Community Leadership

Neighborhood  Governance

How is leadership established?  What form of leadership is appropriate?  Why should we follow a leader?  Who is to be our leader?  Before answering any of these important questions, one must first ask oneself, where am I being lead?  Is that where I want to go?  Well, at Our Lady’s Ranch, it’s not so much where I’m being lead to, but who I’m being lead to!  We could say that we are being lead to heaven, but that could give a misleading connotation of a faraway place that we arrive at only after a long period of time.  God doesn’t want us to begin our heavenly experience only after we die to this world.  He wants us to experience heaven right now, while we are living in this world – that we may live now – fully alive!  “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand!”  (Matthew 4:17)

So for us to experience the fullness of life now, God our Father is leading us to His Son, Jesus, that we may become one with Him (union) to enjoy the fullness of His Existence, Goodness, Truth, and Beauty starting right now!

“For I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full.”  (John 10:10) 

“Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You, may they also be in Us.” (John 17:20)

Life begins and ends in God our Father (the Alpha and the Omega).  So leadership begins in God the Father – the Source, the Creator, and the Provider of all life.  And it is God the Father who calls us into everlasting life, through the peace and joy of His Son Jesus, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

“No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  (John 14:6)

“When He comes, the Spirit of Truth, will guide you to all Truth.”  (John 16:13)

So it is the Holy Trinity who establishes all leadership, in heaven and on earth.  “You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above.” (John 19:11)

And now, in this generation, we have the supreme benefit of leadership through our Queen Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, who comes to us as the “Queen of Peace” to lead us back to the Father by leading us back to Jesus.

“I am leading you, little children, towards love, towards the dear Father.  I am leading you into Eternal Life.  Eternal Life is my Son.  Accept Him and you will have accepted love.”  (March 18, 1995)

We have entered into the age of Mary, as foretold by St. Luis De Montfort in the early 1700’s. In his manuscript entitled, “True Devotion to Mary,” St. Luis clearly prophesizes about the formation of the apostles of the latter times, “…they will consecrate themselves entirely to her (Mary’s) service as subjects and slaves of love… with the pure intention of the Glory of God and the Salvation of Souls.”  (See the “Resources” page of this site for further prophesies - The last article of “Spiritual Direction”)  On October 8, 2000, Pope John Paul II consecrated the world to our Blessed Mother for the new millennium.  And Our Lady verifies this new era herself through her words to the visionaries of Medjugorje…

“…I wish to keep on giving you messages as it has never been in history from the beginning of the world.”  (April 4, 1985) 

God (The Holy Trinity) has continually revealed His love for us throughout the entire history of our existence. He has slowly unfolded the plan for our salvation and faithfully invited us to participate in it by entering into His love. Our Lady now leads the world in God’s plan for our salvation and continues to encourage us to participate in it.

“Dear children, I want you to comprehend that God has chosen each one of you in order to use you in a great plan for the salvation of mankind.  You are not able to comprehend how great your role is in God’s design. Therefore, dear children, pray so that in prayer you may be able to comprehend what God’s plan is in your regard.  I am with you in order that you may be able to bring it about in all its fullness.  Thank you for having responded to my call.”  (January 25, 1987)

Since God has ordained that in this age Our Lady is to lead her children back to Jesus, we at Our Lady’s Ranch accept her as our leader, and desire to follow her into Eternal Life.

“I love you and want to lead you all into Paradise.”  (April 25,1994)

And she proceeds to teach us how to follow her…

“But if you do not pray, and if you are not humble and obedient to the messages I am giving you, I cannot help you.”  (April 25, 1994)

So in order to attain Paradise, we need to be prayerful, humble, and obedient…

“Not with words but rather through prayer will you attain what your desire is.  Therefore, pray more and live in humility.”  (October 6, 1986)

Okay, prayer and humility make perfect sense, but what about obedience?  Why should we be obedient?  Who should we be obedient to?  The world associates obedience with slavery, but Jesus tells us that sin is what causes slavery, and that obedience to the truth sets us free.  “Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34)  “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  (John 8:31)

