unforgiveness,
                anger, hate, darkness, misery —
                distorted vision —

                    seeing not with the vision of
                God, which is faith, but with
                the dark, volcanic ash coming
                from the anger of your muddy heart —
                Cold with sin, pride and pompous,
                not soft, yielding, obedient to God
                and loving as God commands
                the hearts to be —

                Song: Give Me Your Heart Oh Jesus

                Song: Why Do We Hurt the Ones We Love

                Jesus: Oh but you want to slip into your
                patterned ways of darkness
                that are a rut to hell and sin —
                How black are the hearts?

                How light is one likened to Mine?

                R. I saw a picture of a little girl
                looking at a picture of themselves —
                The little picture looked like the baby
                on the picture had a scheme —

                    We have patterned ways of acting we
                learned as children, survival tactics
                and unless, as Fr. Mike says, we work
                with others in relationships we can
                have the maturity of a child
                If we all look at ourselves and
                see how we have acted in relationships,
                in loving, in obedience to God's
                will, in building His Kingdom —
                in praying to the Holy Spirit to help
                us see with the vision of the Father,
                in being pure, in acknowledging
                our faults, in repenting to God to
                help strengthen our relationship
                with God and in repairing
                relationships with others we have
                offended, say we are sorry, want
                unity — not war from past hurtful
                angry relationships —

                    For all eternity if we go to
                heaven we will have the beatific
                vision, be one with God: Father,
                Son and Holy Spirit —

                    We can't be divided here
                below, hateful, angry, possessive
                and think we are preparing ourselves
                for heaven —

                    God commands us to love —
                This is a challenge — to use our
                unique talents and give the
                gift God has given to us to the world —
                for His honor and glory

   

Matthew 25: 14-30

‘It is like a man about to go abroad who summoned his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one, each in proportion to his ability. Then he set out on his journey. The man who had received the five talents promptly went and traded with them and made five more. The man who had received two made two more in the same way. But the man who had received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now a long time afterwards, the master of those servants came back and went through his accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents came forward bringing five more. "Sir," he said, "you entrusted me with five talents; here are five more that I have made." His master said to him, "Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have shown you are trustworthy in small things; I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s happiness." Next the man with the two talents came forward. "Sir," he said, "you entrusted me with two talents; here are two more that I have made." His master said to him, "Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have shown you are trustworthy in small things; I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s happiness." Last came forward the man who had the single talent. "Sir," said he, "I had heard you were a hard man, reaping where you had not sown and gathering where you had not scattered; so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground. Here it is; it was yours, you have it back." But his master answered him, "You wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered? Well then, you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have got my money back with interest. So now, take the talent from him and give it to the man who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but anyone who has not, will be deprived even of what he has. As for this good–for–nothing servant, throw him into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth."

   

                    Having an angry calculating,
                jealous heart will not prepare
                us for heaven —

                    We must open ourselves to
                loving and forgiving — to building
                God's Kingdom, not satan's —

                Praying for peace, love and joy —
                Praying for vision to prepare
                    us for the beatific vision —

                Give God what He wants —
                He is the Creator
                He has the Plan
                He gave us our talents
                He wants us to spread His light

                Not be closed in on ourselves
                    with get even, angry
                    hearts —
                    when we are wounded by men and
                    have been so blessed by God to
                    do His work —

 

    John 17
    The Prayer of Jesus

    After saying this, Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:

    Father, the hour has come:
    glorify your Son
    so that your Son may glorify you;
    so that, just as you have given him
       power over all humanity,
    he may give eternal life
       to all those you have entrusted to him.
    And eternal life is this:
    to know you,
    the only true God,
    and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
    I have glorified you on earth
    by finishing the work
    that you gave me to do.
    Now, Father, glorify me
    with that glory I had with you
    before ever the world existed.
    I have revealed your name
    to those whom you took from the world
       to give me.
    They were yours
       and you gave them to me,
    and they have kept your word.
    Now at last they have recognised
    that all you have given me
       comes from you
    for I have given them
    the teaching you gave to me,
    and they have indeed accepted it
    and know for certain
       that I came from you,
    and have believed
       that it was you who sent me.
    It is for them that I pray.
    I am not praying for the world
    but for those you have given me,
    because they belong to you.
    All I have is yours
    and all you have is mine,
    and in them I am glorified.
    I am no longer in the world,
    but they are in the world,
    and I am coming to you.
    Holy Father,
    keep those you have given me
       true to your name,
    so that they may be one like us.
    While I was with them,
    I kept those you had given me
       true to your name.
    I have watched over them
       and not one is lost
    except one who was destined to be lost,
    and this was to fulfil the scriptures.
    But now I am coming to you
    and I say these things in the world
    to share my joy with them to the full.
    I passed your word on to them,
    and the world hated them,
    because they belong to the world
    no more than I belong to the world.
    I am not asking you
       to remove them from the world,
    but to protect them from the Evil One.
    They do not belong to the world
    any more than I belong to the world.
    Consecrate them in the truth;
    your word is truth.
    As you sent me into the world,
    I have sent them into the world,
    and for their sake I consecrate myself
    so that they too
       may be consecrated in truth.
    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.

   

                Oh Holy Spirit I go to the heart
                    of Mary, most pure, my
                    spiritual Mother —
                    help me to be like Jesus —
                    mold me in the image
                    of Jesus —
                    with a heart of love

                Cast out the darkness of my heart —
                    I long to serve God and build
                        a city of God on this earth —
                        A city of light
                The Shepherds of Christ Movement

    

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)

    

16 Years Ago

 

                When I never knew Fr. Carter I got

I Died for You (excerpt)

February 23, 1994

Jesus: ...Priests will create little cities, little cities in each church to spread the light of Christ to this sick world. Each priest can create his own little city, a powerhouse of God's love. God has all the power. His power is endless. It never runs out. It is might. You have no power except through Him. Churches filled with the intimate love of Jesus will be powerhouses...
 

 

Ephesians 2: 19-20

    So you are no longer aliens or foreign visitors; you are fellow–citizens with the holy people of God and part of God’s household. You are built upon the foundations of the apostles and prophets, and Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone.

   

                    Jesus taught the 12 Apostles, He chose —
                they were always with Him — They
                were eyewitnesses —

                    The hierarchy are the descendants
                of the Apostles — Jesus taught the
                first Apostles —

                    Listen to the 1st reading of
                May 24th — Peter

  

1 Peter 1: 3-9

Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into a heritage that can never be spoilt or soiled and never fade away. It is reserved in heaven for you who are being kept safe by God’s power through faith until the salvation which has been prepared is revealed at the final point of time.

