Eucharistic Reflection - Something We Cannot Understand

“We can understand why the Son of God loved man enough to become man Himself. The Creator must have been set on repairing the work of His hands. We can also understand how, from an excessive love, the God-man died on the cross.

But something we cannot understand, something that terrifies those of little faith and scandalizes unbelievers, is the fact that Jesus Christ after having been glorified and crowned, after having completed His mission here below, wanted still to dwell with us and in a state more lowly and self-abasing than at Bethlehem, than on Calvary itself.

With reverence, let us lift the mysterious veil that covers the Holy of Holies and let us try to understand the excessive love which our Savior has for us.”

(St. Peter Julian Eymard from The Hidden God)

Monday Musings - A Prayer to Make Our Own

 Let me share a most beautiful prayer from St. Louis de Montfort:

"Dearly beloved Mother, grant, if it is possible, that I may have no other spirit but yours to know Jesus and His divine will; that I may have no other soul but yours to praise and glorify the Lord; that I may have no other heart but yours to love God with a love as pure and passionate as yours. I do not ask you for visions, revelations, feelings of devotion, or spiritual pleasures. It is your privilege to see God clearly; it's your privilege to enjoy heavenly bliss; it's your privilege to triumph gloriously in heaven at the right hand of your Son and to hold absolute sway over angels, men, and demons; it is your privilege to dispose of all the gifts of God, just as you wish . . .  The only grace I beg you to obtain for me is that every day and every moment of my life I may say: Amen, so be it, to all that you did while on earth; amen, so be it, to all that you are now doing in heaven; amen, so be it, to all that you are doing in my soul, so that you alone may fully glorify Jesus in me for time and eternity." (From Saint Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary)

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - June 20, 2024

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

 “Burning the candle at both ends for God’s sake may be foolishness to the world, but it is a profitable Christian exercise for so much better the light! Only one thing in life matters: Being found worthy of the Light of the World in the hour of His visitation. We need have no undue fear for our health if we work hard for the Kingdom of God; God will take care of our health if we take care of His cause. In any case, it is better to burn out than to rust out.” 

(From Fulton Sheen Institute)

St. Isaac of Syria

"In times of spiritual coldness and laziness, imagine in your heart those times in the past when you were full of zeal and solicitude in all things, even the smallest. Remember your past efforts and the energy with which you opposed those who wanted to obstruct your progress. These recollections will reawaken your soul from its deep sleep, will invest it once more with the fire of zeal, will raise it, as it were, from the dead, and will make it engage in an ardent struggle against the Devil and sin, thus being restored to its former height."

(From Manual For Spiritual Warfare)

St. Madeleine Sophie Barat

"Let us love Jesus above all, let us love Mary as our mother; but then, how could we keep from loving Joseph, who was so intimately united to both Jesus and Mary? And how can we honor him better than by imitating his virtues? Now, what else did he do in all his life but contemplate, study, and adore Jesus, even in the midst of his daily labors? Behold, therefore, our model." 

(From Joseph the Just Man)

Eucharistic Reflection - The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ Feeds Our Souls In The Eucharist

(Image Source: Wikimedia CommonsWikimedia Commons)

"All creatures have need of food in order to live, that is why God has made the trees and plants. It is a table well served where all the animals come to take the food which suits each one. But the soul also must be fed. Where then is its food? When God wished to give food to our soul to sustain it in the pilgrimage of this life, He looked over all the creation and found nothing worthy of it. Then He fell back on Himself and resolved to give Himself. 

O my soul, how great thou art since only a God can satisfy thee! The food of the soul is the Body and Blood of a God! What beautiful nourishment! The soul can only feed on a God! No other than God can suffice. Only God can satisfy its hunger. It needs God absolutely. O my soul, bless this God who is so magnificent. Come often to this divine banquet to satiate thyself with justice and holiness. Those who refuse to sit down here or who partake of it only at long intervals, condemn themselves to certain death or to weakness, because one cannot live without food nor enjoy vigorous health without eating frequently."

(From The Eucharistic Meditations of the Cure of Ars)

Eucharistic Reflection - "The Motives For Visiting the Blessed Sacrament"

"St. Paul tells us that at Athens he found written on an altar: 'To the unknown God.' Alas, I might say the opposite to you! I am about to preach to you a God that you do not adore, and whom you know to be your God. How many Christians have time on their hands and who never deign to come alone to visit their Savior. Oh! what a shame on us! If some novelty turns up, one leaves everything and runs to it. As for our God, we fly from Him. We find the time we spend in His presence hard. Oh! what a difference between the first Christians and us! They spent entire days and nights in the churches to sing the praises of the Lord, and to weep over their sins, but today it is not the same. Jesus is forsaken, abandoned in the sacrament of His love."

(From The Eucharistic Meditations of the Cure of Ars)

Ouch!