Eucharistic Reflection - Live On The Divine Eucharist

 

Monday Musings - Open The Eyes of Your Heart

"Have you ever thought about the immense gift God has given to us in the holy Eucharist? Everything you can say about Christianity is related to the Eucharist in one way or another.

Open the eyes of your heart and let yourself be pierced by this mystery.  God, the second person of the most Holy Trinity, gives Himself to us in the humblest possible way, as bread and wine. The multiplication of the loaves and fishes was a beautiful miracle but our Lord did not come just to feed 4000 people on a particular day. He came to give Himself as bread every day until the end of time.

The multiplication of the loaves and fishes is dwarfed by this daily multiplication of Himself at the Eucharistic banquet."

(Excerpted from Communion is a Flame Bursting Within by Catherine Doherty)

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - August 22, 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.

Father Donald H. Calloway, MIC

"Many saints have claimed to see angels during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and during Eucharistic adoration. The angels are God's servants and do His holy will. They pass unnoticed before our eyes, yet, when we attend Holy Mass or Eucharistic adoration, we are surrounded by armies of holy angels. They have no self-interest; their one desire is to serve and worship God. Like soldiers on a battlefield, they fight for God and constantly await their marching orders. It should be the same for you."

(From 30 Day Eucharistic Revival – A Retreat with St. Peter Julian Eymard)

 

St. John Chrysostom

"There is nothing to be dreaded in human ills except sin—not poverty, or disease, or insult, or ill treatment, or dishonor, or death, which people call the worst of evils. To those who love spiritual wisdom, these things are only the names of disasters, names that have no substance. No, the true disaster is to offend God, to do anything that displeases Him."

                                              (From A Year with the Church Fathers)

 

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

"No creature ever loved Jesus Christ more ardently, nor showed more perfect submission to His will, than Mary, His mother. If then, this Savior, immolated for us sinners, gave His mother to us, an advocate and intercessor for all time, she cannot but comply with His request, and will not refuse us her assistance. Let us, then, not hesitate to implore her pity; let us have recourse to her with great confidence in all our necessities, as she is an inexhaustible source of blessing, bestowing her favors in proportion to the confidence placed in her."

(From The Spiritual Combat)

 

Eucharistic Reflection - Hidden In Our Midst

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

"Our holy faith teaches us, and we are bound to believe, that in the consecrated Host, Jesus Christ is really present under the species of bread. But we must also understand that He is thus present on our altars as on a throne of love and mercy, to dispense graces and there to show us the love which He bears us, by being pleased to dwell night and day hidden in the midst of us."

St. Alphonsus de Liguori

Monday Musings - Gifts Given To Us Must Be Shared With Others

Most of us are familiar with the miracle of the five loaves and two fish found in Matthew 14.  When that Gospel was read recently, I ran across an article entitled Giving What You Receive. It was posted as Catholic Life's Daily Reflection for August 7, 2024. You can read this excellent post in its entirety here. 

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Today, I want to share an excerpt from that post - one that provides much fruit for our contemplation:

"When we receive spiritual nourishment from our Lord, our first thought must be to give it away. We must first see all that we receive from God as an opportunity to bestow those blessings upon others. This is the nature of grace.

For example, if we are given a sense of peace or joy within our hearts, we must realize that this peace or joy we receive is a gift that must be immediately offered to others. If we are given a spiritual insight into the Scriptures, this is given to us first and foremost to share with others. Every gift we receive from God must be understood as a gift given to us so that we can immediately share it with others. The good news is that when we seek to give away that which we have received, more is given to us and, in the end, we will be far richer.

Reflect, today, upon the action of the disciples receiving this food [five loaves and two fish] from our Lord and  immediately giving it away. See yourself in this miracle, and see the bread as a symbol of every grace you receive from God.

What have you received that God wants you to distribute to others? Are there graces you have received that you selfishly try to hold onto? The nature of grace is that it is given to give it to others. Seek to do this with every spiritual gift you receive, and you will find that the graces multiply to the point that you receive more than you could ever imagine."

