Mary has requested that the daily message be given each day to the world. It is read nightly at the prayer service from her Image Building in Clearwater, Florida, U.S.A. This is according to her request. All attempts will be made to publish this daily message to the world at 11 p.m. Eastern time, U.S.A.


We acknowledge that the final authority regarding these messages rests with the Holy See of Rome.


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

June 27, 2004

June 28th Holy Spirit Novena
Scripture selection is Day 7 Period I.

The Novena Rosary Mysteries
for June 28th are Sorrowful.

                          

Please Pray for the 

Newsletter & 

Delores.

       

Click into the radio,
it is really dynamic!

You can see China live.
 

Click on the picture below to
hear the radio and see China.

  

  

  

June 27, 2004

Jesus speaks:     I give you this message.

                        Until a sufficient number of people
                            have given their hearts to My Heart and
                            Mary's Heart you will not have peace
                            in the world.

                        Mary appeared the Queen of Peace
                            for 7 years in Clearwater.

                        PEACE AND LOVE

                        From all places and all times I
                            have called you to this place
                            to see My face.

                        There were 2 little children leaving the
                            same door —
                            before them were 2 things

                           (1) A big mud puddle   (2) a mountain top —
                                                                 covered with glistening snow
                                                                 and the sun shining
                                                                 on the face of
                                                                 those who would
                                                                 go there

                        1) one child left the door and ran for the mud pile
                       2) the other child ran up the mountain

                        1) child one had a face covered with mud in
                                one minute
                       2) child two had a face covered with the sun

  

Genesis 4: 1-10

The man had intercourse with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. ‘I have acquired a man with the help of Yahweh,’ she said. She gave birth to a second child, Abel, the brother of Cain. Now Abel became a shepherd and kept flocks, while Cain tilled the soil. Time passed and Cain brought some of the produce of the soil as an offering for Yahweh, while Abel for his part brought the first–born of his flock and some of their fat as well. Yahweh looked with favour on Abel and his offering. But he did not look with favour on Cain and his offering, and Cain was very angry and downcast. Yahweh asked Cain, ‘Why are you angry and downcast? If you are doing right, surely you ought to hold your head high! But if you are not doing right, Sin is crouching at the door hungry to get you. You can still master him.’ Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let us go out’; and while they were in the open country, Cain set on his brother Abel and killed him. 

    Yahweh asked Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ ‘I do not know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s guardian?’ ‘What have you done?’ Yahweh asked. ‘Listen! Your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground.

  

June 27, 2004 message continues

Jesus speaks:     I have begun the Bible with the
                            story of Genesis, Cain and Abel —

                        the story of willfulness —

                        My face shines before you in Clearwater —
                            in the dark night — I come out
                            clearly to show you My light

 

April 5, 2004

   

June 27, 2004 message continues

Jesus speaks:     SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT

                        How does the devil work to block love?

                        How does the devil work to attack structure?

                        I come to unveil the workings of satan
                            in your lives.

                        Spiritual Direction —

                            being able to see how the evil spirit,
                                the good Spirit is working

                        Ways to combat the evil spirit —

                            MY BLOOD 

    

  

  

    

June 27, 2004 message continues

Jesus speaks:     Praying to the Holy Spirit to flood
                            you with His grace.

    

  

 


   

 

June 27, 2004 message continues

Jesus speaks:         This is bigger than all of you.

                       From all time I have called
                            you to be My servants.

                       From all time and all places
                            Mary appeared on the building
                            she appeared to deliver
                            a message of peace to a
                            troubled world —
                            she appeared to the troubled
                            children of the earth to
                            tell them that their life
                            here is oh so short and
                            she came to tell them

  

Mary's Message
from the Rosary of August 27, 1996

Mary speaks:  I stood beneath the cross of my Son, and my Heart was in such pain for I saw Him before my eyes. I saw Him covered with blood. I saw Him die. My Heart, my children, my Heart to watch my Son, but my Heart, my Heart, how I suffered for my little children of the world that give in to this world and give up the love of my Son. O my little children of light, I give you this message. Carry this light into the darkness for your Mother Mary, for I stood beneath the cross and I cried. I cried for the little ones. I cried for the young ones, the ones that do not care and will lose their souls. How do I make you see for you will not listen to me? What can I do? I come. I appear. I beg. I plead. I give you these gifts from my Son, and you reject me. I do not deliver messages very often anymore for I have been ignored. The message is the same. You do not read the messages I have given to you. Please help me. Help the little children. I appear. I appear. I appear, and I am ignored. I stood beneath the cross, and I cried. I cried, and my Heart was in such anguish for my little children, for I am searching for them this day as I searched for the Child Jesus. Please, please help me. I cannot hold back the hand of my Son any longer. I am Mary, your Mother. I ask you to help my children. You are my children of light.

end of Mary's Message, August 27, 1996

    


   

June 27, 2004 message continues

Jesus speaks:         Discernment of Spirits

                            The devil comes to tie you up and
                        to get you to do his work.

                            I come to give you the gift of
                        the Holy Spirit.

                            On May 27, 2004 this picture was
                        seen on the web camera.

  

  

June 27, 2004 message continues

Jesus speaks:         Mary's head was knocked off, but
                        I come out more on My image on the
                        building. You must pray constantly for
                        the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

                            The devil will work on the weakest
                        link, he is sneaky, he comes in to
                        carry off the silver like the thief in
                        the night.

                            My site exists for the purpose of
                        leading the world to peace. My site
                        exists to lead the world into consecration
                        to My Heart and Mary's Heart.

                            Mary appeared on the building, the
                        Incarnation goes on. As the Holy Spirit
                        works within the Immaculate Heart of
                        the Mother to bring you forth more
                        and more into My image and likeness.

                            Pray —
                            Oh Spirit of God fill our hearts —
                            Dear Jesus spread us with your
                                precious Blood.

                         I can make all things work for you,
                            but you must come to Me in
                            peace and docility and love.

                         The waves were high, the water rushed
                            in more and more quickly to the shore,
                            but beneath the troubled water,
                            far below — the water was smooth
                            and unruffled.

                         On the outside the enemy attacks the
                            front line, but behind those
                            fighting the front line is one who sees
                            with clear vision.

                             The devil attacks, this is My Movement,
                        the Priestly Newsletter is a major vehicle
                        that will affect the world. You can question
                        and sit back, but the priests must be   
                        led into a deeper life of consecration
                        in My Heart and the Heart of My Mother.

                            Spiritual discernment, how do you
                        tell if the Good Spirit or the evil spirit
                        is prompting you to act. Spiritual
                        directors cannot be afraid to speak
                        of the evil one operating in someone's
                        life. Spiritual directors need to know
                        more about the craftiness of satan.

    

Genesis Chapter 3

Now, the snake was the most subtle of all the wild animals that Yahweh God had made. It asked the woman, 'Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?' The woman answered the snake, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, "You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death." ' Then the snake said to the woman, 'No! You will not die! God knows in fact that the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good from evil.' The woman saw that the tree was good to eat and pleasing to the eye, and that it was enticing for the wisdom that it could give. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realised that they were naked. So they sewed fig-leaves together to make themselves loin-cloths.