This is a great joy to you, even though for a short time yet you must bear all sorts of trials; so that the worth of your faith, more valuable than gold, which is perishable even if it has been tested by fire, may be proved—to your praise and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. You have not seen him, yet you love him; and still without seeing him you believe in him and so are already filled with a joy so glorious that it cannot be described; and you are sure of the goal of your faith, that is, the salvation of your souls.

                  

 

                Readings Today

1 Peter 1: 10-16

This salvation was the subject of the search and investigation of the prophets who spoke of the grace you were to receive, searching out the time and circumstances for which the Spirit of Christ, bearing witness in them, was revealing the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow them. It was revealed to them that it was for your sake and not their own that they were acting as servants delivering the message which has now been announced to you by those who preached to you the gospel through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even the angels long to catch a glimpse of these things.

     

Psalm 98: 1-4

Sing a new song to Yahweh, 
for he has performed wonders, 
his saving power is in his right hand 
and his holy arm. 

Yahweh has made known his saving power, 
revealed his saving justice for the nations to see, 
mindful of his faithful love and his constancy 
to the House of Israel. 

The whole wide world has seen 
the saving power of our God. 
Acclaim Yahweh, all the earth, 
burst into shouts of joy!

    

Mark 10: 28-31

Peter took this up. ‘Look,’ he said to him, ‘we have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus said, ‘In truth I tell you, there is no one who has left house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children or land for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times as much, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and land — and persecutions too — now in this present time and, in the world to come, eternal life. Many who are first will be last, and the last, first.

   

                Christ left the Apostles to carry
                    out the work He began —

                Jesus chose Peter to be the pope —

   

Matthew 16: 18

So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my community. And the gates of the underworld can never overpower it.

   

                The bishops today are the Apostles'
                successors —

                Peter was the first pope —
                The Holy Father comes as a
                    successor of Peter —

                Christ is among us —

                Christ instructs us through
                    the hierarchy of the
                    Catholic Church —

                Christ founded the Church
                    upon the Apostles
                    and the Church is ruled by
                    the successors of the Apostles —
                    and teachers of the doctrine
                    of the Church —
                    passed on to us by the Apostles
                    and their successors —

                The Catholic Church is
                    one
                    holy
                    Catholic
                    and Apostolic

  

Mark 16: 15

And he said to them, ‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the gospel to all creation.

 

Luke 10: 16 

    ‘Anyone who listens to you listens to me; anyone who rejects you rejects me, and those who reject me reject the one who sent me.’

 

John 20: 21-23

and he said to them again, 'Peace be with you.

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

After saying this he breathed on them and said:

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

 

                A bishop is successor of the Apostles.
                The pope is the successor of St. Peter.

    

Matthew 16: 18-19

So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my community. And the gates of the underworld can never overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven: whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

    

                Jesus told Peter to
                    "Feed My lambs"
                    "Feed My sheep"

   

John 21: 15-17

    When they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?’ He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He replied, ‘Yes, Lord, you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Look after my sheep.’ Then he said to him a third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was hurt that he asked him a third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and said, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.

    

                Jesus told them before He
                    ascended into heaven

   

Matthew 28: 20

and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.’

 

                Say the Apostles Creed —

Apostles Creed

    I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell; the third day he arose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven; sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

 

                Do you believe it?

                It is a profession of our faith.

  

 

                Sing: Do You Really Love Me?

  

 

John 14: 15-16, 23b-26

If you love me
    you will keep my commandments.
I shall ask the Father,
and he will give you another Paraclete
to be with you for ever,

Anyone who loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him, 
and we shall come to him
and make a home in him.
Anyone who does not love me
    does not keep my words.
And the word that you hear
     is not my own:
it is the word of the Father who sent me.
I have said these things to you
while still with you;
but the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all I have said to you.

   

John 16: 12-15

I still have many things to say to you
but they would be too much for you
    to bear now.
However, when the Spirit of truth comes
he will lead you to the complete truth,
since he will not be speaking
    of his own accord,
but will say only what he has been told;
and he will reveal to you
    the things to come.
He will glorify me,
since all he reveals to you
will be taken from what is mine.
Everything the Father has is mine;
that is why I said:
all he reveals to you
will be taken from what is mine.

   

                There was more we needed to learn —

 

Excerpt from May 12, 2010

                Pentecost is just a little more
                    than a week away

                To know the joy and peace of the
                    Father

                The Holy Spirit helps us to know the Father

                God has blessed us so much

                Pray for the faithful to be obedient to the Gospel
                Pray to bring goodness in the Church

                Thank You God for the Eucharist
                God gives us the bread of life —
                God gives us bread and wine —
                God gives us the priest —
                God gives us the Mass
                Jesus gives us His Body and Blood

                God please give us Your truth in our hearts —
                Lord You are holy indeed
                    the fountain of all holiness —

                Oh God thank You for the
                    Eucharist —

                Oh God I love You so much —
                Oh God help us
                Oh God give us Your grace —
                Oh God give us Your Body and Blood —
                Oh God I love You —

                Let us know more about Your mystery —
                Oh God give us greater faith
                Oh God help us to grow in love united
                With Pope Benedict XVI and
                    all the hierarchy —
                Oh God help us and
                Oh God help Your Church

                God has chosen us to
                    bear fruit that lasts


                To empty oneself —
                To know God calls us to suffer —
                To know the devil is a demon
                    who wants to attack us —

                The devil fights us —

                Like Padre Pio we fight
                    the attack of satan —

                We don't do what we want —
                    and give into the attack.
                We do God's will

                Oh Bread of Life
                Oh Lord of love
                We follow You, oh God —
                We love You God
                We want You to help us

                God may we drink from the fountain of
                    everlasting life —

                Sermon of St. Leo the Great —
                    From the days of the Resurrection to the Ascension —
                        they were very important —
                        Jesus gave Peter the keys —
                        Jesus went to Emmaus
                        Jesus opened the scriptures to them —
                        Their eyes were opened —
                        Then the breaking of the Bread
                        This is the bread of life — the scriptures and
                            the Eucharist —

                    Jesus truly was born, Jesus truly
                        suffered and died and
                        truly rose — then

                    Jesus truly ascended into heaven —
                    Jesus went high above all — UP - UP
                    Jesus was enthroned in heaven —
                    Jesus — the Pascal Lamb —
                    Jesus was truly led to the slaughter —
                    Jesus our King and Savior
                    Jesus our priest, victim —
                    Jesus, the Son of God —
                    Jesus, our beloved God —

                Oh God You died and rose for me
                Oh my God — You did this truly for me —
                Oh God You love us so much —
                Oh God I do not wish to offend You - my God

                Oh God, I love You so much —
                Oh God, I am sorry for my sins —
                Oh God, help me to know how I have offended
                    You with my sins and to make reparation
                    for these offenses —

                Oh God — to love - as You intend me to love —
                Oh God — to obey You

                end of excerpt

  

                Jesus says:

                    I am the way, the truth
                and the life — If you love Me
                you will keep My Word —
                I am Jesus your Savior

    

 

October 1, 1994

I Feed the Hungry Soul

Jesus:  Another person cannot feed your hungry soul. You search, you seek. Your starved soul craves only that which I can give. When your heart is searching for love, come, My sweet dear child, into My Heart. My Mother will take you to the deepest recesses of My Heart. There you will know such comfort - in My Heart on fire for love of you this day.