Our rebellious nature wants the liberty to do whatever pleases the flesh, and whenever the flesh wants it.  But soon we discover that the flesh is really not leading us to any lasting happiness, so we’d like to stop a certain behavior, but we can’t.  We have developed a bad habit (or addiction) and we are now tormented by it.  Most bad habits seem to be reasonable freedoms at the beginning.  But one day we realize that we can’t go long before our flesh tugs at us again with this habit.  We might be enjoying a peaceful moment, when all of a sudden we get this uncomfortable, anxious feeling for a selfish bodily urge that we have to satisfy immediately, before the bad feeling that we are experiencing gets worse.  So this apparent liberty soon becomes a form of slavery.  Our spirit has become a slave to our flesh, and that is how we become slaves to sin.

But when we are obedient, we receive a true freedom.  We become free from sin and free from self, thus now able to enjoy each moment as a gift from God.  Our body becomes free from any bad habits, and our conscience becomes free of any anxiety or guilt.  Then our mind becomes free to enjoy every moment, knowing that we are living and moving in the grace of God as we remain obedient in His Will.

We can also discover the immense benefits of obedience through a simple glance at the Old Testament stories of the Bible.  God always blesses obedience – always!  And disobedience always leads to self-destruction… always!

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock.  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

Obedience is so critical to attain everlasting life that we should look to yet one more example of its necessity.  Again, God always blesses obedience, every moment of our normal daily life – especially in relationships between husbands and wives, and parents and children.  Families where the husband and wife move in obedience to one another are blessed with children who do the same.  These families enjoy a certain order and harmony as an audience enjoys a well-played symphony.  They stand secure as a sturdy fruit tree stands in the wind.  And they display beautiful flowers with an aroma of tremendous peace that permeates the entire household, while bearing the fruit of delightful and respectful children.

At Our Lady’s Ranch, each individual must desire to grow in obedience to God and one another.  Each household strives to develop a system of obedience that is governed by a “Household Leader,” who compassionately educates each member of the household in the spiritual and literal meanings of the following letter from St. Paul to the Ephesians.

Proper Order of Family Life

Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.  Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.  For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the Church, He Himself the Savior of the body.  As the Church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church and handed Himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the Church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.  So also, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself.  For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the Church, because we are members of His body.

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church.  In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself, and the wife should respect her husband.  (Ephesians 5:21-32) 

Children, obey your parents, for this is right.  “Honor your father and mother.”  This is the first commandment with a promise, “That it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on earth.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up with the training and instruction of the Lord.  (Ephesians 6:1-4)

When a neighborhood of separate households (who each move in this familial obedience) dwell in community with one another, that community has an opportunity to resemble Christendom – heaven on earth.  In order to actualize this potential unity, each household must cooperate in virtue.

“I then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.   (Ephesians 4:1-6)

But these separate households need a system to govern themselves and make communal decisions so that as households, they can move in obedience to one another within a framework of leadership.  We desire to establish this system of governance on Divine Principles in order to move in God’s Will throughout every future decision and activity.  Every precedent of Biblical History, Catholic Hierarchy, and Religious Community favors a “Benevolent Monarchy” to lead the faithful to Christ.  So we shall outline how this type of leadership might be applied to one of Our Lady’s Ranch Homesteads. It might work well for one group of people, but some other leadership structure might work better for another group, based on the individual personalities involved.

The Benevolent Monarch of the Church is none other than Jesus Christ, and his representative on earth is His papal vicar, the Pope.  The benevolent monarch of Our Lady’s Ranch is Our Lady, herself, but she also needs a representative on earth.  So we shall examine the following criteria required for a suitable representative, who shall be appointed according to a system of collaboration that is appropriate for each particular homestead community.

Rights of Our Lady's Representative

This position of Our Lady’s Representative mirrors Our Lady’s role as a Benevolent Monarch, in a system of governance that mirrors that of a family, with a leader who always acts for the benefit of the family of neighbors as their primary servant.

