Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

When God created us, He inserted a heart within our chest, the mechanism that He made to pump blood and oxygen throughout our bodies. We all have one. Most of us rarely take notice of its rhythmic beats. It’s there but we pay little or no conscious attention to it – much like many of us have done to God – we know He’s “there” but ignore Him. We take Him for granted. Of course in the case of our physical heart that situation changes if something happens to it. In that instance, you bet we become much more attentive to and aware of it. We can’t live without it. So where am I going with this? Let me explain. The daily readings one summer day in 2008 included a passage from Ezekiel (3:23-28), in which God promised to transform the prophet and to give him a new heart and a new spirit so that Ezekiel would be able to lead others to Him.   Through this Scripture passage, the Lord let me recognize how frequently my words and actions may have caused others to walk away fr...

Prayer of After Communion Lord, Father all-powerful, and ever-living God, I thank you, for even though I am a sinner, your unprofitable servant, not because of my worth, but in the kindness of your mercy, you have fed me with the precious body and blood of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that this Holy Communion may bring me not condemnation and punishment, but forgiveness and salvation. May it be a helmet of faith and a shield of good will. May it purify me from evil ways and put an end to my evil passions. May it bring me charity and patience, humility and obedience, and growth in the power to do good. May it be a strong defense against all my enemies, visible and invisible, and the perfect calming of all my evil impulses, bodily and spiritual. May it unite me more closely to you, the one true God, and lead me safely through death to everlasting happiness with you. And I pray that you will lead me, a sinner, to the banquet where you, with your Son and Hol...

Prayer Before Communion Almighty and ever living God, I approach the sacrament of your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I come sick to the doctor of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy, blind to the radiance of eternal light, and poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth. Lord, in your great generosity, heal my sickness, wash away my defilement, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness. May I receive the bread of angels, the King of kings and Lord of lords, with humble reverence, with the purity and faith, the repentance and love, and the determined purpose that will help to bring me to salvation. May I receive the sacrament of the Lord’s body and blood and its reality and power. King God, may I receive the body of your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, born from the womb of the Virgin Mary, and so be received into his mystical body, and numbered among his members. Loving Father, as on my earthly pilgrimage I...

Some nourishment for our minds and souls:   "...the Gospel of today's Mass reminds us that if we are to follow Christ we have to carry our own Cross...There is no such thing as a Christianity without the Cross, designed for soft and pusillanimous Christians with no sense of sacrifice...One of the clearest symptoms of lukewarmness having entered into a soul is...an abandonment of the Cross, a contempt for little mortifications, a scorning of anything that in some way involves sacrifice and self-denial...The Christian who goes through life systematically avoiding sacrifice will not find God, will not find happiness. What he will have been taking care to avoid is his own sanctity." Quotes from From In Conversation With God (Vol. 2: 2.1 and 2.3 by Francis Fernandez)

In a previous post , we reviewed the definition of a “worthily and holily celebrated Mass” that Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. offered in his book ThePriest In Union with Christ - a book I again highly recommend . As painful an exercise as the following may be, it would be worthwhile to take a look at two other types of Masses the good Friar describes – “the hurriedly said Mass” and the one that is “outwardly correct but lacks the spirit of faith” - neither of which has resurrected or can resurrect the sense of awe and amazement in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Eucharist to which Catholics are entitled and that Blessed John Paul II advocated and so longed for each of us to experience.   This is, in part, what Father Reginald has to say about a “hurriedly said Mass”:

Some of us employ words to fuel our contemplation. Others like early Renaissance painter, Fra Angelico (Blessed John of Fiesole 1395-1455), whose feast day we Dominicans celebrate today, used paint brushes to nourish hungry souls. 1- (The Nativity) 2-(The Crucifixion) 3 - (The Christ Crucified)                                                                                                                   ...

"But I hear You complain, O my Sacramental Jesus: I was a stranger, and you took Me not in (Matt. xxv. 43); that You came on earth to be our guest for our good, and that we have not welcomed You. You are right, Lord, You are right; and I am one of these ungrateful creatures who have left You alone, without even visiting You. Chastise me as You please; but not by depriving me of Your presence, which is the chastisement I deserve. No, I will repair my fault, and the indignities which I have heaped upon You. From this day forward I will not only visit You often, but will remain with You for as long a time as I can." (St. Alphonsus Liguori)

St. Claude de la Colombiere was a 17th century Jesuit whose life we recall today. He believed that one of "the most firmly established and consoling of the truths that have been revealed to us" is "that (apart from sin) nothing happens to us in life unless God wills it so." St. Claude became the spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. He encouraged, supported and promoted her call to spread devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The saint was also a gifted spiritual writer, who has left a number of gems, including one of my favorite books, Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence (TSTDP) . Blessed John Paul II canonized him in 1992. Read and ponder what he has to say about earthly happiness and prayer: Let me show you a good way to ask for happiness, even in this world. It is a way that will oblige God to listen to you. Say to Him earnestly: either give me so much money that my heart will be satisfied, or inspire me with such contempt for it that...