    You are a child of dignity. You are precious to Me. You are the creation of the Father. I gave the last drop of My blood for you. This is love - you need grace to realize the immenseness of God's love. You are so special to God, all three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Mary loves you so much.

    You can never be satisfied on this earth. If you find the dearest mother, father, lover, friend, they will not fill you with the love your soul craves. To find Me is to seek Me. You will not be satisfied on this earth.

    You, My child, experience longing for My intense love. I love you to want Me. This is how I long for love of each precious soul. I long for them with the most tender Heart, beating and breathing with fire. I never falter. I never grow dim. I am the same, with the same burning love. Come to Me and jump into My precious Heart. I love you so much.  

 

                Sing: A Priest is a Gift from God —

  

1 Corinthians 11: 23-26

For the tradition I received from the Lord and also handed on to you is that on the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and after he had given thanks, he broke it, and he said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.' And in the same way, with the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.' Whenever you eat this bread, then, and drink this cup, you are proclaiming the Lord's death until he comes.

 


  

Glorious Mysteries

 

The Resurrection

                (1) John 10: 11-15

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.

 

                (2) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Christ and His Church p. 139

Yes, the Good Shepherd has laid down His life for His sheep. The Good Shepherd’s magnificent Heart, overflowing with love for the Father and all of us, was pierced so that the waters of our salvation might flow forth: “It was Preparation Day, and to prevent the bodies remaining on the cross during the sabbath—since that sabbath was a day of special solemnity—the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then of the other. When they came to Jesus, they found he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water.” (Jn 19:31-34).

                (3) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Christ and His Church continues p. 139

Bonaventure, the Franciscan saint and doctor of the Church, comments on the pierced Heart of the Good Shepherd: “Then, in order that the Church might be formed out of the side of Christ sleeping on the cross…the divine plan permitted that one of the soldiers pierce open His sacred side with a lance. While blood mixed with water flowed, the price of our salvation was poured forth, which gushing forth from the sacred fountain of the heart, gave power to the sacraments of the Church…”2

2. Bonaventure, tr. by E. Cousens, Paulist Press, pp. 134-135.

                (4) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Christ and His Church continues pp. 139-150

And very importantly, the Second Vatican itself tells us: “The wonders wrought by God among the people of the Old Testament were but a prelude to the work of Christ the lord in redeeming mankind and giving perfect glory to God. He achieved His task principally by the paschal mystery of His blessed passion, resurrection from the dead, and glorious ascension, whereby ‘dying, he destroyed our death, and, rising, he restored our life.’ For it was from the side of Christ, as He slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the wonderful sacrament which is the whole Church.”3

3. The Documents of Vatican II, "Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy," American Press Edition, No. 5.

                (5) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Christ and His Church continues p. 140

Yes, the Church was born from the pierced side of the Good Shepherd. The Church today is existing in very critical times. The world is experiencing a great multitude of problems, some of these most critical ones. The Church herself, which is a God-given source of light to the world, is herself beset with numerous challenges and problems. One of these problems is the numerous types of divisions existent in the Church. These are hampering her ability to be a light to this troubled world.

                (6) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Christ and His Church continues pp. 140-141

We priests, through the sacrament of orders, have been brought into a very special union with Christ. The interests of Christ must, consequently, be the interests of the priest in a most special manner. Consequently, since Christ has a most passionate love for His Church, the priest must strive to imitate this love. The priest must have a deep desire to help heal the wounds of the Church. He must have a burning desire to help her be more what God destines her to be. We must help her become a brighter light to lead a troubled world back to God.

                (7) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Christ and His Church continues p. 140

Editor's Corner

by Edward Carter, S.J.

One of the main themes of this issue of the newsletter is that of Church. In our editor’s column, we wish to add a few more ideas about the Church.

We must all strive to grow in a sense of corporateness. We have to always strive to stretch our vision and be aware that we are members of the universal Church, as, at the same time, we are members of a particular parish and diocese. We must think in terms of what is good for the entire Church, and through the Church of what is good for the entire human race. We must be selfless, working for the good of the whole. Even when we disagree, we do so not that we may appear to have the upper hand, but because we believe that to disagree here and now is necessary so that the truth may better emerge. St. Paul speaks to us about the sense of corporateness:

“If our life in Christ means anything to you, if love can persuade at all, or the Spirit that we have in common, or any tenderness and sympathy, then be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind. That is the one thing which would make me completely happy. There must be no competition among you, no conceit, but everybody is to be self-effacing. Always consider the other person to be better than yourself, so that nobody thinks of his own interests first but everybody thinks of other people’s interests instead. In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus.” (Phil 2:1-5)

 

                (8) Philippians 2: 1-5

So if in Christ there is anything that will move you, any incentive in love, any fellowship in the Spirit, any warmth or sympathy—I appeal to you, make my joy complete by being of a single mind, one in love, one in heart and one in mind. Nothing is to be done out of jealousy or vanity; instead, out of humility of mind everyone should give preference to others, everyone pursuing not selfish interests but those of others. Make your own the mind of Christ Jesus: 

                (9) Sing: The Church is One Foundation

                (10) Apostles Creed

    I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell; the third day he arose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven; sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

   

                The Ascension

                (1) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - p. 141

Thoughts on the Church Today

"Now you together are Christ's body; but each of you is a different part of it. In the Church, God has given the first place to apostles, the second to prophets, the third to teachers; after them, miracles, and after them the gift of healing; helpers, good leaders, those with many languages. Are all of them apostles, or all of them prophets, or all of them teachers? Do they all have this gift of miracles, or all have the gift of healing? Do all speak strange languages, and all interpret them?" (1 Cor 12:27-30)

                (2) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Thoughts on the Church Today continues p. 141

The Church as Body of Christ is the earthly, visible continuation of the Incarnation. Christ is the Head of the Body, we are His members. Since the Church is the terrestrial manifestation of the mystery of Christ, her life is patterned after His. The various mysteries or events of Christ, especially the central ones of death and resurrection, are to be relived by the Church's members. Indeed, the image of the Church is a Christic one.
 