Eucharistic Reflection - Jesus Christ In The Tabernacles Is Our Friend

"If we really love the good God, we will find it a joy and happiness to spend some time near Him, to adore Him, and keep company with so good a friend. He is there in the tabernacle. What is He doing, this good Jesus, in the sacrament of His love? He is loving us. 

If you pass a church then, go in to salute Him. Would you pass the door of a friend without saying good-day? And Our Lord is a friend who has been so good to us. It would be a very ungrateful person who would not visit Him. 

Come to adore Him because He is your divine friend, your Creator, and your sovereign Master? You owe Him the homage of your whole being. Bow down before Him and praise Him.

Come to keep Him company in the solitude in which the Christians leave Him. 

Come, my soul, redouble your fervor. You are alone to adore your God. His eyes regard you alone.

Come to His feet to thank Him, and then recall the benefits of redemption; the adoption of sons; the right to eternal life; so many pardons; so many Communions received, each of which brought you an increase of the supernatural life. 

Come to show your love to Him. He will say to you: “My child, give Me your heart.” Oh! open it then, dilate it, and give Him love for love!"

(The Eucharistic Meditations of the Cure of Ars)

Monday Musings - Live the Eucharist

 

Eucharistic Reflection - The Strength We Need

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

"Communion spurs you on. It is like a flame bursting within your soul. Off you go to love passionately, recklessly, imprudently, unto folly, without counting the cost to yourself.

In the Eucharist, we receive the strength to preach the Gospel with our life in everyday activities, not looking for false glamor or status. From the Eucharist, we draw the courage to go and fight. Wherever we find ourselves, these are the front lines."

Catherine Doherty, Servant of God

Monday Musings - Where Is Your Focus?

 

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - August 1, 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.

St. Bonaventure

"If you would suffer with patience the adversities and miseries of this life, be a man of prayer. If you would obtain courage and strength to conquer the temptations of the enemy, be a man of prayer. If you would mortify your own will with all its inclinations and appetites, be a man of prayer. If you would know the wiles of Satan and unmask his deceits, be a man of prayer. If you would live in joy and walk pleasantly in the ways of penance, be a man of prayer. If you would banish from you soul the troublesome flies of vain thoughts and cares, be a man of prayer. If you would nourish your soul with the very sap of devotion, and keep it always full of good thoughts and good desires, be a man of prayer. If you would strengthen and keep up your courage in the ways of God, be a man of prayer. In fine, if you would uproot all vices from your soul and plant all virtues in their place, be a man of prayer. It is in prayer that we receive the unction and grace of the Holy Ghost, who teaches all things."  (From The Ways of Mental Prayer)   St. Catherine Of Siena  "Consider that the love of divine charity is so closely joined in the soul with perfect patience, that neither can leave the soul without the other. For this reason (if the soul elect to love Me) she should elect to endure pains for Me in whatever mode or circumstance I may send them to her. Patience cannot be proved in any other way than by suffering, and patience is united with love as has been said. Therefore bear yourselves with manly courage, for, unless you do so, you will not prove yourselves to be spouses of My Truth, and faithful children, nor of the company of those who relish the taste of My honor, and the salvation of souls." (From The Dialogue)

Thomas à Kempis “We will never be free of trials and temptations as long as our earthly life lasts. For Job has said: 'Is not the life of human beings on earth a drudgery?' (Job 7:1). Therefore, we should always be on our guard against temptations, always praying that our enemy, the devil, 'who never sleeps but constantly looks for someone to devour.' (1 Pet 5:8), will not catch us off guard. No one in this world is so perfect or holy as not to have temptations sometimes. We can never be entirely free from them. Sometimes these temptations can be very severe and troublesome, but if we resist them, they will be very useful to us; for by experiencing them we are humbled, cleansed, and instructed. All the Saints endured tribulations and temptations and profited by them, while those who did not resist and overcome them fell away and were lost. There is no place so holy or remote where you will not meet with temptation, nor is there anyone completely free from it in this life; for in our body we bear the wounds of sin—the weakness of our human nature in which we are born."  (From The Imitation of Christ)