Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

Today we celebrate the feast day of another Dominican Saint and Pope, St. Pius V (1504-1572). He led the Catholic Reformation. He also organized a Rosary Crusade throughout Catholic Europe which is believed to be the reason why the Catholic naval forces were able to decisively defeat the Ottoman Turks in the Battle of Lepanto, effectively thwarting their plan to take over the rest of Europe .   The Supplement to the Liturgy of the Hours for the Order of Preachers offers us this glimpse of Pius V:   “Pius used to say that the special duty of the Roman Pontiff was to strive with all his power to preserve divine worship, ecclesiastical discipline, and the upright morals of all who lived in Rome . Therefore he took great care to restore the liturgy to its original splendor in those places where it had been neglected and to restore the life and morals of all ranks of persons to the way of true piety.   Since Pius clearly saw that nothing was more odious to G...

If God used Balaam’s donkey to get that prophet’s attention, I guess he can use me to get yours. May these periodic postings on the second and fourth Mondays of each month (God willing) generate fruitful discussion and faithful change. (Image from Biblebios.com)   More than fourteen months ago, I offered my few cents on the unprecedented attack on our religious liberty. Sad to say, not much has changed since I wrote those words. If you not already done so, I suggest you read those comments here if the rest of this entry is to make sense.   The current Administration still refuses to acknowledge our God-given right to freely practice our religion. In fact, it has expressed frustration and annoyance with our on-going verbal refusal to acquiesce to its intrinsically evil regulations and our stated unwillingness to bow down to their “god” of reproductive rights. One of its agencies had actually classified Catholics as terrorists. Litigation, tho...

This is the feast day of the great Dominican Saint, Lay Dominican, Doctor of the Catholic Church, and mystic, St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380). Many have heard of Dialogue of Divine Providence, the spiritual jewel she left our Church, but few have taken the time to really study it. I am still working on it. It is a priceless treasure worth mining. Here is an excerpt that should provide you with sufficient food for contemplation: Jesus to St. Catherine of Siena : "I require that you should love Me with the same love with which I love you. This indeed you cannot do, because I loved you without being loved. All the love which you have for Me you owe to Me, so that it is not of grace that you love Me, but because you ought to do so, while I love you of grace, and not because I owe you my love. Therefore to Me, in person you cannot repay the love which I require of you, and I have placed you in the midst of your fellows, that you may do to the...

It's time to join an interesting group of Cathloic bloggers at RAnn's place  where you are sure to find something that will speak to your soul. Take a few minutes and visit!   Thank you RAnn for your continuing hospitality!   Here are my two offerings:   Pondering Tidbits of Truth- April 25, 2013   Who Do You See When You Look At Yourself And At Others?      

The two videos that follow were passed on via Creative Minority , a place I frequently visit. You should too. Since we are to believe that each of us are made in the image and likeness of God, these videos raise a host of questions worth pursuing. Let me suggest just two. Answer each question first before viewing the video.           Have you ever stopped to think whether or not other people see you in the same way you view yourself?        When you look at or pass someone by, do you see them for whom they really are?       Do your original answers to these questions remain unchanged?

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.     Dr. Ralph Martin   “The reason for the command [in Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:8 for example] – namely, that the eternal destinies of human beings are really at stake and for most people the preaching of the Gospel can make a life-or-death, heaven or hell difference – need to be unashamedly stated. This is certainly why Jesus often spoke of the eternal consequences of not accepting his teaching – being lost forever, hell – and did not just give the command to evangelize. This is why Mark 16:16, which is referenced in LG [ Lumen Gentium] 16 but not directly quoted, makes explicit that what is at stake in being “saved” or “condemned.” Jesus makes clear that Christianity is not a game or an optional enrichment opportunity but a precious and urgent opportunity to find salvation and escape damnation. In fidelity to the t...

It's Sunday and time to join an interesting group of Cathloic bloggers at RAnn's place  where you are sure to find something that will speak to your soul. Take a few minutes and visit! Two Simple Thoughts On Today's Gospel Eucharistic Reflection - Christ Our Daily Banquet The Sinful, Senseless Slaughter of Innocent Human Life Struggling to Promote Eucharistic Adoration? This Video Will Definitely Help!  

What a refreshingly direct, simple, joyful, and practical way one gifted young woman has chosen to share her love for Eucharistic Adoration! Her unique style is bound to touch the hearts and stir the souls of many who might have given little or no thought to this most worth and necessary devotion. If you agree, pass this along! P.S. Our presenter entered the convent last August. I do not know her current status but have no doubt she is forever worthy of our prayerful support no matter where God leads her in this life!

The gruesome and horrific physical evidence and pictures that have been introduced into evidence in the criminal prosecution of Dr. Kermit Gosnell in  Philadelphia , as well as the testimony of countless witnesses and accomplices, accurately depict and display the evil that abortion is. These images and verbal testimony are so disturbing and sickening that our first inclination is to shut our eyes and block our ears.  But look and listen more of us must if we are to end this sinful, senseless slaughter of innocent human life - even as the mainstream media continue their best to hide this horrible Holocaust from our view and hearing.   At the same time, we must recall at least two Truths that men and women can never change, no matter how many “laws” they may enact or “rights” they claim to find hidden in the Constitution of this once great nation:   Each of us have been made in the image and likeness of a loving ...