                (3) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Thoughts on the Church Today continues p. 141

For the Church to be constituted in the image of Christ is both a great privilege and a great responsibility. The more the Church can project the image of Christ, the more she is capable of being an instrument of continued redemption. Jesus led a life of material simplicity. Is this characteristic sufficiently manifest in the life of the Church? Jesus came to minister, not to be served. Do we as members of the Church properly project to one another and to the world an attitude of loving service? Jesus manifested a special concern for the poor, the lowly, the helpless. Do we do likewise? Jesus hungered and thirsted for justice's sake. Do the many flagrant violations of justice in our own day really bother us? Jesus loved each individual and forgave His enemies. Do we love everybody and do we forgive? Jesus was ridiculed, rejected, spat upon, beaten, crowned with thorns, abandoned by His friends, lifted up on a cross. This was all a proof of how much He loved His Church and the world. How much are we willing to suffer for the Church and the world?
 

                (4) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Thoughts on the Church Today continues p. 141-142

Vatican II speaks concerning the Church and its relationship with the world: "Though mankind today is struck with wonder at its own discoveries and its power, it often raises anxious questions about the current trend of the world, about the place and role of man in the universe, about the meaning of the universe, about the meaning of his individual and collective strivings, and about the ultimate destiny of reality and of humanity. Hence, giving witness and voice to the faith of the whole People of God gathered together by Christ, this Council can provide no more eloquent proof of its solidarity with the entire human family with which it is bound up, as well as its respect and love for that family, than by engaging with it in conversation about the various problems.
 

                (5) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Thoughts on the Church Today continues p. 142

"The Council brings to mankind light kindled from the gospel, and puts at its disposal those saving resources which the Church herself, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, receives from her Founder. For the human person deserves to be preserved; human society deserves to be renewed. Hence the pivotal point of our total presentation will be man himself, whole and entire, body and soul, heart and conscience, mind and will.
 

                (6) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Thoughts on the Church Today continues p. 142

"Therefore this sacred Synod proclaims the highest destiny of man and champions the godlike seed which has been sown in him. It offers to mankind the honest assistance of the Church in fostering that brotherhood of all men which corresponds to this destiny of theirs. Inspired by no earthly ambition, the Church seeks but a solitary goal: to carry forward the work of Christ Himself under the lead of the befriending Spirit. And Christ entered this world to give witness to the truth, to rescue and not to sit in judgment, to serve and not be served."4

4. Ibid., "Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World," No. 3.

                (7) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Thoughts on the Church Today continues p. 142

There is an errant philosophy of individualism rampant in today's world that can certainly influence the contemporary Christian. This philosophy is patently false. It provides a type of individualism that is inimical to community because it teaches that one must look out for oneself regardless of the consequences to others. Do your own thing, in other words, whenever and wherever you please, and let the chips fall where they may. This type of individualism is obviously wrong and pernicious.
 

                (8) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Thoughts on the Church Today continues p. 142

There is, on the other hand, a kind of individualism that is positive and in perfect harmony with the tenets of community, and, in our present context, with life within the Church: "An absolutely individual Christianity in the most personal experience of grace and ecclesial Christianity are no more radically opposed than are body and soul, than are man's transcendental essence and his historical constitution, or than are individuality and intercommunication. The two condition each other mutually. The very thing which we are from God is mediated in the concreteness of history by what we call church. And it is only in and through this mediation that it becomes our own reality and our salvation in full measure. For this reason church exists and has to exist."5

5. Karl Rahner, Foundations of Christian Faith, Seabury Press, p. 389.

                (9) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Thoughts on the Church Today continues pp. 142-143

The above remarks easily lead us to a quotation of John Henry Cardinal Newman. Newman's words remind us that each of us has a God-given role to fulfill in the Church, and that no one else can accomplish this mission. This is a great privilege, and a great responsibility: "Everyone who breathes, high and low, educated and ignorant, young and old, man and woman, has a mission, has a work. We are not sent into this world for nothing, we are not born at random...God sees every one of us. He creates every soul, He lodges it in a body, one by one, for a purpose."6

6. John Cardinal Henry Newman, Discourses Addressed to Mixed Congregations, Longmans, Green and Co., pp. 111-112.

                (10) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Thoughts on the Church Today continues p. 143

Here are words of Pope John Paul II to a group of seminarians: "As you know, I have just had a long working session with your bishops. It was a particularly important conversation, in the course of which we were able, we who are jointly in charge of all the churches, to face up to our responsibilities in order to assume them according to what pleases God. And now, it seems quite natural to continue this conversation, in a way, with those who are preparing to become collaborators of the episcopal order, and to be associated in this way, in the Person of Christ, with the preaching of the Gospel and the guidance of the People of God. You are still young, certainly, but already you divine a great many things. You understand that your gift must be complete and that, the further you go, the more you will discover the necessity of making it-if I may venture to say so-even more complete. It is at this level, therefore, that I will take up my position with you, taking into account, of course, the fact that a way such as yours takes time, and a long spiritual, intellectual and pastoral maturation, and that the mere desire to become a priest is not enough in itself to meet the requirements of the priesthood.


 

                The Descent of the Holy Spirit

                (1) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Thoughts on the Church Today continues p. 143

"One of these requirements, the most fundamental one, is that you should be deeply rooted in Jesus Christ. I invite you to this with all my heart. If you could learn, through prayer and contemplation, to live, preach, love and suffer like Christ, it seems that the main lines of your mission would gradually take shape clearly, and that you would also feel a vital need to join men and bring them what they really need. In such a proceeding, there is already the soul of the apostolate, so that 'action' is indissolubly linked with 'being', and vice versa. Here it is not useful to pursue vain discussions, nor is it good to prefer one to the detriment of the other. The Church intends to form you in complete interior unity, in which the mission requires intimacy with God, and in which the latter calls for the former.
 

                (2) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Thoughts on the Church Today continues pp. 143-144

"Do you want to be yourselves, 'good shepherds'? The good shepherd gives his life, and he gives his life for his sheep. Very well, then! It is necessary to discover the sense of self-sacrifice, linked with the sacrifice of Christ, and offer yourselves for others, who expect this witness from you. That can be said of all the faithful, but with all the more reason and in a very special way of priests and future priests. May your daily participation in the Eucharist, and the efforts you make to increase Eucharistic devotion within you, keep you along this way!"7

7. Pope John Paul II, as in Set Apart for Service, St. Paul Editions, pp. 197-199.

                (3) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Thoughts on the Church Today continues p. 144

The People of God are just that, people, and this implies that they are subject to imperfections and sinfulness like the rest of the human race. The Church is a pilgrim Church, made up of people struggling to be good, but at times failing, sinning, neglecting to live the Gospel ideal as well as they ought. But a pilgrim Church must endure this darker side of human nature. The pilgrim Church is still on its way, having much of the journey yet to travel. The pilgrim Church is in need of constant conversion of heart as it keeps reaching out to assimilate the Gospel of Jesus in deeper faith, hope and love.

