Shepherds of Christ Daily Writing        

November 3, 2016

November 4th Holy Spirit Novena
Scripture selection is 
Day 1 Period II.

The Novena Rosary Mysteries 
for November 4th
are
Sorrowful.

 
Pray through the intercession of
Our Lady of CLEAR - WATER

   

               

                Given October 29, 2016

                R. Please spread blessed holy water
                (
You can also mix Jesus and Mary water
                with your blessed Holy Water if you have it.)
                in your yard, around your house,
                in the state you live in.

                And ask God to bless your state for this election,
                ask God to bless the United States for this election.

                Say this election prayer Jesus gave me.

                Pray all prayers through the intercession of
                    Our Lady of CLEAR – WATER.

                Ask the Lady of CLEAR - WATER
                    to help with the blessed water.

                Mary has appeared to me for 22 years,
                    in Ohio and Florida.

  

Our Lady of Clearwater

 

Prayer for Grace for Election and our Country

Dear Father united to Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacrifice of Calvary sacramentally made present, celebrated around the world, in the Holy Spirit. We offer up all we do united to the Mass. We unite in one mind and one heart as members of the mystical body of Christ, with Christ our head in the pure and holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary, through the powerful intercession of Mary with all the angels and saints and souls in purgatory, and we beg for the saving grace for this election, for our country, the United States. Please help us. We further pray for unity to always do the will of God in love. We spread the Blood of Jesus on the leaders and people of the United States and cast the devil into hell. We consecrate our country to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart and all our dioceses, and beg for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. God help us. We pray for our families, the priests, the Church and the world. In the Name of Jesus please hear us, we pray.

 
 
 

October 13, 1016

Dear Friend,

      I give my heart to Jesus and Mary with you in love.

     We send you Fr. Joe’s 10th book of homilies for your weekly use. We pray for you and the priests, the Church and the world in prayer chapters. We give our lives praying.

We need to pray united to the Mass, really united, as members of the mystical body of Christ, with Christ the head for this election and for our country, for the saving grace for this election and for our country.

     The Mass is the sacrifice of Calvary sacramentally made present. I see like Lucia’s vision. Christ is celebrating Mass in the priest, Mary stands by the altar interceding. We see the priest, the host is raised, the precious blood of Jesus, we see Christ on the cross crucified above the priest, Mary by the altar interceding and we are deeply united to all the people, all the Masses going on around the world and we feel that unity with all gathered.

     We give our hearts to Jesus and Mary and we are one in Their pure and Holy Hearts united to the Mass. And we have faith, we believe – the saving grace from God will be outpoured for our country, this election and the whole world.

     This is how we must tell the people to pray in the United States now. Think of unity – (not division, not in our own private cubical). Say the Morning Offering, offering all we do, all day united to each other, united to the Mass going on now, around the world. We are in one mind and one heart in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary UNITED to the Mass praying to the Father, in the Holy Spirit, one with Jesus in the Mass, through the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with all the angels and saints and the souls in purgatory.

     This is a prayer I composed myself and have been praying. Would you like to pray it too, for the election? 
 

Prayer for Grace for Election and our Country

Dear Father united to Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacrifice of Calvary sacramentally made present, celebrated around the world, in the Holy Spirit. We offer up all we do united to the Mass. We unite in one mind and one heart as members of the mystical body of Christ, with Christ our head in the pure and holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary, through the powerful intercession of Mary with all the angels and saints and souls in purgatory, and we beg for the saving grace for this election, for our country, the United States. Please help us. We further pray for unity to always do the will of God in love. We spread the Blood of Jesus on the leaders and people of the United States and cast the devil into hell. We consecrate our country to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart and all our dioceses, and beg for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. God help us. We pray for our families, the priests, the Church and the world. In the Name of Jesus please hear us, we pray.    
 

Thank You,

Rita Robinson Ring, Co-founder
Shepherds of Christ

 

 

                R. You can also mix Jesus and Mary water with
                    your blessed Holy Water if you have it.

                end of excerpt

   

                Given November 1, 2016 - All Saint's Day

Revelation 7: 2-4, 9-14

Then I saw another angel rising where the sun rises, carrying the seal of the living God; he called in a powerful voice to the four angels whose duty was to devastate land and sea, ‘Wait before you do any damage on land or at sea or to the trees, until we have put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.’ And I heard how many had been sealed: a hundred and forty–four thousand, out of all the tribes of Israel.

The rewarding of the saints

After that I saw that there was a huge number, impossible for anyone to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language; they were standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands. They shouted in a loud voice, ‘Salvation to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ And all the angels who were standing in a circle round the throne, surrounding the elders and the four living creatures, prostrated themselves before the throne, and touched the ground with their foreheads, worshipping God with these words: 

    Amen. Praise and glory and wisdom, 
    thanksgiving and honour 
        and power and strength 
    to our God for ever and ever. Amen. 

    One of the elders then spoke and asked me, ‘Who are these people, dressed in white robes, and where have they come from?’ I answered him, ‘You can tell me, sir.’ Then he said, ‘These are the people who have been through the great trial; they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb.

 

Psalm 24 (V23)

For a solemn entry into the sanctuary

Psalm Of David

To Yahweh belong the earth and all it contains, 
the world and all who live there; 
it is he who laid its foundations on the seas, 
on the flowing waters fixed it firm. 

Who shall go up to the mountain of Yahweh? 
Who shall take a stand in his holy place? 

The clean of hands and pure of heart, 
whose heart is not set on vanities, 
who does not swear an oath in order to deceive. 

Such a one will receive blessing from Yahweh, 
saving justice from the God of his salvation. 
Such is the people that seeks him, 
that seeks your presence, God of Jacob.

     

1 John 3: 1-3

You must see what great love 
    the Father has lavished on us 
by letting us be called God’s children—
which is what we are! 
The reason why the world 
    does not acknowledge us 
is that it did not acknowledge him. 
My dear friends, 
    we are already God’s children, 
but what we shall be in the future 
    has not yet been revealed. 
We are well aware that when he appears 
we shall be like him, 
because we shall see him as he really is.

First condition: to break with sin

Whoever treasures this hope of him 
purifies himself, to be as pure as he is.

       

Matthew 5: 1-12
The Beatitudes

Seeing the crowds, he went onto the mountain. And when he was
seated his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak. This is
what he taught them:

How blessed are the poor in spirit:
the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
Blessed are the gentle:
they shall have the earth as inheritance.
Blessed are those who mourn:
they shall be comforted.
Blessed are those
   who hunger and thirst for uprightness:
they shall have their fill.
Blessed are the merciful:
they shall have mercy shown them.
Blessed are the pure in heart:
they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers:
they shall be recognised
   as children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted
   in the cause of uprightness:
the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and
speak all kinds of calumny against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this
is how they persecuted the prophets before you.

  

                R. We think of the saints –

                Men and women who did God's will and
                lived lives to serve God and are now
                in heaven. We seek the beatific vision –
                We want to see God's face.

                    We seek love and truth. God is
                absolute truth. We are called to follow
                Christ – We must put Christ first
                in our life –

                    We are commanded to love our neighbor
                as our self. We are to be selfless and not
                selfish.

 

Prayer for Union with Jesus

Come to me, Lord, and possess my soul. Come into my heart and permeate my soul. Help me to sit in silence with You and let You work in my heart.

    I am Yours to possess. I am Yours to use. I want to be selfless and only exist in You. Help me to spoon out all that is me and be an empty vessel ready to be filled by You. Help me to die to myself and live only for You. Use me as You will. Let me never draw my attention back to myself. I only want to operate as You do, dwelling within me.

    I am Yours, Lord. I want to have my life in You. I want to do the will of the Father. Give me the strength to put aside the world and let You operate my very being. Help me to act as You desire. Strengthen me against the distractions of the devil to take me from Your work.

    When I worry, I have taken my focus off of You and placed it on myself. Help me not to give in to the promptings of others to change what in my heart You are making very clear to me. I worship You, I adore You and I love You. Come and dwell in me now.

-God's Blue Book, January 17, 1994

 

                R. God is all powerful. God is
                merciful.
 

John 14: 5

Jesus said:

    I am the Way; I am Truth and Life.
    No one can come to the Father
        except through me.

 

                R. We are to practice what we preach.

                    God calls us to love Him first in our
                life – Before everything else. We are
                to love God with our whole heart,
                our whole soul and our whole being.
                We are to grow in our heart of love –
                likened to Jesus' Sacred Heart.

                Sing: I Love You Jesus
 

                Sing: A Song from Jesus
 


 

                R. We are given the Mass, the Sacrifice
                    of Calvary, sacramentally
                    made present –

                    We are to be prepared for eternity –
                As we head for winter up here in
                Cincinnati – we know we must prepare
                for the cold weather here –

                    As we get older – we know we
                aren't what we used to be and
                we must prepare for eternal salvation.
                for being with God eternally.

                    Always be prepared –

                Song: Be Watchful, Be Ready –

 

From Blue Book 15 - Introduction (excerpt)

Through the Eucharistic Sacrifice Christ the Lord desired to set before us in a very special way this remarkable union whereby we are united one with another and with our divine Head, a union that no word of praise can ever sufficiently express. For in this sacrifice the sacred ministers act not only as the representative of our Saviour, but as the representative of the whole Mystical Body and of each one of the faithful. Again, in this act of sacrifice, the faithful of Christ, united by the common bond of devotion and prayer, offer to the eternal Father through the hands of the priest, whose prayer alone has made it present on the altar, the Immaculate Lamb, the most acceptable victim of praise and propitiation for the Church’s universal need. Moreover, just as the divine Redeemer, while dying on the Cross, offered Himself to the eternal Father as Head of the whole human race, so now, ‘in this clean oblation’ He not only offers Himself as Head of the Church to His heavenly Father but in Himself His mystical members as well. He embraces them all, yes, even the weaker and more ailing members, with the deepest love of His Heart. (Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis AAS, XXXV, 232-233)28

 

  Hebrews 9: 24-28

It is not as though Christ had entered a man–made sanctuary which was merely a model of the real one; he entered heaven itself, so that he now appears in the presence of God on our behalf. And he does not have to offer himself again and again, as the high priest goes into the sanctuary year after year with the blood that is not his own, or else he would have had to suffer over and over again since the world began. As it is, he has made his appearance once and for all, at the end of the last age, to do away with sin by sacrificing himself. Since human beings die only once, after which comes judgement, so Christ too, having offered himself only once to bear the sin of many, will manifest himself a second time, sin being no more, to those who are waiting for him, to bring them salvation.