The man and his wife heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. But Yahweh God called to the man. 'Where are you?' he asked. 'I heard the sound of you in the garden,' he replied. 'I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.' 'Who told you that you were naked?' he asked. 'Have you been eating from the tree I forbade you to eat?' The man replied, 'It was the woman you put with me; she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.' Then Yahweh God said to the woman, 'Why did you do that?' The woman replied, 'The snake tempted me and I ate.'

Then Yahweh God said to the snake, 'Because you have done this,

    Accursed be you
    of all animals wild and tame!
    On your belly you will go
    and on dust you will feed
    as long as you live.
    I shall put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
    it will bruise your head
    and you will strike its heel.'

    To the woman he said:

    I shall give you intense pain
        in childbearing,
    you will give birth to your children
        in pain.
    Your yearning will be for your husband,
    and he will dominate you.

To the man he said, 'Because you listened to the voice of your wife and ate from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat,

    Accursed be the soil because of you!
    Painfully will you get your food from it
    as long as you live.
    It will yield you brambles and thistles,
    as you eat the produce of the land.
    By the sweat of your face

    will you earn you food,
    until you return to the ground,
    as you were taken from it.
    For dust you are
    and to dust you shall return.

The man named his wife 'Eve' because she was the mother of all those who live. Yahweh God made tunics of skins for the man and his wife and clothed them. Then Yahweh God said, 'Now that the man has become like one of us in knowing good from evil, he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and pick from the tree of life too, and eat and live for ever!' So Yahweh God expelled him from the garden of Eden, to till the soil from which he had been taken. He banished the man, and in front of the garden of Eden he posted the great winged creatures and the fiery flashing sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.

    

Genesis 4: 1-10

The man had intercourse with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. ‘I have acquired a man with the help of Yahweh,’ she said. She gave birth to a second child, Abel, the brother of Cain. Now Abel became a shepherd and kept flocks, while Cain tilled the soil. Time passed and Cain brought some of the produce of the soil as an offering for Yahweh, while Abel for his part brought the first–born of his flock and some of their fat as well. Yahweh looked with favour on Abel and his offering. But he did not look with favour on Cain and his offering, and Cain was very angry and downcast. Yahweh asked Cain, ‘Why are you angry and downcast? If you are doing right, surely you ought to hold your head high! But if you are not doing right, Sin is crouching at the door hungry to get you. You can still master him.’ Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let us go out’; and while they were in the open country, Cain set on his brother Abel and killed him. 

    Yahweh asked Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ ‘I do not know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s guardian?’ ‘What have you done?’ Yahweh asked. ‘Listen! Your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground.

  

June 27, 2004 message continues

Jesus speaks:         Satan works in secret many times. He
                        is a slippery snake. He comes concealed —
                        like an innocent lamb and he is a
                        roaring lion. A wolf in sheep's
                        clothing.

                            How can one direct another in how
                        the spirit is working in their lives
                        when they fail to see satan working
                        so strongly in individuals in Churches,
                        families and institutions.

                            One can come with noisiness and
                        constant argumentation, turning a home,
                        community, church into a tether. Discernment
                        of spirits is vital in marriages, in
                        churches, in schools.

                            Satan knows if he can attack the
                        families, the churches and the schools —
                        He can get souls if he does this.
                        If he attacks these institutions —

    

    

June 27, 2004 message continues

Jesus speaks:      My prayers will help the Spirit flow
                            in these institutions.

 

              

      

  Luke 9: 51-62

Now it happened that as the time drew near for him to be taken up, he resolutely turned his face towards Jerusalem and sent messengers ahead of him. These set out, and they went into a Samaritan village to make preparations for him, but the people would not receive him because he was making for Jerusalem. Seeing this, the disciples James and John said, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?’ But he turned and rebuked them, and they went on to another village.

As they travelled along they met a man on the road who said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus answered, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.’ 

    Another to whom he said, ‘Follow me,’ replied, ‘Let me go and bury my father first.’ But he answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.’ 

    Another said, ‘I will follow you, sir, but first let me go and say good–bye to my people at home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

      

June 27, 2004 message continues

Messenger:        The devil works on the self —
                            trying to get us to stay focused
                            on us so we will not focus
                            on the things of God, but focus
                            on ourselves.

   

  

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

   

             Fire of His Heart

  

June 27, 2004 message continues

Messenger:            LOVE
  

                            Fires of hell —

                        The devil wants us to not focus on the
                            Fires of His Heart —

                        The devil wants to carry souls to
                            hell.

                        Mary gives this message —

   

Mary's Message
from the Rosary of August 27, 1996

Mary speaks:  I stood beneath the cross of my Son, and my Heart was in such pain for I saw Him before my eyes. I saw Him covered with blood. I saw Him die. My Heart, my children, my Heart to watch my Son, but my Heart, my Heart, how I suffered for my little children of the world that give in to this world and give up the love of my Son. O my little children of light, I give you this message. Carry this light into the darkness for your Mother Mary, for I stood beneath the cross and I cried. I cried for the little ones. I cried for the young ones, the ones that do not care and will lose their souls. How do I make you see for you will not listen to me? What can I do? I come. I appear. I beg. I plead. I give you these gifts from my Son, and you reject me. I do not deliver messages very often anymore for I have been ignored. The message is the same. You do not read the messages I have given to you. Please help me. Help the little children. I appear. I appear. I appear, and I am ignored. I stood beneath the cross, and I cried. I cried, and my Heart was in such anguish for my little children, for I am searching for them this day as I searched for the Child Jesus. Please, please help me. I cannot hold back the hand of my Son any longer. I am Mary, your Mother. I ask you to help my children. You are my children of light.

end of Mary's Message, August 27, 1996

  

June 27, 2004 message continues

Messenger:        She said this same message over and
                            over again when she appeared —

                        She gave to me the same message
                            given at Fatima.
  

 

Excerpt from The Spirituality of Fatima

    ...Tell everybody that God gives graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Tell them to ask grace from her, and that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be venerated together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Ask them to plead for peace from the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the Lord has confided the peace of the world to her. (19)


NOTES:

19. For background material on Fatima, I am particularly indebted to
        Our Lady of Fatima’s Peace Plan from Heaven
(Rockford:
        TAN Books and Publishers, Inc., 1983). p.9.

  

June 27, 2004 message continues

Messenger:        In an institution there must be a head —
                            God operates in structure —
                            this head must pray for direction to
                                be following the good Spirit —
                                to be connected to God —
                                to see their life for all eternity
                                    and do what God wants them to
                                     do — operating in love to
                                    help the souls, not for ones
                                    own vain glory, but doing
                                    all actions for the honor and glory
                                    of God.

                        Holding onto inordinate attachments —
                            keeps one stuck —

    

Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, life.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

     

June 27, 2004 message continues

Messenger:        Attitude

                             offering of one's self in love
                                for the honor and glory of God

Jesus speaks:     I speak of love.
                        I am God,
                        I am an endless source of love.
                       Oh My people how can you
                            deliver My message if
                            you do not love yourselves.

                        I deliver these messages to the world —
                            My messages of love —

                        Are you loving?

                        Do you know what love is?

                        A man was raised in an abusive home —
                            to him as he understood it
                            love was painful — he did not
                            know how love is kind...

