Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

I don't know about you, but generally, once I begin some new endeavor/activity I want to rush through the "beginner stage" and move on. At least with respect to my spiritual journey, St. Gregory has got me thinking a little differently. How about you?

(Photo©Michael Seagriff) It's Sunday and time to visit RAnn'splace where she so generously hosts an interesting group of Catholic bloggers every week. Browse around.  You will find that was intended just for you. Eucharistic Reflection - Tabernacles of Silver and Gold One Can Never Promote Eucharistic Adoration Enough! Pass Ths Video On! Another Forgotten Truth - Life is A Warfare,a Battle Pondering Tidbits of Truth - June 26, 2014 Hugging Is Good! Thou Has Set Th y Heart on Us!

Another gem from Father Mark at Vultus Christi on this the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Nourish your heart and soul by reading and pondering this beautiful reflection. Consider supporting Father Mark and his community,  by clicking on the icon of the Benedictine Monks of Perpetual Adoration in the right column or by buying a copy of I Thirst For You by clicking on the book's icon in the column to the left.

D. S.R originally shared :   Here you go!!! Pass it on

(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. Teresa of Avila  "Let us strive always to look at the virtues and good deeds we see in others and cover their defects with the thought of our own great sins. This is a manner of acting that, although we cannot do sow with perfection right way, gradually gains for us a great virtue - that of considering all other men as being better than ourselves. In such a way, whht the help of God, one begins to acquire this virtue." (From The Book of Her Life )

[If we are to enjoy the Beatific Vision for all eternity, we must, as so many spiritual writers teach, first know and identify who our enemy is. Who seeks to sever our relationship with the Source of eternal life? Who is it that seeks our eternal damnation? How do we defeat this enemy? Father James F. McElhone, C.S.C answers these questions with some specific and sage advice about spiritual combat, prayer and the acquisition of virtue:] (Source: Wikimedia Commons )   “…to acquire any virtue, pray. Life is a warfare, a battle. The greatest battles have been fought, not on fields reddened with blood, but in the soul, where the battle is intensified by the powerful forces of good and evil striving for the priceless gift of God - the human soul. The history of the soul shows records of success and failure, for souls generation after generation have been fighting a battle that is constant, that death alone ends, and which is vitally important; a battle not against flesh...

(Source: Wikimedia Commons ) “We go to see Jesus hidden in the tabernacle. All distance is annihilated and even time loses its boundaries before this Presence which is eternal life, the seed of Resurrection and a foretaste of heavenly bliss. It is from here that a Christian’s life radiates forth Christ’s life; in the midst of his work, in his habitual smile, in the way he accepts setbacks and pains, the Christian reflects Christ. He who remains for us in the tabernacle manifests Himself to men and makes Himself present in them in the everyday life of a Christian. Tabernacles of silver and gold that give shelter to the omnipresence of Jesus, our treasure, our life, our knowledge, I bless and adore the One who inhabits you with profound reverence." (From Sow! By Sister Cristina de Artega)

Monsignor Charles Pope has an excellent Corpus Christi sermon which you can read here.  I thought a good way of ending this day as preparation for tomorrow's great Solemnity would be to share one of the videos he posted:

(Source: Wikimedia Commons ) This Corpus Christi Sunday take a few minutes  to join an interesting group of Catholic bloggers at RAnn'splace  where you are sure to find some satisfying spiritual nourishment and encouragement. Here are the articles I posted this week: The Spiritual Journey on This Earth Never Ends Eucharistic Reflection - A Holy and Unspotted Oblation I Did It Myself - Not Quite! Must See Video - The Mass This Corpus Christi, Let Your Eyes, Ears, Minds, Hearts and Souls Experience the Living Christ Here With Us Corpus Christi Procession at Silverstream Priory  My Lord and My God! Increase Our Belief!

