Faith to Become the Sword of the Spirit
Lourdes Pinto – May 19, 2016
Note: The following text contains supplemental notes, not a complete transcription of the audio. To get a fuller understanding of this teaching, we recommend you listen to the audio.
Jesus:
We are making all things new through My Blood and the blood of My victim souls. My little one, believe that the union of love in suffering with God produces one hundredfold. Trust in your beloved Spouse who is making you a new creation in God and for God. This Path (book) is My Light in the darkness, hope in despair… It is My formation manual for My saints of these times. You (Love Crucified) have been entrusted this treasure from God. (I see the Path inside the heart of each LC member where it is protected, loved, appreciated and blessed. We must be the hidden force for every soul that receives the Path to read.)
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“Believe that the union of love in suffering with God produces one hundredfold.”
- The word “believe” appears 115X in the Path.
*Mark 9:19, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.”
*Mark 9:24, “I believe, help my unbelief.”
*Do we believe when we are in the midst of suffering?
*In pain and suffering how do we react?
*Do we remain in complete PEACE because we have come to believe in the power of our suffering as one with Christ?
2. My experience this week with my pain & sorrows.
*The Path helped me.
*The Holy Spirit sent Fr. Ron to remind me of the Path and he coached me through it (as a midwife helps a woman give birth)
3. The danger of forgetting the Word.
Cardinal Piacenza, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, wrote:
The Church is able to resist every attack, all the assaults that political, economic and cultural powers can unleash against her, but she cannot resist the danger that comes from forgetting this word of Jesus: "You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world." Jesus himself indicates the consequence of this forgetfulness: "But if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? (Path p380)
*Mark 9:49 - “Everyone will be salted with fire.”
*How can we lose our “saltiness”? Forgetting the words of Jesus to us and who we are.
*All new life comes through labor pains.
4. On Pentecost Sunday I had the experience:
*My heart united to Jesus’ Heart –as ONE becoming "sword–fire".
*The Holy Spirit led me to last chapter of Path (8) to reflect the prophecies the Lord has given us:
5. BELIEVE / Sword of the Spirit tested under fire.
*Jesus calls us to “believe”: This means the power of our lives as the sword of the Spirit is contingent on our FAITH.
*Blessed Titus Brandsma was a frail and peaceful Dutch priest, yet the Nazis called him “that dangerous little friar.” They feared the power of his witness and words. By holding fast to love and truth he came into conflict with the forces of evil. He wrote: “He who wants to win the world for Christ must have the courage to come in conflict with it.” (Path p380)
“Faith is always also a sword and may indeed promote conflict for the sake of truth and love.” -Cardinal Ratzinger (Path p381)
6. Prophecies Received By Our Community:
149- “I'm forming you as My warriors of love,” Diary of a MOC
Become the Sword of the Spirit to conquer the dragon.
The armor you put on is to protect you from being overcome and conquered by the enemy, but your sword is what has the power to pierce the enemy and conquer it. "To put on the armor of light... put on your Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom 13:12;14) is to become the Sword of the Spirit. I have been leading you through the passage of union with your Crucified Lord, union with the Word of the Cross. It is in this union that you enter your Crucified Lord and, beginning at the foot of the Cross with Mary, your lives become the Sword of the Spirit.These are the warriors that will fight the decisive battle and have the power of God to conquer the dragon. I desire each of you to become ONE with the Sword of the Spirit through My Cross. (11/2/11) p.407
7. How do we enter this “conflict” as the “sword of the Spirit”?
1. Believing that suffering in love with Christ has the power of God.
This means entering interior spiritual battle through the power of the martyrdom of heart.
2. Confront others by speaking the truth.
8. Homework
Study section 8-B-4, “Prophecies Received By Our Community” (p405f) & make an outline or summary covering these key questions:
1. What is the Lord asking us to believe?
2. What is our mission? Who are you? What is your identity?
3. What key words stand out in each message, why are they important and what are they saying to your heart?