  

1 Corinthians 13: 4-13

    Love is always patient and kind; love is never jealous; love is not boastful or conceited, it is never rude and never seeks its own advantage, it does not take offence or store up grievances. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but finds its joy in the truth. It is always ready to make allowances, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes.

    Love never comes to an end. But if there are prophecies, they will be done away with; if tongues, they will fall silent; and if knowledge, it will be done away with. For we know only imperfectly, and we prophesy imperfectly; but once perfection comes, all imperfect things will be done away with.

When I was a child, I used to talk like a child, and see things as a child does, and think like a child; but now that I have become an adult, I have finished with all childish ways. Now we see only reflections in a mirror, mere riddles, but then we shall be seeing face to face. Now I can know only imperfectly; but then I shall know just as fully as I am myself known.

    As it is, these remain: faith, hope and love, the three of them; and the greatest of them is love.

      

June 27, 2004 message continues

Jesus speaks:     When he related with others — he began fights —
                            he tried to get attention for himself —
                            many times he did hateful things to
                            get attention like sticking his hand
                            in a bee-hive and running afterward —
                            he stirred up the bees and ran away —
                            he was acting hurtfully and like a trouble
                            maker —

                            he continued doing the work of satan in
                                his life — hurting others and promoting
                                disharmony.

                            he acted as he saw others treat him,
                                but he began to do more evil things —
                                hurting others more and more —
                                no one could talk to him —

                        What happens to the person that fails to
                            work with others in harmony and love?

                        I give to you Myself in the Eucharist —
                        I outpour My grace to you —
                        I have called you to be bearers of love —
                        Come before the tabernacle —
                        I will outpour My grace —
                        Come to Me at Mass —
                        I will outpour My grace to you —

                        Here is a message I gave long ago about the 
                            tabernacle

                            click on August 28, 1993
  


 

June 27, 2004 message continues

Messenger:        On June 26, 1995 I was sent with the Apostles
                                to Naples, Florida

                                I received the following message.

  

June 26, 1995

The Pain - Naples, Florida

Messenger: He spread His arms, He gave His all, Jesus, the Son of God, the greatest sacrifice, He gave Himself entirely for the good of all men. He opened His arms, He died on the cross.

    His arms were covered with blood, His arms so weak and filled with pain, wounded. His arms, the pain shot up His arms and the final blow to each arm a nail through each precious hand.

    All the agony He experienced, all the pain, and the crown, to each arm, a nail hammered into the hand.

    All the nerves cut and severed by the nail, the pain shooting up His precious arms, the final blow given to His most precious members.

    The legs that carried Him, that carried the heavy cross, the legs that were forced and cajoled, that continues to Calvary - the legs weakened, skinned, bleeding, beaten, burned, the legs that knew patience and perseverance, the legs connected to a sore foot that was rubbed and gashed and bleeding, the members of Jesus, filled with such pain and exhaustion, now is crowned with the final glory. The nail that was driven into the foot, the pain shot up this already weakened leg, covered with blood and wounds and pain, the final blow, the nerves severed by the hammered nail.

    A blow to each hand, a blow to each foot, a blow to the head, a stamping that pressed down and continued in excruciating pain.

Jesus: They numbered all My bones. They gave Me vinegar and gall to drink. They gave Me a cloth to wipe My blood-covered flesh.

    What did they give to Me? Love is giving, My dear ones. How many of you are wounded when you are not given things by your brothers you love?

    My members were in such pain, the pain shot up My arms. My legs were so weak I could scarce move them. I was filled with pain within them.

    To all who watched, they saw a man, weakened and covered with blood and wounds. They did not see the pain inside that shot up My legs and arms, the nerves inside My body that sent signals of deep pain to My central nervous system. They did not see the nerves inside sending pain signals everywhere.

    The final blow being to each hand and foot, the severing of My nerves by the blunt and rusted nails.

    An arm extended. A final blow. I beheld a nail pounded into My hand and the pain shot up My arms, unbearable to a human mind.

    Do you know of the pain within My body? Signals sending messages of deep pain everywhere. I knew all of these sufferings in the garden. So great were the sufferings to My mind, I sweat blood.

    My flesh was covered with wounds. My arms were stretched from their sockets. My body was beaten and bleeding, every inch of My body covered with deep wounds. But, My loved ones, you miss the depth of My love. My wounds were so deep, but the final wound, the pounding of the nails in My hands and feet, a severing of the nerves, an ending of the deepest pain, to experience even deeper pain, beyond your human comprehension, it was done to the Almighty God, a Divine Person, I suffered the final blow to each member.

    The pounding in the hands and feet, the crown to each member, and they numbered all My bones. My nerves a network of pain running throughout My entire body.

    The pain within the body, the pain recorded in My loving head, the pain sent by a network of nerves in My body, now records the final blows, the nails in the hands and feet, the pain being recorded from every thorn that pierced My skull, every gash to My body, the pain, the pain, the pain - a network of signals and pain, running through My body and the final hour, the pains recorded on the cross, arms outstretched - a surrendering to all pain. I surrendered to a body laden with pain.

    You focus on your little problems, your little aches and pains. You discuss them and show the world your pin pricks and sufferings.

    Do you want to know holiness and love? They gave Me vinegar mixed with gall. This was their offering. They gave Me a cross. They crowned My head with a crown of thorns.

    This, My dear ones, is suffering, My beloved souls, I gave My life for and this is their return.

    A severing of My nerves, the final blows to all the aches and pains recorded in My nervous system. This was one of the final blows - the rusted nails pounded into My hands.

    You will feel little aches and pains in your hands and feet to remind you of this message. Your understanding of the immense pain within will deepen. What was visible to the eye on My battered body was nothing compared to the pains within. I gave My all. I gave My insides, My mind, My Heart, wounded for the love of men.

    All functions in the body were stopped.

    The final curtain, blood and water pouring out from My Heart, show that all functions of the body had ended.

R: All signals that carried messages of immense pain had ended, the final act of surrender for God to die to this human body and surrender His flesh.

Jesus: And end, a beginning, the water and blood flowed from My Heart, the beginning of My life in the Church, life flowing into your spirit.

R: Come give me life, abundant life. I thirst to be with Thee.

Jesus: My blood was spent. My human flesh and blood offered as the sacrifice, the sacrifice of Calvary is now made present at every Mass.

    An end, a beginning, and the grace and life flow through the sacraments in the Church. My life flows to you in the Mass. Mary, the Mediatrix of all grace, stands by the side of the altar and the grace flows from the Father, through My body offered up as a sacrifice in the Holy Spirit, given through the Mothership of Mary to you in the Church.

    You stand under the cross with My Mother and you receive the gift given, My Body, My Blood.

R: Man is reconciled with the Father through the Divine Person, Jesus Christ, and you receive His life poured out to you as Calvary is made present in the unbloody sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

    Do you feel the graces poured out to you at this sacrifice of the Son of God at every Mass? Do you feel the presence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and Mary, all the angels and saints, and the souls in purgatory? Do you feel united as one at the sacrifice of Calvary sacramentally made present upon the altar through the priest? The priest who now puts on Christ and through Him the dispenser of this life given to man.

Jesus: Oh, My beloved ones, love so dearly your priest. Give him such reverence. He is the chosen instrument of God and you treat him with such ordinariness. You are so blind and so dumb in your ways.