   

                R. We should always be prepared
                    for our death.

 

Daniel 12: 1-3

‘At that time Michael will arise–the great Prince, defender of your people. That will be a time of great distress, unparalleled since nations first came into existence. When that time comes, your own people will be spared–all those whose names are found written in the Book.

‘Of those who are sleeping in the Land of Dust, many will awaken, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting disgrace. Those who are wise will shine as brightly as the expanse of the heavens, and those who have instructed many in uprightness, as bright as stars for all eternity.

 

Hebrews 10: 11-14, 18

Every priest stands at his duties every day, offering over and over again the same sacrifices which are quite incapable of taking away sins. He, on the other hand, has offered one single sacrifice for sins, and then taken his seat for ever, at the right hand of God, where he is now waiting till his enemies are made his footstool. By virtue of that one single offering, he has achieved the eternal perfection of all who are sanctified. The Holy Spirit attests this to us, for after saying:

No, this is the covenant I will make with them, when those days have come.

the Lord says:

In their minds I will plant my Laws writing them on their hearts,

When these have been forgiven, there can be no more sin offerings.

   
 

Introduction to Blue Book 15

Fr. Edward Carter, S.J.

Founder of Shepherds of Christ - Rita’s Spiritual Director
Rita Ring, Co-founder of Shepherds of Christ

Excerpt from Response in Christ - Chapter 4 by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J.

In schematic outline we have discussed the manner in which the baptized Christian extends his Mass to his daily existence. As he so lives out his Mass, he is becoming more Christ-like. He becomes a more perfect priest and victim for his next participation in the eucharistic sacrifice.42 The beautiful cycle which the Mass contains lies exposed before us. As part of this cycle the Christian is intimately involved in the process of continued redemption. The Mass is the center of the Christian life: “. . . the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the fount from which all her power flows.” 43

42. For a current treatment of the varied richness of the Eucharist, cf. J. Wicks, “The Movement of Eucharistic Theology” in Chicago Studies,Vol. 10 (1971), pp. 267-284.
43.
The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, No. 10.

 

Given November 21, 2013

Jesus: I call you to live your lives as devout members of the mystical body of Christ. I have given these writings that men will realize that they are to live united deeply to the Mass going on around the world. Your lives, given as an offering, a sacrifice every moment in union with the Mass going on around the world. Your life, a sacrifice, offered to the Father, in union with the Mass in oneness with Me, in the Holy Spirit through the intercession of the Blessed Mother with all the angels and saints and the souls in purgatory.

Your lives given as members of My mystical body can help to bring down great graces for the priest, the Church and the world.
 

The Mass is the Sacrifice of Calvary sacramentally made present.
 

The Eucharist

• The death-resurrection of Jesus, which is encountered in a special way through the sacraments, is most especially renewed in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Consequently, we can see the logical connection between the sacraments and the Mass. Indeed, all of the sacraments point to the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

At the Last Supper, on the night He was betrayed, our Saviour instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of His Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the centuries until He should come again, and so to entrust to His beloved spouse, the Church, a memorial of His death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us (Vatican II, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, No. 17)26

The Church, therefore, earnestly desires that Christ’s faithful, when present at this mystery of faith, should not be there as strangers or silent spectators. On the contrary, through a proper appreciation of the rites and prayers they should participate knowingly, devoutly, and actively. They should be instructed by God’s word and be refreshed at the table of the Lord’s body; they should give thanks to God; by offering the Immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him, they should learn to offer themselves too. Through Christ the Mediator, they should be drawn day by day into ever closer union with God and with each other, so that finally God may be all in all. (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, No. 48) 27   . . .

• Pope John Paul II states: “This worship, given therefore to the Trinity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, above all accompanies and permeates the celebration of the Eucharistic Liturgy. But it must fill our churches also outside the timetable of Masses. Indeed, since the Eucharistic Mystery was instituted out of love, and makes Christ sacramentally present, it is worthy of thanksgiving and worship. And this worship must be prominent in all our encounters with the Blessed Sacrament, both when we visit our churches and when the sacred species are taken to the sick and administered to them.

“Adoration of Christ in this sacrament of love must also find expression in various forms of Eucharistic devotion: personal prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, Hours of Adoration, periods of exposition — short, prolonged and annual (Forty Hours) - Eucharistic benediction, Eucharistic processions, Eucharistic congresses. A particular mention should be made at this point of the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ as an act of public worship rendered to Christ present in the Eucharist, a feast instituted by my predecessor Urban IV in memory of the institution of this great Mystery.

“All this therefore corresponds to the general principles and particular norms already long in existence, but newly formulated during or after the Second Vatican Council.

“…The Church and the world have a great need of Eucharistic worship. Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of love. Let us be generous with our time in going to meet Him in adoration and in contemplation that is full of faith and ready to make reparation for the great faults and crimes of the world. May our adoration never cease.”29

• The following words of Fr. M. Raymond, O.C.S.O., emphasize the great importance regarding personal holiness and one’s participation in the Mass: “Mass, insomuch as it is Christ’s offering, is not only always acceptable to God, but is of infinite value as well.

“But, inasmuch as it is your offering and mine, and that of every other member of the Mystical Body ... we can limit the effectiveness of God’s great Act of Love; we finite beings can set bounds to the veritable flood of God-life made possible by the Infinite Son of the Infinite Father.”30

Yes, the effectiveness of each Mass, which makes the sacrifice of Calvary sacramentally present, depends in part on the holiness of the entire Church offering it with Christ to the Father in the Holy Spirit, including the holiness of the individual priest offering and the holiness of his participating congregation.

• The Sacrifice of Calvary is sacramentally made present in the Mass. When we pray the Morning Offering Prayer, united to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we act as intercessors, pleading to God that great graces be released all day through our prayerful actions as we act in love according to the Father’s will. Whether we are eating, taking care of a sick parent, enjoying time spent with a friend, working at our job, we can help bring down great graces for the world.

When we pray the Morning Offering Prayer we offer our lives to the Father, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit, with the prayerful assistance of Mary, our Mother. Let us pray together united in our hearts in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. There follows a Morning Offering Prayer.

“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, 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 the 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.”32

26. The Documents of Vatican II, “Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy”, America Press Edition, No. 17.
27.
Ibid, No. 48.
28. Pope Pius XII, Encyclical Letter,
Mystici Corporis, AAS XXXV, pp. 232-233.
29. Letter of Pope John Paul II,
The Mystery and Worship of the Eucharist, Pauline Books and Media, No. 3.
30. M. Raymond, O.C.S.O.
This Is Love, Bruce, p. 106.
32. Rita Ring,
Rosary Meditations for Parents and Children, Shepherds of Christ Ministries, p. 189.

   

 

Luke 21: 5-19

When some were talking about the Temple, remarking how it was adorned with fine stonework and votive offerings, he said, 'All these things you are staring at now—the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another; everything will be destroyed.' And they put to him this question, 'Master,' they said, 'when will this happen, then, and what sign will there be that it is about to take place?'

But he said, 'Take care not to be deceived, because many will come using my name and saying, "I am the one" and "The time is near at hand." Refuse to join them. And when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be terrified, for this is something that must happen first, but the end will not come at once.' Then he said to them, 'Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and plagues and famines in various places; there will be terrifying events and great signs from heaven.

But before all this happens, you will be seized and persecuted; you will be handed over to the synagogues and to imprisonment, and brought before kings and governors for the sake of my name —and that will be your opportunity to bear witness. Make up your minds not to prepare your defence, because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death. You will be hated universally on account of my name, but not a hair of your head will be lost. Your perseverance will win you your lives.

 

                R. There was just recently the destruction
                    of the Monastery in Italy of
                    the Benedictines by the
                    earthquake.

                On September 22, 1997 I got this message.
 

September 22, l997

Stiff-Necked

Jesus: “Stiff-necked, stiff-necked, stiff-necked. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. The old order will pass away. For they worshipped Me with their lips only and their hearts were far from Me.

I will rock the earth and bring the senseless men to their knees. They will learn to beg ‘Lamb of God, You take away the Sins of the World, Have Mercy on us!”

Their thoughts are far from me....

I am the Lamb of God. I Am the Bridegroom of their Souls — of a country of stiffs, naked in their ways, their hearts are haughty, for they persist in their same ways.

They are resistant to change. They refuse to go to the Heart of My Mother, yet she is their Mother and Mother of the Church.

Oh, to a world of stiff-necked.... I give you this message. Look at My Body on the cross, it was broken and mutilated, it was constrained, it was the picture of torment and twisting.

I speak through these messages and you continue in your stiff-necked ways. Would the destruction of your temples bring you to your knees? Or should I destroy My own houses? Or would they get the message anyway, if I burned them down?

end of excerpt

 

                Sing: The King of Glory

                Sing: To Jesus Christ our Sovereign King

                Sing: How Great Thou Art

 

 
 

   

Ezekiel 34: 11-12, 15-17

    “For the Lord Yahweh says this: Look, I myself shall take care of my flock and look after it. As a shepherd looks after his flock when he is with his scattered sheep, so shall I look after my sheep. I shall rescue them from wherever they have been scattered on the day of clouds and darkness. 

I myself shall pasture my sheep, I myself shall give them rest–declares the Lord Yahweh. I shall look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the injured and make the sick strong. I shall watch over the fat and healthy. I shall be a true shepherd to them."

    "As for you, my sheep, the Lord Yahweh says this: I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and he–goats.

 

                Sing: Valleys of Green –
 

1 Corinthians 15: 20-26, 28

In fact, however, Christ has been raised from the dead, as the first–fruits of all who have fallen asleep. 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, and the last of the enemies to be done away with is death, for he has put all things under his feet

When everything has been subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to the One who has subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

 

Revelation 1: 6-8

and made us a Kingdom of Priests to serve his God and Father; to him, then, be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen. Look, he is coming on the clouds; everyone will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the races of the earth will mourn over him. Indeed this shall be so. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.