                (4) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Thoughts on the Church Today continues p. 144

Despite the imperfections and sinfulness of the Church, we should always be striving to love more loyally this organization which is the Body of Christ. We are to love the Church, not with a blind loyalty which covers over her faults and blemishes and sinfulness, but with a loyalty that strives to help the Church become more what she should be. We are also to love the Church in a way which allows us not only to look at what is wrong with her, but which also permits us to see all that is right with her. We are to love the Church as a gift coming forth from the pierced Heart of Jesus. To fail to love this Church, then, is to fail to love this precious gift which Jesus has left us in the shedding of His blood. Christ and His Church are inseparably connected. To grow in love of Christ is to grow in love of His Church.

                (5) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Thoughts on the Church Today continues pp. 144

  1. In so many different ways we receive support from this organization called Church. Certain disillusioned members of the Church think they could better go it alone in trying to live the Gospel and in trying to influence social structures with Christian principles. They forget how much support they have received from the institutional Church. Donald Thorman, when he was editor of The National Catholic Reporter (a publication which has not hesitated to point out the faults of the institutional Church) observed: "Of course, there are many...cases in which the individual carries the burden of witnessing for Christ and the Christian message through his presence in the civic and social community. But without the 'support system' of an organized Church, which preached to him, helped prepare and motivate him, and which now continues to support him liturgically and educationally, his chances of maintaining himself without such support are negligible."8

            8. Donald Thorman, as in The National Catholic Reporter, February 9, 1973.

                (6) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Thoughts on the Church Today continues pp. 144-145

Vatican II clearly reminds us that the Church's life is centered in her liturgy: "...the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the church is directed; at the same time it is the fountain from which all her power flows. For the goal of apostolic works is that all who are made sons of God by faith and baptism should come together to praise God in the midst of His Church, to take part in her sacrifice, and to eat the Lord's supper.
 

                (7) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Thoughts on the Church Today continues p. 145

"The liturgy in its turn inspires the faithful to become 'of one heart in love' when they have tasted to their full of the paschal mysteries; it prays that 'they may grasp by deed what they hold by creed.' The renewal in the Eucharist of the covenant between the Lord and man draws the faithful into the compelling love of Christ and sets them afire. From the liturgy, therefore, and especially from the Eucharist, as from a fountain, grace is channeled into us; and the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God, to which all the other activities of the Church are directed as toward their goal, are most powerfully achieved."9

9. The Documents of Vatican II, "Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy," op. cit., No. 10.

                (8) Sing: Come Holy Ghost

                (9) Sing: Veni Sancti Spiritus

                (10) From the Lectionary

                        Pentecost Sequence

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Acts 2: 1-11

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

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

   

     

                Read pages 145-148 - The Spirit is Present from the Priestly Newsletter Book I

    

 

                Assumption

                (1) Immaculate Heart of Mary pray for us.

                (2) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - p. 113

Mother of Our Christ-life

Mary is the Mother of our Christ-life, this life which flows to us from the bosom of the Father, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit. Pope John Paul II beautifully links Mary's spiritual motherhood toward us with her being Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church, and Model of the Church. "Mary is present in the Church as the Mother of Christ, and at the same time as the Mother whom Christ, in the mystery of the Redemption, gave to humanity in the person of the Apostle John. Thus, in her new motherhood in the Spirit, Mary embraces each and every one in the Church, and embraces each and every one through the Church. In this sense, Mary, Mother of the Church, is also the Church's model. Indeed, as Paul VI hopes and asks: the Church must draw 'from the Virgin Mother of God the most authentic form of perfect imitation of Christ.'" (10)

10. Pope John Paul II, The Mother of the Redeemer, United States Catholic Conference, No. 38.

                (3) From Tell My People by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S. J.

The Holy Spirit

Jesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people to pray daily to the Holy Spirit. They are to pray for an increase in His gifts. My people must realize that the Holy Spirit comes to transform them. The Spirit desires to transform you more and more according to My image. Those who are docile to His touch become increasingly shaped in My likeness. He performs this marvel within Mary's Immaculate Heart. The more one dwells in My Mother's Heart, the more active are the workings of the Spirit. The Spirit leads Mary to place you within My own Heart. In both Our Hearts, then, your transformation continues. The more you are formed after My own Heart, the more I lead you to the bosom of My Father. Tell My people all this. Tell them to pray daily for a greater appreciation of these wondrous gifts. I am Lord and Master. All who come to My Heart will be on fire to receive the gifts of the Spirit in ever greater measure! I love and bless My people!"

Reflection: The Holy Spirit is given to us to fashion us ever more according to the likeness of Jesus. And the more we are like Jesus, the more Jesus leads us to the Father. Do we, each day, pray to the Holy Spirit to be more open to His transforming influence? Do we strive each day to grow in union with Mary? The greater our union with our Mother, the spouse of the Holy Spirit, the greater is the transforming action of the Holy Spirit within us.

                (4) From Tell My People by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S. J.

Mary Our Mother

Jesus: "My beloved friend, tell My people to come to My Mother. From the cross, as I was suffering indescribable agony, I gave Mary as spiritual Mother to the world. My great love for My people prompted Me to do this. I am Lord and Master, and I want My people to come to My Mother and their Mother. If you wish to be close to Me, come to Mary. Consecrate yourselves to her. In this way you will grow into the closest union with Me. Through her Immaculate Heart, you will be drawn more and more into My own Heart. It is My desire that you allow My Mother to place you within My Heart which loves you with an unfathomable love! This is My wish—that you come to Me enfolded by Mary's mantle, cradled in her arms, pressed against her Heart."

Reflection: It is God's will that we approach Jesus in union with Mary. Enough said!

                (5)  Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - pp. 88-89

Mary and the Priest

The Directory of the Ministry and Life of Priests tells us: “There is an ‘essential rapport…between the Mother of Jesus and the priesthood of the ministry of the Son,’ stemming from the existing one between the divine maternity of Mary and the priesthood of Christ.

“In light of such a rapport, Marian spirituality is rooted in every priest. Priestly spirituality could not be considered complete if it were to fail to include the message of Christ’s words on the Cross, in which He conferred his Mother to the beloved disciple, and, through him, to all priests called to continue his work of redemption.

