Aha! Here we have the key to developing a true relationship with God. We can know quite a bit about God through reason as Aristotle did when he formulated the "Uncaused cause", and through reading the Bible. It is only when we consider who we are and who He is that we can truly begin to know Him.
(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) "Christ's body on earth at Bethlehem was the same body which is now on earth in our tabernacles all over the world. The only difference is that now He is veiled beneath the species of bread and wine. The Blessed Sacrament is the continuation of Christmas; we cannot think of Christ's first personal visit two thousand years ago without instinctively thinking of His constant visit at every present moment. We owe the Blessed Sacrament to Bethlehem. Each recurring Christmas Day should refresh in your mind the magnificent import of the bodily presence of God among us. As you receive Holy Communion on each occasion, the story of Bethlehem is being renewed and continued in your heart, for the cave was the first tabernacle and the manger was the first ciborium. You have the opportunity of 'wrapping the Child in swaddling clothes and laying Him in the manger' of your own heart every day if you wish. In the Blessed Sacramen...
My friend and author, Ellen Gable, hits the ball out of the park once again! At the conclusion of her last novel, Julia’s Gift , she promised a sequel that would reunite us with Julia’s close friend, Charlotte. The wait for this book seemed interminable. Thankfully, with the publication of Charlotte’s Honor , we need not wait any longer! We rejoin Charlotte amidst the horrors of war and follow her journey and unlikely relationship with Dr. Paul Kilgallen. Death and the threat of death are their constant companions. Both also face the heavy personal burden of having lost a loved one. As if all these challenges were not enough, Charlotte and Dr. Kilgallen are forced to defend a vile and vicious attack upon their personal and professional reputations. Neither abandons their work to save lives, console the dying, or hope for a better future. Charlotte volunteers to work in the death ward, intent on having no soldier die alone. She reads to them, sings to them, plays ...
[The following is just one of 175 reflections on the Eucharist that are bound to touch your heart and stir your soul. You will find all of them in Godhead Here in Hiding Whom I Do Adore - Lay Dominicans Reflect on Eucharisitc Adoration .] "The first time I witnessed people adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, was because I showed up for a novena where there just so happened to be Exposition - Jesus, in the Eucharist on the Altar, in the Monstrance. I did not know what to do or what it was. I found myself asking the question, “What is this?” I was amazed and I knew in my heart it was extraordinary, but I did not know what the monstrance was etc. I asked God to help me to pray and to understand. Later, I realized the real question to ask is “Who is this?” That was a long time ago. I now attend at least one hour of Eucharistic Adoration weekly and sometimes I ask questions but more often I hear the questions being asked by Jesus left alone on the Altar: “Who do you say that I ...
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I am finding Father Nicholas Grou and his book, "The Spiritual Life" a treasure.