(Source: Vultus Christi ) Take a pictorial tour of the Benedictine Monks of Perpetual Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar celebrating the feast of Corpus Christi at their Silverstream Monastery.  They are "an embryonic community of monks...who intercede for the sanctification of priests" and whom God is using to reach those of His brother priests and Catholics whose fervor and  love for the Eucharist has disappeared or been severely diminished. They are in need of, and worthy of, your financial support. You can contribute to their work by clicking on the Benedictine Monks of Perpetual Adoration image in the column to the right and/or by purchasing a copy of my book, I Thirst for Your Love , whose net profits will be shared with this community.

[ I have shared the following post in several different forms over the years. I share it again convinced that the linked videos have the power to touch hearts and stir souls. It was my intent to share this in Sunday. I changed my mind. I want to do so now so that you will have the weekend to savor and enjoy their magnificent beauty. ] Still trying to rediscover a sense of awe and amazement in the Eucharist?  Perhaps our beloved St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor, has just what you need this Corpus Christi.     (Source: Wikimedia Commons )  There are arguably no more beautiful and moving hymns than the three he composed for this great feast day:  Pange Linga , Tant um Ergo and Adore te Devote . But they are in Latin, you say, and you don't understand that language. But your heart can, if you just let these hauntingly beautiful melodies penetrate it. Your mind can certainly "rap itself around" the English translations...

As most of us we prepare to celebrate The Feast of Corpus Christi this Sunday, I just had to share this video from RealLifeCatholic.com and hope you will pass it along as well :

There is never room in the spiritual realm for complacency.  We must be ever mindful of our total dependence on the God who made, loved and died for us:

(Source: Wikimedia Commons ) “O Jesus Christ true God and true Man! My soul rejoices to find You in the Blessed Sacrament, You the uncreated God who became man, a creature! In this sacrament, O Christ, I find both Your humanity and Your divinity; from Your humanity I rise to Your divinity; and from it I go back to Your humanity. I see Your ineffable divinity which contains all the treasures of wisdom, of knowledge, of incorruptible riches. I see the inexhaustible fountain of delights which alone can satisfy our intelligence. I see Your most precious soul, O Jesus, with all the virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit, a holy and unspotted oblation; I see Your sacred Body, the price of our redemption; I see Your Blood, which purifies and vivifies us; in brief, I find treasures which are so precious and so great that I cannot comprehend them.” (St. Angela of Foligno, from Divine Intimacy: Meditations on the Interior Life for Every Day of the Liturgical Year. by Fr. Gabri...

Less we become too smug on our spiritual journey, recall this sound advice:

It's Sunday and time to join an interesting group of Catholic bloggers at RAnn'splace  where you are sure to find something that will touch your heart and stir your soul. Take a few minutes and visit! Here are my contributions this week: Eucharistic Reflection - O Fire of Love! Pondering Tidbits of Truth - June 12, 2014 I Thirst For Your Love!

[What follows is the Introduction to my recently released book, I Thirst for Your Love. The book includes contributions from Dom Mark Daniel Kirby, O.S.B. Copies can be purchased here and here .] The time for mincing words is over.  The most significant crisis in the Catholic Church today, from which all the other problems we are experiencing flow, is the fact that an overwhelming majority of those identifying themselves as Catholic, no longer believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is really, truly and substantially present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Blessed Sacrament! The sad but truthful reality is that in far too many of our Catholic parishes we have lost the sense of the sacred and an appreciation for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that are both essential for fostering and maintaining a belief in the Real Presence.  How can that be?

