Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

Pondering Tidbits of Truth is my simple and inadequate way of providing nuggets of spiritual wisdom for you to chew on from time to time. This week all three tidbits are gifts from Venerable Fulton J. Sheen Venerable Fulton J. Sheen "Our Lord never promised safety to His Apostles; He promised them persecution. He did not promise them health or comfort. He promised strength to bear their trials."                                       (From March 18, 2025 Reflection on  Sheen Institute ) Venerable Fulton J. Sheen "To a great extent, the world is what we make it. We get back what we give. If we sow hate, we reap hate; if we scatter love and gentleness, we harvest love and happiness. Other people are like a mirror which reflects back on us, the kind of image we cast..." (From Way to Happiness ) Venerable Fulton J Sheen "...there are few listeners, although St. Paul tells us that 'faith comes...

There are times when one must be blunt in the effort to stir slumbering souls. Today is one of those days. Seek a quiet place where you and God can chat, heart to heart. He has some questions for you. Ponder them. How will you respond to Him? (Photo©Father Lawrence Lew, O.P. Used with permission) What if, as Father Francis Hudson, S.C.J. once asked his parishioners,     God loved you, only as much as you loved Him? As you enter your parish Church, are you struck with a sense of the Sacred and a realization that you are standing on holy ground? If not, why not?   What does Jesus see and hear from behind the locked Tabernacle doors when He gazes at those present? Is He pleased by what He hears and sees? If not, why not?   How important is it for you to spend some time in quiet prayer and r eflection in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, before, during, after Mass and throughout the course of each week?   Of the 168 hours God g...

[ I read these words of wisdom penned by Father Paul  D. Scalia yesterday and knew immediately that they had to be shared:] "Sanctity isn't happening somewhere else. It is found in the here and now, in the duty of the moment, in being present to ourselves, to God and to others... Our salvation - yours and mine - does not happen out there, in some other place or in someone else's life. It doesn't occur in the  media or latest gossip, online or otherwise. It doesn't depend on our knowing the latest political intrigue or celebrity news. It depends on our personal and interior adherence to the Lord.  But we love to be distracted because this reality can be daunting. We fear that God is too close, too personal. Too local. So we distract ourselves by looking elsewhere, to other people, places and things. But salvation doesn't happen somewhere else. It happens locally, where we are. And we shouldn't chose to be anywhere else." (Excerpted from  The Catholic Th...

…For sinners, the door of His heart is always open, so that He will never drive them away, however miserable they may be.   He so earnestly desired the salvation of sinners that He did not cease until He was nailed to a cross between two thieves and shed His Precious Blood for them. Not content with this, having finished the course of His earthly life, He instituted this Sacrament [the Eucharist] by which He might remain among men, so that all who need a remedy would always find it. The same cause that led Him to die for sinners, led Him to institute this Sacrament. It was love that brought Him down to earth and put Him in the hands of sinners; it is love also that brings Him back again and puts Him in the same hands. There was no other cause for this Great work but love on His part and need on our part. Therefore, this Sacrament is a common remedy for the just and for sinners.   This is what they do not understand who stay away from this Sacrament. They do not realize tha...

 

(Copyright ©   Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P., Used With Permission) "C hristmas night rocked Heaven. Angels were aghast at the Incarnation. But Holy Thursday night struck them dumb. That God should become a Babe in swaddling clothes was cause for overwhelming surprise; but that God should bury Himself in Bread and become the very Food of man dazzled and stupefied the nine choirs of Heaven’s court. And yet, great as was God’s action, they were not completely bewildered by it. No! It took man’s reaction to do that! Heaven was not completely bewildered until it saw man’s coldness to God’s condescension. Bethlehem closed doors – but Bethlehem did not really know who Joseph was or whom Mary tabernacled. Roman soldiers scourged Christ and hammered Him to a Cross while High priests howled and   frenzied Jews mocked; but   none of these  fully understood what they did or who He was. But you! – you have made profession after profession of your belief. You say that you know that Go...

“Lord, you know that I love You. But You also know that my love for You has not always been constant and unconditional. I spend time each day in prayer but too often do so in a routine, haphazard, and inattentive manner - sometimes just to check “the prayer box off”. I rely too much on the words of others rather than those which have been birthed in my own heart. You also know Lord that at times, I have acted in a manner inconsistent with my professed love for You and in ways that are inconsistent with what I profess to believe. How many times Lord have you prompted me to do or not do something, to contact or assist someone – to love someone on Your behalf but I refused or failed to do so? It is so easy Lord for me to mouth the words I Love You , but far more difficult to actually live out those words in my life. You loved me so much Lord that you died for me. No matter how many times I have sinned against You, You have always forgiven me when I sought your forgiveness in the c...