Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

We thank Allison Gingras at  Reconciled To You  and Elizabeth Riordan at  Theology Is A Verb   for hosting Worth Revisiting every Wednesday .  S top for a visit now .  It is a privilege to share the following post with you . Monday Musings - Being Consciously in the Presence of God (Originally published June 5, 2017) At times, we may tell ourselves it is too difficult to be conscious of and with God each day. There is not enough time, we moan, to complete the unending tasks in front of us - projects which frequently leave us feeling overburdened and exhausted with little time for our Lord .  We would be mistaken. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons) In his classic book,  The Practice of the Presence of God ,   Brother Lawrence tells us that everything we do during the course of the day can place us in God's Presence if all is done for the love of God. "I began to live," Brother Lawrence wrote, "as if t...

Ah, Lord, it is but too true, Thou are not loved! O Sacred Heart, if we have any spark of love and generosity in us at all, shall not our most fervent desire and longing be, Oh, would that Thou wert loved! (Image source: Wikimedia Commons) Shall we not strive by every means in our power to make Thee known and loved? Shall we not try to pay many an extra visit to our dearest Friend, ever present in the Blessed Sacrament, ever living to make intercession for us? And may this prayer, dearest Lord, be on our lips when we bow down in lowly adoration in Thy Sacred Sacramental Presence: ‘O Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thou lovest! Thou are not loved! Oh, would that Thou were loved!’ O Lady and Mistress of the Sacred Heart, open that Heart to me, thy child. Teach me to know Him intimately, to love Him ardently, and to follow Him closely. Mother, give me to Jesus! (From Meditation on The Passion )

We often forget that Jesus told His disciples:  “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me " (Mt. 16:24). The next time we try to run away from this command, let us recall the following reflection: "...There is no health of soul nor hope of eternal life but in the Cross. The more the flesh is brought down by affliction, the more is the spirit strengthened by interior grace. We are not exhorted to pray  for  the Cross, but we  may  and  ought  to pray for a  love  of the Cross. The price of great graces is humiliation - The Royal Way of the Cross. Humiliations are precious drops from the chalice of our Lord's Blood. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) When our Lord  loves anyone, He presses him to His Heart as a tender friend would do; but round Jesus' Heart there is a crown of thorns, and the more He presses us to His Heart, the more these thorns enter into ours. How many - e...

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 Alvaro del Porillo [What do people want and expect from the priest:]  "They need, desire and hope – perhaps without thus consciously reasoning out such a need or hope – for a priest who is a priest one hundred percent; a man who shows an ardent concern for them by opening up new horizons for their souls, who exercises his ministry without ceasing, and who has a big heart capable of understanding and loving everyone, though at times his concern may not be reciprocated." (From On The Priesthood)

We thank Allison Gingras at  Reconciled To You    and Elizabeth Riordan at  Theology Is A Verb   for hosting  Revisiting Wednesday ,  each week. It is a privilege to share our work with them and their followers .  Stop for a visit now .  I wanted to share this post: Feast Day of St. Rose of Lima (Originally published August 23, 2013)   ( Source:St. Rose of Lima Parish, Safford, AZ) Today we remember St. Rose of  Lima , the first canonized Saint of the Western hemisphere. She was born in  Peru  in 1586 and died there at the age of thirty-one. Like many who have felt a call to the Dominican Order over the centuries, Rose initially faced opposition from her family. They refused to let her enter a convent. Rose’s response was to become a Lay Dominican and to live a life of solitude and penance within the confines of her family’s home. She had a great attraction to St. Catherine of  Siena , a great lov...

(Photo©Michael Seagriff) O Sacred Heart Thou Lovest! Yes, dearest Lord, we have no doubt of this. How ardently Thou didst long to die for us – to remain with us in Thy Sacrament of love. How ardently didst Thou long for the love of Thy poor, suffering, sinful children! Ah, sweet Jesus, may we satisfy the thirst of Thy sacred Heart by loving Thee with a strong, enthusiastic, faithful love. Oh, let us ever abide by Thy love. O Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thou lovest! Alas! Then comes the unfortunate part, O dear Lord – Thou are not loved! Alas! This is but too true.

