Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

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 .   Saint Raphael Kalinowski “Devotion to the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament was, and still is, for me a source of patience, perseverance, refuge and consolation; literally, the very spring of my life. Without this mystery of our Savior’s love, which He has left for us in the Church, I would have perished long since.” (From catholicstormroom,com) St. Thomas of Villanova “From it [humility] spring obedience, holy fear, reverence, patience, modesty, mildness, and peace; for, whoever is humble easily obeys all, fears to offend any, maintains peace with all, shows himself affable to all, is submissive to all, does not offend or displease any, and does not feel the insults which may be inflicted upon him. He lives happy and contented, and in great peace.”  (From Cult...

We thank Allison Gingras at  Reconciled To You  and Elizabeth Riordan at  Theology Is A Verb   for hosting Worth Revisiting each week. It is a privilege to share our work with them and their followers . (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) I am at a time in my life where I have to take a close look at myself and ask a few frank questions again. What follows is an excerpt from my book, Fleeting Glimpses of the Silly, Sentimental and Sublime :  I Will Give You A New Heart (Originally published May 6, 2014) I walked out of the State Capitol building and immediately turned to my left looking beyond the many different people walking about the area and in the nearby park until I saw her.   There was my smiling wife, just a few feet from me, eagerly awaiting news of what transpired during my interview. I approached her excitedly wanting to fill her with the details as soon as I could. But suddenly I did not feel well.   A strange...

(Photo©Michael Seagriff) "...there are five graces we receive each time we visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. By His glorious wounds we are the ones who are transfigured and changed through His healing love. Restoration, sanctification, transformation, reparation and salvation are the graces being poured out graciously upon us with each holy hour we make."                  (From Letters to A Brother Priest by Father Vincent Martin Lucia and Rev. Msgr.Josefino Ramirez)

On this memorial of the Angelic Doctor, let me re-share a short post I wrote 4 years ago: (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons) I read St. Thomas Aquinas by G.K. Chesterton. I highly recommend this book! Although I do not know if the following tale Chesterton shares about our Angelic Doctor is true, I just had to share it with you: "It was of him [St.Thomas Aquinas] that the tale was told, and would certainly have been told more widely among us if it had been told of a Puritan, that the Pope pointed to his gorgeous Papal Palace and said, "Peter can no longer say 'Silver and gold have I none;' " and the Spanish friar an­swered, "No, and neither can he now say, 'Rise and walk'." St. Thomas Aquinas pray for us.

We thank Allison Gingras at  Reconciled To You    and Elizabeth Riordan at  Theology Is A Verb   for hosting Worth Revisiting each week. It is a privilege to share our work with them and their followers . Monday Musings - If We But Understood (Originally posted on July 30, 2018)

"By a beautiful paradox of Divine love, God makes His Cross the very means of our salvation and our life. We have slain Him; we have nailed Him there and crucified Him; but the Love in His eternal heart could not be extinguished. He willed to give us the very life we slew; to give us the very Food we destroyed; to nourish us with the very Bread we buried, and the very Blood we poured forth. He made our very crime into a happy fault; He turned a Crucifixion into a Redemption; a Consecration into a Communion; a death into Life Everlasting."                 (Venerable Fulton J. Sheen from Calvary and the Mass: A Missal Companion )

Lay Catholic artist, writer, poet and mystic, Caryll Houselander, leaves no doubt that the person who desires to advance spiritually in this earthly life must come to understand and conform his/her life to the truths set forth below: " You see, God's will for you is to serve Him, in His way, as He chooses, now . It is only a want of humility to think of extreme vocations, like being a nun or a nurse, while you try to bypass your present obvious vocation, which is to restore your will to God's, so that you may become what He wants you to be, and may be able to use the faculties He has given to you for His service." (From The Letters of Caryll Houselander: Her Spiritual Legacy )

We thank Allison Gingras at  Reconciled To You    and Elizabeth Riordan at  Theology Is A Verb   for hosting Worth Revisiting each week. It is a privilege to share our work with them and their followers . Monday Musings - A Lasting Gift to God and to Ourselves (Originally published on December 24, 2018) The gifts of the Magi - gold, frankincense, and myrrh - were expensive and very significant physical gifts. But they pale in comparison to the spiritual gifts we can give our Infant, Crucified, and Risen Lord – if we would but choose to do so. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) The gifts I am about to describe, when given to our Lord in love and gratitude, weekly (daily if possible), will not only please Him, but will result in our being united more intimately with the Prince of Peace. What follows are some concrete suggestions as to what each of us can and should do every time we attend Mass, if we are serious about loving God as He deserv...

"The road of sanctity is not a road of honors, but rather a road of misunderstandings and humiliations. When you encounter difficulties, don’t discourage yourself too quickly. Run without delay to the tabernacle to sigh with Jesus, telling him: ‘Jesus, I have only the thought of abandoning you. Deign to change my will. I’m very sad, and all I can do is ask you to accept my sadness. I can’t find peace… I can’t stop myself from crying… accept my tears with gentleness'."                   Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuân

[The following is excerpted from my book, Fleeting Glimpses of the Silly, Sentimental and Sublime .] When we read or hear the Scriptural reminder of the eternal consequences for our failing to visit the imprisoned (Matthew 25: 31-46) more often than not the image that first comes to mind is of those locked behind bars in the far too numerous Federal and State prisons and local jails that saturate the landscape of this nation – some 2,266,800 adults in 2010 according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. More than 2 million! Many of them are Catholic and none of them are there voluntarily! Admittedly, Jesus is not calling every Catholic to be His representative and ambassador to our forgotten convicted brothers and sisters. Certainly though more are being invited to this needed ministry than are responding. Is God calling you? Is fear holding you back? (Photo©Michael Seagriff) But there is one prisoner you need not fear. One that each and ever...