Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

Thank you, 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 you and your followers .   I would like to share the following post:   Wanted: Lepers and Prophets    (Originally published 8/13/18) Few people warm up to lepers or prophets. That is most unfortunate. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) In Jesus’ time, lepers were shunned. Rarely would they show themselves in public and when they did so they kept their distance from the rest of the community – warning those nearby of their diseased presence by their voices and/or by ringing bells. What great courage and faith it took for them to seek Jesus out. They knew He was the source of mercy, forgiveness, healing and eternal life. They begged Him to have mercy on them and cleanse them physically. Jesus, defying the norms of His day, not only approached them, He touched and healed the

"A life of faith is a life of gratitude – it means a life in which I am willing to experience my complete dependence upon God and to praise and thank him unceasingly for the gift of being. A truly eucharistic life means always saying thanks to God, always praising God, and always being more surprised by the abundance of God’s goodness and love. How can such a life not also be a joyful life? It is the truly converted life in which God has become the center of all. There gratitude is joy and joy is gratitude and everything becomes a surprising sign of God’s presence."                                                                        Henri Nouwen

May this excerpt from a presentation by Father William Casey, C.P.M. shake us out of our lukewarmness and irreverence toward the Holy Eucharist: With much appreciation to Reverence Restoration where I came upon this clip

Thank you, 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 you and your followers . Hell - The Fiery Forever Furnace (Originally posted on April 15, 2019) Among the many problems within our Church today is the fact that far too many Catholics do not know or live their faith. This is in large measure due to poor catechesis and the reluctance of some priests to teach the full and undiluted Truths of our Faith. Too many are content to tickle our ears and not seek to save our souls. I believe, as did St. Vincent Ferrer, O.P., that we cannot be timid when addressing problems in our Church and the lukewarm manner in which many of us live out our faith. St. Vincent, like the noted Italian Franciscan preacher, St. Leonard of Port Maurice referenced below, was direct and confronted people with the Truth since it is only the Truth that will set hearts and souls fr

Why art Thou left alone in this Most Holy Sacrament? Where are Thy adorers and Thy friends? Has Thy Church failed to announce Thy Gospel to the world, and to make Thy presence known? Why art Thou so ignored, forsaken, and left alone in Thy tabernacles, without honor and with no one to thank Thee for the gift of Thy Real Presence? Why is the world kept in the dark concerning Thee in this Most Holy Sacrament, when Thou art all that this world needs, and all that souls desire? (Dom Mark Daniel Kirby, OSB the author of Vultus Christi: )

[I could not let the month of May come and and go without sharing this post from December of 2017] Bringing the Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary to Life Let me be frank. Dan Burke and Connie Rossini are fine outstanding lay Catholics whose efforts on behalf of the Lord they serve have touched the hearts of countless souls seeking a closer union with God. Nary a day passes without my being enriched by the wisdom and insight they share at spiritualdirection.com    and at authenticcontemplativeprayer. But I am upset with both of them! Why you ask? Because I was too weak to stand my ground, to honor the promise I made not to buy another book this year! It is THEIR fault that I was unfaithful to that promise and succumbed once again to that “buy with one click” button on Amazon. Had they not written The Contemplative   Rosary with St. John Paul II and St. Teresa of   Avila , I would have been successful in fulfilling my promise. They should have known that this rosa

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 Fulton J. Sheen "Every word that come to us about the uncomfortable, the homeless, the lepers, is the Son of God passing by. If we let Him pass by, He may never be recalled. Graces unused are not often repeated; whispers ignored do not become shouts. All through life, our hands will stretch forth empty of the richest blessings of wisdom and truth unless they are first used to clutch as the sleeve of the Divine 'who makes as if He would pass us by'." (From Guide to Contentment )

Photo©Michael Seagriff "The Savior makes Himself heard only in hours of deep recollection, peace, and silence. His voice is soft, so soft that in the soul all must be hushed; it is a melodious voice, while that of the devil is noisy, abrupt, and discordant, and his words are uttered in the midst of agitation and tumult." Blessed Dina Bélanger