(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. Blessed Antone-Frederic Ozanam "[The goal of the St. Vincent de Paul Society] was not to help the poor. This was only a means. Our object was by the practice of Charity to strengthen ourselves in the Faith and to win others for it...Personal perfection and not the eradication of poverty per se is the primary goal of the Society."        (From Society of St. Paul )

( Painting by  Fra Bartolommeo ) "O inestimable charity! Even as You, true God and true Man, gave Yourself entirely to us, so also You left Yourself entirely for us, to be our food, so that during our earthly pilgrimage we would not faint with weariness, but would be strengthened by You, our celestial Bread. O man, what has your God left you? He has left you Himself, wholly God and wholly Man, concealed under the whiteness of bread. O fire of love! Was it not enough for You to have created us to Your image and likeness, and to have recreated us in grace through the Blood of Your Son, without giving Yourself wholly to us as our Food, O God, Divine Essence? What impelled You to do this? Your charity alone. It was not enough for You to send Your Word to us for our redemption; neither were You content to give Him us as our Food, but in the excess of Your love for Your creature, You gave to man the whole divine essence..." (St. Catherine of Siena, Prayers )

(St. Vincent Ferrer Parish, NYC) It's Sunday and time to join an interesting group of Catholic bloggers at RAnn's place  where you are sure to find something worth your time Take a few minutes and visit! Here are four postings from my blog this week: A Perfect Image and Prayer for the Month of June Eucharistic Reflection - "Run To The Feet Of Jesus!" Oh, Those Joyful Dominicans! Practicing The Presence of God

[ Sometimes we must repeat ourselves - even if our words are not appreciated. It is vital that the Truth be shared, as many times as is necessary. This day is one of those days – a day when I feel compelled to republish (with some slight editing), observations I made nearly a year ago:] (Source: Wikimedia Common s) Today, in a small upstate New York Village, thousands of adoring and appreciative boxing fans will come out to cheer and pay tribute to several boxing legends and the current Miss America who will process and parade through the Village’s streets. The numbers of spectators at this parade will far exceed the total number of individuals who will attend all of the Village’s Church services this Sunday morning. Months of preparation and hard work went into this annual event. Many will come several hours before the parade begins in order to stake claim to prime viewing positions. This weekend event attracts national television and media coverage, as well as visit...

If we really love God, we would try harder not to offend Him. One long-standing spiritual tool to help us minimize the frequency at which we sin, is to constantly remind ourselves that He is always at our side.   We engage in this practice not out of fear that He is taking detailed notes of every one of our sins, but rather as a means of motivating ourselves to strive harder to love Him, to please Him and to act as a child of God ought to do.

There are days when it is difficult to be joyful, when what we or some of our loved ones are asked to carry seems too heavy, when we are mistreated by those we love and whom we thought loved us, when we are asked to do or bear what appears to be obscenely unfair, unjust or impossible, or when it feels like God has abandoned us. Don't let today be one of those days:

"We must always have courage, and if some spiritual languor comes (St. Agatha's, Canastota, NY) upon us, let us run to the feet of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and let us place ourselves in the midst of the heavenly perfumes, and we will undoubtedly regain our strength." "Kneel down and render the tribute of your presence and devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Confide all your needs to him, along with those of others. Speak to him with filial abandonment, give free rein to your heart, and give him complete freedom to work in you as he thinks best." ~(St. Padre Pio)~

(Source: limilee tumblr.com )  Prayer to the Sacred Heart Hail! O Sacred Heart of Jesus, living and quickening source of eternal life, infinite treasure of the Divinity, and burning furnace of divine love. Thou art my refuge and my sanctuary, O my amiable Savior. Consume my heart with that burning fire with which Thine is ever inflamed. Pour down on my soul those graces which flow from Thy love, and let my heart be so united with Thine, that our wills may be one, and mine in all things, be conformed to Thine. May Thy divine will be equally the standard and rule of all my desires and of all my actions. Amen. (St. Gertrude )

( Photo©Michael 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 is what I wrote this week on my blog: Choosing The Most Suitable Companion This Is No Time To Water Down The Truths and Precepts of Jesus Christ Of What Does The Spiritual Life Consist? He Ascended Into Heaven But Remains Here With Us Catholic Online also posted one of my articles this week as well: A Forgotten Spiritual Treasure