Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

(Image Source: Our Catholic Prayers.com) “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist, I consecrate my body and soul to be entirely one with Your heart, being sacrificed at every instant on all the altars of the world and giving praise to the Father pleading for the coming of His Kingdom. Please receive this humble offering of myself. Use me as You will for the glory of the Father and the salvation of souls. Most holy Mother of God, never let me be separated from Your Divine Son. Please defend and protect me as Your Special Child.” (Our Lady of Akita to Sister Agnes Sasagawa)    

Image Source: Hands at Mass ) “Brothers and sisters, the call goes out to all the earth. Is it the love of God you seek? You will find it in the Eucharist. Do you hunger for a life greater than the whole world has to give you? You will find it in the Eucharist. What is the secret to the renewal of the world? You will find it in the Eucharist. Do you hunger for the bread from heaven? Do you long for the light of the world? Do you really want the resurrection and the life? You will find it all in the Eucharist. For in the Eucharist you will find Him – Jesus. He has shown us where to find Him. His only question is this: where are you? (Excerpted from The Sacrament of Charity by Father James Dominic Brent, OP, published on December 18, 2024 by spiritualdirection.com. Read entire articl e here. ) 

What follows is a most beautiful and touching prayer, composed by a dear friend. I have shared this before. This is a prayer we should all offer. It is worthy of world-wide distribution and recitation: (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons) Dearest Souls,   With deep sorrow, we cry to you, the millions of pure, innocent, beautiful souls in Heaven belonging to all unborn babies.Though you were not given a chance to be, to have voice, to live life while learning, playing, and sharing love here on earth, we now humbly seek your joined, powerful voices of prayerful intercessions to our Compassionate Father. Heavenly Father, please open and enlighten the minds and hearts of all, to seek and accept Your mercy and love and end abortion on earth. Amen   From the mouths of the Holy Innocents to Your ears, Dear Lord!

 

" You must spend time in the Presence of God! When you go to church to spend time at Adoration, give your full attention to the Lord. Talk to Him just as if you were talking to a friend or relative. Know that He is there in front of you, waiting for you! All you need to do is to open your eyes and your hearts to God. Even though God knows everything that is in your heart, He wants you to share those thoughts with Him. He is waiting for you to ask Him to help you, your loved ones and others in need. Only He knows what you and they need and what is best for the salvation of your soul and theirs. Be grateful that you can come into His Presence and be with Him.   Remember that everything we have is a gift from God. He may not always give us what we request, but God will always give us what we need. Should we not offer all the joys and tribulations of our lives to Him? Should we not worship and love Him as He asks? Should we not ask Him to change our hearts and teach us how to love...

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) In a few days, Catholic Churches throughout the world will resonate with thousands of voices singing “O Come Let Us Adore Him!” But will they? We do not need polls to determine whether or not and/or how many Catholics believe that Jesus is really and substantially present in the Holy Eucharist hidden in the tabernacles of our Churches and in the Sacred Hosts placed on their tongues. We need only open our eyes and ears: Our Churches are virtually empty; that would never happen if we actually believed God was present there. Many of these Churches have been permanently closed. More than 50 million Catholics have left the Catholic Church in recent decades. Reportedly, less than a third of those claiming to be Catholic even attend Mass on Sundays and holy days. And of that number, less than a third of them believe that Jesus is really, truly and substantially present in the Blessed Sacrament. Few Catholics understand that that the Mass is the...

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   “The Christian soul knows it needs Divine Help and therefore turns to Him Who loved us even while we were yet sinners. Examination of conscience, instead of inducing morbidity, thereby becomes an occasion of joy.  There are two ways of knowing how good and loving God is. One is by never losing Him, through the preservation of innocence, and the other is by finding Him after one has lost Him. Repentance is not self-regarding, but God-regarding. It is not self-loathing, but God-loving. Christianity bids us accept ourselves as we really are, with all our faults and our failings and our sins. In all other religions, one has to be good to come to God—in Christianity one does not. Christianity might be described as a 'come as you are' party. It bids us stop worrying about ourselves, stop concentrating...

" It is nightfall...One by one the lights go out in the dwellings of men...Millions of stars twinkle in the vast vault of heaven...But on earth one only star still glimmers - the tiny star of light in the sanctuary lamp. Its feeble rays struggle through the windows of a little church...it moves unsteadily to and fro...until it reaches you...Do you not see it? Jesus sends it to tell you that He never rests, that day and night, year in and year out, His heart is busy loving you, and the poor, and the unhappy - yes, even those who crucify Him."   ( Eucharistic Whisperings - Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S.)

  “There is only one thing that can stop you from reaching the goal of sainthood which Christ has chosen for you. That one thing is you.” (Christine Watkins from Mary's Mantle ) As Christine Watkins and others have pointed out, I do recognize that the biggest enemy to my sanctification and salvation is myself. God tells me I must trust in Him. He tells me to keep my eyes on Him at all times. He tells me to accept whatever He permits to happen to me as being what is best for my salvation. He tells me I must believe in Him even if everyone around me has rejected me, mocked me or persecuted me. He tells me that He and He alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He tells me that on my own I can accomplish nothing, but that with Him all things are possible. He tells me not to put my trust in man but only in Him. Lord, I believe these truths, yet I  am weak and ignore them far too often. How foolish I have been; how often I have offended You, Who love me so. I have know...

  "…to the Real Presence of Jesus, we often respond with our real absence!"     Father Florian Racine

( Image Source ) We appreciate the ongoing efforts of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to foster greater awe, amazement and belief in our Lord’s Real and Substantial Presence here among us in the Eucharist.  The number of Eucharistic processions that have taken place throughout this nation have been heartening. The excellent homilies, posts, videos and testimonies of priests, religious and lay Catholics that our bishops have shared on social media have also been inspiring - no doubt countless souls have been touched. We pray that the Church’s current efforts are reaching not just the choir but the millions of non-believing Catholics and former Catholics who inhabit this great nation. How are we going to assess the success of these efforts? Simple: If those professing to be Catholic believe that God is really, truly and substantially present in the consecrated hosts in our tabernacles, they will flock to be with Him – He who loves them and awaits their visit. They would never...

"There are 1440 minutes in each day. Can you give God just five of them? Stop in and see Him!  He's waiting for your visit. "

On November 6th my wife was called out to emergency “grandma” duty – something she enjoys and relishes. I headed for daily Mass without her. This rarely occurs. We share that blessing together. On this day, she needed to lend a helping hand. As I started to leave the house, I remembered to go back and get my rosary (which I seldom  leave home without). This day I was also “prompted” to pick up a bottle of holy water and return that to our vehicle. When Lonnie had completed her duties as the world’s number one mema, she returned home. We left for our favorite convenience store for two coffees, intending to take our treasured beverages to our dining room table – something we do most days since our retirement so many years ago. I was anxious to hear how “Mema” saved the day. We did not make it home. Some soul decided to ignore a stop sign and totaled our car. Unfortunately, we seventy-six year old fossils were still in it. My wife and I were in shock and pain but alert enoug...