Eucharistic Reflection - We Leave Him Alone

"When Jesus remains in the quiet of the altar, in the tabernacle’s shadow,  people   in their  blind  carelessness  let Him alone, they forget all about Him. And when He exposes Himself upon the altar, He is hurt to the Heart by the irreverence of so many who either have no faith at all or a faith that is very weak. When He goes through the streets in order to bring unspeakable blessings to His beloved children, He hears curses and blasphemies that make out of His errand of mercy another way of the cross.

But in the midst of all these bitternesses one hope sustains Him – the hope of a place of refuge that will offer the love and peace He craves. The bitter chalice which others continually place to His lips He drinks with resignation; for He is sustained by the hope of a loving reception in my heart by way of reparation. One holy hour spent in the enjoyment of my love, and He forgets years and years of suffering…

Altar and tabernacle, monstrance and church, are merely the avenues through which His love enters; its goal is my heart; it is there that He would rest. Ah! How it would pain His Divine Heart if I would not let Him in, or if I would receive Him unworthily. What a bitter disappointment that would be!"

 

(Eucharistic Whisperings - Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S.)

Monday Musings - Be Tenacious

I know the importance of praying. It is a lesson I learned early on in my spiritual journey. Many saints have made it clear that I must pray and that I must never abandon my prayer - no matter how tired, distracted, arid or depressed I may be. The minute I abandon prayer “the slide toward eternal damnation begins.”

Thankfully, I do have a daily routine of prayer that has provided a certain rhythm to my life - one that I can easily lose if I put off or do not say my prayers. So, I persevere in my prayer even when I do not seem to get anything out of it, even when God seems so far away and uninterested in me, even when I have sinned, lost my temper or become angry. At the same time, I recognize far too often, I am merely saying words like a robot - distractedly, too quickly, with little or no reflection. Sometimes, I am just going through my “checklist” but benefiting very little from the effort.

I do not use my own words or express my own feelings as often as I should. Instead, I use the words and prayers of others. I know my morning prayers should prompt me to make a firm and specific resolution for the day – one I should recall and throughout the course of the day. And yet I often fail to do so.

Lord, I ask this of You: let my prayer life never end; let me offer everything I do as a prayer; let me be more attentive and reflective and less mechanical in my prayer life; and never let me give Satan a foothold in my prayer life.

Lord, teach me how to pray as I ought. Let me never forget that You are always at my side. Open my heart and soul that I may hear Your silent voice. Help me to let nothing in my life be more important than You.

  

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - February 20, 2025

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.

Vinny Flynn

"A spiritual Communion acts on the soul as blowing does on a cinder-covered fire which was about to go out. Whenever you feel your love of God growing cold, quickly make a spiritual Communion.’ ‘Quickly!’ There’s a sense of urgency here. The saints are trying to tell us that we should not limit our union with Christ in the Eucharist to sacramental Communion once a week, or even once a day. We need Christ’s living presence in our lives moment-by-moment to nourish us and protect us from sin, so we need to renew our union with Him regularly, especially any time we feel ourselves drifting away. Christ is not merely present in the Eucharist during Mass! The Eucharist is an ongoing fulfillment of Christ’s Gospel promise to remain with us: ‘Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age’ (Mt. 28:20)." 

(From 7 Secrets of the Eucharist)

 

Venerable Fulton J. Sheen  "Notice, too, that at the crib, only two classes of people found their way to Christ when he came to this earth: the very simple, and the very learned—the shepherds who knew that they knew nothing, and the wise men who knew that they did not know everything; never the man who thought that he knew."  (From Through the Year with Fulton Sheen)

St. Alphonsus Liguori "In this valley of tears, every man is born to weep, and all must suffer, by enduring the evils that take place every day. But how much greater would be the misery of life, if we also knew the future evils that await us! 'Unfortunate, indeed, would be the situation of someone who knows the future', says the pagan Roman philosopher Seneca; 'he would have to suffer everything by anticipation'. Our Lord shows us this mercy. He conceals the trials that await us so that, whatever they may be, we may endure them only once.  But he didn’t show Mary this compassion. God willed her to be the Queen of Sorrows, and in all things like his Son. So she always had to see before her eyes, and continually to suffer, all the torments that awaited her. And these were the sufferings of the passion and death of her beloved Jesus. For in the temple, St. Simeon, having received the divine Child in his arms, foretold to her that her Son would be a sign for all the persecutions and oppositions of men. ... Jesus our King and his most holy mother didn’t refuse, for love of us, to suffer such cruel pains throughout their lives. So it’s reasonable that we, at least, should not complain if we have to suffer something."  (Excerpted from A Year with Mary, p. 223)

 

Eucharistic Reflection - His Heart Is Open To Receive You

"How your life would change if you went to Him often as a friend. Can you be thinking Jesus won’t want to welcome you as a friend? If that’s what you thought, it would be a sign you don’t know Him. Jesus is all tenderness, all love for His sinful creatures. He lives in the tabernacle with His Heart open to receive us, waiting for our arrival so He may console us." 

(Saint Teresa of the Andes)

 

Monday Musings – I Have Some Questions Lord

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

So what is the next step, Lord?