    

 Colossians 1: 15-20

He is the image of the unseen God,
the first–born of all creation,
for in him were created all things
in heaven and on earth:
everything visible
    and everything invisible,
thrones, ruling forces,
    sovereignties, powers—
all things were created through him
    and for him.
He exists before all things
and in him all things hold together,
and he is the Head of the Body,
that is, the Church.

He is the Beginning,
the first–born from the dead,
so that he should be supreme in every way;
because God wanted all fullness
    to be found in him
and through him
    to reconcile all things to him,
everything in heaven
    and everything on earth,
by making peace through his death
    on the cross.

 

                R. Jesus had on His cross
                "This is the King of the Jews"

                    Yahweh rescued the people of
                Israel from slavery –

                    Dividing of the Red Sea

                We see what Saul did as King –

                We see David wasn't perfect,
                    but he united the people
                    and he was a good King –

                We see what happened under Solomon,
                    he built the temple but
                    was unfaithful to his calling –

                    We are here to help build the Kingdom of God –
                We see salvation history – peaks and
                valleys – obedience to God and
                disobedience to God –

                    The more corrupt against God
                the people went down –

                    Our mission of the Shepherds of Christ is
                to help to bring the Reign of
                the Sacred Heart and Triumph of Mary's
                Immaculate Heart.

                    What a calling!

                    We need to plant the seed that
                grows to be what God wants.

                    Jesus is the vine – we are
                the branches – we need His
                life filling us – saturating us –

                    Jesus came and suffered for our
                sins. Jesus rose on the 3rd day –
                Jesus wants us to ask for
                forgiveness for our sins –

                God wants repentance –
                God is compassionate and merciful –
                God wants victory for us over evil.

                We live to help ourselves be as God
                wants – to gain eternal salvation
                in heaven and to help men to get
                to heaven –

                    We want what it says in
                Christ the first fruits –
                All enemies under His feet –

                God calls – we must respond –
                Response to God's love –

                We must repent –
                We are to believe in Jesus –
                Jesus is calling us to do the will
                    of our heavenly Father –

                We tell Jesus we will follow Him –
                    we pledge commitment to Him,
                    our Savior –

                    Jesus healed and taught – we
                are to pray for this healing by Jesus
                and tell men the Good News.

                    We must see ourselves as the
                People of God – We have a Covenant
                with God!

                    Jesus is founder of the
                Church. Men went before us –
                the Apostles, disciples, prophets,
                martyrs. Peter was the first pope –

                    The Church is a community.
                The Church is the body of Christ
                with Christ our head –

                    We are to grow more and more
                Christic – the individual Christian,
                the Church and the world.
                We receive a sharing in His life
                in baptism –

                Jesus is Lord –
                Jesus is the Son of God, Son of Man,
                Jesus is the Lamb of God –

                Sing: Lamb of God

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.

                Jesus is our Savior –
                Jesus is head of the mystical body
                    of Christ, the Church –

                We live the life, death and
                    resurrection of Jesus in our
                    lives!

 

Revelation 14: 14-20

Now in my vision I saw a white cloud and, sitting on it, one like a son of man with a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Then another angel came out of the sanctuary and shouted at the top of his voice to the one sitting on the cloud, ‘Ply your sickle and reap: harvest time has come and the harvest of the earth is ripe.’ Then the one sitting on the cloud set his sickle to work on the earth, and the harvest of earth was reaped. 

    Another angel, who also carried a sharp sickle, came out of the temple in heaven, and the angel in charge of the fire left the altar and shouted at the top of his voice to the one with the sharp sickle, ‘Put your sickle in, and harvest the bunches from the vine of the earth; all its grapes are ripe.’ So the angel set his sickle to work on the earth and harvested the whole vintage of the earth and put it into a huge winepress, the winepress of God’s anger, outside the city, where it was trodden until the blood that came out of the winepress was up to the horses' bridles as far away as sixteen hundred furlongs.

 

Revelation 15: 3-4

and they were singing the hymn of Moses, the servant of God, and the hymn of the Lamb: How great and wonderful are all your works, Lord God Almighty; upright and true are all your ways, King of nations. Who does not revere and glorify your name, O Lord? For you alone are holy, and all nations will come and adore you for the many acts of saving justice you have shown.

 
 
Revelation 16: 15
 

Look, I shall come like a thief, Blessed is anyone who has kept watch, and has kept his clothes on, so that he does not go out naked and expose his shame.

 
Revelation 19: 6-8

And I heard what seemed to be the voices of a huge crowd, like the sound of the ocean or the great roar of thunder, answering, ‘Alleluia! The reign of the Lord our God Almighty has begun; let us be glad and joyful and give glory to God, because this is the time for the marriage of the Lamb. His bride is ready, and she has been able to dress herself in dazzling white linen, because her linen is made of the good deeds of the saints.’

 

 
                King of Kings
 
                Reference Revelation 19: 11-16
 
 
 
 
Revelation 22: 20

The one who attests these things says: I am indeed coming soon.
     Amen; come, Lord Jesus.

 

                Sing: A Song from Jesus
 

 

 

 

Excerpt from Response in Christ by Edward J. Carter, S.J.
 

TWO    Christian Life within the Church

1.  The Church as People of God and Body of Christ

The Christian lives out his following of Christ within a communal framework. God communicates Himself to us not as to isolated individuals, but as to individuals who make up a religious community. We are the People of God. Each of us is intended to be a fully active member of the Church according to his vocation. The Church is not made up of active hierarchy and passive masses. The Church is not meant to be a community in which the bishops actively teach, guide, and sanctify a passive group of faithful. Rather we are all to be fully active, contributing members. Obviously, we contribute diversely according to our basic vocations and personal uniqueness. But to live a full and actively contributing life, a life open to attaining mature holiness—this is the vocation of all of us. There are no second-class citizens in the Church.

The People of God, as they themselves live the Christ-life, are called to a life of service. They are called to a mission of helping to channel the Christ-life to all men. As a pilgrim Church traveling through history to eternal life, the People of God have the privilege and responsibility of assisting Christ in the continuing work of redemption.

Some two thousand years ago Christ walked this earth teaching, healing the sick, forgiving sins, extending His mercy and kindness. By such a life which culminated in death and Resurrection, Christ redeemed the world. This objective redemption was accomplished by Christ alone. Through it, He won for men of all time the necessary graces for their salvation and sanctification.

However, it is necessary that such graces be distributed to each individual as he plays out his part in the drama of human existence. Such a distribution of grace is the work of subjective redemption. Unlike the work of objective redemption, Christ does not execute subjective redemption alone. Rather it is Christ and His members who complete the work of redemption.

Christ walked this earth those many years ago in His physical body, and through that body objectively redeemed the world. Today, He still walks the earth completing the work of redemption. However, He now walks the earth according to a different type of existence. He does not walk the earth in His physical body, but rather in His Mystical Body, the Church, the People of God. Through the members of His Church, Christ continues to be present to men as He teaches, administers the sacraments, extends His mercy–all done through the members of His Body, the Church. This mystical Christ, in turn, derives all supernatural power from Christ, the Head, who reigns gloriously with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

    The Church, therefore, is the earthly continuation of Christ's redemptive Incarnation. This mission which the Church has, although a great responsibility, is also a great privilege. So it is for the individual Christian within the Church. Christ asks him to fulfill a unique role in the continued working out of salvation history. As we have previously stated, no one else can fulfill this unique role except the individual Christian. This is so because no human person in the history of mankind is exactly like another. Each Christian is a unique imitation of the Trinity. Through each Christian Christ wants to continue His redemptive Incarnation in a special way. Each member of the Church is called upon to offer Christ a new humanity through which Christ may express Himself to the world. In proportion as each Christian so offers and commits himself to Christ, the Church in her entirety more and more mirrors forth Christ to the world. This Christ, whom the Church portrays to the world, is the Christ who is prophet, king and priest.

        2.  The Church in Relation to Christ in His Threefold Mission

        a)  Christ as Prophet

The historical Christ was the central figure in the long list of God's prophets who have assumed such a vital role throughout the course of salvation history. As Moses, Jeremiah, Isaiah and the rest of the Old Testament prophets were the spokesmen for Yahweh, so most perfectly is Christ the spokesman for His Father. A prophet, then, in terms of salvation history is a specially commissioned teacher sent by God to His People. What is the task of the prophet? His role is in some way to reveal God and God's plan for man's salvation and sanctification.

    Christ accomplished the task of the prophet in an eminently perfect manner. Through His unique words of wisdom He made a deep impression upon His hearers: "Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, and his teaching made a deep impression on the people because he taught them with authority, and not like their own scribes." (Mt 7:28-29). Through this teaching Christ gradually revealed the nature of God. He revealed this nature, not only as It is in Itself, but also as It is in Its relationship to men. Above all, He taught men the love and mercy which their Heavenly Father has for them. He did this in a manner which was radically adapted to their understanding, using the language and mode of speech which was familiar to them. Through the use of the most simple story Christ would often bring out the most sublime truths concerning God. His story of the Prodigal Son as given in St. Luke is an exquisite, graphic presentation of the loving and merciful attitude of God toward the repentant sinner.

    Yet Christ did not reveal the Father and the Father's plan only through word. He also did so through His actions. At times the events of His life were a more eloquent revelation than His words. The crucified Christ, as He hangs in silence upon the cross, speaks volumes to the world concerning the love and mercy of God, the justice of God, and the heinousness of sin. In short, it is the total person of Christ in all His words, actions, gestures – in everything – who reveals the Father to men.1 This revelation of the Father includes within itself God's desire for man's response. For God does not reveal Himself in Christ to man for any empty purpose. God tells us He loves us, that He gives Himself to us in Christ, and that He wants us to respond with a love of our own as we live the way Our Father wants us to live: in Christ, Who is the way, the truth and the life.

    The Church, the People of God, is destined to continue Christ's prophetic, revelatory office.2 The most obvious way she does this is through her official teaching mission. Primarily through the pope and the bishops, the Church has the responsibility of continually presenting the message of Christ in a manner which is relevant to the men of various ages. Yet it is not only the pope and the other bishops who accomplish this teaching mission. The theologian, the priest in the pulpit, the teacher of religion and theology, the mother and father educating their children according to the principles of Christ – all such people offer examples of the various ways in which the members of the People of God contribute to the continuation of Christ's prophetic or teaching office.