I recently ran across the following quote attributed to St. Peter Canisius, a Jesuit and a Doctor of our Church: (Photo©Michael Seagriff) "Better that only a few Catholics should be left, staunch and sincere in their religion, than that they should, remaining many, desire as it were to be in collusion with the Church's enemies and in conformity with the open foes of our faith.”  Nearly five centuries after sharing this opinion, I suspect this good priest would not appreciate the current chaos of doctrinal ambiguity and/or dissent that permeates our Church and, most especially, among some of the contemporary members of his own religious order. What do you think? 

This Book Is A Keeper! Many of the great spiritual writers suggest we place ourselves in the Scriptural passages we read as if we were actual eyewitnesses to the events being discussed. Author, Dennis P. McGeehan, has followed that advice but with a unique twist – he shares with us the fruits of his study and contemplation on the lives of Mary, Joseph and Jesus through entries of a fictitious diary he envisioned Mary and Joseph wrote.  He uses not only his fertile imagination but the insight shared by saints, mystics and Doctors of our Church to “fill in” what was left out of the recorded words in Scripture. While the book is a little unpolished around some of its edges, its substance is golden – a treasure trove of immense spiritual wealth. I thoroughly enjoyed Dennis’ effort and hope he follows through on a promised sequel. This is a book one will use over and over. It has enhanced my understanding of the Scripture the author pondered and challenged me toward a greater...

We thank Allison Gingras at  Reconciled To You    and Elizabeth Riordan at Theology Is A Verb   for hosting  Revisiting Wednesday ,  each week. It is a privilege to share our work with them and their followers .  Stop for a visit now . Here is my contribution: Monday Musings - Praying Before the Tabernacle (Originally published on January 14, 2017) (Image source:  Wikimedia Commons ) "I think there was a certain Bishop Curtis who said that when he prayed before the tabernacle he liked to picture himself as a faithful and devoted dog lying at his master’s feet. Both are glad to have each other; both are silent. It is a rather unusual way of looking at the matter but it strikes home. Prayer is not in words only. It is also in tears and sighs and heartaches." (From  The Way to God  by Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S.)

"There is a particular need to cultivate  a lively awareness of Christ's real presence , both in the celebration of Mass and in the worship of the Eucharist outside Mass. Care should be taken to show that awareness through tone of voice, gestures, posture and bearing.  (Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) In this regard, liturgical law recalls - and I myself have recently reaffirmed - the importance of moments of silence both in the celebration of Mass and in Eucharistic adoration. The way that the ministers and the faithful treat the Eucharist should be marked by profound respect. The presence of Jesus in the tabernacle must be a kind of  magnetic pole  attracting an ever greater number of souls enamored of him, ready to wait patiently to hear his voice and, as it were, to sense the beating of his heart. “O taste and see that the Lord is good!” (P s   34:8)."    (Oct. 7, 2004 - Mane Nobiscum Domine (Stay With Us Lord) Apostolic Letter) ...

While I was on retreat last week at the Abbey of the Genesee , I paused (as I often do on my visits there) before the statue of our Blessed Mother which welcomes visitors to the monastery.  It is a simple but beautiful image. I think you will agree. This day, as I prayerfully gazed into her eyes, these words came to me: "Come closer my child. Draw near to me. I want to embrace and kiss you as only a Mother can." What a gift to us "poor banished children of Eve"!