“Like John at the foot of the Cross, every priest has been entrusted, in a special way, with Mary as Mother (cf. Jn 19:26-27).

“Priests, who are among the favored disciples of Jesus, crucified and risen, should welcome Mary as their Mother in their own life, bestowing her with constant attention and prayer. The Blessed Virgin then becomes the Mother who leads them to Christ, who makes them sincerely love the Church, who intercedes for them and who guides them toward the Kingdom of heaven…

“But they are not devout sons if they do not know how to imitate the virtues of Mary. The priest will look to Mary to be a humble, obedient and chaste minister and to give testimony of charity in the total surrender to God and the Church”.26

26. “Directory on the Ministry and Life of Priests,” No. 68, as in Inside the Vatican, special supplement, November, 1994, p.25.

 

                (6) Sing: A Priest is a Gift from God

                (7) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - pp. 84-85

Augustine and Trinitarian Spirituality

All authentic articulations of Christian spirituality are Trinitarian. Indeed, we go to the Father, through and with Christ, in the Holy Spirit, with the assistance of Mary our Mother. However, certain spiritualities highlight the Trinitarian framework of Christian spirituality more than do others. One of these is the spirituality of St. Augustine. Sr. Mary T. Clark, R.S.C.J., in commenting on Augustinian spirituality, observes: “Christ is the perfect image of the Father, equally God. The human person is an imperfect image of the Trinity, not equal to God but having a capacity for communion with God. The journey to God is by way of becoming a more perfect image of the divine Trinity. The Father’s perfect image, his Son, is the only way to likeness with God. This likeness is best achieved through wisdom, the crowning gift of the Holy Spirit. Wisdom is ‘the love and awareness of Him who is always present’ (Exposition, Ps 135.8). On it depends the soul’s loving intimacy with the divine Persons. It is the final fruit of a living faith that acts in love (see Gal 5:6). It presupposes an eager search for God, but its proper activity is contemplation, that is, the finding of God and rejoicing in Him.

                (8) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Augustine and Trinitarian Spirituality continues - p. 85

“This indirect perception of God will become in heaven a direct face-to-face vision of God. The contemplation of God is the destiny of every Christian (City of God, 19.19). Here on earth wisdom expands into loving action. The Christian thereby acts out God’s love for all creatures, just as Christ in His actions manifested God’s love for them. The source of wisdom, the divine love poured into human hearts by the Spirit arouses in persons the acts of remembering, understanding, and loving God.

                (9) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Augustine and Trinitarian Spirituality continues - p. 85

“Thus Augustine saw the essential process of the spiritual life to be the re-formation of the image of the Trinity in the human person by the grace of Christ freely accepted. Transformed into children of God, human persons enter into union with him not merely as creatures with Creator but as friends. The Father offers this grace of friendship to all through Christ, the universal way.

                (10) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Augustine and Trinitarian Spirituality continues - p. 85-86

“So convinced was Augustine of the centrality of the Trinity in the living out of Christian faith that he wrote fifteen books on the Trinity…

“‘We are certainly seeking a trinity, not any trinity at all, but that trinity which is God, the true, supreme, and only God…We are not yet speaking of heavenly things, not yet of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Rather we speak of this unequal image, an image nevertheless, which is human being. For the mind’s weakness perhaps looks upon this image with more familiarity and facility…Let us attend as much as we can and call upon the heavenly light to illuminate our darkness so that we might see, as much as we are permitted, the image of God in us’ (On the Trinity, 9.1.1; 9.2.2). This human imaging of God is a call to authenticity, that is, to truth in word and action. The Son, the Word of God, was made flesh so that we might imitate Him in living rightly…”22

                        22. Sr. Mary T. Clark, R.S.C.J., in The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality, Michael Glazier, pp. 68-69.

 

  

                Mary is Crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth

                (1) Revelation 11: 19—12: 2

Then the sanctuary of God in heaven opened, and the ark of the covenant could be seen inside it. Then came flashes of lightning, peals of thunder and an earthquake and violent hail.

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.

                (2) Sing: Hail Holy Queen

                (3) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - pp. 65-66

Reflections on Community

The Eucharist is our chief source of growth in community. Each time we grow through the Eucharist we grow in the capacity to relate more deeply in love with the members of the Christian community as well as all others. Here are some reflections and comments on community:

  • “Now you together are Christ’s body; but each of you is a different part of it.” (1 Cor 12: 27).

  • I need you, you need me. Why at times do we pretend that it is otherwise?

                (4) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Reflections on Community - p. 66

  • John Downe, the British writer, far back in the seventeenth century, wrote these perennially applicable words: “No man is an island, entire of itself: every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the maine.”6

  • To expect the community which is the Church to be without sins and blemishes is to demand too much. On the other hand, to want the Church humbly to labor at a vigorous, ongoing conversion is to desire what the Spirit Himself wishes.

  • Any form of Christian community must gaze inwardly upon itself in order to maintain and promote Spirit-inspired vitality. But if there is not a self-transcendence involved—a loving and concerned gaze outwardly toward the entire human family—then there is something tragically lacking.

                (5) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Reflections on Community - p. 66

  • Fr. Ladislaus Orsy, S.J., says: “There are, there were, and there will be weaknesses in the Church. What should be the response of a Christian? It cannot be anything else than the Christian response that is compassion. Bitter criticism and aggressive accusation do not heal wounds. If anything, they aggravate the condition of the sick. Besides, those attitudes hardly proceed from faith, hope and love.”7

  • The little black boy and the little white boy hug each other in playful glee. How often little children can teach us—if we’re not too stubborn and supercilious to listen.

  • Needlessly to hurt another is simultaneously to hurt myself.

                (6) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Reflections on Community - p. 66

  • St. Clement, Pope, writes to the Corinthians: “Why are there strife and passion, schisms and even war among you? Do we not possess the same spirit of grace which was given to us and the same calling in Christ? Why do we tear apart and divide the body of Christ? Why do we revolt against our own body? Why do we reach such a degree of insanity that we forget that we are members one of another?…

    “We should put an end to this division immediately. Let us fall down before our master and implore his mercy with our tears. Then he will be reconciled to us and restore us to the practice of brotherly love that befits us…A person may be faithful; he may have the power to utter hidden mysteries; he may be discriminating in the evaluation of what is said and pure in his actions. But the greater he seems to be, the more humbly he ought to act, and the more zealous he should be for the common good rather than his own interest.”8

                (7) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Reflections on Community - pp. 66-67

  • God has created each person as marvelously unique. He has also made us social beings. Each one’s uniqueness, therefore, is meant to unfold within the framework of community.