  "Although all exercises of devotion are capable of filling the soul with interior consolations, and all good works are accompanied by an unspeakable delight and joy, which is inseparable from the testimony of a good conscience, and which surpasses all other pleasures, it is, however, certain, that Jesus Christ never grants so many sensible favors as in the practices of devotion which tend only to honor Him in the most Blessed Sacrament.   The lives of the saints are filled with examples of this truth. When did a St. Francis, a St. Ignatius, a St. Teresa, a St. Philip Neri, a St. Aloysius Gonzaga, and numberless others feel their hearts inflamed with love, than when they approached this august Sacrament? What sighs of love issued from their hearts, what sweet tears streamed from their eyes in the celebration or in the participation of this adorable mystery!   With what consolations, with what torrents of delight, were they not replenished! For indeed Jesu...

Neither are earth shattering, but both are eternally true: Number one : "Other men have no power over me save that which I give them. On the other hand, my very existence is dependent on God’s will. Who then should I obey? The Apostles got it right; it cost them – all but one of them – their earthly lives. Obeying God over men will also cost us – and the price around here and in these challenging times is going up."   Number two :   "After reading today’s Gospel it is not hard to recall that the Apostles seem to be reliving their prior experience where Jesus told them to cast out their nets after an unsuccessful night (Source: The New Theological Movement) of fishing, only for them to fill their nets to overflowing. It was on that occasion Jesus told them He would make them fishers of men. They either failed to understand that direction or ignored it.   So Jesus replicated it on a smaller scale, reminding them to cast aside their desponden...

It's Sunday and time to join an interesting group of Cathloic bloggers at RAnn's place   where you are sure to find something that will speak to your soul. Take a few minutes and visit! A Simple Question on the Solemnity of the Annunciation Eucharistic Reflection - April 10, 2013 Pondering Tidbits of Truth - April 11, 2013 Another Picture Worth A Thousand Words I just had to add this astonishing video

I intended to pass this along months ago when I first saw it. I didn't. Now that a friend shared it with me again today. I must. View it and you will know why this is worth viewing and sharing:

From Catholicvote.org

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. Father Anthony J. Paone, S.J. [Jesus speaking:]: "Forget yourself and you will someone far greater - Me. Let Me decide what your life shall be each day. No offering of yours can please Me completely until you have given Me the greatest gift of all - your will. Do this by preferring whatever I send you each day. Do your very best, and then accept the results as My will. (From My Daily Bread )     Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val “Have a great devotion to the Passion of Our Lord. With peace and resignation, put up with your daily troubles and worries. Remember that you are not a disciple of Christ unless you partake of His sufferings and are associated with His Passion. The help of the grace of silence was the only thing that enabled the saints to carry their extremely heavy crosses. We can show our love for Him by acce...

"There are so many tabernacles on earth where I am, for all intents an purposes, like one buried, hidden, forgotten and out of sight. My divine radiance is diminished because there are so few adorers to act as the receptors of My radiant Eucharistic love and to extend My radiance through space and into the universe of souls." (Father Mark from Love's Invisible Radiance at Vultus Christi )

Both the psalmist today and contemporary song writers urge us to say and to sing: “Here I am Lord; I come to do you will.”   Our Blessed Mother also reminds us that when God asks us to do something, the only valid responses are the ones that she gave in today's Gospel: “Let it be done to me according to Thy Word” and that which she offered at wedding feast at Cana : “Do whatever He tells you!”   Very sound advice indeed. But if they are to be more than mere words, we would do well to frequently ask ourselves:   “Would not our lives and the lives of those around us be far different than they currently are, were we to actually do God’s will?”  

  This is a great time to visit This, That and the Other Thing where RAnn invites Catholic bloggers to share their blog posts from the previous week. I have no doubt someone among these gifted writers has a word or two intended for you.   Eucharistic Reflection - April 3, 2013 The Price For Our Ingratitude An earlier post republished this Friday by Catholic Lane: St. Vincent Ferrer - Apostle of the Apocalypse

I went to my parish yesterday for morning Mass after having just returned from an extended family visit over Easter. When I arrived, I discovered there would be no weekday Masses as our pastor was on retreat. Good for Father; unfortunate for me. Had I known in advance, I would have attended Mass elsewhere. It was too late to drive to any of the other nearby parishes.   In preparation for Mass today, I read the Gospel (one of my favorite passages) and thought to myself: “How many of us who attend Mass regularly have the same experience the disciples walking on the road to Emmaus had - not recognizing Jesus until the breaking of the bread?”    I was looking forward to welcoming Jesus into this tarnished unworthy fleshly tabernacle and hearing the morning’s homily. I went to another parish only to find their pastor was also on retreat. I had time to drive to yet another Church – the same result – no priest – no Mass.   In all the years I have lived in...

“Simeon's prophecy of Jesus being rejected continues in our age as the Holy Eucharist is an embarrassment to the proud today, just as His Incarnation, the Eucharist, and His Cross was a stumbling block to those not open to God's plan of salvation 2000 years ago. At Jesus' first Eucharistic discourse, His disciples walked away. Now His disciples walk away from the call to Eucharistic adoration. So many live their lives as if our Eucharistic Lord were not there. From all the empty churches, Jesus cries out: ‘I hold this against you. . . you have turned away from your first love.’ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’ ‘The Master is here and calls you.’ The Eucharist is the same attractive Jesus of the Gospel. Little children came to Him, and everyone wanted to know: ‘Teacher, where do You live?’ …He said to them: 'Come and see.’ …From all the locked churches today, Jesus again cries out: ‘Let the little children c...