I am just a simple man. But even simple men must stand up for and defend Truth as best they can. Let me first suggest that we stop and p ray for our Bishops, our priests, our President, his staff, our elected officials, and all members of the judiciary. Having made that request, I must admit it is disheartening to see how many still think there is some way for our political and religious leaders to compromise their way out of the recently promulgated unconstitutional infringement on the right to the free exercise of our religious beliefs. There is such a thing as Absolute Truth – Truth that is not and cannot be subject to negotiation or compromise. Among these absolute Truths are that abortion (surgical and chemical), artificial contraception, and sterilization are, and always will be, intrinsically evil acts. Our Creator demands that we stand up for the dignity of all human life, from the moment of conception to natural death. He offers no loopholes. No government ...

For some time now, I have been reading The Priest In Union With Christ written by the late Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., described by some as “probably the 20 th century’s greatest theologian” and “one of the Church’s all-time greatest authorities on the spiritual life.”   Given the on-going attack on the nature of the priesthood, our priests and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, this is a book you should read and gift to any priest you treasure. In it, this gifted Dominican urges all of his readers to always remember “that the principal Priest in the sacrifice of the Mass is Christ, and that the celebrant must be striving for an actual and closer union with Him.”   Does this truth come as a surprise to you? He then goes on to describe the different ways of celebrating Mass: the sacrilegious Mass, the Mass which is said hurriedly, the Mass which is outwardly correct but lacks the spirit of faith, the Mass which is faithfully and worthily celebrated, and ...

Would you indulge me in some selfish self-promotion? I have been led to publish a book that I think you and those you know and love would appreciate. It’s called: Forgotten Truths to Set Faith Afire! – Words to Challenge, Inspire and Instruct . May I ask you to do five simple things? First, go here and read a brief synopsis of the book. Second take a look at the reviews that have been posted on Amazon.com to date (more to follow) Third, Look Inside the book and see what it is all about. Fourth, consider purchasing a copy for yourself, a loved one or friend. Fifth, even if you chose not to purchase a copy, please pass this request onto your family, friends and business associates via your e-mail contacts, Facebook, Tweeter, LinkedIn and other social media networks and ask them to do exactly what I am asking of you. If everyone who receives this bold request did as I am so selfishly requesting, thousands of people who might not otherwise have ever heard of this humble litt...

With gratitude to the gifted Jeff B. Harris at the Sword of Peter

In the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament I invariably find something that the world always hides from me, namely, knowledge of self. In the light of the Holy Eucharist all my faults and failings and all my sins, past and present, become clear to me; and then from the very depths of my heart there wells up a cleansing, purifying font of sorrow. Oh, how poor and miserable I appear to myself when in the presence of Jesus! And yet how sweet and salutary are the tears that I shed at the sight of transgressions! If I cannot find it here, then where in the world can I find it – a little patch of earth, I mean, one to be watered by my tears so that thereon the tender blossoms of hope may germ and grow? Who, if not Jesus, can say to me, “Go in peace, thy sins are forgiven thee”? (Eucharistic Whisperings , Father Winfrid Herbst, SDS)

Video Credit to Chris Tomlin, YouTube and MusicforHISMission

“Ah, how it hurts to see in what manner our Savior is treated! There He is in the tabernacle, the Prisoner of Love, waiting for souls to come and visit Him. But who ever gives Him even a thought, one only thought?...It would cause so very little trouble to go to Him...for just a sweet moment. It would be so very easy to cast a tender glance upon that tiny door...to send a loving thought a-speeding towards that tabernacle...to breathe a few whispered words of affection...but, alas! When it comes to doing something for Jesus that something, no matter how small, becomes at once irksome and grievous-so weak are we!” ( Eucharistic Whisperings , Father Winfrid Herbst, SDS)

"[Adoration] is as necessary to man's spiritual existence as the laws of logic are to the intellectual life or the spatial order is to his physical existence. Or, using a different analogy, we may say that adoration is to man's spiritual vision what light is to his physical eye. Human existence is founded in truth, and the foundation of all truth is that God is God - unique, alone, and unto Himself; and that man is God's creature. By recognizing this fundamental truth and by acting in accordance with it man maintains his intergrity and his wholeness. Adoration is the act in which this truth continually rises resplendent, and in which it is acknowledged and consummated. It is important that we practice adoration because normally we tend in our prayers to put too much emphasis on asking. Of course we should ask, but let us not forget what Christ said in the Sermon on the Mount: "For your Father knowweth what is needful for you, before you ask Him." More i...