  • Fr. Avery Dulles, S.J., says, “The Church is a sign. It must signify in a historically tangible form the redeeming grace of Christ. It signifies that grace as relevantly given to…every age, race, kind, and condition. Hence the Church must incarnate itself in every human culture.”9

  • Community is often built through pain-demanding and time-demanding effort. How quickly, though, one can harm community through the uncharitable, cutting, and divisive word.

                (8) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Reflections on Community - p. 67

  • To walk the path of life hand in hand with my brothers and sisters is Spirit-inspired wisdom. To want to walk alone is childish and pain-inflicting folly.

  • Some are guilty because they unjustly use the structures and institutions of society variously to harm their fellowmen. Others are guilty because they neglect their responsibility to aid in reforming and strengthening these same social structures.

  • Do I sincerely rejoice in the good others do? If not, why not? Community thrives on such rejoicing.

                (9) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - Reflections on Community - p. 67

  • The Christian community is intended to be a terrestrial reflection of that ultimate and perfect community—the Trinitarian life of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

  • “If our life in Christ means anything to you, if love can persuade at all, or the Spirit that we have in common, or any tenderness and sympathy, then be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind. That is the one thing which would make me completely happy. There must be no competition among you, no conceit; but everybody is to be self-effacing. Always consider the other person to be better than yourself, so that nobody thinks of his own interests first but everybody thinks of other people’s interests instead.” (Phil 2: 1-4).

                (10) Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - p. 58

The Holy Spirit in Our Lives

As the closing words of the act of consecration remind us, Jesus leads us to the Father in the Holy Spirit with Mary at our side. The Holy Spirit desires to fashion us into an ever greater likeness of Christ according to Jesus’ pattern of death-resurrection. Mary our Mother cooperates with the Spirit, Whose spouse she is, in this process. Obviously, we should pray to the Holy Spirit each day. There are many ways we can do this. We can do this by simply turning our attention to the Spirit at various times during the day as we ask for His guidance. This method can also be complemented by saying certain established prayers. Here is one of these: “Come Holy Spirit, almighty Sanctifier. God of love, Who filled the Virgin Mary with grace, Who wonderfully changed the hearts of the apostles, Who endowed all your martyrs with miraculous courage, come and sanctify us. Enlighten our minds, strengthen our wills, purify our consciences, rectify our judgment, set our hearts on fire, and preserve us from the misfortunes of resisting Your inspirations. Amen.”

  

Priestly Newsletter Book I by Edward J. Carter, S.J. - p. 42

Reflections on Joy and Happiness (excerpt)

When we cope with suffering according to God’s will, we grow in the Christ-life of grace. We grow in love. We grow in peace and joy. Suffering, which is properly encountered, consequently leads to a greater share in the joy of the resurrected Christ.

                Sing: Why Do We Hurt the Ones We Love

                Sing: Live This Day

                Sing: Christ Be Our Light

 

 

Give a gift that lasts.

        

             

$10.00 each plus shipping

 Call 1-888-211-3041

Shepherds of Christ

 

 

We can send Fr. Joe's

homily book to a priest for 75¢.

Can you please help us get

these homilies to the priests?
 

Please help us with your donation.

Call Shepherds of Christ

1-888-211-3041

 

   

NEW! — 11" St. Michael - $40.00 plus shipping

 

 

 

Prayer Cards available

     
Holy Spirit Prayer Act of Consecration to
Immaculate Heart of Mary
Act of Consecration to
Sacred Heart of Jesus
Prayer for Priests

 

Prayer before the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
 

Prayer for Union with Jesus

Available for .25¢ each plus postage

Call Shepherds of Christ

1-888-211-3041

 

 

 

Prayer Card  4" x 6"

.5 each plus postage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

size 5 1/2" x 8 1/2"
$1.00 plus postage

 

 

 

 

 

  Statues  

     

Sacred Heart of Jesus w/glass - 18

Our Lady-Guadalupe w/glass - 12
Limpias - 8
     

Immaculate Heart w/glass - 18

I Heart - Ivory w/glass - 18

Our Lady of Grace w/glass - 18

     
Our Lady-Mt. Carmel w/glass - 18

Our Lady of Lourdes w/glass - 18

Infant of Prague w/glass - 24

     

Sacred Heart of Jesus w/glass - 24

Sacred Heart -Blessing w/glass - 24

Sorrowful Mother w/glass - 24

 

 

 

I Heart - Ivory w/glass - 24

I Heart of Mary w/glass - 24

Our Lady of Lourdes w/glass - 24
   

 

  

 

Our Lady-Guadalupe w/glass - 28

Our Lady of Grace w/glass - 24

Our Lady-Mt. Carmel w/glass - 24
     

Fatima w/glass - 11

Pilgrim Virgin w/glass - 12

Pilgrim Virgin w/glass - 15

 

  

 

Fatima w/glass - 18

Pilgrim Virgin w/glass - 18

 

Pilgrim Virgin w/glass - 27

St. Padre Pio

St. Joseph

St. Therese

   

 

 

St. Francis

St. Anthony

St. Claire

 

  

 

Limpias

St. Jude
 

Divine Mercy

 

  

 

Holy Family

Angel

St. Philomena

 

 

 

Pieta - Marble

Pieta - Color

Holy Family

 

  

 

St. Anthony - 18

St. Francis - 18

St. Joseph - 18

 

 

 

St. Therese - 18

St. Rita - 18

St. Clare - 12
 
     

St. Rita - 12

St. Padre Pio - 12
Divine Mercy - 12

 

       


Shepherds of Christ Ministries
P. O. Box 627
China, IN  47250

 

Toll free - 1-888-211-3041
Local - 1-812-273-8405
fax - 1-812-273-3182
web: www.sofc.org
e-mail: info@sofc.org

 

  Size Price Quantity   

 Holy Family

 24"

$180

 

 Limpias

 24"

$125

 

 St. Anthony

 24"

$125

 

 St. Claire

 24"

$125

 

 St. Francis

 24"

$125

 

 St. Joseph

 24"

$125

 

 St. Jude

 24"

$125

 

 St. Padre Pio

 24"

$125

 

 St. Therese

 24"

$125

 
 Divine Mercy

22"

$125  
 Angel

22"

$100  
 St. Philomena

20"

$100  
 St. Philomena

16"

$65  
 St. Joseph

18"

$65  
 St. Francis

18"

$65  
 St. Anthony

18"

$65  
 St. Rita

18"

$65  
 St. Therese

18"

$65  
 Pieta - Color 15" $75  
 Pieta - Marble 15" $75  
 Holy Family

12"

$60  
 St. Padre Pio - standing

12"

$40  
 St. Padre Pio - sitting

8"