    And they numbered all My bones. Each nerve carrying a message of My love of mankind, each member in My Church carrying a special message, all united as one working in harmony according to the Father's will, each carrying a message of love to one another.

    The body is many members, you are the messengers of My love. Christ is the head. The message does not flow as it should when some are cut off from the Head.

    They nailed My hands and feet and My nerves were severed by the nails, such pain, undescribable in words, the severing of My nerves from the body, the severing of many members from the body of Christ.

    My Body given for all on the cross, the network of nerves within carrying the messages of My love to all mankind. My body covered on the outside with blood and wounded, the pain recorded within.

    Your Church, covered with blood on the outside, the slaughter of innocent babies, the homosexuality, the sins of the flesh, the members that have severed themselves from the source by their sins, but the pain is carried in the nerves inside. The blood of the Lamb shed for each and every soul, the real pain carried within. The life is weakened in your Church because the love of God is so weak in many members. The messages of love are not being transmitted as they should be. Your body shows the wounds, but your pain within is the root of the problems. The pain is from the messages of love that are not being transmitted.

    Unless you seek to fill your priests and sisters with the fire of God's love, fill their hearts with burning love for God, your Church will continue to show the marks of the blood shed without. I give to you these letters as a mighty medicine for this world, directed to make men's hearts burn with love of God and love of one another. The rosaries are meditations and messages given from the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

    These messages will make men's hearts burn with fire for love of God.

    You have ignored the importance of these letters.

    I send to you the mighty medicine to heal a hurting world.

    My priests and religious need these messages. The love of God will be transmitted to the Church from these messages when you circulate these letters.

    The devil has blocked the minds of men involved in these messages because of their importance to the world and the Church.

    I am speaking to you Fr. Carter to help to get these messages published and circulated as soon as possible. I give to you a mighty medicine for a sick world.

    Read St. Thomas Aquinas about the medicine for the sick Church.

    You know what these messages have done for you. I am Jesus. I give to you the mighty medicine for a sick world, for a sick Church, rosaries and letters from the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

    Your Church shows the wounds of bloodshed, abortion, homosexuality, sins of the flesh, murder of little children's minds with sex education in Catholic schools and you hold back the gifts of God's love I am giving to the Church and this world.

    My arms were weak and wounded but the final blow as the nail put in My hand. It severed the nerves.

    The final blow is the bloodshed in the Church, the slaughtering of children's minds in Catholic schools. My children are pure and innocent. They are not being taught messages of God's love, they are being taught messages of sick sex and coldness.

    Men's hearts have turned cold. They have been severed from the life of the body. The body is decaying from within. Only with the love of God enkindled in men's hearts will this bloodshed stop.

    I beg you to publish and circulate these messages in the Church. I am Jesus. I am giving you the mighty medicine for the world. Your body wears the marks of the bloodshed, only with messages of My on-fire love will it stop.

    Mary leads you to Jesus. Never is she the end. The Father has a plan. Mary's messages have led men and will lead men to Jesus. Satan has tried to stop all efforts to publish and circulate these messages. I am the Almighty God. The funds will come when you circulate and publish these messages and rosaries under the Shepherds of Christ Publishing. I am working with Fr. Carter and Rita as messenger to renew the Church and the world. Each messenger has a very vital role in the Father's plan. The significance of these messages are being overlooked. You are not studying the messages as a whole and their content. There are five unpublished Blue Books and more than four Rosary Books which I and My Mother have given to this world in the last 14 months. I have also given 15 songs of My love. I am begging you to see to the recording and publishing of this music. I beg you to listen. This is the mighty medicine for the Church and the world to draw men to the burning love of Jesus. Please harken to My call. I will send you the money. You must study and read these messages. This is a fulfillment of Fatima - these messages were given to bring priests to the burning love of Jesus. I am Jesus, your beloved Savior.

end of June 26, 1995 message

    

June 27, 2004 message continues

Messenger:        Oh God I am sorry for the ways we offend You.
                           I am sorry for the pain You suffered in
                                the garden for our sins.

Jesus speaks:     In many places there are cancers, in many
                                churches, one individual works to try
                                to stop the productivity of the institution
                                the evil one prompts them to act above the
                                authority, argumentatively and hatefully
                                focusing on themselves —
                                they desire to be in control and in the end
                                    over all others —
                                satan works this way —
                                he works to try to discredit the authority —
                                he wants the structure to collapse.

                            A building was built and every day a big machine
                                with a large tool came and shook the
                                corner structure —
                                everyone watched, but no one stopped
                                the man running the machine —
                            when he came each day he argued and did
                                what he wanted —
                            in dismay the people who owned the building
                                let the man do it —

                                When the head of the organization came
                            he said — hey why does this guy come
                            every day with this big machine and shake
                            the corner of the building —
                            soon the structure will collapse if you
                                do not stop it.

                            Almost in a stupor and with dismay at the
                                head they said well we can't handle
                                him — he argues — he acts mean —
                                he just runs the show.

                            We never liked what he did, but he was
                                so strong we just got used to it,
                                but we have no energy to work anymore,
                                we more or less just sit back and
                                deal with him feeling tired and worn
                                out.

                            Satan is a roaring lion.

                            If the leadership once strong is forced to
                            deal with a person being prompted by the
                            devil to get ahead and run things and
                            discredits authority on an hourly basis,
                            a daily basis —
                            finally it is like the big machine that comes
                                shakes the foundation and all lay down
                                putting up with their ways.

                            Whether an alcoholic in a family
                            Whether an abuser in a family —

                            A leader in a community
                            A leader in a church —

                            the community can be manipulated by
                                one who is sick and prompted by the
                                devil and
                                they all fall down as the apple bobs
                                    higher and higher —

                            Ask yourselves —
                                is the good Spirit running the show —
                                or the evil spirit.

                            Once a retreat was given and the head
                                was discredited and shown as
                                weak.

                            If there is not structure, where there is
                                not a head connected to Me, then the
                                institution will become weak as the
                                devil works to try to take out the family,
                                institution wherever many are gathered
                                for a holy purpose.

                            In one branch of a religious community —
                                there was constant conflict — it can
                                be one of 2 things or both —
                                the person leading gives into the evil one
                                prompting division and control in his own
                                heart.

                            one under the head is so "head-strong"
                                they will do anything to get the lead —
                                like the motor running in a box —
                                it just keeps running, it is never
                                settled.

                            Leaders of religious communities must realize
                                that the devil will work to try to discredit
                                them.

                            I show Myself in the first station surrounded
                                by the men who wanted to put Me to
                                death.

  

  

June 27, 2004 message continues

Jesus speaks:         I am the head.

                            Many have made themselves the head in
                                many parishes, parish council people
                                can begin running a parish, focusing on
                                money, festivals etc. and argue with
                                the pastor while he tries to lead the church
                                in a spiritual way or it may be a
                                church that recognizes the priest's
                                authority and honestly in holiness try
                                to help him promote the spirituality
                                of the parish and work toward their
                                own spiritual growth pleasing
                                God and accomplishing the business
                                activities that need to be accomplished
                                for the honor and glory of God and not their
                                own vain glory.