What do I do? Where do I go? How do I love You and others as I ought? What must I sever myself and my time from?

How Lord do I bridge the great gap that exists between what I profess to believe and how I actually live my life? 

Please reveal to me, dear Lord, what I have been unable or unwilling to see. 

When Lord will my heart and will be one with Yours – where every second of my life honors and glorifies You?

Eucharistic Reflection - Let Me Teach You Who I Am

“If you want to experience true peace, come to the Tabernacle.  Oh, what love you will feel.  My Father waits for you: He waits until you are ready to sit and honor His Son.  He waits for you to open your heart: to believe He is there, so that He can give you the warmth of His Love and His Peace.  For if you believe I am there, all things are possible.  What happened?  Your families before you, honored Me.  They sat with Me: talked with Me.  Churches were full, and because of their love for Me, and the one who sent Me, they did all they could for my Church. 

A lot has happened in the last 30 [50+] years.  I am the same God, yet there is no reverence for Me or my Son.  You come with your hands in your pockets, not folded in prayer; children eat, laugh and play in the real presence of my Son.  Some look away, as if they don’t know what to do; most don’t know who I am.  Come to the Tabernacle and learn who I am.  I am Love, Peace and Joy in your times of darkness, in your times of sorrow.  I have always loved you.  Do you remember, I died for you? 

Come, come to the Tabernacle so that I can teach you Who I am.”

“Try every morning, when you have the joy of receiving Communion, to ask our Lord to remain with you all day in your soul…When I think now of how I used to be envious of Mary Magdalene for having had Jesus in her home so often, for having heard Him, I’m ashamed, since He has not abandoned this world. He’s present in the Tabernacle. I gaze upon Him in faith, and hear Him.” 

St. Theresa of the Andes

Monday Musings - Time To Be Bold

How can we Catholics credibly profess to believe that Jesus Christ is really, truly and substantially present in the tabernacles of  our Churches but rarely attend Sunday Mass and seldom visit Him outside of Mass? If it is true (and it is) that the more time that we spend in the Presence of our God, the more like Him we will become, why are we not encouraged to do so? Why do we keep our Churches locked so that the few who do stop for a visit, cannot get in to be with their Lord? 

God wants us to visit Him. Don't we trust Him?

Why have we not shared these Truths with our non-Catholic brethren? God is not in our tabernacles just for we Catholics. He is there for every soul, waiting to touch and stir their hearts, to bring them into His one, holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and His loving embrace.

There are at least two likely answers to these questions: we mistakenly believe that one religion is just as good as another; and/ or we don't believe He is there! 

Our Churches should never be empty! Our Lord should never be left alone!

Here is something each of us can do. It is relatively inexpensive and doesn't consume a great deal of your time - have business-size cards  printed (like the images that follow) and get to work:

The intent of this exercise in promoting belief in our Lord’s Eucharistic Presence is to leave these cards in places where you would not expect to see them – restaurants, stores, doctor and dental offices, hairdressers, barbers, train and bus stations - any place that allows people to post or leave business cards.

When you are paying your bills by mail, or sending cards, notes or letters to family and friends, put one of these cards in the envelope along with your check, card or note.

You get the idea – anywhere people visit - to any person whom God may prompt you to approach.

If your pastor okays it, you can leave some cards in your parish – there are many souls there in need of encouragement. 

God knows who needs to see these cards. Trust Him!

Just a suggestion from a simple soul,

Be Bold! 

Make it a personal priority to spend some time in His Presence!

 

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - February 7, 2025

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.

Peter Kreeft. Ph.D  “What is the best argument for the evangelist to use when telling the Good News? The most effective one is joy. It’s irresistible because it’s what everyone deeply wants. We can put up walls of argument against arguments, but we can’t argue with joy.”  (From The Mystery of Joy)

 

   Venerable Fulton J. Sheen 

"If you have never before prayed to Mary, do so now. Can you not see that if Christ himself willed to be physically formed in her for nine months and then be spiritually formed by her for thirty years, it is to her that we must go to learn how to have Christ formed in us? Only she who raised Christ can raise a Christian."  (From Advent Meditations with Fulton J. Sheen)    St. Therese of Lisieux  "I know now that true charity consists in bearing all of our neighbors defects not being surprised at their weakness, but edified at their smallest virtues.”  (From Stories of a Soul – The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux)

 

Eucharistic Reflection - He and I

"Here - all alone, He and I —  He, with all His greatness, and I with all my miseries — He, all fire; and I, burning in the midst of His Divine Passion!...My darkness is lost in the midst of His light...and my icy heart melts inside of His. Here my sins are forgiven and my sorrows —  O! my sorrows are united to His own, giving them value...How many treasures are enclosed in this holy place, consecrated through the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament! Heaven is here, because He is here!

I would not exchange these four walls for the most glorious palace on earth! You can feel Him, yes... here the Lord can be felt...here He can be found...here the soul loses itself in His arms. It cries out contritely, is anxious to suffer, and loves Him!"

 

(Holy Hours -  Concepcion Carbrera de Armida)