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 . Father Jacques Phillipe “Íf people know what they must do today and commit themselves to doing it and leave tomorrow to God’s providence, all is well. What more can anyone do? Take the step that needs taking today. Take another step tomorrow. Every day will have its own steps to take.” (From March 20, 2017 Reflections of the Frassati Fellowship-New York City) Rev. M. Raymond, O.C.S.O. “To human eyes how did Jesus differ from the thieves who were condemned and crucified with Him? If some stranger had come to Jerusalem that Friday afternoon and passed Calvary before darkness enfolded it, how could he tell that the middle cross held Innocence and the Redemption of mankind? He would have seen three naked men dying by degrees. How could he know that One was not only the Light of the World but the Life of all living...

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) "The time during which Jesus abides in us under the Sacramental Species is the most precious of the entire day…the soul then becomes a living tabernacle, indeed something even more. At that time, the soul of Jesus unites itself with our soul and becomes the soul of our soul.” St. Maximilian Kolbe from  For the Life of the World – St Maximilian and the Eucharist by Jerzy Domanski, O.F.M. Conv

[Time got away from me so I am recirculating a post from three years ago.] Today we Dominicans pause to remember and honor the founder of the Order of Preachers, our Father, St. Dominic de Guzman. A little over 800 years ago, this unique and talented man, reshaped the face of the Church of his day by combining the contemplative and apostolic vocations under one religious order. Since that time, Dominicans have tirelessly sought the salvation of souls. Daily they strive to faithfully fulfill their mission -  to Praise, to Bless, to Preach! If you want a short but enlightening glimpse of who this man was, follow the suggestion of Ms. Marianne Jablonski, O.P., former President of the Lay Fraternities of St. Dominic, St. Joseph Province, and spend some time today reading and pondering the saint's  Last Will and Testament. Steal away a few more quiet moments before day's end and honor our founder and the God who made him and Whom...

[The following post was originally published  in 2013] Tomorrow, we will commemorate the feast day of St. John Marie Vianney - the patron Saint for parish priests. This holy priest loved the Eucharist. He knew that all of us - priests, religious and laity - had to make It the center of our daily existence.  Here are samples of his wisdom. "There is nothing, so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given it to us." "We ought to visit him [Jesus in the Holy Eucharist] often.  How dear to Him is a quarter of an hour spared from our occupations or from some useless employment, to come and pray to Him, visit Him, and console Him for all the ingratitude He receives!  When He sees poor souls hurrying to Him, He smiles at them.  They come with that simplicity which pleases Him so much, to ask pardon for all sinners, and for the insults of so many who are ungrateful."

Be sure to visit Allison Gingras   (Reconciled To You)  and  Elizabeth Riordan ( Theology Is A Verb ) each week for  Revisiting Wednesday , a place for Catholic writers to share their wares and stir your souls.  Stop for a visit now   (and every Wednesday). I would like to share the following: There has been a shortage of priestly vocations in this nation for some time. There are a number of reasons for this crisis (well beyond the scope of this simple article) but one screams to be addressed: the failure of some priests to make the Eucharist the source and center of their daily lives – an issue addressed many times by Blessed John Paul II. We do not need priests who believe their success rests in political activism and community organizing and who tickle our ears with platitudes and half-truths while withholding the spiritual Truth we need to live eternally. We need courageous priests, real men, other Christs, holy priests, ...

Be sure to visit Allison Gingras   (Reconciled To You)  and  Elizabeth Riordan ( Theology Is A Verb ) each week for  Revisiting Wednesday , a place for Catholic writers to share their wares and stir your souls.  Stop for a visit now   (and every Wednesday). Here is what I posted. Sadly, I am still waiting for an answer.... Monday Musings - Don't Tickle My Ears (Originally published on February 6, 2017) After reading a recent syndicated column in my Diocesan newspaper, I could not remain silent. The columnist, Father Ron Rolheiser, a well-known Catholic priest and theologian, criticized a brother priest who had had the courage to preach the Truth. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) Some background first.  For decades, observers have decried the absence of quality catechesis within the Catholic Church – this despite the universal recognition that many Catholics do not know or fully understand their Faith. Several res...