                            When a person is dysfunctional and presses
                                ahead to get everyone doing their
                                dance in a community, when the
                                head gives in, when satan can
                                create havoc, the place is weakened,
                                under attack and unproductive.

                                Always there must be that respect
                            for authority. As one fights from beneath
                            and argues to get ahead, another may
                            use teasing and joking and then in the
                            end seize the place of the leader
                            after they controlled the place through
                            laughter.

                                Others may weaken the authority, by
                            secretly desiring the position themselves
                            and creating tremendous confusion
                            when simple directions are given.

                               This is how the devil works. Mary Ann was
                            the head of a business, a man secretly
                            did not like the female dominance
                            over him. He made Mary Ann work for
                            every job she had to get his help with.
                            That way he got control even though
                            he didn't like the fact he was not
                            doing exactly as he wanted. After a two
                            week dance and tears Mary Ann if
                            she was strong enough got the work
                            accomplished she knew was vital
                            for growth in the company.

                                It is what I call trash, the trash
                            another can put another through to
                            accomplish a vital task because of
                            the evil one working in games of jealousy
                            and lack of respect for the head.

                                My communities have diminished in
                            the Church, where sisters and brothers
                            operate in oneness for a common
                            purpose. There is little growth in the
                            world in religious orders working in
                            oneness as a body of people praying
                            as a body to promote world peace,
                            devotion to My Sacred Heart and Mary's
                            heart, Eucharistic Devotion,
                            the Morning Offering.

                                I have begun this Movement to
                            pray for the priests, the Church and the
                            world. To spread the Priestly Newsletter
                            to the priests that they will grow deeply
                            in love with the 3 Persons of the
                            Trinity, Devotion to the Holy Eucharist,
                            live lives as holy priests, live lives
                            with deeper devotion to My Heart and
                            My Mother's heart — I have
                            given this Newsletter to lead the priests
                            into a deeper realization of Mary's
                            role as their spiritual Mother and Mother
                            of the Church.

                                I have given the Newsletter that
                            priests will know more the Spiritual
                            Exercises, Spiritual Discernment,
                            living to promote the Kingdom of
                            God for the honor and glory of God, for
                            purity of intention, for awareness
                            of sinfulness in their own lives and
                            the importance of letting go of
                            inordinate attachments and for
                            living the rosary mysteries in
                            your lives.

                                Through the writings of the
                            Holy Father and other spiritual leaders
                            and the Encyclicals and documents of
                            the Church — the priests will be
                            nourished more and more to be holy
                            priests.

                                I beg for help with this endeavor.

    

I would be willing to
support this endeavor
with a $1.00 to $5.00
or more a week.

 

Contribution:  __________

Name:  _________________________

Address:  ______________________________

                ______________________________

                ______________________________

Phone:  _______________________________

Email:  ________________________________

Shepherds of Christ Ministries, P.O. Box 193,
Morrow, OH 45152-0193 · fax: 1-513-932-6791
(toll free) 1-888-211-3041 · email: info@sofc.org

        

Given to Father Carter
on the Feast of St. Ignatius

July 31, 1994

Words of Jesus to Members of
Shepherds of Christ Associates:

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

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

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

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

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

           

   
   

Shepherds of Christ

A Spirituality Newsletter for Priests
and Others Interested in the Spiritual Life

2000 - ISSUE FOUR

   

CAN YOU HELP US?

As you know, we distribute the Newsletter free of charge. We have been publishing the Newsletter for six years. Although the fine print on the last page of each Newsletter says that donations are always welcome, we have, to this date, only made one major appeal for donations.

Now we come to you again and ask for your financial assistance. It is considerably expensive to print the Newsletter and to mail it here in the U.S.A. and to other countries around the world. With our English and Spanish editions, we send the Newsletter to readers in about 90 countries. We soon hope to add a French edition.

With the help of God’s grace, the Newsletter seems to be accomplishing much good. The numerous letters we receive from around the world regarding the Newsletter’s helpfulness are one indication of this.

If you share with us our belief that the Newsletter is a very worthwhile ministry, we urgently ask you to seriously consider sending us a donation. We are always struggling to obtain the funds to continue publication of the Newsletter.

If you are financially able, we would be extremely grateful to receive your donation -- whether it is small, large, or medium-sized! We thank all of you who have previously sent donations.

Some of you may know of possible benefactors who would be interested in helping a worthy cause. And we firmly believe that a ministry which offers an aid for spiritual growth to priests especially, but to others also, is a most worthy endeavor.

For your convenience, we have enclosed a self-addressed donation envelope.

Very importantly, we also ask for your prayers that we may obtain the funds necessary to continue publication of the Newsletter and that the Newsletter will be spiritually beneficial to its readers. We hope to continue to publish it four to six times a year. The number of issues will depend upon various factors. Thank you very much for your attention to our urgent plea.


WE ARE EXPANDING OUR READERSHIP!

We are expanding our circulation by explicitly inviting to our readership those who are not priests, but who are interested in the spiritual life.

The Newsletter will still be written for priests in a special way. Yet we feel much of the material will also be of interest to those who are not priests.


CONTENTS


Chief Shepherd of the Flock

The Value of Work

I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and the sheep do not belong to him, abandons the sheep as soon as he sees a wolf coming, and runs away, and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep; he runs away because he is only a hired man and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. (Jn 10:11-151)

"The Church finds in the very first pages of the Book of Genesis the source of her conviction that work is a fundamental dimension of human existence on earth..."2

"At the same time she sees it as her particular duty to form a spirituality of work which will help all people to come closer, through work, to God, the creator and redeemer, to participate in his salvific plan for man and the world and to deepen their friendship with Christ in their lives by accepting, through faith, a living participation in his threefold mission as priest, prophet and king, as the Second Vatican Council so eloquently teaches."3

"Whether it is engaged in independently or paid for by someone else, this labor comes immediately from the person. In a sense, the person stamps the things of nature with his seal and subdues them to his will. It is ordinarily by his labor that a man supports himself and his family, is joined to his fellow men and serves them, and is enabled to exercise genuine charity and be a partner in the work of bringing God’s creation to perfection. Indeed, we hold that by offering his labor to God a man becomes associated with the redemptive work itself of Jesus Christ, who conferred an eminent dignity on labor when at Nazareth He worked with His own hands.

