Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

Let us today not only recall and celebrate our Lord's Ascension into Heaven but give thanks for His continued Presence among us. I had to share Matt Mahar's musical tribute to the Lord Who thirsts for your love one more time.   This video is a touching gesture of love and reparation to our Eucharistic Lord, so often abandoned and ignored!

Prayers, devotions and good works are the fruits that flow from a vibrant and authentic spiritual life. But to reap a bountiful harvest of those fruits, one must come to a saving knowledge of God and self:

(Source: Wikimedia Commons ) I enjoy using In Conversations with God as a resource and tool to facilitate my understanding of, and reflection on, the daily Scriptures. Rarely is there a day that I do not gain something of value from this work. Today was no exception. In our current culture, we are urged to extraordinary (and often absurd) extremes not to offend anyone with our words - verbal or written. "Better not to offend someone's feelings," the monitors of political correctness urge, "than to share the full and unabridged Truth."  In their upside down world, there is no Absolute or Moral Truth and no concern for the salvation of souls. 

WELCOME! It has been some time - far too long I now realize - since I have formally invited those who visit and find something of value on this simple site, to follow it via e-mail. [It's real simple to do now that I have reinserted the "Follow Me " button in the column to the left. Once you subscribe, you will not have to check periodically to see if I have posted anything new.  Instead, you will receive an e-mail notice anytime I do.] Today seemed liked an ideal time to extend the invitation and to let you know that your comments and visits here are a source of inspiration and encouragement to me.

The adage "choose your friends and companions wisely" is often heard but frequently ignored.   How often we have chosen our companions poorly! How frequently those we considered friends and companions have disappointed and/or abandoned us. There is but one true companion who will never disappoint or abandon you. St. Bernard minces no words in telling you Who that is :

( Photo©Joseph Seagriff) It's Sunday and time to join an interesting group of Catholic bloggers at RAnn's place  where you are sure to find something that will touch your heart and stir your soul. Take a few minutes and visit! These are the articles I posted this week: Mary - Our Blessed Mother and Guide Eucharistic Reflection - "In Grateful Reparation" Pondering Tidbits of Truth - May 22, 2014 What Is Your Face Saying? 

(Source: Wikimedia Commons ) "The face is the mirror of the soul and the eyes, whether modest or wandering, disclose the secret of the heart without uttering a word." (St. Jerome)

((Source: Wikimedia Commons ) 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. St. Bernard "If we shall have to account for idle words, consider how rigorously we shall be judged for lying, sharp and stinging, insulting and derisive, presumptuous, unbecoming, flattering, complaining or slanderous words! How true is the statement that in much speaking sin is unavoidable!" (As quoted by Mother Julienne Morrell, O.P. in A Treatise on the Spiritual Life )

(Basilica of the Sacred Heart) “In Your dear presence I humbly kneel, sweet Savior mine; and while I contemplate Your goodness to me I bewail my base ingratitude towards You. My Jesus, mercy…and grace! Oh...I am astonished at my boldness, when I consider that I am here in Your very presence, in the presence of the omnipotent God! Were not my proper place in deepest hell, after all that I have done against You?...but instead of that I linger in Your consoling presence here, delighting in the tender familiarities of Your boundless love!...It is still permitted me peacefully to repose in the fragrant atmosphere of prayer; I am still tolerated among the good. Unto the hermits of the desert You gave to drink water from the rock-bound spring; and to eat, the herbs and roots of the earth. But to me You give the adorable Food of Your Flesh and Blood. How can I but marvel?

Abbey at Genesee, Piffard, NY (Photo©Michael Seagriff) Want to get to heaven?  Cling to our Blessed Mother who remains ever ready to lead us in to the eternal arms of her loving Son : “If the winds of temptation blow, if you run against the reefs of temptation, look at the star, call on Mary. If the waves of pride, of ambition or of envy are breaking over you, look-at the-star, call on-Mary.  If anger, greed or impurity are violently shaking the ship of your soul turn to Mary.  If you are dismayed at the thought of your sins, confounded by the ugliness of your conscience, fearful at the idea of judgment, and you begin to-sink into a bottomless abyss of sadness or of despair, think about Mary.

