Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

(Photography©Michael Seagriff) 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.   Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati   "We who, by the grace of God, are Catholics, must not squander the best years of our lives as so many unhappy young people do, who worry about enjoying the good things in life, things that do not in fact bring any good, but rather the fruit of immorality in today's world. We must prepare ourselves to be ready and able to handle the struggles we will have to endure to fulfill our goals, and, in so doing, to give our country happier and morally healthier days in the near future. But in order for this to happen we need the following: constant prayer to obtain God's grace, without which all our efforts are in vain; organization and discipline to be ready for action at the right moment; and finally, we need to sacrifice our own passions, indeed our very sel...

(Photography©Michael Seagriff) "All my sermons are prepared in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. As recreation is most pleasant and profitable in the sun, so homiletic creativity is best nourished before the Eucharist. The most brilliant ideas come from meeting God face to face. The Holy Spirit that presided at the Incarnation is the best atmosphere for illumination. Pope John Paul II keeps a small desk or writing pad near him whenever he is in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament; and I have done this all my life — I am sure for the same reason he does, because a lover always works better when the beloved is with him." ( Love Dreams by Ven. Fulton J. Sheen)  

(Photography ©Michael Seagriff) It's Sunday and time to join an interesting group of Catholic bloggers at RAnn's place - T his That and The Other Thing . Why not visit every Sunday? Question this week from RAnn: What is my favorite hymn at Mass? - When the Eucharistic prayer is chanted. Here are three posts from my blog this week: Monday Musings - I Am Not Going To Cry God Is Always With Us, Isn't He? Feast Day of St. Rose of Lima

  ( Source:St. Rose of Lima Parish, Safford, AZ) (I originally posted this two years ago and thought it worth running again ) Today we remember St. Rose of Lima , the first canonized Saint of the Western hemisphere. She was born in Peru in 1586 and died there at the age of thirty-one. Like many who have felt a call to the Dominican Order over the centuries, Rose initially faced opposition from her family. They refused to let her enter a convent. Rose’s response was to become a Lay Dominican and to live a life of solitude and penance within the confines of her family’s home.

Via The Integrated Catholic Life Just had to pass this along

((St. Agatha's, Canastota, NY) (Photography©Michael Seagriff) We believe that God is always with us, don’t we? Isn’t He? Or do we believe that, only when things are going well? How often do we thank God for His blessings when our lives seem to be on the right track and our burdens light? Do we take Him for granted during those satisfying times?    What happens when we feel abandoned by God? How do we react when times are hard and challenging, when our daily crosses seem too heavy to bear? Do we accept them and thank God for sending them? Or like Gideon in today’s first reading, do we doubt God’s presence among us by asking “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?”   Gideon doubted God’s presence among His people and asked for a sign before he did as God had asked of him.   God gave him a sign.   In the midst of our daily struggles will we too ask for a sign before we accept God’s will for us? Or will we become willing cr...

(Image from Biblebios.com) 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.     Today, I wanted to cry!    I had ample reasons to cry but I am not going to!!   Instead, I am calling all Catholics to spiritual arms!  

(Vineyard-Finger Lakes Region of NY Photography © Michael Seagriff) It's Sunday and time to join an interesting group of Catholic bloggers at RAnn's place - T his That and The Other Thing . Take a look. You will be pleased that you did. Bear with me as I offer a few tidbits about myself at RAnn’s suggestion,   I foolishly turned my back on God for far too many years. I became a lawyer before my Faith meant anything to me. Thanks to His never ending love for me and the persistence and loving concern of a friend and a most caring priest He placed in my life, my wife and I returned to our Catholic Faith.   God then gave me an unquenchable hunger to learn, live and share it more fully. These desires only increased after I became a Lay Dominican. What a different path my legal career and life took once God became the central part of it – extremely difficult at times; humbling and rewarding at others. With His grace, I pick myself up when I fall and start the journ...

(Abbey at Genesee, Piffard, NY) 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. Dom Prosper Louis Pascal Gueranger "Meditation has a twofold object: To bring back to the mind truths well known but too much forgotten; to draw them out of the darkness and silence in which they are sleeping, and to give these truths a power of action which they can have only when recalled to mind and reflected upon...As we cannot see unless we look, so it is only by means of meditation that the soul either gains or regains the truth."   (From Guidance in Spiritual Direction by Father Charles Hugo Doyle)   Jesus to St. Catherine of Siena     "Know that the salvation, the perfection of My servants, stand on this one thing: that they do My will alone, ever striving to fulfill it in all things; that they attend to Me, and serve Me every moment of their lives. Th...

"Jesus Christ dwells in the midst of us in the same manner He dwelt at Nazareth amidst His relatives. He was there without being known by them, and without working in their favor, the miracles that He wrought elsewhere. Our blindness and evil dispositions prevent Him from letting us experience the wonderful operations with which He favors those whom He finds well disposed… (St. Agatha's, Canastota, NY)

(St. Francis Xavier, Hyannis, MA) It's Sunday and time to join an interesting group of Catholic bloggers at RAnn's place , This That and The Other Thing . You are sure to find something there that will stir your soul. I was blessed to attend the Catholic Writers Guild Conference (GWG) this week and only posted twice: Monday Musings - Just Saying You Are Catholic Does Not Make You Catholic! Feast Day of St. Dominic

Today we Dominicans pause to remember and honor the founder of the Order of Preachers, our Father, St. Dominic de Guzman. Nearly 800 years ago, this unique and talented man, reshaped the face of the Church of his day by combining the contemplative and apostolic vocations under one religious order. Since that time, Dominicans have tirelessly sought the salvation of souls. Daily they strive to faithfully fulfill their mission -  to Praise, to Bless, to Preach!

If God used Balaam’s donkey to get that prophet’s attention, (Image from Biblebios.com) 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.   It is so easy to say you are a Catholic. Just read the newspapers and watch television and you will see countless examples of those in public life claiming to be Catholic at the same time they support policies contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Yesterday, we commemorated the feast day of St. John Marie Vianney - the patron Saint for parish priests. This holy priest loved the Eucharist. He knew that all of us - priests, religious and laity - had to make It the center of our daily existence.  Here are samples of his wisdom. "There is nothing, so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given it to us."

(© Michael Seagriff) It's Sunday and time to join an interesting group of Catholic bloggers at RAnn's place , This That and The Other Thing . You are sure to find something there that will stir your soul. I offer one video and two posts. Language Poses No Obstacle to Understanding Love Pondering Tidbits of Truth - Through the Words of St. Alphonsus Liguori Apostle of the Eucharist - St. Peter Julian Eymard

(St. Agatha's, Canastota, NY ) As Catholics, the Eucharist must be the source, center and summit of our Faith.   Yet, we live in a time when belief in, and reverence for, the Most Blessed Sacrament, has dwindled to an ever decreasing minority.   What a tragedy! God gives Himself to us and remains here on earth with us, and most of us do not really care.

  (Abbey at Genesee, Piffard, NY) 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.   This week I am taking a little different approach – combining my love for the Eucharist with my fondness for St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, whose feast day we celebrate today.   I will be ever indebted to this great saint whose extensive spiritual writings continue to have an enormous impact on my spiritual journey and growth.