    There is another manner in which the entire People of God contribute to the Church's teaching mission. The official teachers in the Church, namely the pope and bishops, depend to a considerable extent upon how the Holy Spirit is operating within the entire People of God. The People of God in their universal grasp of matters relating to faith and morals assist the official teachers of the Church in their duty of correctly projecting the truth of Christ to the Church and world. An example of this is contained in the procedure which preceded the definition of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pope Pius XII speaks about this procedure: ". . . We considered it opportune to ask all Our venerable brethren in the episcopate directly and authoritatively, that each of them should make known to Us his mind in a formal statement. Hence, We gave them Our letter 'Deiparae Virginis Mariae', a letter in which these words are contained: 'Do you, Venerable Brethren, in your outstanding wisdom and prudence, judge that the bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin can be proposed and defined as a dogma of faith? Do you, with your clergy and people, desire it? ' "3

    Consequently, we see the soundness of the newly discovered dialogue within the Church. The more open are the lines of communication between the pope and the bishops of the world, between bishops and their priests, between priests and their people, between religious superiors and subjects, the better is the possibility that the truth of Christ the teacher will more perfectly permeate the entire life of the People of God, and ultimately the life of the world.

    We have said that the historical Christ taught the truth of God not only through His words, but through His actions, His attitude, His gestures. In brief, He taught through everything He was and did. So it must be with the Church. The Church continues the teaching mission of Christ, not only through her verbal and written teaching, but also through her actions and attitude, and, summarily, through her total being as it is visible to men.

    We see, consequently, why the Church must concretely show her concern for the poor, the oppressed, the one who suffers from racial prejudice. The truth which the Church preaches concerning social justice must become incarnated in the visible, concrete action she undertakes for such a cause. Since the Church is the continuation of Christ, she must act as He did. Christ not only told men that He loved them, He proved that love in a concrete, tangible, incarnate manner.

    It is entirely appropriate that Christians be present at demonstrations concerned with a true and just cause, even though, of course, they are not usually representing the Church in an official capacity. The witness of priests, religious and laity demonstrating for racial justice is a powerful witness of the truth of Christ that all men are created equal. Sometimes such action is much more effective in projecting to the world the Church's concern for the racially oppressed than are the pastoral letters of bishops regarding racial equality.

    Every member of the People of God is called upon to continue the teaching mission of Christ. The baptized Christian is incorporated into Christ who is prophet, king and priest. This incorporation is further perfected through confirmation. Therefore each member within the Church receives a real share in the prophetic, kingly and priestly mission of Christ. In relation to our present topic concerning Christ as prophet or teacher, no member of the Church can excuse himself from carrying forward this particular mission of Christ. Some of the various possibilities open to all within the Church have already been suggested. We now emphasize a constant and ever available opportunity which is present to all, namely, the witness of a truly Christian life. A life constantly lived according to the truth and example of Christ is a powerful, persuasive witness to Christ and His message. Perhaps because there are too few such Christian witnesses, Christianity has failed to make the desired imprint upon civilization. For it is only when mankind sees the truth of Christ concretely lived out by Christians that such truth has the power to draw men to Christ and His Church in any great numbers.4

          b) Christ as King

Vatican II reminds us that Christ is not only prophet, but also king: "Christ, becoming obedient even unto death and because of this exalted by the Father. . . , entered into the glory of His kingdom. To Him all things are made subject until he subjects himself and all created things to the Father that God may be all in all."5

     Through His Incarnation, Christ as man became king over creation. In assuming a human nature, He united to Himself man and also the material creation below man. In the words of Teilhard de Chardin, Christ is the physical center of the Universe.6 Through His redemptive sacrifice, which is the culminating act of His Incarnation, Christ strengthened His title as king.

     Christ has redeemed man, and as a consequence of man's redemption, the whole physical universe has been redeemed.7 The appropriateness of nonrational creation being redeemed together with man himself is evident. In God's original act of creation He gave man dominion over material creation. This part of creation was meant to serve man in his quest for happiness here and hereafter. With the intrusion of sin into God's creation, man and nonrational creation were both affected. Through his misuse of God's creation by sin, man not only puts disorder into himself, but also into the creation which he misuses.

     Christ's redemption is meant to restore the disarray caused by man's sinfulness. Christ through His redemptive grace desires to heal more and more the sinfulness of man as this affects man himself and man's relationship to the material universe. Christ as king wants His redemptive grace to spread out and touch deeply man and the physical universe. With grace man relates properly to the material universe, for he more and more brings the material universe back to its role in God's creation, namely, that it serve man in achieving his temporal and eternal happiness. What is man's happiness? Because of the Incarnation, there is now only one destiny for man both here and hereafter. That destiny is a supernatural one in Christ. The material universe, through Christ's redemptive Incarnation, has therefore entered into this supernatural structure. Man and the physical universe have both been marked with the blood of Christ. More and more they are to be Christianized, that is, ever more perfectly drawn into the supernatural order established by Christ and centered in Him.

     To extend this kingly influence of Christ over creation is the task now of both Christ and His Church. We have long been aware that this means deepening and extending Christ's kingdom as regards man himself. But we are just beginning to realize what it means to extend His kingdom to everything which pertains to man. Vatican II, in opening up the Church to everything which is good in the world, has impressed upon us the fact that the Church, in prolonging Christ's kingly mission, must be deeply involved not only with man himself, but with everything which is of authentic concern to man. The council unmistakably tells us this: "The faithful, therefore, must learn the deepest meaning and the value of all creation, as well as its role in the harmonious praise of God. They must assist each other to live holier lives even in their secular occupations. In this way the world may be permeated by the spirit of Christ and it may more effectively fulfill its purpose in justice, charity and peace."8

     All within the Church are called to extend the influence of Christ as king. Each member of the People of God has a share in this kingly mission. Each must fulfill his role according to his vocation, talents, opportunities and graces. But fulfill his role he must. No one but the individual Christian in question can fulfill the particular role which God has intended for that individual. The Christian's quest for holiness is thus intimately connected with his response to Christ the king. The more ideally each Christian responds to this call of Christ, the more the entire Church can fulfill her mission of continuing Christ's kingly mission. This mission consists in imprinting the name of Jesus Christ more deeply upon the entire universe, men and matter alike.

c) Christ as Priest 

Christ is prophet, king, and, finally, He is priest. Consequently, the Church must prolong the priestly mission of Christ as well as His prophetic and kingly offices. But because of the centrality of Christ's priestly office in His own life and that of His Church, this theme will receive detailed treatment in the chapter devoted exclusively to the liturgy.

 

3. The various Vocations within the Church  

The three great offices of Christ as prophet, king and priest are not exclusive of one another. Each of them contains the other. This is so because they are part of the overall mystery of Christ which is radically indivisible. What is this mystery of Christ?  It is God's concrete plan of our redemption in Christ. It is the ultimately mysterious, transcendent, wholely other God desiring to communicate Himself to us in love. It is this same God asking for our response in love. All of this – God's gift of self to man and His request for man's response – all of this is centered in Christ and mediated by Christ. Therefore, we have the term, mystery of Christ.

This mystery of Christ can be approached under the headings of Christ as prophet, king and priest. We have taken this approach thus far in this present chapter because, among other reasons, it is one of the dominant ways in which Vatican II presents the mystery of Christ to us. But Again we emphasize that the mystery of Christ with its various offices and individual mysteries is profoundly one. When we speak of the Church as prolonging Christ's Incarnation, or of prolonging His threefold mission, or of prolonging the mystery of Christ, we are really expressing the same basic reality.

No one group or component part within the Church can perfectly relive and continue the Incarnation. Even the total Church cannot perfectly continue the Incarnation with its prophetic, kingly and priestly offices. We can therefore understand why various spiritualities or spiritual "schools" have arisen throughout the history of Christian spirituality. All these spiritualities are basically the same. All of them are aimed at reproducing and continuing the life of Christ in their adherents.  But each of the various spiritualities – Franciscan, Benedictine, Dominican, Ignatian, Carmelite, to give leading examples – is in its own way somewhat different. Each reproduces in its members the mystery of Christ in a slightly different fashion.

What we have just said concerning the divergent spiritualities within the Church can be applied even more so to the various vocations. All states of life radically aim at one and the same Christian holiness. This is so because we all receive the same life of grace in Christ. All relive and continue the Incarnation in the same basic manner. Yet it is still true that there are differences according to which the various states of life within the Church prolong Christ's prophetic, kingly and priestly missions. God has destined that there be various vocations within His Church in order that the richness of Christ may be more perfectly projected. 

a)      The Laity 

In considering the incarnational aspect of the Church in continuation of Christ's redemptive work, the vocation of the laity is most significant. The lay state, because of its intimate connection with temporal, terrestrial values, is best able to witness to the incarnational dimension of Christianity. From this particular point of orientation, let us consider the Incarnation itself.

Through the Incarnation of the Word, God has immersed Himself into this world of men with all its created values. In assuming a real human nature Christ has united all men to Himself. But man in his human nature is not an isolated being. Man's human nature situates him in a created order, which, despite its great complexity, is profoundly united. The individual man is united with all other men and with the rest of creation. Through His Incarnation the Son of God thrusts Himself into this unified situation of man and becomes the center of it.9

Christ has become the center of the world of man in order to elevate it to a higher level of existence through His redemptive work. He has come to give a new life to man and his world. This new life affects not only man himself, but the whole of material creation over which man is meant to have dominion. It is not only man who is to be further Christianized but this entire world order with all its authentic values.10

Compared to the priest and religious, the layman is in a peculiarly advantageous position to carry the truth of Christ into many of the more temporal aspects of men's lives.11  By his very vocation and life situation the layman is intimately involved with the political order, the economic structure, the business  world,  family  life  and  other  temporal  values. Through His humanity Christ radically involved Himself with all these concerns of man. It is true that He Himself was not involved in government, cultural pursuits, marriage and the like. But the fact that He did not directly confront these areas of human existence does not mean He was not deeply concerned with them. When the Son of God assumed human nature He also assumed all the authentic involvements of human existence. All of these concerns of man, then, along with man himself, have been incorporated into the Incarnation.