(The beautiful Northwest Photo©Joseph Seagriff) It's Sunday and time to join an interesting group of Catholic bloggers at RAnn's place  where you are sure to find something that will touch your heart and stir your soul. Take a few minutes and visit! Here are four of my posts from this week: Monday Musings - Every Knee Shall Bend Eucharistic Reflection  - The Only Source of Happiness Beware of What You Desire Talking With Him Who Loves Us

A simple but powerful way to view mental prayer:

The great Dominican preacher, St. Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419), never hesitated speaking the Truth, no matter how uncomfortable it might make his listeners.  Why? He had one and only one concern - the salvation of souls.  How do these words of his make you feel?

(Photo©Michael Seagriff) Day after day we foolishly seek affirmation, comfort, contentment, and fulfillment  in  people and things that are powerless to satiate our ingrained desire to be happy and at peace. There is only One Source of happiness in this world - Jesus Christ, who offers Himself to us every day.  Tragic, isn't it,  that so many of us, decline His invitation to physical and spiritual intimacy. And we wonder why there is so much unhappiness in this world:

(Image source: 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. A few days ago, I was prompted to read through some older journal entries and discovered one from more than 13 years ago. How timeless are the insights God gives us, especially those we may have forgotten but are blessed to rediscover! Let me share with you what I wrote (with some editing) more than a decade ago:. “I attended Mass at a Dominican Monastery today. There are no resident Dominican friars there. As I exited my car, I saw an elderly Franciscan priest getting out of his vehicle. He had come to say Mass. He was unable to stand upright. His elderly and frail body was hunched over (literally in half) as he walked carefully on the snow with the aid of a cane, his priestly vestments ...

(Stain glass window - St. Francis Xavier Parish, Hyannis MA) It's Sunday and time to visit an interesting group of Catholic bloggers at RAnn's place . You are sure to find something there that will interest you, touch your heart and stir your soul. Take a few minutes and browse! Here's what I posted this week: Who Are You Seeking To Please? Pondering Tidbits of Truth - May 8, 2014 Eucharistic Reflection - Why Do We Feel Jesus Here? What To Do When In The Presence of Our Lord

Just in case this question needed an answer:

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) You can feel Him...0h yes, here you can feel God... you can inhale and breathe Him, filling this humble cenacle of the earth, impregnating the atmosphere with celestial perfume. This tabernacle bears the fragrance of Jesus; one enters here as if entering Jesus' innermost being; with that same respect...that same confidence...that same love. The light, the warmth, the fire of the Eucharistic Jesus fills everything, and thus, in this beloved enclosure, the thorns are roses...sacrifice is not felt...pain and martyrdom are sweet because they are suffered for His sake and in His intimacy. If the altar is poor, Jesus is its richness...its most delicate embellishment. Without being fully aware of it, one enters into profound concentration and prayer because one leaves earthly things at the door, and the soul is engulfed in the possession of its Beloved.

(Photo©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.   St. Francis de Sales "However small the sins that you may confess may be, always have sincere sorrow for them, together with a firm resolution to correct them in the future. Many who confess their venial sins out of custom and concern for order, but without thought of amendment, remain burdened with them for their whole lives and thus lose many spiritual benefits and advantages." (From Introduction to the Devout Life )

It is so easy to lose track of Whom we should be serving and Whose approval we should be seeking:

Vancouver, BC (Photo©Joseph Seagriff) It's Sunday (almost) and time to join an interesting group of Catholic bloggers at RAnn's place  where you are sure to find something that will touch your heart and stir your soul. Take a few minutes and visit! Here are three posts: Eucharistic Reflection - "It's Not That Difficult to Be a Good Catholic" Meet Father David T. Link - "Camerado, I Give You My Hand" Book Review Where Is Your Attention Directed?

When I was asked to review Camerado, I Give You My Hand , I had no idea who Father David T. Link was. However, given our common experiences in the law and prison ministry, he seemed like someone I wanted to meet.  I could not do that personally and would have to depend on the author introducing this man to me. Maura Poston Zagrans did not disappoint! Father Link jumped off the pages. When I finished the book, I felt as if I had come to know him and his deceased wife as well as if I had had the privilege of having lived among them for a good portion of my life.

  “There is no gimmick. We just (1) believe everything God has told us through Church and Scripture, and (2) respond with adoration. (Source: Wikimedia Commons ) And then everything else that is necessary will follow – as it did for Mary, for whom there was ‘only one thing needful,’ and as it did for all the saints, and as it does for Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, who are simply the holiest and happiest people in this entire world.