$50  
 St. Rita

12"

$40  

 Divine Mercy

12"

$40  
 St. Claire

12"

$40  
 Limpias

8"

$25  
 Our Lady of Guadalupe w/glass

28"

$500  
 Our Lady of Mt. Carmel w/glass

24"

$500  

 Immaculate Heart of Mary w/glass

 24"

$500  

 Immaculate Heart - Ivory w/glass

 24"

$500  

 Infant of Prague w/glass

 24"

$500  

 Our Lady of Grace w/glass

 24"

$500  

 Our Lady of Lourdes w/glass  

 24"

$500  
 Sacred Heart of Jesus w/glass

 24"

$500  
 Sacred Heart -Blessing w/glass

 24"

$500  

 Sorrowful Mother w/glass

 24"

$500  
 Immaculate Heart of Mary w/glass

18"

$300  
 Immaculate Heart - Ivory w/glass

18"

$300  
 Sacred Heart of Jesus w/glass

18"

$300  
 Our Lady of Lourdes w/glass  

18"

$300  
 Our Lady of Grace w/glass

18"

$300  

 Our Lady of Mt. Carmel w/glass

18" $300  
 Our Lady of Guadalupe w/glass

12"

$200  

 Fatima w/glass

11"

$150  

 Fatima w/glass

 18"

$250  
 Pilgrim Virgin w/glass

 12"

$160  
 Pilgrim Virgin w/glass 15" $200  
 Pilgrim Virgin w/glass 18" $250  
 Pilgrim Virgin w/glass

27"

$450  


Call for Shipping Price (1-888-211-3041)
 

  Name
   
 Sub-Total
  Address
         
 IN Tax (7%)
  City
  
 Shipping
  State                                            Zip
  
 Donation
  Telephone
   
 Order Total

 

Shepherds of Christ  
P. O. Box 627
China, IN  47250

 

Call Shepherds of Christ

1-888-211-3041
 

      

Fr. Joe's Homily Books  

Guiding Light - Cycle A
The Word Alive in Our Hearts

$10.00


Guiding Light - Cycle B
Focusing on the Word

$10.00
 

Guiding Light - Cycle C
Feed My Soul

$10.00

 

Fr. Carter's Books
  

Priestly Newsletter Book I

12 Newsletters
July 1994 - June 1996

$12.00


Priestly Newsletter Book 2

17 Newsletters
1996 - 1999

$12.00
 

Priestly Newsletter Book 3

4 Newsletters & Prayers
2000

$12.00

Response to God's Love



$10.00


Messages given
by Jesus and Mary 1994

Tell My People
$10.00
 


The Pain and the Joy

$10.00

Synopsis of the Spiritual Life

Spirituality Handbook
$3.00


Priestly Newsletter on CD
2000 - Issue 1

$10.00


Priestly Newsletter on CD
2000 - Issue 2

$10.00

 

Fr. Pasquini's Books
   

Authenticity


 
Prayers and Meditations

$10.00

In Imitation of Two Hearts

For those suffering or
in Nursing Homes
 
$10.00

Light, Happiness and Peace

Journeying through traditional
Catholic Spirituality

$10.00

Medicine of Immortality

Prayers and Meditations - will assist the reader in growth toward a deeper understanding of the mystery of the Eucharist

$10.00


Ecce Fides - Pillar of Truth

Ideal for RCIA, Adult & Youth Bible Study, Homeschooling, Catholic
Identity Studies

$10.00

Shepherds of Christ Newsletters
9 Newsletters
2006 - 2008

$36.00

  

DVDs and CDs by Fr. Pasquini
 


 

Authenticity DVD
Prayers on the Ocean

$10.00
 

Nursing Home Mass DVD

$10.00

Consolation DVD

$10.00

Medicine of Immortality
Read by Rita Ring

2 CDs - $17.00

In Imitation of Two Hearts DVD

$10.00


 

Consolation CD
by Fr. John

$8.00
 


 

Nursing Home Mass CD

$8.00
 

Holy Spirit Novena DVD

$10.00 

Divine Mercy Chaplet DVD

$10.00 

plus shipping
   

 

Call Shepherds of Christ

1-888-211-3041

 

Available for $10.00 plus postage

1-888-211-3041

Call Shepherds of Christ

 

God’s Blue Books

God’s Blue Book 1
Teachings to Lift You Up

    $10.00


God’s Blue Book 4
The Love of the Hearts of
Jesus and Mary

$5.00
 


God’s Blue Book 2
The Fire of His Love

$10.00
 

God’s Blue Book 5
So Deep Is the Love of His Heart

$5.00


God’s Blue Book 3
Love God, Love One Another

(Fr. Carter's favorite)
$10.00
 


God’s Blue Book 6
He Calls Us to Action

$10.00
 

  

 

Rosary Books
 


Rosaries from the
Hearts of Jesus and Mary

$10.00
 

Rosaries from the
Hearts of Jesus and Mary

$12.00

Rosary Meditations for
Parents and Children's

$10.00


Mysteries of Light 1

$5.00
 

Mysteries of Light 2

$5.00


Little People & Elderly Rosary Book

$10.00

Coloring Book
$5.00 each


Coloring Book
$5.00 each

 

Coloring Book
$5.00 each

Coloring Book
$5.00 each

Coloring Book
$5.00 each


Coloring Book
$5.00 each

 

 

 

We are trying to get

Response to God's Love

and the Mass Book out.
 

Anybody who wants to help us

with a donation to get these 2 books

out in the Priestly/hierarchy mailing —

Please call Shepherds of Christ

 1-888-211-3041

 

 

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)

 

  

 

  


 

The China Church is over 140 years old

and we pray in there 24 hours a day.

It needs stucco and so does

the community building.

Can you please help us?

Call Shepherds of Christ

 1-888-211-3041

 

Likewise the priest house

is 150 years old.

Jesus told us to repair it

which we have been doing.

We need $13,000.00 for this work.

 

 

You can help put the Blue Book V

in the hands of 1,000 people

we need $1,200 postage for this

It is ready to go

Call Shepherds of Christ

1-888-211-3041

    

Crucifix — hand carved by Felix

   

Available for $750.00

 

 

 

Brand New Internet Store

 

 

Click picture

   

 


Table of Contents

Previous Daily Writing


Main Shepherds of Christ Page


SofC LogoCopyright © 2010  Shepherds of Christ.
Rights for non—commercial reproduction granted:
May be copied in its entirety, but neither re—typed nor edited.
Translations are welcome but they must be reviewed for moral and 
theological accuracy by a source approved by Shepherds of Christ Ministries 
before any distribution takes place. Please contact us for more information.