The Incarnation must be continually applied to all these areas which pertain to man. This actually happens through Christ united to His members. The People of God, who are His full members, have a special task in extending the Incarnation to all the legitimate interests of man; in our present context, we repeat that it is especially the task of the Church's laity to penetrate with the truth of Christ those many areas of human existence which are partially or totally closed to the priest and religious.

Such an extension of the Incarnation to all the authentic values and involvements of human life does not mean that the supernatural destroys the individual finalities attached to culture, economics, government and the like.12 For example, the principles and finalities involved in the science of economics must be respected by Christian and atheist alike. The principles involved in a sound economic structure are the same for both. But the ultimate view of the economic structure will be different for the true Christian. He sees that the economic structure is intended by God to serve the basic needs of all men throughout the world, and that it will not do so unless Christian principles based on the truth of Christ are involved, however indirectly. This is an application of the theological truth that man cannot long avoid serious moral disorder without the grace of God. Consequently, serious moral disorder in the worldwide economic sphere cannot be avoided without the grace of God, which because of the Incarnation, is also the grace of Christ. To put it positively, a just economic structure can never be achieved without the healing and elevating grace of Christ. This is merely one example of how Christ's incarnational grace applies to man's total situation. The same basic application can be made to all aspects of man's terrestrial existence. And, it is the layman who must mediate this incarnational grace of Christ to all these aspects.

However, the lay vocation cannot by itself give an adequate expression to the total mystery of Christ. One of the great dimensions of this incarnate mystery of Christ, as just stressed, is the fact that God has inserted Himself irrevocably into the tangible and terrestrial world of men through the human dimension of His Son. God, therefore, is most intimately involved with His creation; yet He is ultimately above this creation, transcendent to it. It can be no other way, otherwise we have to admit to pantheism.

In Christ's historical life we find witness to both the incarnational and the transcendent. As He related to man and, radically, to all the concerns of man through His human nature.  He obviously gave an incarnational witness. Yet through this same human nature Christ also witnessed to the transcendent aspect of God. For Christ, in His radical human renunciation, pointed beyond His human nature to His divine nature, and to the other transcendent realities of Christianity.

What do we mean when we speak of Christ's radical human renunciation? First of all, Christ did not independently dispose of His own life by determining for Himself the plan of man's redemption, but selflessly followed the economy of salvation established by His Father. He further surrounded such a fundamental renunciation with a life of utter simplicity:  He did not marry; He did not possess riches. By such a life Christ pointed to the ultimate reason of His being with men. He wanted to draw them to the Divinity. Christ, by the very manner of His life, demonstrated to man that there is something above marriage and riches, something above culture, something above all human values. He is in no way condemning these for as Creator He is ultimately responsible for them.  But through His life with its unmistakable element of renunciation Christ gives us this message: He has come to give us a share in His divine life. All other things surrounding man – marriage, material possessions, and the like – are meant as aids in living this divine life in this earthly situation. We are not meant to make ends out of means. If certain men, and indeed, the great majority, choose to be involved with marriage and other various human values, let them always remember to be involved according to the Father's will. Let them remember that these various incarnational values are always meant to lead man to a closer union with the transcendent God, a union which, having its very real beginnings here below, reaches its culmination only in the beatific vision. Christ Himself gave up so much in order that we may not mistake His message. Consequently, Christ, in the manner of life He adopted, unmistakably witnesses to the role of both the incarnational and the transcendent in Christianity. 

a)      Religious 

If the layman witnesses primarily to the incarnational in Christ, the religious witnesses more perfectly to the transcendent. Vatican II states: "The profession of the evangelical counsels,  then,  appears as a sign that can and ought to attract all the members of the Church to an effective and prompt fulfillment of the duties of their Christian vocation. Since the People of God have no lasting city here below, but look forward to one that is to come, the religious state whose purpose is to free its members from earthly cares, more fully manifests to all believers the presence of heavenly goods already possessed here below. ... The religious state clearly manifests that the kingdom of God and its needs, in a very special way, are raised above all earthly considerations."13

Yet this witness to the more transcendent aspect of Christianity is not the only value which the religious state contributes to the Church. Because of its communal nature, religious life allows for a corporate apostolic endeavor with all the advantages which accrue to a common effort. There is a need in the Church for more effort on the part of individuals in furthering Christ's redemptive work. The laity, as they carry Christ to the marketplace in their manifold activities, provide such a contribution. On the other hand, the great value of corporate service given to Church and world by the religious state has been proved over the centuries.

There is one final advantage which the religious state offers to the life of the Church. Although all the People of God are called to the highest holiness, the religious state offers special advantages in the pursuit of holiness to those so called to such a vocation. Vatican II teaches this, thus continuing the traditional teaching in this regard.14 Let us not try to hide this teaching of the Church. In our efforts to bring out the true greatness and necessity of the lay vocation, let us not minimize what the Church has taught and continues to teach concerning the excellence of the religious state.  (This is not to say that all religious live up to this excellence. Some religious are apparently less advanced in holiness than many lay people.) We should remember that the special aids to holiness connected with the religious state are beneficial to the entire body of the Church. For the holiness of religious helps everyone in the Church just as religious in turn are helped by the holiness of those of different vocations. 

b)      Bishops and Priests 

The bishops of the Church, under the leadership of the pope, and the priests who assist them have a very special share in Christ's prophetic, kingly and priestly offices. Vatican II tells us: "Bishops, therefore, with their helpers, the priests and deacons, have taken up the service of the community, presiding in place of God over the flock, whose shepherds they are, as teachers for doctrine, priests for sacred worship, and ministers for governing."15

Vatican II therefore points out that the ordained ministers of the Church have a certain dominant role in the life of the Church, but that this dominion is one of service, one that is meant  to fashion  the People of God into a more perfect image of Christ. The main force behind such service must be that of love. This is the force with which Christ in His own redemptive life first fashioned the People of God. Christ was perfectly effective in establishing His Church because He loved perfectly. Everything He did had redemptive value because of His love for the Father and men. So must it be with the ordained ministers in the Church. The more their teaching, ruling and sanctifying offices are permeated and guided by the principle of Christian love, the more effective these offices will be. John L. McKenzie says: "Love is the supreme motivation both of the officers and of the other members of the Church; with this motivation anything like a power structure is forever excluded from the Church. Love is the only power which the New Testament knows.”16

An application of this essential connection between love and authority is seen from the history of the early Church. Authority at that time was usually exercised through persuasion and exhortation rather than through command.17 As the Church has grown through the centuries, the command of law has to some extent replaced the former ideal. At times the image of law has far overshadowed the image of love which should always be obviously attached to the exercise of authority in the Church. Happily, through the impetus of Vatican II, the majority of those holding authority in the Church seem to see the need for returning to the more pristine use of authority portrayed in the gospels and early Church, a use in which love clearly predominates. Obviously, however, external law will still be necessary, even more so than in the days of early Christianity. This must be for several reasons. One reason is the obvious waywardness of some of the Church's members, a waywardness which tends to increase to a certain extent as the Church's numbers increase. (This is not to say that the Church's overall holiness cannot at the same time be increasing.) This same problem faces any growing organization.  Consequently, because numerous persons within the Church will not live a minimum Christian life unless commanded, the Church has increased her laws over the centuries.18 Also, the very complexity of life within our present-day Church requires more external legislation than was necessary in the early Church. However, to reiterate, the image of love must always predominate over that of law and command in the Church.

If the bishops of the Church, aided by their priests, are to rule, teach and sanctify according to the mind of Christ, they must also be willing to listen to their people: "Let him [the bishop] not refuse to listen to his subjects, whom he cherishes as his true sons and exhorts to cooperate readily with him."19 Unless bishops are willing to have dialogue with their priests, and bishops and priests with their people, the Church of Christ will not mature at the pace God intends. There is but one People of God united together in Christ through one Spirit. The various elements who make up the People of God must know how the Spirit is working in all the Church's members.

One of the great tasks of the hierarchy is to judge how the Spirit is working in the mass of the faithful. Many of the great movements in the history of the Church have been initiated from the bottom up.20 The hierarchy's role in such movements has been, first, to confirm that the breathing of the Spirit is authentically present, and, secondly, to implement what has been thus inspired by the Spirit.

Bishops and priests also have to learn to listen to members of the laity who have much to contribute to the Church's life because of their competence in various areas. For the faithful to live a truly Christian life in today's world involves many complexities; for the Church to relate properly to today's world and to Christianize the same also involves a complex situation. The competent layman can in many ways help provide bishops and priests with the numerous answers which are necessary if the Church is both to guide her own faithful in their Christian lives and help the same faithful bring the whole of creation closer to Christ.

The responsibility of the Church's ordained ministers toward their people is quite evident. There is a corresponding responsibility of the faithful toward the hierarchy and all those who directly share in some way the hierarchy's mission, such as the priest and the religious superior. Not to relate properly to authority in the Church is not to relate properly to Christ Himself. Vatican II states: "Therefore, the sacred council teaches that bishops by divine institution have succeeded to the place of the apostles, as shepherds of the Church, and he who hears them, hears Christ, and he who rejects them, rejects Christ and him who sent Christ. . .”21

 There have been sins, even grave sins, throughout history in the exercise of Church authority. Those who have sinned have answered, or will answer, to Almighty God. But all the sinfulness in the Church has not been on the side of those possessing authority. Often their task has been made extremely difficult because of the sinfulness of their subjects. If the members of the People of God had, in reasonable numbers, been what they were called to be in Christ, the excessive law and regimentation characteristic of too much of the Church's history would probably have been reduced.

The faithful in the Church, then, accept the fact that hierarchical authority has been willed by Christ for His Church. They have the right to expect the best from such authority. But, given our human situation, the faithful will not always be recipients of a Church authority properly exercised. To expect otherwise is to be unrealistic. Sinfulness is part of our human condition, and we suffer because of the sins and shortcomings of others. Consequently, the members of the Church should not think it strange if they suffer to some degree from the sinfulness of those who in their positions of authority shape the institutional life of the Church.