“For Christ came to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42)

And as such, Our Lady’s Representative must be extremely sensitive to the needs of his or her own family (if he/she has one) and the needs of each neighbor, without being prejudiced against some, and/or favored to others. The Representative must always be ready to lay down his/her life for his/her family and/or the community, always be willing to engage in prayer and sacrifice for the ones he/she loves, and always be prepared to boldly request the intersession and guidance of our Blessed Mother.

“I invite you to pray and give your life completely to God.  I will give you strength and I will help you in all of your needs.  You can ask for everything that you need to help you.  I will intercede for you in front of God.”  (November 23, 1988)

The Representative must be available and proficient at directing souls to heaven; advanced in the virtues of humility,  patience, and forgiveness.  Yet he or she must also be forthright, responding quickly and accurately toward any threat to the community’s well- being and peace, whether it be physical or spiritual, and whether it be from persons inside or outside the community. 

“Dear children, God is allowing me along with Himself to bring about this oasis of peace.  I wish to call on you to protect it and that the oasis always be unspoiled.  There are those who by their carelessness are destroying the peace and the prayer.  I am inviting you to give witness and by your life to preserve the peace.  Thank you for having responded to my call.”  (June 26, 1986)

Furthermore, it is the necessary responsibility of Our Lady’s Representative to protect the community against sin, according to the following precept given by Jesus, Himself.

“Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the person through whom they occur.  It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.  Be on your guard!  If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” (Luke 17:1-3)

Our Lady’s Representative is responsible for all major decisions, work, activities, conduct, and financial matters of Our Lady’s Ranch, and so shall conduct himself/herself in obedience to the relationships of all the neighbors therein.  And in like manner, each “Household Leader” shall maintain the same responsibility to his/her own household, which authority shall never be usurped by Our Lady’s Representative. If there exists a great threat to the physical or spiritual well-being of a household member, or others in the Community, then Our Lady’s Representative may undertake corrective action, but only after meeting with “Our Lady’s Council,” to receive advice from all of the “Household Leaders” of the neighborhood.

“If your brother sins go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.  If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.  If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.  If he refuses to listen to them tell the Church (Our Lady’s Council).  If he refuses to listen even to the Church, then treat him as you would a gentile (outsider) or a tax collector.”  (Matthew 18: 15-17)

The responsibilities of Our Lady’s Representative shall be subject to the specific provisions and/or limitations set by the members of Our Lady’s Council, which shall be comprised of community members according to the criteria listed below. The Council may decide to enumerate certain conditions that govern the authority of Our Lady’s Representative in order to maintain a certain degree of checks and balances within the governance of each neighborhood, which governance shall be made specific and independent of any and all other neighborhoods. One example of limiting the authority of Our Lady’s Representative is to allow Our Lady’s Council to override a particular decision only by unanimous consent of all members of the Council.

Leadership Summary

The group of people that comprise each homestead community can decide for themselves the best system of governance, based on the personalities involved and the financial arrangements that have been used to purchase or rent the real-estate of each homestead neighborhood. There are many different ways to purchase and/or finance property, and the most normal/conventional means will always be the best. All financial arrangements must be kept simple so that each resident can freely enter into the neighborhood or leave the neighborhood without much difficulty or delay.

Many opportunities will be available for the neighbors to own some common area and/or some common things (like tools or even buildings), but those considerations should be secondary to the basic needs of each household. Nevertheless, any common ownership can be arranged according to the unique circumstances of each homestead and the residents living therein. The most important consideration is to make all business arrangements in accordance with the secular laws of the region in the most simple format possible.

Common prayer, discernment, and communication will prove to be the greatest assets of any joint-venture. Prayer will unite the residents while maintaining clarity and strength in each individual in order to minimize the enemy’s attacks. Discernment should be made through periodic evaluations by the neighbors, along with long-term planning sessions that should be made with an outside director or chaplain. And of course, there is no substitute for extensive communication between all the people involved, in the same way that keeps all the members of a family informed and engaged with one another.

There will come a time when Catholic Family Homestead neighborhoods become a socially accepted way of life, just as home schooling has become a socially accepted way of education.  Until that time, there must be several pioneers who undergo the prayer, planning, patience, and suffering that is required by God for any important Christian enterprise.