Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

(Image Source: Hands at Mass ) There are two kinds of food - that of the soul - and that of the body which the earth brings forth. Our body which is only dust lives on the earth, but the food of the soul is the Body and Blood of a God. O beautiful food! it is enough, if one thinks of it to make one lose oneself in this abyss of love. My Father is God! my good is (Imageheaven! my food the Body and Blood of God Himself! O man, how happy thou art! Thou are made to adore, to love and to receive God!  The bread of souls is in the tabernacle. The tabernacle is the storeroom of Christians. Oh! how wonderful it is my children! when the priest holds up the Host and you see It, your soul can say: 'there is my food.' 0! my children, we are too well off. We shall only understand it in heaven. What a pity! If we could conceive a little of the grandeur and happiness of Communion, we would desire life only to have the happiness of making Jesus Christ our daily bread. All created things would ...

[117] Venerable Fulton J. Sheen  At the very moment when a tree turns against Him and becomes a cross, when iron turns against Him and becomes nails, when roses turn against Him and become thorns, when men turn against Him and become executioners, He lets fall from His lips for the first time in the history of the world a prayer for enemies: ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’ (Luke 23:34).  (From  The Rainbow of Sorrow ) PAUSE AND PONDER :  Do I find it difficult to forgive those who have sinned against me? If Jesus forgave His executioners, how can I hold on to a grudge or desire for revenge? Do I understand that God will forgive me only to the extent that I have forgiven those who have injured me?                           (Excerpted from  Pondering Tidbits of Truth – Volume 6 )

 

  (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) [104] Mother Angelica of the Annunciation  "All earthly joys are finite glimpses of eternal bliss. But because we tend to hold on to what we see with our physical eyes, we tend to forget what can be seen only with the eyes of Faith. And so it is that Heaven is always remote from our thoughts and removed from our daily experiences.  (From Mother Angelica on God, His Home, and His Angels )  PAUSE AND PONDER: Where do I seek to satiate my hunger for joy: in the people and material things of this world or in seeking an intimate spiritual relationship with the God who offers me eternal joy? Has any earthly joy ever lasted?   (Excerpted from Pondering Tidbits of Truth – Volume 6 )

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. Robert Cardinal Sarah “Relativism, that terribly effective bleach, has wiped out everything in its path. Doctrinal and moral confusion is reaching its height. Evil is good, good is evil. Man no longer feels any need to be saved. The loss of the sense of salvation is the consequence of the loss of the transcendence of God.”   (From  The Day Is Now Far Spent) Father Thomas Dubay "God gives prayer growth precisely according to our degree of readiness for it. He forces no one. According as we are more or less receptive, He bestows more or less depth of communion. In the same manner, five hundred people in a parish church all hear the same sound waves during the homily, but they profit from it exactly as they are or are not disposed for the message. Jesus taught the same truth in his parable of the sower: from the wor...

“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;...