Christ suffered tremendously from the sinful structure of the world into which He had immersed Himself through his Incarnation. He was "hemmed in," limited, in many ways by this sinful structure. For instance, His exalted and sin-healing message was rejected by many of those to whom He preached because sin had blinded and hardened them. Finally, the sinful structure of the world in which Christ found himself ultimately crushed out His very life.

The follower of Christ within the Church has to expect that he also will suffer from the sinful element which still remains in the world despite Christ's redemption. Part of this sinfulness experienced by the member of Christ will derive from the very ones to whom Christ has entrusted authority within His Church. Is the Christian to rebel against such sinfulness and error? Not if he is a mature Christian. He will do all he can to eliminate such abuses according to God's will.  And, of course, there can never be a question of submitting to an obviously sinful command. But to the extent that there is no sin involved, to the extent that appeal to proper moral principles will not allow him to go against structure in its various forms, and to the extent that the Christian cannot change the situation, he will submit to the suffering involved in living within the structure of the Church, a structure which in certain ways will always be marred by man's sinfulness. So did Christ act in His own earthly life. As Christ conquered sinfulness by submitting to the death which sinfulness heaped upon Him, so will the Christian use the suffering imposed upon him by all that is not right within the Church. As Christ redeemed the world by such a submission, the Christian helps to further the redemption by a similar submission.

In summary, all within the Church, whatever their vocation, make up one Body of Christ, one People of God. Pope, bishops, priests, religious, laity – all need one another, all are meant to help one another. St. Paul states: "Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptized, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink." (1 Co 12:12-13).

In such a spirit as described by Paul, the Church is meant to grow more and more into the full stature of Christ down through the ages.22 If the members cooperate as they should according to their respective vocations and roles, the Church continues to that extent to die with Christ – yes, continues to purify herself – and thus continues to rise more and more with Christ as she shares more fully in His life of grace. In this manner the Church integrally grows in the holiness of Christ. In this same manner the individual Christian grows in the holiness of Christ, provided he properly fulfills his role in the life of the Church. But this is not all. As the entire Church and her responsive members progress in the holiness of Christ, they draw the whole world, the whole of creation, along with them into a closer union with Christ. This process will reach its completion with the second coming of Christ. Then Christ will administer the final touches to the work of His redemption. At that time, the Church, her members, the rest of men, and all of creation will receive the Final share in Christ's redemptive work. At that time Christian holiness will be brought to its ultimate completion. 

 ________
         1. Cf. R. Latourelle, The Theology of Revelation (New York: Alba House, 1966), p. 359.
         2. For a contemporary, creative approach to the Church's prophetic office, cf. H. Nouwen, Creative Ministry (New York: Doubleday, 1971), pp. 1-40.
         3. Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus, cited in The Encyclicals of a Century (Boston: Daughters of St. Paul), pp. 386-387.
         4. Cf. Edward Schillebeeckx, Christ the Sacrament of the Encounter with God (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1963), p. 209.
         
         5. Constitution on the Church, No. 36.
         6. Cf. Christopher Mooney, Teilhard de Chardin and the Mystery of Christ (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), pp. 70-103.
         7. Cf. S. Lyonnet, "The Redemption of the Universe" in The Church, compiled at the Canisianum, Innsbruck (New York: Kenedy, 1963), pp. 136-156.
         8. Constitution on the Church, No. 36.
         9. Cf. Second Vatican Council, Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, No. 5.
        10. Cf. Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Church, No 36.
        11. Loc. cit.
       
12. Cf. Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. No. 36.
        13. Constitution on the Church, No. 44.
        14. Cf. Second Vatican Council, Decree on the Appropriate Renewal of the Religious Life, Nos. 1, 12 and 14.
        15. Constitution on the Church, No. 20.
        16. John  L.  McKenzie,  Authority  in  the Church  (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1966), p. 85.
        17. Cf. J. Powell, The Mystery of the Church (Milwaukee: Bruce 1967), p. 111.
        18. Cf.  W.  Grossouw,  Spirituality  of the  New  Testament  (St. Louis: B. Herder, 1964), pp. 44-45.
        19. Constitution on the Church, No. 27.
        20. Cf.  Karl  Rahner, Theological Investigations, Vol. III (Baltimore: Helicon. 1967), pp. 103-104.
        21. Constitution on the Church. No. 20
        22. For an extended, current treatment on the Church, cf. R. McBrien, Church: The Continuing Quest (New York: Newman Press, 1970).

           


 

 

 Give the gift that Counts
this Christmas!

             

                

             

18 Blue Books

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6A, 6B, 6C, 7, 8
9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

for $60 plus postage

Special Offer

  

Shepherds of Christ Book Store
 
Books written by the cofounder of Shepherds of Christ Ministries
 
Rita Ring
Mass Book
A Journey Into the Heart of Jesus - Author: Rita Ring. Discerned by: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J. Imprimatur
$ 12.00

  Mass Book, by Rita Ring: Many of the entries in the Priestly Newsletter Volume II from a spiritual journal came from this book. These entries
  are to help people to be more deeply united to God in the Mass. This book is available in English and Spanish with the Church’s
Imprimatur.

  $12

Rosary Meditations for Parents and Children
From the Hearts of Jesus and Mary Author: Rita Ring. Discerned by: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J. Imprimatur
$ 10.00

  Rosary Meditations for Parents and Children, by Rita Ring, Short Meditations for both parents and children to be used when praying the
  rosary. These meditations will help all to know the lives of Jesus and Mary alive in their Hearts. Available in both English and Spanish with
  the Church’s
Imprimatur.
$10

God's Blue Book I
Teachings to Lift You Up. Author: Rita Ring. Discerned by: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J.
$ 4.00

God's Blue Book I by Rita Ring. Open Anywhere    This book will change your life. These are beautiful love letters to us from Jesus. A million books have been printed and circulated. Jesus loves us so much    He wants a personal relationship with us    He wants us to go to the Eucharist and be with Him before the tabernacle. $10

God's Blue Book II
The Fire of His Love. Author: Rita Ring. Discerned by Fr. Edward J. Carter S. J.
$ 4.00

God's Blue Book II by Rita Ring. Letters from Jesus about His on fire love    Jesus wants this great intimacy with us    On fire love    Personal love letters from Jesus about the love of His Heart    A book on surrender Fr. Carter said! $10

God's Blue Book III
Love God, Love One Another. Author: Rita Ring. Discerned by Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J.
$ 3.00

God's Blue Book III by Rita Ring. Fr. Carter's favorite book    It is about loving and forgiving each other    Being pure in heart    A book for unity in family, community, in life!! $10

God's Blue Book 4
The Love of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary Author: Rita Ring
$ 5.00

God's Blue Book IV by Rita Ring. This book is about the love Jesus has for Mary and Mary has for Jesus and Jesus and Mary have for us    It is truly the Love of the Two Hearts. Mary appeared every day at the Holy Spirit Center    Fr. Carter was there. Mary's first apparition July 5, 1994. $5

God's Blue Book 5
So Deep Is the Love of His Heart. Author: Rita Ring.
$ 5.00

God's Blue Book V by Rita Ring. Jesus wants to be the bridegroom of our soul    He is our beloved    Jesus tells us about pure love    how we are to be pure of heart and love God and love others. It is a must, to hear about love from Jesus    Jesus is love    $5

God's Blue Book 6A
He Calls Us to Action Author: Rita Ring.
$ 5.00

God's Blue Book 6A by Rita Ring. Rosaries from Their Hearts during apparitions. Jesus and Mary appeared every day and I received rosaries from Them and They were transcribed from a tape. Also messages of love from Jesus on days of January, 1995    About Baptism    writings from Fr. Carter and the Scriptures. $10

God's Blue Book 6B
He Calls Us to Action - The Sixth Book, Part B Author: Rita Ring.
$ 5.00

God's Blue Book 6B by Rita Ring. Jesus and Mary appeared every day in February, 1995    So beautiful    transcribed from a tape    the Stations, 7 Sorrows, prayers in the Prayer Manual, the Holy Spirit Novena Book and the Song Book. Pure love    loving and forgiving    a book about Jesus' love, baptism, grace and Fr. Carter's Newsletter. $10

God's Blue Book 6C
He Calls Us to Action - The Sixth Book, Part C Author: Rita Ring.
$ 5.00
God's Blue Book 7
Intimacy with God by Rita Ring
$ 5.00
God's Blue Book 8
See thru the Eyes of Mary. Author: Rita Ring and Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J.
$ 5.00
God's Blue Book 9
The Mass and the Hearts of Jesus and Mary
$ 5.00
God's Blue Book 10
God's Blue Book 10 - This is My Body
$ 5.00
God's Blue Book 11
God's Blue Book 11 - Showers of His Grace
$ 5.00
God's Blue Book 12
Solidarity In Chirst
$ 5.00
God's Blue Book 13
Grace
$ 5.00
God's Blue Book 14
God the Father Speaks After Clearwater
$ 5.00
God's Blue Book 15
Life
$ 5.00
Blue Book 16
Mary Mother of the Eucharist
$ 5.00
Apostle's Manual
Shepherds of Christ Overview: Very carefully discerned by Fr. Edward J. Carter S. J.
$ 20.00

Apostles Manual. About the Movement — the structure of the Movement    All Ministries — from the time 3 months before Mary appeared in Clearwater and 3 months after. Rosaries of the 13ths, Fr. Carter's Newsletters. Messages from God the Father    Reaching the priests, the Church, the schools and the world. $20

Rosaries From the Hearts of Jesus and Mary - Volume I
Red Rosary Book - Author: Rita Ring. Discerned by: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J.
$ 10.00

Rosaries from the Hearts of Jesus and Mary Book 1. Mary appeared in Clearwater December 17, 1996 in rainbow color and these rosaries left the printer the same day from Apparitions of Jesus and Mary    transcribed from a tape. $10

Blue Rosary Book
Rosaries From the Hearts of Jesus and Mary - Volume II
$ 12.00

Rosaries from the Hearts of Jesus and Mary Book 2. This is a book of so many rosaries — transcribed from a tape. So many beautiful rosaries.   pages  $12

Messages From Jesus
Messages From Jesus for the Ederly, Ill, and Homebound Given by Jesus to His Messenger - Author: Rita Ring Discerned by Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J.
$ 10.00

Messages for the Elderly, Ill and Homebound. This is a big book of loving messages for nursing home people and homebound from Jesus and Mary    Their lives are so important    united to the Mass offering up their suffering, their lives for the souls of this earth. $10

Short Rosary Meditations for the Ederly, Ill, and Homebound
From the Hearts of Jesus and Mary: Author: Rita Ring. Discerned by: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J. Imprimatur
$ 10.00

Short Rosary Meditations for the Elderly, Ill and Homebound. This book is so important with pictures they can open it and lay it on their laps and pray the rosary. $10

Songs From Jesus
Given by Jesus to His Messenger Author: Rita Ring. Discerned by: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J.
$ 5.00

Songs from Jesus Songbook. These loving songs were given from Jesus. So beautiful    Love Songs from Jesus of His love — helping us have pure and loving hearts. $3

Daily Messages From Heaven
From the Florida Apparition Site Author: Rita Ring. Discerned by: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J.
$ 10.00
Rosary Meditations for Little People and Elderly
Short Meditations for the Rosary
$ 3.00
Color the Lives of Jesus and Mary, Book 1
A Coloring Book with Short Meditations on the 15 mysteries of the rosary. Author: Rita Ring. Discerned by: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J.
$ 5.00

Color the Lives of Jesus and Mary. Volumes 1 through 7. Coloring books and meditations for grade school children and others on the mysteries of the rosary — really good. $5 each.