"From all these considerations there arise every man’s duty to labor faithfully and also his right to work. It is the duty of society, moreover, according to the circumstances prevailing in it, and in keeping with its proper role, to help its citizens find opportunities for adequate employment. Finally, payment for labor must be such as to furnish a man with the means to cultivate his own material, social, cultural, and spiritual life worthily, and that of his dependents. What this payment should be will vary according to each man’s assignment and productivity, the conditions of his place of employment, and the common good."4

"A monotonous life, one would say, but this would be a very superficial judgment; monotony consists in the dull repetition of acts, uninteresting, devoid of significance and all stamped with the character of sameness. But there is no monotony in the soul’s relations with God. Each act in which it expresses its love for its Creator is fresh with the freshness of novelty; each communication of the love of the Creator to the creature comes with all the charm of a new revelation. Each step forward in the knowledge of God makes it seem to us as if we had never known Him before. And the external material acts which proceed from the soul enjoying this intimacy with the Lord partake of this quality of freshness and novelty. Although to the senses each little task of the day resembles in all respects that of the day before, yet, in reality, these tasks that recur are not the same. The newness and freshness given by a greater love in the doing far surpasses the newness given by a material change in the occupation. The love of God is never stationary. It grows with each act done in the fullness of actual charity possessed by the soul. Hence for the saint the task of today, which materially resembles the task of yesterday, is clothed with all the charm of novelty, for it is transmuted and transfigured by a greater love. All men naturally desire to be great. To achieve greatness it is not necessary to seek it afar or to ascend into the heights in its pursuit. It lies at our door and is within the reach of all. It is found by bringing a great love of God to bear on the doing of the most ordinary of life’s tasks. Our Lord in His hidden life has shown how we may attain to greatness and perfection in the accomplishment of the humblest of life’s duties."5

Upon reflection, we can see the consequences of this. When work, for whatever reason, is interfering with our relationship with God and others, something is obviously wrong. For example, an upward-moving professional becomes so absorbed in his work, so taken with the idea of promotion and salary increase, that he becomes extremely narrow-minded. Concern for God and others is relegated to the far recesses of consciousness where it has little effect upon the person’s thoughts and activities.

Even though we claim such an extreme situation does not describe our own, we nevertheless can fall prey to lesser faults. For instance, we diminish the time we should rightfully be spending with family members and friends. Perhaps we become so absorbed with our work that we claim we have little time for prayer. If we find ourselves in such circumstances, we must make an effort to confront ourselves with this question, "What is the God-given purpose of work?" Surely, if we are honest, we must say that our work should first be done for the love of God. If we work from this proper motive, we are acting for our own benefit also, for what is done for God and others promotes our own good also. And work done for God must be accomplished according to His will.

Much of our contemporary society places great emphasis on external success, the recognition of one’s work, and the earning of more and more money -- and all of this, in a very secularistic manner with little regard for God and neighbor. In such an atmosphere, it is not easy to maintain the Christian perspective of work. In many ways we must go counter-culture. If we do so, we will be following One Who Himself was not afraid to go against certain cultural aspects of His own times. His name is Jesus.


Jesus

"That this divinizing process take place, there is required a willed contact between the individual and Christ. This contact is effected by the activity of the virtue of faith. It is perfected by sympathy and love. The Christian who wills to have the life of Christ develop in himself, must consent to ‘steep’ mind, imagination and heart in the earthly career of Jesus. He must aim at a sympathy with the Saviour in all that He went through. He must strive to identify himself with the Divine Master, to think with Him, to feel with Him, to judge with Him, to see with His eyes and to speak with His tongue. He must will to be as the Saviour was in all these incidents."8

"...Love is what seizes Our Lord when He sees the obscure, abandoned masses of the people, and takes pity on them...There is something heroic, strong, in this love for people forsaken, in distress... It is love again when He receives the sick; when He lets that great sea of misery wash up to Him; when He lifts up, strengthens, heals... Oh, this tremendous Lover and the might and majesty of His heart taking up arms against the massive world-force of sorrow, magnificently sure of His inexhaustible power to comfort, to strengthen, to bless!"9


The Father's Love for Us

St. Alphonsus Ligouri, Doctor of the Church, speaks to us concerning the Father’s love for us manifested in the gift of His Son to us: "All holiness and perfection of soul lies in our love for Jesus Christ our God, who is our redeemer and our supreme good. It is part of the love of God to acquire and to nurture all the virtues which make a man perfect.

"Has not God in fact won for himself a claim on all of our love? From all eternity he has loved us. And it is in this vein that he speaks to us: ‘Oh man, consider carefully that I first loved you. You had not yet appeared in the light of day, nor did the world yet exist, but already I loved you. From all eternity I have loved you.’

"Since God knew that man is enticed by favors, he wished to bind him to his love by means of his gifts: ‘I want to catch men with the snares, those chains of love in which they allow themselves to be entrapped, so that they will love me.’ And all the gifts which he bestowed on man were given to this end. He gave him a soul, made in his likeness, and endowed with memory, intellect and will; he gave him a body equipped with the senses; it was for him that he created heaven and earth and such an abundance of things. He made all these things out of love for man, so that all creation might serve man, and man in turn might love God out of gratitude for so many gifts.

"But he did not wish to give us only beautiful creatures; the truth is that to win for himself our love, he went so far as to bestow upon us the fullness of himself. The eternal Father went so far as to give us his only Son. When he saw that we were all dead through sin and deprived of his grace, what did he do? Compelled, as the apostle says, by the superabundance of his love for us, he sent his beloved Son to make reparation for us and to call us back to a sinless life.

"By giving us his Son, whom he did not spare precisely so that he might spare us, he bestowed on us at once every good..."10


Devotion to the Holy Spirit

Archbishop Luis M. Martinez instructs us: "Consecration to the Holy Spirit must be total: nothing must draw us away from His loving possession. Undoubtedly vacillations and deficiencies are part of our imperfection, but even so, our love must not be extinguished. Rather, it must lift its divine flame toward infinite love in the midst of all human vicissitudes.

"True devotion to the Holy Spirit, therefore, is not something superficial and intermittent, but something profound and constant, like Christian life itself; it is the love of the soul that corresponds to the love of God, the gift of the creature who tries to be grateful for the divine Gift, the human cooperation that receives the loving and efficacious action of God. As divine love is eternal, its gift without repentance and its action constant, it is our part to have our heart always open to love, ready to receive the unspeakable gift, and to keep all our powers docile to the divine movement."11


Mary

Here are inspiring words concerning Mary from Fr. Joseph Dean, SCJ:

Blessed Virgin Mary,
by faith and the power of the Spirit,
you bore God for our salvation.
In your days on earth,
you pointed to Jesus, your Son, and said:
"Do whatever he tells you."
With your Son’s beloved disciple,
you stood at the foot of the cross.
You believed in the midst of the night.
You loved with a pierced soul.

Mary, my mother,
pray for me today.
May I follow Jesus as you did,
welcoming the Holy Spirit,
responding to your Son’s love,
living in communion with his love for the Father,
     cooperating with his work of redemption in the
     midst of the world.
In this way, may my heart be joined with yours.
May I follow your example of faith and love
bringing the Heart of your Son to the
heart of the world.

Amen.


The Eucharist

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."

"At the Mass we unite in offering sacrifice to the Father. We all unite as one and give ourselves in such oneness with Jesus, in such love to the Father, in the Holy Spirit. We desire to die to all the things that are not of God and join in the great miracle taking place. The Father looks down and He sees the sacrifice of His Son being offered through His priest. Heaven unites to earth. Earth cries out in such jubilation at the great gift of the Almighty God, and we unite as creatures giving ourselves as a sacrifice to our beloved Creator. Do we experience the presence of God as His power flows through His priest, who takes bread and wine, and changes them into the Body and Blood of our Lord? Do we hear Jesus speak, as He did at the Last Supper, with the intensity in His voice reflecting the knowledge of the upcoming events of His passion and death?

