Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

Today is the seventh anniversary of the death of my brother Pete. He was a Marine’s marine who gave his all to the Corps and the defense of this nation and its freedoms. May his sacrifices, sufferings and courage never be forgotten. May I ask you to join me in praying: “Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen".  We miss you Pete!

"My Lord Jesus Christ, who, for the love You bear to mankind, do remain night and day in this Sacrament, full of pity and love, awaiting, calling, and receiving all who come to visit You; I believe that You are present in the Sacrament of the Altar; I adore You from the depths of my own nothingness; I thank You for the many graces You have given me, and especially for having given me Yourself in this Sacrament." (St. Alphonsus de Liguori)

  O Christian soul, what will be your sentiments at the hour of death with regard to this world and all its perishable goods, vain honors, false riches and cheating pleasures.   Alas! The world must then end in your regard.  It will turn upside down before your eyes, and you will begin to see the nothingness of all those things on which you had here set your heart.  How will you then despise all worldly honors and preferences when you see yourself at the brink of the grave, where the worm will make no distinction between the king and the beggar.  How little account, will you then make of the esteem of men, who then will think no more of you.  How will you undervalue your riches, which now must be left behind you, when six feet of earth and a coffin and a shroud will be all your possession.  How despicable will all worldly pleasures seem to you, which at the best  could never give you any true satisfaction, and now fly from you and dissolve ...

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.  A little different twist this week in that all three quotations are attributed to St.    Catherine of Siena  - someone you will want to know - saint, Lay Dominican and mystic! “When the Christian soul realizes that its fervor is diminishing because of some fault or temptation permitted by Providence, it should continue its spiritual exercises and even multiply them, rather than abandoning them or lessening their intensity.” (From  the Life of St. Catherine of Siena  by Blessed Raymond de Capua, O.P. de Capua, O.P.) "I've appointed the Devil to tempt and to trouble My creatures in this life [St. Catherine of Siena reports that Our Lord said to her]. I've  done this, not so that My creatures will be overcome, but so that they may overcome, proving their virtue and receiving from Me the glory of victory...

(Image copyright Father Lawrence Lew, O.P. Used with permission) "Loving souls can find no greater delight than to be in the company of those whom they love. If we, then, love Jesus Christ much, behold we are now in His presence.  Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament sees us and hears us; shall we, then, say nothing to Him? Let us console ourselves in His company; let us rejoice in His glory, and in the love which so many enamored souls bear Him in the Most Holy Sacrament. Let us desire that all should love Jesus in the Holy Sacrament, and consecrate their hearts to Him; at least let us consecrate our affections to Him. He should be all our love and our whole desire." (St. Alphonsus de Liguori)

 

“Our attraction for the tabernacle is a gift for which we cannot be sufficiently grateful…The mystery of that attraction is never an easy comprehension. We simply know it and treasure it in an utterly personal manner. Our eyes gravitate in the direction of the tabernacle when all is quiet because someone is there in that location even as he is silent…We sense in an utterly Catholic manner that this blessed location of the tabernacle is the secret hiding place for the sacred presence that it encloses. He summons us to himself there and we find in a lifetime of prayers before the Blessed Sacrament his ever-penetrating gaze." (Father Donald Haggerty from Conversion: Spiritual Insights into an Essential Encounter with God )