Color the Lives of Jesus and Mary, Book 2
A Coloring Book with Short Meditations on the 15 mysteries of the rosary. Author: Rita Ring. Discerned by: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J.
$ 5.00
Color the Lives of Jesus and Mary, Book 3
A Coloring Book with Short Meditations on the 15 mysteries of the rosary. Author: Rita Ring. Discerned by: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J.
$ 5.00
Color the Lives of Jesus and Mary, Book 4
A Coloring Book with Short Meditations on the 15 mysteries of the rosary. Author: Rita Ring. Discerned by: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J.
$ 5.00
Color the Lives of Jesus and Mary, Book 5
A Coloring Book with Short Meditations on the 15 mysteries of the rosary. Author: Rita Ring. Discerned by: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J.
$ 5.00
Coloring the Lives of Jesus and Mary 6
Mysteries of Light
$ 5.00

Color the Lives of Jesus and Mary. Volumes 6 through 7. Coloring books and meditations for grade school children and others on the mysteries of the rosary — really good. $5 each.

Meditaciones del Rosario
para Pequenos y Ancianos
$ 10.00
Colorea 1
las vidas de Jesús y María (recibido el Imprimátur)
$ 5.00
Colorea 2
las vidas de Jesús y María (recibido el Imprimátur)
$ 5.00
Colorea 3
las vidas de Jesús y María (recibido el Imprimátur)
$ 5.00
Colorea 4
las vidas de Jesús y María (recibido el Imprimátur)
$ 5.00
Colorea 5
las vidas de Jesús y María (recibido el Imprimátur)
$ 5.00
Fr. Joe Robinson
 
Inspiring Homilist & Author
 
Fr. Joseph Robinson has dedicated his life to serving Christ and the Church for over 40 years.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Guiding Light - Trust and Transform
Guiding Light - Trust and Transform, Cycle C for 2015/2016
$ 10.00
Guiding Light - By God Through Me
Guiding Light - By God Through Me, Cycle B for 2014/2015
$ 10.00
Guiding Light - Inspired To Be Genuine
Guiding Light - Inspired To Be Genuine, Cycle A for 2013/2014
$ 10.00
Guiding Light - Centered In Christ
Fr. Joe Robinson's latest homilies for Cycle C for 2012/2013.
$ 10.00
Guiding Light - Reflect on the Word
Inspiring Homilies Covering Cycle B of the Litugical Year (2011/2012)
$ 10.00

Guiding Light homily series — Reflect on the Word — Cycle B     The Word leaves an impression on our souls. In my thoughts and reflections are born a more tangible understanding of these eternal concepts presented in the Gospels and the readings. Anyone can read a sentence, but not anyone can absorb it's true meaning. Truth, in this day and age, is almost a matter of opinion or individual entitlement. We believe that Christ's truth is our Roman Catholic Church. We, as priests, champion it's teachings; we are ambassadors for the Pope and Christ to those faces looking at us. We are the light by which our congregation reads to reflect upon real truth and we do it hand in hand. $15

Guiding Light - Steadfast to the Son
Inspiring Homilies Covering Cycle A of the Litugical Year
$ 10.00

Guiding Light homily series — Steadfast to the Son — Cycle A    The sunflower is a great example of how we should be steadfastly guided by light. What a powerful thought that this exceptional plant is not stuck in one pose day in and day out, yet adaptable and magnetized to the sun. We feel the same about our Son. Our heads turns to face Christ as each day presents its challenges to find light. We join together like plants in a field and soak up the Son through the pulpit. We are a warm circle of strength using the wind of our breath to carry our priests' words, Christ's words, to new rich soil. $15

Guiding Light - Focusing on the Word
Inspiring Homilies Covering Cycle B of the Litugical Year
$ 10.00

Guiding Light — Focusing on the Word — Cycle B    At times we may feel that our path to Christ is a bit "out of focus". Like the disciples in the Book of Mark, this ordinary life clouds our vision of Christ's Divinity. We may doubt the practicality or possibility of applying His teachings and example to our modern life. Cycle B's homilies are a "guiding light" to help us realize Jesus' Messianic greatness and His promise of better things to come. $15

Guiding Light - Feed My Soul
Inspiring Homilies Covering Cycle C of the Litugical Year
$ 10.00

Guiding Light — Feed My Soul — Cycle C    In a world rapidly advancing and encouraging personal gain, we are faced with modern problems. There is a challenge to find time in our busy schedules for Sunday Mass or a family meal. We are able to research, shop, bank and even work without hearing one human voice. It is no wonder that we may often feel disconnected and famished at our week's end. In Fr. Joe's third book of homilies from Cycle C, we are reminded of the charity that Christ intended us to show each other. We have a calling to turn the other cheek and be the Good Samaritan to others. We are rewarded with the Father's kingdom and love when we are not worthy. We are not left alone or hungry. $15

Guiding Light - The Word Alive in Our Hearts
Inspiring Homilies by Fr. Joe Robinson
$ 5.00

Guiding Light — The Word Alive in Our Hearts. Cycle A (partial)    Homilies by the Reverend Joe Robinson given at St. Boniface Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is a tremendous honor Fr. Joe has allowed us to share these great gifts with you – for greater holiness and knowing more and more about God. $10

 

Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J.

Here are all the products in this category:

Books written by the founder of Shepherds of Christ Ministries

Response in Christ
Fr. Edward J. Carter gives to the modern Christian a message that will sustain him.
$ 10.00
Response to God's Love
...God Himself is the Ultimate Mystery
$ 10.00

Response to God’s Love by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J. In this book Fr. Carter speaks of God as the ultimate mystery. We can meditate on the interior life of the Trinity. Fr. Carter tells us about our uniqueness in the Father's Plan for us, how the individual Christian, the Church and the world are in the state of becoming. Imprimatur. $10

Shepherds of Christ Spirituality Newsletters 1
Selected Writings on Spirituality—for All People Editor: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J. Imprimatur
$ 10.00

Shepherds of Christ — Selected Writings on Spirituality for all People as Published in Shepherds of Christ Newsletter for Priests. Contains 12 issues of the newsletter from July/August 1994 to May/June 1996. $15

Spirituality Newsletters 2
Selected Writings on Spirituality — for All People Editor: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J. Imprimatur
$ 12.00

Shepherds of Christ — Volume 2: by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J. Contains issues 13—29 of the newsletter (September/October 1996 — Issue 5, 1999) $15

Shepherds of Christ Spirituality Newsletters 3
Selected Writings on Spirituality — for All People Editor: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J.
$ 10.00

Shepherds of Christ — Volume 3 by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J. Contains Newsletter Issues 1 through 4 of 2000 including Fr. Carter’s tremendous Overview of the Spiritual Life $10

Tell My People
Messages from Jesus and Mary Author: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J. Imprimi Potest
$ 10.00

Tell My People. Messages from Jesus and Mary (As given to Fr. Edward Carter, S.J.)    One of Fr. Edward Carter, S.J.'s Synopsis of the Spiritual Life    From Jesus to Fr. Carter "On Holy Saturday, 1994, Jesus told me that on the following day, Easter, I would also begin to receive messages for others. Our Lord also told me that some of these were eventually to be published in a book  and here is that book." $10

Spirituality Handbook
Shepherds of Christ Associates Spirituality Handbook - A Way of Spiritual Life
Author: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J. Imprimi Potest

$ 3.00

Spirituality Handbook. Fr. Edward Carter, S.J. did 3 synopsis of the spiritual life. The Spirituality Handbook, the Priestly Newsletter 20he Tell My People book. The way of spiritual life proposed to the members of Shepherds of Christ Associates is centered in consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. All aspects of the spiritual life discussed below should be viewed as means to help members develop their lives in consecration to Christ, the Sacred Heart, and to Mary, the Immaculate Heart. $3

The Spirituality of Fatima
Fatima: The Setting, The Message, The Spirituality of Consecration
$ 5.00

The Spirituality of Fatima by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J. The Fatima apparitions and messages received official Church approval in 1930. In giving her official approval to the Fatima event, the Church tells us that what took place at Fatima involving the three young visionaries is worthy of our belief. $5

Shepherds of Christ 6:20 Prayers CD
Holy Spirit Novena, Associates Prayer Manual and the Rosary Led by: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J.
$ 10.00
Priestly Newsletter 2000 Issue 1
Audio CD - Read by Father Edward J. Carter
$ 10.00

Priestly Newsletter — 2000 #1 — CD.Christ is Our Strength — Fr. Edward Carter, S.J. read it the year he died. It is so beautiful. "This brief passage contains one of the greatest lessons of the spiritual life. As we progress along our spiritual journey, we become increasingly aware of how weak we are in our—selves, but how strong we are in Christ. To experience our weakness involves suffering. The degree and kind of suffering can vary. The suffering can include the experience of the classical dark night of the spirit as described by St. John of the Cross. One of the main purposes of the dark night is to make a person keenly aware of his or her helplessness without God." quote by Fr. Carter from the newsletter $10

   

Shepherds of Christ Holy Spirit Novena
  Holy Spirit Novena by: Rita Ring
  $ 1.00
  plus postage

 Holy Spirit Novena Booklet. In four languages with the Imprimatur with 18 scripture readings for two complete novenas – this very powerful Holy Spirit Novena has prayers for prayers for Protection by the Blood of Jesus, Healing, Strength and Light, To Be One with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, One with Jesus, To Dwell in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, Prayer for the Holy Spirit and His Gifts, and the Word Alive in Our Hearts. All these prayers take about 10 minutes daily recited out loud. $1

 

  Shepherds of Christ Holy Spirit Novena CD
  Holy Spirit Novena Read by: Rita Ring
  $ 10.00 
plus postage


  Holy Spirit Novena CD. Prayers and scripture readings from the Holy Spirit Novena Booklet read by Rita Ring. $10

  Shepherds of Christ Prayer Manual
  Shepherds of Christ Associates Prayers
  Author: Fr. Edward J. Carter S.J.