"Do we hear the priest say the words of consecration with the emotion of Jesus about to give His life for His beloved ones? And the earth stands still. There is, at that moment, the sacrifice of Calvary sacramentally made present through the words of the priest. Oh, that God so loved the world to give His only Son as a sacrifice, and that God wants us in this deep oneness with Him! I give You myself, my Savior, my beloved Jesus, as You so willingly gave Yourself to me on Calvary. I want to die and rise more and more with You in the deepest possible love for You and for those for whom You died a brutal, bloody death on the cross, and for whom You rose gloriously from the dead!"


Priesthood

"The spiritual gift received by priests in Ordination prepares them for a wide and universal mission of salvation. In fact, through Orders and the ministry received, all priests are associated with the Episcopal Body and, in hierarchical communion with it, according to their vocation and grace, they serve the good of the entire Church. Therefore, the membership to a particular church, through incardination, must not enclose the priest in a restricted and particularistic mentality, but rather should open him to the service of other churches, because each church is the particular realization of the only Church of Jesus Christ, such that the universal Church lives and fulfills her mission in and from the particular churches in effective communion with her. Thus, all the priests must have a missionary heart and mind and be open to the needs of the Church and the world."15

"So, because of this fundamental bond, there opens before the priest the immense field of the service of souls, for their salvation in Christ and in the Church.

"This service must be completely inspired by love of souls in imitation of Christ who gives his life for them. It is God’s wish that all people should be saved, and that none of the little ones should be lost...

"The priest is for the laity: he animates them and supports them in the exercise of the common Priesthood of the baptized -- so well illustrated by the Second Vatican Council -- which consists in their making their lives a spiritual offering, in witnessing to the Christian spirit in the family, in taking charge of the temporal sphere and sharing in the evangelization of their brethren. But the service of the priest belongs to another order. He is ordained to act in the name of Christ the Head, to bring people into the new life made accessible by Christ, to dispense to them -- the Word, forgiveness, the Bread of Life -- to gather them into his Body, to help them to form themselves from within, to live and to act according to the saving plan of God. In a word, our identity as priests is manifested in the ‘creative’ exercise of the love for souls communicated by Christ Jesus.

"Attempts to make the priest more like the laity are damaging to the Church. This does not mean in any way that the priest can remain remote from the human concerns of the laity: he must be very near to them, as John Mary Vianney was, but as a priest, always in a perspective which is that of their salvation and of the progress of the Kingdom of God. He is the witness and dispenser of a life other than earthly life. It is essential to the Church that the identity of the priest be safeguarded, with its vertical dimension. The life and personality of the Curé of Ars are a particularly enlightening and vigorous illustration of this."16

"Christ the shepherd leads the flock by the word he speaks and guarantees the truth of his teaching by the supreme testimony which is the gift of his own self. He offers himself in sacrifice in order to impart to his sheep a bountiful life, especially through the Eucharist. By leading the flock, he makes it one. The three functions -- preaching, worship, and leadership -- become the expression of the shepherd’s love, and from that love they draw their inspiration."17


Henri Nouwen on Prayer


Words from Mother Teresa

"I asked them, ‘Where did you get so much money?’

"They answered, ‘We got married two days ago. Before we got married we had decided not to celebrate the wedding, not to buy wedding clothes, not to have a reception or a honeymoon. We wanted to give you the money we saved.’

"I know what such a decision meant, especially for a Hindu family.

"That is why I asked them, ‘But how did you think of such a thing?’

" ‘We love each other so much,’ they answered, ‘that we wanted to share the joy of our love with those you serve.’

"To share: what a beautiful thing!"20

"Of those who have died in our houses, I have never seen anyone die in despair or cursing. They have all died serenely.

"I took a man I had picked up from the street to our House for the Dying in Calcutta.

"When I was leaving, he told me, ‘I have lived like an animal on the streets, but I am going to die like an angel. I will die smiling.’

"He did die smiling, because he felt loved and surrounded by care.

"That is the greatness of our poor!"21


Avery Dulles and the Theological Thought of John Paul II

The well-known and respected theologian, Avery Dulles, S.J., has rendered a distinct service to us all in summarizing much of Pope John Paul II’s theological thought in his book, The Splendor of Faith: The Theological Vision of Pope John Paul II. Dulles points out the great importance for our times of John Paul II as theologian: "Among the Catholic theologians of the second half of this century, John Paul II holds a place of special eminence. Perhaps more than any other single individual he has succeeded in comprehensively restating the contours of Catholic faith in the light of Vatican II and in relation to post-conciliar developments in the Church and in the world. With his keen interest in contemporary culture, philosophy, economics, and international affairs, he has been able to give fresh relevance to the Catholic tradition. Avoiding the pitfalls of compromise and polemics, he has offered a serene and balanced presentation of what Catholics may and should believe on a multitude of questions. No private theologian, however brilliant, speaks with comparable authority."22

In his concluding words to the book, Dulles says: "This final summary, which restates themes more fully explained in the preceding chapters, may be warranted because of the breadth and complexity of the teaching of John Paul II. He has written so voluminously on so many topics that it is easy to lose sight of the unity and coherence of his thought. His theological vision reaches back to the origins of revealed religion and outward to the furthest reaches of human communication. While making himself the faithful guardian of the deposit of faith, this pope shows an astonishing openness to dialogue with other churches, other religions, and the secular worlds of science and technology. Guided by his philosophical studies and his experience of the Second Vatican Council, he has forged a Christocentric humanism and a dynamic personalism capable of encountering and respectfully challenging all opposing ideologies and spiritual movements. The Catholic Church and, I submit, the world at large have been greatly blessed by the intellectual leadership of this brilliant, energetic, and prayerful successor of Peter."23


The Christian and the World

Pope John Paul II tells us: "Love for others, and in the first place love for the poor, in whom the Church sees Christ himself, is made concrete in the promotion of justice. Justice will never be fully attained unless people see in the poor person, who is asking for help in order to survive, not an annoyance or a burden, but an opportunity for showing kindness and a chance for greater enrichment. Only such an awareness can give the courage needed to face the risk and the change involved in every authentic attempt to come to the aid of another. It is not merely a matter of ‘giving from one’s surplus,’ but of helping entire peoples which are presently excluded or marginalized to enter into the sphere of economic and human development. For this to happen, it is not enough to draw on the surplus goods which in fact our world abundantly produces; it requires above all a change of lifestyles, of models of production and consumption, and of the established structures of power which today govern societies. Nor is it a matter of eliminating instruments of social organization which have proved useful, but rather of orienting them according to an adequate notion of the common good in relation to the whole human family."24


Act of Consecration (new)

"Jesus, You show us Your Heart as symbol of Your life of love in all its aspects, including Your most special love for each of us as unique individuals. Out of Your great love for us, You died a brutal death, nailed to the wood of the cross. Out of Your great love for us, You rose gloriously from the dead.

"From Your pierced Heart the Church with her life-giving Sacraments was born. In the Eucharist, Crown and Center of the Church’s life, You continue to give Yourself to us with the deepest, most tender, most on-fire, most complete love.

