Pondering Tidbits of Truth - June 30, 2016

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 Eugene Boylan, O.C.R.

"We have our own plans for our happiness, and too often we look upon God as someone who will help us to carry them out. The true state of affairs is invariably the reverse of this. God has his own perfect plans for our happiness, and is waiting for us to help Him carry them out. And let it be clear that we can in no way improve on God's plans."

(From This Tremendous Lover)

St. Augustine

"We cannot keep ourselves on the road to perfection and prevent ourselves from failing except by efforts to climb higher. As soon as we begin to stop, we regress, with the result that, if we do not wish to fall back , we have to run ahead always, without slowing down."

(From Instructions for Novices by Blessed Hyaacinthe-Marie Cormier, O.P.) 

St. Josemaria Escriva

"It looks as if the whole world is coming down on top of you. Whichever way you turn you find no way out. This time, it is impossible to overcome the difficulties. But have you forgotten that God is your father? All-powerful, infinitely wise, full of mercy. He would never send you anything that is evil. That thing that is worrying you, it's good for you, even though those earthbound eyes of yours may not be able to see it now. 'Omnia in bonum!' Lord, once again and always, may your most wise Will be done."

(From The Way of the Cross)

"Revisting Wednesday" - A Simple Reflection on Mary's Fiat

Time again to thank Allison Gingras at  Reconciled To You and Elizabeth Riordan at Theology Is A Verb for hosting "Revisiting Wednesday" each week and those Catholic bloggers who re-post their favorite articles there. 

Go there now. (and every Wednesday). You will be inspired by the variety of spiritual insights these authors share.

I thought I would share the following:

A Simple Reflection on Mary's Fiat 

(Originally posted December 8, 2014)

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

[I am recycling this simple reflection which got lost amid an earlier and lengthier post.]

In Luke's Gospel (1:26-38) we hear the angel Gabriel’s familiar greeting to our heavenly Mother Mary: “Hail full of grace”. We repeat that salutation every time we pray the “Hail Mary”.  As a result, we sometimes forget the significance of those words and the rest of this Scripture passage. 

When told by the angel that she, a virgin, would conceive the God-man, she asked him: “How can that be?” His reply – she would conceive not naturally but by the power of the Holy Spirit - was all Mary needed to hear. Without further hesitation, she said “let it be done to me according to thy word”.
 

How often have we said “How can this be?” in response to promptings we have received – some no doubt from the Holy Spirit? Luke's Gospel should be an unmistakable reminder that, like Mary,  we must also say “Yes” to whatever God asks of us, knowing and trusting He will give us whatever assistance is necessary to fulfill His request.

Mary’s “fiat” changed the eternal fate of mankind. In a similar but lesser way, God will use our “Yes” to His invitations to change the hearts and souls of those known to Him.

But remember: He will not use us, if we say “No” to Him.

Pray that we may never let our selfishness and fear deprive us of the privilege of being part of God’s perfect plan.

Eucharistic Reflection - Turn To Your Divine Friend

Never forget it! Jesus wishes to be our closest friend, our companion along the way.

                                                  (Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

You have, certainly, so many friends, but you cannot always be with them and they cannot always help you, listen to you, console you.

Jesus, on the contrary, is the friend who never abandons you. Jesus knows you one by one, personally, He knows your name. He follows you, accompanies you, walks with you every day. He participates in your joys and consoles you in moments of grief and sadness. Jesus is the friend we cannot do without when we have met Him and understood that He loves us and wants our love.

You can speak and confide in Him, you can address Him with affection and confidence. Jesus even died on the cross for our sake! Make a pact of friendship with Jesus and never break it. 

In all the situations of your life, turn to the Divine Friend, present in us with His ‘Grace’, present with us and in us in the Eucharist.

St. John Paul II, Corpus Christi June 14, 1979

Monday Musings - Stomach, Sex and Money

[What follows pretty well describes our current culture. This clear thinking and prophetic Bishop saw this coming more than 30 years ago. Yet, the majority of his brethren remained silent over the ensuing decades. Even now, some have still not found their voices.]

 “…contemporary paganism is characterized by the search for material well-being at any I cost, and by the corresponding disregard- or to put it more accurately, fear and genuine terror – of anything that could cause suffering.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

 With this outlook, words such as God, sin, Cross, mortification, eternal life…become incomprehensible to a great number of people, who are ignorant of their meaning and content. You have witnessed the incredible fact that many people began by putting God in parentheses, in some aspects of their professional lives. But then, as God demands, loves and asks, they end up throwing Him out - like an intruder - from their civil laws and from the lives of their nations. With a ridiculous and presumptuous pride, they want to lift up in his place the poor human creature who has lost his supernatural and human dignity, and has become reduced – it is not exaggeration, one can see it everywhere – to a stomach, sex and money.

(From Pastoral Letter of December 25, 1985 by Blessed Alvaro del Pontillo)

Keep Your Focus Where It Belongs

Some Simple But Sound Spiritual Advice

Eucharistic Reflection - Truth Does Not Lie

(St. Vincent Ferrer Parish, NYC)

That the real Body and Blood of Christ is present in the Sacrament is something that cannot be perceived either with the senses or with the intellect, but only with faith, which is supported by the authority of God. Because of this, when commenting on the passage in Luke 22:19: "This is my body which is given up for you," St. Cyril says: "Do not cast doubt on the truth of this, but rather accept with faith the words of the Savior: because He, being the Truth, does not lie."

St. Thomas Aquinas, S. Th., III, q. 75, a.1

Monday Musings - The Key To Happiness

The key is not worldly power, possessions and prestige. It is interior:

Catholic Writers' Conference

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - June 16, 2016

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.

Henri Dominic Lacordaire, O.P.

"What is difficult is to carry the cross each day, the cross which is not blood-stained but which bruises the skin a little without making it bleed, and which is composed of restraint, tediousness and languor. If one could only mount Calvary once and for all, and give one's body once an for all to the executioners, what pleasure! But no, the torment is in detail; a little cut of  the whip, a little slap in the face, a little humiliation."

(From St. Dominic's Family by Sister Mary Jean Dorcy, O.P.)

St. Augustine

"Remember this. When people choose to withdraw far from a fire, the fire continues to give warmth, but they grow cold. When people choose to withdraw far from light, the light continues to be bright in itself but they are in darkness. This is also the case when people withdraw from God." 

Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier, O.P.

 

"Indeed, it is proof that we are not working to progress [in our spiritual life] when we always remain the same. Work in the pathways of grace is not useless but is always followed by some success."

(From Instructions For Novices)