  $ .50 
plus postage

Shepherds of Christ Prayer Manual. The Shepherds of Christ has prayer chapters all over the world praying for the priests, the Church and the world. These prayers that Father Carter compiled in the summer of 1994 began this worldwide network of prayer. Currently the prayers are in eight languages with the Church’s Imprimatur. We have prayed daily for the priests, the Church, and the world since 1994. Associates are called to join prayer Chapters and help us circulate the newsletter centered on spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart and helping to renew the Church through greater holiness. Please form a Prayer Chapter & order a Prayer Manual.

 

Fr. John J. Pasquini

Light, Happiness, & Peace
Journeying Through Traditional Catholic Spirituality Author: Fr. John J. Pasquini
$ 10.00 plus postage

This book Light, Happiness and Peace is a journey into the spiritual life    an awakening of deeper life IN HIM. Here are some of the comments we received from bishops and cardinals about the book. Cardinal – Pontifical Council for Culture – Vatican City “I am sure that this book, Light, Happiness and Peace through a discussion on traditional Catholic Spirituality will contribute in bringing back prayer into the mainstream of life.” $10

In Imitation of Two Hearts
Prayers for Consolation, Renewal and Peace in Times of Suffering Author: Fr. John J. Pasquini
$ 10.00  plus postage

In Imitation of Two Hearts — Prayers for Consolation, Renewal and Peace in Times of Suffering Fr. John J. Pasquini leads a suffering soul to the gentle Hearts of Jesus and Mary. In these most loving Hearts — the prayers by Fr. John Pasquini — help the person suffering to know more deeply the pascal mystery of death/resurrection. President of the Pontifical Council for Health $10

Authenticity
Authenticity — Prayers and Meditations Author: Fr. John J. Pasquini
$ 10.00  plus postage

Authenticity, the Yellow Book of prayers by Fr. John Pasquini, can lead the soul into deeper intimacy with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, can lead to greater love of Mary which leads to the unitive life and greater holiness. The book of prayers Authenticity by Fr. John J. Pasquini is to help one grow ever deeper in the Unitive life. Apostolic Nuncio – Archbishop – Philippines “With Authenticity, much is gained in prayer, and much is accomplished through prayer. More especially if prayer is directed in behalf of the Church.” $10

Medicine of Immortality
Prayers and Meditations for Mass and Eucharistic Adoration Author: Fr. John J. Pasquini
$ 10.00  plus postage

“In Medicine of Immortality, Father John Pasquini offers his readers the richness of Catholic devotional prayer, the wisdom of the Fathers and, most of all, the fruits of his own prayer and meditation before the Blessed Sacrament. I recommend this book to all who wish to grow in their love for the Lord, who sustains the life of His Church through the precious gift of His Body and Blood.” Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago $10

Ecce Fides
Pillar of Truth — Dedicated to defending Catholic beliefs through reason, Scripture, and the life of the Holy Spirit Author: Fr. John J. Pasquini
$ 10.00  plus postage

Ecce Fides is a work dedicated to defending Catholic beliefs through reason, Scripture, and the life of the Holy Spirit. "It is important that we (as people of God) return to the source of life, our faith, which is usefully exposed in this volume, and take it out to our contemporaries, evangelizing them and their cultures and inculturating the Gospel." Cardinal – Pontifical Council for Culture – Vatican City $10

 

Shepherds of Christ Spirituality Newsletters
Author: Fr. John J. Pasquini

$ 35.00  plus postage

Shepherds of Christ, a book of Spirituality Newsletters, is a compilation of the first nine newsletters from Fr. John J. Pasquini begining in August 2006. The Newsletter has been circulated to the priests and hierarchy spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart, promoting love for the Eucharist, greater love for the Church, the Priesthood, Mary and the Holy Spirit, the Mass, Prayer, and greater intimate relationship with God. $35

Statues/Religious Items

 

 

 

 Statues, Crucifixes, and Religious Artwork
These items are very special additions to your home or place of worship.

 


 

 

Special 12" Holy Family Statue with Glass
 Ivory gowns with gold trim.
$ 200.00
plus shipping

 

Special 12" Our Lady of Guadalupe Statue with Glass
White or Ivory gown with gold trim.

$ 100.00
each plus shipping

 

Special 12" Sacred Heart or Immaculate Heart Statues with Glass
White gown with gold trim.
$ 100.00 each plus shipping

   

  Special 12" Sacred Heart or Immaculate Heart Statues with Glass
 
Ivory gown with gold trim.
  $ 100.00 each plus shipping

Special 11" Our Lady of Fatima/Clearwater Statue with Glass
White or Ivory gown with gold trim.
$ 60.00 each plus shipping

 
 
Blue Crystal Rosary
  Rosary with the Image of Our Lady of Clearwater
  8mm - $ 40.00
plus shipping

 

  Red Crystal Rosary
  Rosary with the Image of Our Lady of Clearwater
  8mm - $ 40.00 plus shipping

 

 

  Clear Crystal Rosary
  Rosary with the Image of Our Lady of Clearwater
 
8mm - $ 40.00 plus shipping
 

 

 

  

 

Give the gift that keeps giving.

 

Blue Book 1 & 2 – $4.00 each plus postage

          

         

Blue Books 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6A, B, C, 3 – 
$3.00 each plus postage

    

Blue Books 4 & 5 –$2.00 each plus postage

     

Blue Books 14, 15 & 16 –$5.00 each plus postage

   

The more you use the Blue Books and
    become one with Jesus – more
    intimate with Jesus –
    the more your lives are a blessing and
    everything you do in life can help
    to bring down great grace for the world
    because of your being so
    one with Jesus.

 

Guiding Light Homily Book Series

Fr. Joe’s Books


Cycle A –
Steadfast to the Son


Cycle B –
Focusing on the Word


Cycle C

Feed My Soul

 
Cycle A
 
Inspired to be Genuine

4 for $20 plus postage of $6.95 

 

These books can be given to:

1) All Priests

       2) Good for Music Ministers
       3) Good for DRE's
       4) Good for Deacons
       5) Good for Principals of Schools
       6) Good for Teachers
       7) Good for Mom and Dads

     


 

                Given March 21, 2014

                R. Pray for These Things

                1) Pray for the Pope & hierarchy to help us start prayer chapters.
                2) Pray for Dan, Sally Jo, Richard, Carol, Margaret, Sue,
                    Jack, Jean, Amanda, Matthew, Special intentions.
               
3) Pray for the priests, the Church and the world!
                4) Pray for the spread of prayer chapters,
                    also for the spread of priests doing prayer chapters.
                5) Pray for the spread of Blue Books.
                6) People going to Florida and China.
                7) Vocations to all 7 categories.
                8) Pray for spread of Consecration and Rosary.
                9) Pray for pope helping us.
               10) Pray for Jeff - sales & health. Pray for Nick.
               11) Blue Book 17 and cover and all involved.
                    For our Publisher and all involved
               12) All intentions on my list, Jerry's list.
               13) Priests getting Fr. Joe's book.
               14) Pray for Fr. Joe's new book, cover & funds for printing & postage.
               15) Donors and members and their families.
               16) Healing of the Family tree.
               17) Dan & Melanie, Catherine & mom, Gary, Mary Jo,
                    Jim & statues, Fr. Ken, Monsignor, Kerry, Tom & wife.
               18) All who asked us to pray for them.
               19) All we promised to pray for.
               20) Rita, John, Doris, Sheila, Jerry, Regina, Sanja,
                    Betty, Sophie, Lisa, Eileen, Fr. Mike, Louie, Laverne,
                    2 Dons, Mary Ellen, Fr. Joe, all priests helping us,
                    Ed, Jimmy, Steve, a special couple
, Rosie & all involved.
               21) 2 babies and moms.
               22) Funds and insurance.
               23) Jerry's garage.
               24) In thanksgiving for gifts, graces, & blessings received.
               25) Spread the Blood of Jesus on all of us here.
               26) Consecrate all hearts.
               27) Cast the devil out of all of us here and all in Movement.

 

 

 The Wedding Rosary 

Crystal Image Rosary

$40 plus shipping

 

Original Image Rosary

8mm glass beads
in a matching gift box

$40 plus shipping

 

  

Give the gift that counts.

                Give to your priests Fr. Carter's Books plus postage.

Tell My People                    $5.00
Response to God's Love    $8.00
Response in Christ              $8.00

      

 

Old Mass Books with the Imprimatur 
$2.00 plus postage


 

New Mass Book with Imprimatur   
$8.00 plus postage


 

New Parents & Children's Book with the Imprimatur
$8.00 plus postage


 

Fr. Joe's Cycle A – Steadfast to the Sun – Starts in Advent
$5.00 plus postage

Give the gift that keeps on giving!

Give to your priest.


Fr. Carter's Priestly Newsletters Book II
$6.00 plus postage

     

Get a canvas print of Mary's image
with a sliver of glass and a little
bottle of Jesus and Mary water.
The glass will be fixed behind the
back of the picture.
$200.00 plus postage

    

 


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

Telephone: (toll free) 1-888-211-3041 or (812) 273-8405  
FAX: (812) 273-3182

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