"Jesus, since in Your great love You give Yourself so completely to us, it is only fitting that we make a gift to You in return. It is entirely fitting that we give ourselves completely to You. Yes, we consecrate ourselves to Your most loving Heart. Each of us says to You, O Lord, our Savior and our Friend: ‘Jesus, take me wholly, take me completely to Your magnificent Heart. Out of love I give myself to You. Live in and through me. In love You give Yourself completely to me. In love and in a spirit of reparation, I want to give myself, with the help of Your grace, entirely to You. Take me, Jesus, to an ever closer union with the Father, in the Holy Spirit, with Mary my Mother at my side. Pierced, Glorified, Eucharistic Heart of Jesus I place my trust in You.’ "

"Dear Blessed Virgin Mary, I consecrate myself to your maternal and Immaculate Heart, this Heart which is symbol of your life of love, including your most special love for me as this unique individual. You are the Mother of my Savior. You are also my Mother. In a return of love, I give myself entirely to your motherly love and protection. You followed Jesus perfectly. You are His first and perfect disciple. Teach me to imitate you in the putting on of Christ. Be my motherly intercessor so that, through your Immaculate Heart, I may be guided to an ever closer union with the Pierced, Glorified, Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock."


A Prayer for Priests

Many of the laity pray for us priests, and consistently so. Is it not also fitting that we priests pray for all our brothers in the priesthood, and consistently so? There follows a prayer that can aid us in this endeavor.

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

The above prayer is taken from the prayer manual of Shepherds of Christ Associates, a facet of Shepherds of Christ Ministries. The associates are members of prayer groups which meet regularly to pray for all the needs of the entire human family, but most especially for priests. If you would like a copy, or copies, of this prayer manual, and further, if you would like information on how to begin a Shepherds of Christ prayer chapter, contact us at:

Shepherds of Christ
P.O. Box 193
Morrow, Ohio 45152-0193 U.S.A.
Phone (toll free): 1-888-211-3041,
Phone: 1-513-932-4451
Fax: 1-513-932-6791


Letters

The latest special issue of Shepherds of Christ is very good (Issue 3, 2000). I like the idea that you are expanding it so that although aimed for the needs of priests it is an available resource for lay people as well. It will keep it more viable in the long run. But the choice of articles and topics in the issue are an excellent thematic list of the major spiritual topics of today.

My best,

Lawrence Boadt, CSP
Paulist Press
Mahwah, NJ

Please let me tell you how much I am grateful for your "Shepherds of Christ" newsletter. I received the Issue 3, 2000, manual from a long-time family friend and monk who handed it along to my family. The articles are interesting and inspirational!

I am a 20-year old college student and I attend a private, secular school. The prayers and articles in "Shepherds of Christ" help me understand the Eucharist and live a life focused on Jesus. I especially like the Act of Consecration prayer. It is so beautiful! I say it daily.

Thank you again and may God bless all those involved in the "Shepherds of Christ" ministry.

Sincerely,

Bonnie Deignan
Farmingdale, New Jersey

I just finished reading the Special Issue "Overview of the Spiritual Life" Excellent! Please send me the book form of the 1st 12 issues.

Thank you.

In Christ

Fr. Gerald Sherer
Hermosa, SD

Mabuhay! Greetings from the Philippines! Please allow me to congratulate you for the expansion of your readership. It is indeed true that even the laity would benefit from your spiritual publication. As for my case, I am not yet a priest yet I found your notes to be helpful in my personal spiritual journey. Thus, I am asking for a personal copy of Shepherds of Christ. The ones that I had been reading were given by a fellow seminarian. May I also request the audiocasette recording of your previous issues. Thank you very much for your dedication. May Mary’s protection never leave you in your life.

In Christ

Sem. Nono Acompanado
Holy Rosary Major Seminary
Concepcion Heights, Naga City
Philippines

Greetings in the name of the Risen Lord! I hope you had a good Lent and a joyful celebration of Easter. Here at St. Anne the Vigil and the Easter Sunday celebrations were memorable.

Father, since the time I started receiving these spiritual newsletters through my Vicar General Mons. Joseph Kimu of St. John the Baptist Major Seminary in the diocese of Mangochi here in Malawi, I feel my spiritual life has been enriched tremendously.

On the other side, I would like to welcome most gratefully the idea of extending the readership to the laity. I think there could be some food for them too. We as priests, and they as the flock need each other’s assistance.

Sincerely in the Risen Christ

Rev. Fr. Lucious Kamwana
St. Anne Catholic Parish
Balaka - Malawi - AFRICA

I have been receiving your newsletters for over a year now and have enjoyed it immensely. Every issue I read from front to back. I am now 48 years ordained and each newsletter renews me spiritually.

Enclosed is a little donation. I enjoy each issue very much.

Yours in Christ and Mary,

Father John Graham, C. SS. R
St. Cecilia’s Rectory
New York, NY


NOTES:

  1. Scripture quotations are taken from The New Jerusalem Bible, Doubleday.

  2. Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter. On Human Work, United States Catholic Conference, No. 4.

  3. Ibid., No. 24.

  4. The Documents of Vatican II, "The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World", No. 68. America Press edition.

  5. Edward Leen, C.S. Sp., In the Likeness of Christ, Sheed and Ward, pp. 126-128.

  6. Thomas Merton, Love and Living, Harcourt Brace and Company, pp. 177-178.

  7. John Henry Cardinal Newman, "Parochial and Plain Sermons", v, pp 139-40, as in The Heart of Newman, A Synthesis Arranged by Erich Przywara, S.J., Ignatius Press, pp. 171- 172.

  8. Edward Leen, C. S. Sp., The True Vine and Its Branches, P. J. Kenedy & Sons, pp. 25-26.

  9. Romano Guardini, Jesus Christ, Henry Regnery Publ., as in Daily Readings in Catholic Classics, edited by Rawley Myers, Ignatius Press, p. 85.

  10. St. Alphonsus Ligouri, Tract, de praxi amanda Jesum Christum, edit. latina, Romae, 1909, pp. 9-14, as in the The Liturgy of the Hours, Catholic Book Publishing Co., Vol IV, pp. 1264-1265.

  11. Archbishop Luis M. Martinez, The Sanctifier, Pauline Books & Media, p. 48

  12. The Documents of Vatican II, "Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy", America Press edition, No. 17.

  13. Ibid., No. 48

  14. Pope Pius XII, Encyclical Letter, Mystici Corporis, AAS, XXXV, 232-233.

  15. Directory on the Ministry and Life of Priests, as in special supplement, Inside the Vatican, November 1994, No. 14.

  16. Pope John Paul II, Holy Thursday Letters to My Brother Priests, edited by James P. Socias, Scepter Publishers and Midwest Theological Forum, pp. 147-148.

  17. Jean Galot, S.J., Theology of the Priesthood, Ignatius Press, p. 137.

  18. Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out, Doubleday, pp. 89-90.

  19. Henri Nouwen, Genesee Diary, Doubleday, p. 361.

  20. Mother Teresa, In My Own Words, Ligouri Publications, p. 19.

  21. Ibid., p. 71.

  22. Avery Dulles, S.J., The Splendor of Faith: The Theological Vision of Pope John Paul II, Crossroad Publishing Company, pp. 1-2.

  23. Ibid., p. 196.

  24. Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter, On the Hundredth Anniversary of Rerum Novarum, St. Paul Books & Media, No. 58.

end of Priestly Newsletter 2000 - Issue 4

  

    

June 27, 2004 message continues

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All scripture quotes are from the New Jerusalem Bible, July 1990, published by Doubleday.
Revised: June 27, 2004
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