Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

Sin is serious business. It has eternal consequences. Look what sin did to our Lord! We Catholics must speak up in one clear and unambiguous voice against the evil that is rampant in our world.  We must have the courage to call sin, sin and to counsel the sinner.  We must do everything possible to save souls, ours and the souls of those we know and love.  We must make reparation for our sins and those of the whole world. We must be willing to preach the Truth and to suffer the consequences for doing so. We must open our mouths and share God's Love and Truth. We must heed the command of St. Catherine of Siena. We must be fully engaged in the battle to save souls.  And we must never forget that silence in the face of sin is a ticket to hell.

[Recycling an earlier post] In today's Gospel, we find the hated tax collector Zacchaeus doing everything he could in order to see this Jesus of whom he had heard, including climbing up onto a tree. He did not care what people thought of him. He wanted to see Jesus and nothing and no one were going to stop him.   He probably did not expect that Jesus would actually look up, see him perched in the tree, speak to him, and then ask to stay at his home that very day. Jesus too was unconcerned about what his Jewish brethren would think of His entering the home of such a public and despised sinner.  Jesus came to save all of us sinners, including this despised tax collector. Zacchaeus not only saw Jesus, he allowed Jesus to change him forever.  What about me? What about you? Do you and I really want to see Jesus?  Before answering those questions, read and ponder the words of our beloved Saint John Paul II, which the author of In Conversation with God included in

The late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was a master of the written word.    The Archbishop would be horrified (but not surprised) to see not only how many who identify themselves as Catholics have remained silent about the evil of abortion but the large number of them who, while hiding behind the curtains of voting booths, have pulled the lever for candidates who passionately support the killing of infants within their mother's wombs.    Their family and friends may not know for whom they voted but God does. 

Another Wednesday and another opportunity to thank Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan for their weekly invitation to re-post our favorite articles on Worth Revisiting . Go there now (and every Wednesday) and let an interesting group of Catholic bloggers nourish you in your Faith journey. V isit Allison at   Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb during the rest of each week.   You will enjoy your visit.   Here is my contribution: Monday Musings - Don't Leave! (Originally published on April 25, 2016)

[“ My people have done two evils. They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and have digged to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. - (Jer. 2:13)”] (Photo©Michael Seagriff) “WHAT heart so hard but could find a motive for contrition in this tender reproach! No question here of the Divine majesty outraged, the Divine rights infringed. The harm to ourselves—this is the evil we have done by forsaking God. And He stands sadly by, watching our futile efforts to fill with earth's sorry pleasures the hearts created for Himself.

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. Venerable Louis of Granada, O.P. "Among t he works comprising charity to our neighbor the following are the most important: advice, counsel, succor, forbearance, pardon, edification. These are so strongly linked with charity that the practice of them indicates the progress we have made in the practice of this greatest of virtues." (From The Sinner's Guide ) St. Augustine "What better words may we carry in our heart, pronounce with our mouth, write with a pen, than the words, 'Thanks be to God'? There is no phrase that may be said so readily, that can be heard with greater joy, felt with more emotion or produced with greater effect." (From Letter 72 ) St. John Paul II "The rich man was condemned because he did not pay attention to the other man. Because he failed to take noti

Another Wednesday and another opportunity to thank Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan for their weekly invitation to re-post our favorite articles on Worth Revisiting . Go there now (and every Wednesday) and let an interesting group of Catholic bloggers nourish you in your Faith journey. V isit Allison at   Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb during the rest of each week.   You will enjoy your visit. This is what I am sharing:   Is This How You See Sin? (Originally posted June 22, 2015)

Another Wednesday and another opportunity to thank Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan for their weekly invitation to re-post our favorite articles on Worth Revisiting . Go there now (and every Wednesday) and let an interesting group of Catholic bloggers nourish you in your Faith journey. V isit Allison at   Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb during the rest of each week.   They have much to offer. Here is my contribution: A Glimpse of St. Louis Bertrand (Originally published October 9, 2012) [This year we did not celebrate the memorial of St. Louis Bertrand, the patron saint of my Lay Dominican Chapter, since it fell on a Sunday. We should not pass this saint by. How about if we take a look at him today?] St. Louis Bertrand, O.P. (1526-1581)             His early years – On January 1, 1526, one hundred and seven years after the death of St. Vincent Ferrer, another Dominican saint was born in Valencia –

This is not a political post. It is a moral exhortation, a plea to save human lives and souls! (The Truth is a Person - Jesus Christ)  Speaking the Truth should not be a rarity in the pulpits of our country. Since the salvation of souls is the primary purpose of the Catholic Church’s existence, Truth should be an ever-present pulpit visitor. But alas Truth is an infrequent guest there. As a result, souls are being lost and millions of human lives, in and out of the womb, are being prematurely snuffed out and discarded like so much unwelcome trash. Nothing is more valuable or entitled to greater protection than human life – from the moment of conception to the natural death. Abortion and euthanasia are intrinsic evils – always and under all circumstances. Such grave sins can never be supported by anyone, most especially those professing to be Catholic.   No Catholic can ever support these evils or vote for any public official who does. Despite the never-endi

Thank you Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan for your weekly invitation to re-post our favorite articles on Worth Revisiting . Go here now (and every Wednesday) and let an interesting group of Catholic bloggers nourish you in your Faith journey. V isit Allison at   Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb during the rest of each week.   They have much to offer. I decided to share this post:  Monday Musings - I Wish (Originally posted August 1, 2016) (Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) The answers to the problems facing our nation and world will not be solved by any of our political parties or politicians. These issues are spiritual in nature and beyond the ability of mere mortal men and women to rectify.  Unfortunately, far too many of our  religious leaders have failed to properly guide us or defend God's Truth. Unless and until they do so and unless we surrender our wills to our Almighty and loving Creator and Lord

Jesus : My friends, behold the Heart which has loved you beyond description, even far beyond the crucifixion of My body and soul on Calvary; see the Heart which has loved you to the complete giving of Itself, this Heart which will keep Me your prisoner forever, your captive in the Holy Tabernacle. Here in the divine Eucharist, I have exhausted, My inexhaustible love. Sad to say, it is also here that man comes to exhaust his boundless ingratitude! (Photo©Michael Seagriff) You parents, naturally so sensitive, whose hearts have suffered so much from cruel hurts inflicted by your own children whom you have often spoiled, add up, if you can, all your bitterness, add that to all the tears shed since the beginning of the world, in the garden of Paradise. All of that is but a drop of water compared to the fathomless shoreless ocean of My anguish on the holy Altar.

Not many of us professing to be Catholic stop in to visit our loving Lord. Where is our gratitude to the God Who has chosen to remain here among us until the end of time? Listen here!