Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

Where is the zeal and concern for the salvation of souls? Hell is real. It exists. It is populated. It is a state of unending physical, mental and spiritual torment.  Worse of all, it results in eternal separation from, and hatred for, God. Who in their right mind would choose such an eternal and unnecessary punishment?  Only those who have succumbed to the deceptions of the Evil One so devilishly accomplished through the cowardly silence or the false teaching of  far too many in Christ's Church.  Teach souls about hell!

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. Thomas Aquinas "Just as is the case of a natural body the activity of one member can redound to the benefit of the whole, so too with regard to the spiritual body of the Church. Since all the faithful form one body, the good performed by one member benefits the whole." (From On the Creed )  

Thank you, Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan, for inviting an ever-expanding group of Catholic bloggers to re-post their favorite articles on “Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays. Do yourself a favor- go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in Faith journey. During the rest of each week. visit Allison at   Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb .  Here is what I am sharing this week: We Are Our Own Worse Enemy ( Originally posted November 25, 2013) Far too many Catholics are not well-formed in the teachings of Christ's Church. Given this tragic reality, one would expect Catholic media to only publish the work of individuals and columnists who accurately set forth the tenets of the Catholic Church.  Over the years, too many publications claiming to be "Catholic" have consistently demonstrated a preference for doing just the opposite. An example of this proclivity is a column that

“One day St. Gertrude went to receive Holy Communion without being sufficiently prepared. Being greatly afflicted at this, she begged the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the Saints to offer up to God in her behalf all their merits, that they might in some way supply her own deficiency; whereupon, our Savior appeared to her and said:  ‘Now, before the whole heavenly court, thou appearest adorned for Communion as thou wouldst wish to be.’ Comply, then, O Christian, with that which Jesus Christ requires of you.  Communicate, but communicate as He desires that you should. Do not be content with keeping yourself free from mortal sin; make war against venial sin also, at least those which are fully deliberate; for though venial sins do not extinguish love, they greatly weaken its force and fervor.  Strive also to wean your heart from creatures; endeavor to mortify your attachment to honors, riches and pleasures; spare no trouble for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven; pract

When you enter your parish Church are you struck with the awesome power of reverent silence? Do all who enter demonstrate reverence for, and their belief,  in the Real Presence of their loving Savior by reverently genuflecting to He Whom they have come to worship and adore? Are your fellow parishioners on their knees praying or sitting silently gazing upon the Tabernacle instead of chatting with their neighbors? Do they stay for a moment at the end of Mass offering a silent prayer of thanksgiving? Do they exit silently and postpone idle chatter until they are physically outside the Presence of the Lord whose Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity they have just eaten and drank? If the answer to any or all of these questions is "No" then  it is time to do something about this - one person and one family at a time: Our God deserves, and is entitled to be treated with, reverence and respect.

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) Someone once asked my son a question.  That question and his answer brought me to my knees. Let me explain.   You can listen here.

We thanks Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan for inviting an ever-expanding group of Catholic bloggers to re-post their favorite articles on “Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays. Do yourself a favor- go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in Faith journey. During the rest of each week. visit Allison at   Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb .  You will be pleased with what they share. Here is what I am sharing this week:   One of Those Difficult Questions: Do You Love Your Family More Than God?  (Originally posted  July 16, 2014) (Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) I should have written this little reflection when the Gospel reading was taken from Matthew (10:35-39). I did not want to. Why? I am a coward. That specific Scripture makes me uncomfortable. Does it have the same impact on you? It is another one of Jesus’ “hard sayings” and one that at times we no doubt have had diff

There is not now, never has been, and never will be any human being [save for our Most Blessed Mother Mary], who is not a sinner.  We are all in need of God’s mercy – an undeserved and unlimited mercy so long as we have breath in our lungs, acknowledge and repent of our sin s and humble ourselves to ask for it!. The sad reality of our time , however, is that so few of us see any sin in our lives that would warrant requesting God’s mercy.   So foolishly we neither seek nor ask for it.   If that is the condition of our souls at the time of our bodily death, only Justice can await us – eternal separation from He Who loved and created us to be with Him eternally. So during this Y ear of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis, let us ask our Lord that we might see our souls as they really are and for the grace to seek His mercy, not only for ourselves, but for our friends, loved ones, and the least among us . 

If you care about the salvation of souls (yours and those you know and love) you MUST read Dr. Ralph Martin’s book, The Urgency of the New Evangelization: Answering the Call .  It is a clear and concise explanation of an essential Truth we rarely hear preached in our Churches anymore – there is a hell and it is being heavily populated. For too long we have flipped Church teaching upside down suggesting that it is pretty smooth sailing to the pearly gates.   Many of our contemporary teachers erroneously tell us that we ‘have a reasonable hope that all will be saved”. That is not what our Lord told us. Unless we return to His Truth – “that the road is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Mt 7:14), we will deprive ourselves and those we love of the precious and undeserved Gift our Lord suffered and died to offer us – eternal salvation.  We are in the midst of a Jubilee Year of Mercy. We should seek God’s mercy and extend mercy to all with whom

(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. Augustine For while you give yourself up to evil, you come to consider yourself good, because you do not take the trouble to look at yourself. You reproach others and you do not take stock of yourself. You accuse others and you do not examine yourself. You place them before your very eyes and you place yourself behind your back. So when the time comes for me to reckon with you, I shall do the opposite; I will turn you around and confront you with yourself. Then you will see yourself and you will weep. (From Sermon 17 ) St. John Paul II "...we must pray too because we are fragile and culpable. We need to admit humbly and truly that we are poor creatures, with confused ideas...We are fragile and weak, and in constant need of interior strength and consolation. Prayer gives us streng