Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

“I gaze at the Lord and He gazes back at me.”  ~ CCC So says the peasant in the time of the Cure of Ars. I tend to take this approach in Your presence too, Lord. I look at You in the tabernacle, in the monstrance, on the cross. Somehow, someway, You are changing something inside of me and I know not what or how.     “Here I am Lord.”  ~ 1 Samuel 3 Here I am, Lord. Here I am with all my thoughts, emotions, worries, desires. My Mom. My sister. My girlfriend. Work. House chores. All of these dances around in my head. All those areas in my life can be sources of frustration; sometimes the world seems like it’s closing in around me, sadness. I cannot take much more of it. Take me as I am; do not abandon me.   “I am with you always, until the end of the age.”  ~ Matthew 28 This is on my mind. You are putting Your hand on my shoulder, smiling, and looking into my eyes with a love I cannot fathom. Kiss me on my forehead with the kiss of Your mouth. Em...

"The seven dispositions with relation to our Lord in which you should exercise yourself are as follows:                              Love Him with most ardent love;                              Fear Him above all things;                            Render Him the honor and respect which are His due;                            Have a most constant zeal in His service;                              T hank and praise Him;                              Obey promptly and perfectly all His commands;...

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.   Full disclosur e: This week’s post differs from what you ordinarily find here in that its three thought-provoking quotations come from books I compiled, edited and published. The Catholic Writer’s Guild issued its Seal of Approval to each of the three books from which the following material was excerpted. They are cited here, not to promote myself, but in hopes that something you read will touch your heart and stir your soul.    Mr. Michael Seagriff, O.P. “Our God does not need any of us, not even for a millisecond. Yet, as Jesus hung from the cross more than 2000 years ago, He let us know He was thirsty – not a physical thirst - but an unquenchable spiritual thirst as our Lord, Savior and Redeemer to be loved by those He created and for whose eternal benefit He died. In the ensuing centuries, not enough of us have made suf...

  It means being in the presence of Jesus Himself. Really, actually—not just thinking about Him, or even praying to Him, which I can do anywhere. Jesus is really right there in the same place as I am—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. I have had the privilege of being in His presence in a very small chapel, where it literally was just me and Him! Nothing extraordinary happened. No special feelings or revelations. Just Jesus and me. There was, once, an occasion when I felt that Jesus actually spoke to me in words. It certainly seemed like that. I was on retreat and woke up in the middle of the night. I had a choice of going back to bed or getting up and going to the Eucharistic chapel where Jesus was, in the monstrance, waiting. I went there and that’s when I thought I heard Him tell me to go to a certain priest for spiritual direction. I followed through and have been blessed by this kind and understanding priest ever since.    On another occasion when I was on retrea...

 

"Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the most tender of friends with souls who seek to please Him. His goodness knows how to proportion itself to the smallest of His creatures as to the greatest of them. Be not afraid then in your solitary conversations, to tell Him of your miseries, fears, worries, of those who are dear to you, of your projects, and of your hopes. Do so with confidence and with an open heart.” ( St. Damien of Molokai)