Pondering Tidbits of Truth - March 27, 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.

This week all three tidbits are gifts from Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

"Our Lord never promised safety to His Apostles; He promised them persecution. He did not promise them health or comfort. He promised strength to bear their trials."

                                      (From March 18, 2025 Reflection on Sheen Institute)

Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

"To a great extent, the world is what we make it. We get back what we give. If we sow hate, we reap hate; if we scatter love and gentleness, we harvest love and happiness. Other people are like a mirror which reflects back on us, the kind of image we cast..."

(From Way to Happiness)

Venerable Fulton J Sheen

"...there are few listeners, although St. Paul tells us that 'faith comes from hearing'. If the bodies of most of us were fed as little as the mind, they would soon starve to death."

(From March 18, 2025 Reflection on Sheen Institute)

Eucharistic Reflection - Seven Questions To Ponder

There are times when one must be blunt in the effort to stir slumbering souls. Today is one of those days.

Seek a quiet place where you and God can chat, heart to heart. He has some questions for you. Ponder them. How will you respond to Him?

(Photo©Father Lawrence Lew, O.P. Used with permission)

What if, as Father Francis Hudson, S.C.J. once asked his parishioners,     God loved you, only as much as you loved Him?

As you enter your parish Church, are you struck with a sense of the Sacred and a realization that you are standing on holy ground? If not, why not? 

What does Jesus see and hear from behind the locked Tabernacle doors when He gazes at those present? Is He pleased by what He hears and sees? If not, why not? 

How important is it for you to spend some time in quiet prayer and reflection in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, before, during, after Mass and throughout the course of each week? 

Of the 168 hours God gives you each week, how much of that time  do you even think of, talk to, or visit Him?

Are you satisfied with the manner in which you act and treat our Lord?   If not, what changes do you intend to make?

How much do you love God?

(Excerpted from Stirring Slumbering Souls - 250 Eucharistic Reflections)

Take note of what Catholic Author Anne Costa had to say:

"This book accomplished what author Michael Seagriff hoped: that is to ignite my heart and stir my soul to love Jesus more and more. The words contained in this volume speak Truth and breathe Life and offer the reader a broad sampling of some of the finest thoughts and reflections on the Eucharist--our source and summit and surest Love. I can't wait to get to Adoration!...“Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful gem with me. I feel like every single Catholic should read it and have a copy and then share it with someone who isn’t and then we would be all set in this world. Such richness here and it stirs up so much in the soul." 

Monday Musings - Stop Looking Elsewhere

[I read these words of wisdom penned by Father Paul  D. Scalia yesterday and knew immediately that they had to be shared:]

"Sanctity isn't happening somewhere else. It is found in the here and now, in the duty of the moment, in being present to ourselves, to God and to others...

Our salvation - yours and mine - does not happen out there, in some other place or in someone else's life. It doesn't occur in the  media or latest gossip, online or otherwise. It doesn't depend on our knowing the latest political intrigue or celebrity news. It depends on our personal and interior adherence to the Lord. 

But we love to be distracted because this reality can be daunting. We fear that God is too close, too personal. Too local. So we distract ourselves by looking elsewhere, to other people, places and things. But salvation doesn't happen somewhere else. It happens locally, where we are. And we shouldn't chose to be anywhere else."

(Excerpted from The Catholic Thing, March 23, 2025)

Eucharistic Reflection - Don't Stay Away

…For sinners, the door of His heart is always open, so that He will never drive them away, however miserable they may be. 

He so earnestly desired the salvation of sinners that He did not cease until He was nailed to a cross between two thieves and shed His Precious Blood for them. Not content with this, having finished the course of His earthly life, He instituted this Sacrament [the Eucharist] by which He might remain among men, so that all who need a remedy would always find it. The same cause that led Him to die for sinners, led Him to institute this Sacrament. It was love that brought Him down to earth and put Him in the hands of sinners; it is love also that brings Him back again and puts Him in the same hands. There was no other cause for this Great work but love on His part and need on our part. Therefore, this Sacrament is a common remedy for the just and for sinners. 

This is what they do not understand who stay away from this Sacrament. They do not realize that this Sacrament was instituted not only as food for the healthy, but as medicine for the sick; not only as a gift for the just, but as a remedy for repentant sinners. And he who is weaker needs this Sacrament more. The weak man is much less able to live than the strong. The strong man can go for a longer time without help, but he who is so weak that as soon as God’s eyes are turned from him he begins to fall away, where will he end if he does not use this aid?

Therefore, the Lord especially compassionated this type of person when He said: ‘If I let them go away hungry, they will fall by the wayside, because some of them have come from afar.’ Then as now those who have come from afar were in greater danger because they have had a longer journey; so also the weak suffer more because they have yet a long way to travel before they reach the perfection of charity. And since this heavenly bread was meant as a help for such as these, it is not temerity but a very salutary prudence to make use of this remedy and medicine which has been provided by Him at the cost of no less love than blood. One of the great faults of men and for which they shall one day have to give an accounting, is that they have not taken advantage of the remedy of the Blessed Sacrament. 

(Summa of a Christian Life – Preparation for Communion - Venerable Louis of Granada, O.P.)

 

Monday Musings - You Have The Time

 

Eucharistic Reflection - Heaven Cannot Understand

(Copyright© Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P., Used With Permission)

"Christmas night rocked Heaven. Angels were aghast at the Incarnation. But Holy Thursday night struck them dumb. That God should become a Babe in swaddling clothes was cause for overwhelming surprise; but that God should bury Himself in Bread and become the very Food of man dazzled and stupefied the nine choirs of Heaven’s court. And yet, great as was God’s action, they were not completely bewildered by it. No! It took man’s reaction to do that! Heaven was not completely bewildered until it saw man’s coldness to God’s condescension.

Bethlehem closed doors – but Bethlehem did not really know who Joseph was or whom Mary tabernacled. Roman soldiers scourged Christ and hammered Him to a Cross while High priests howled and  frenzied Jews mocked; but  none of these fully understood what they did or who He was. But you! – you have made profession after profession of your belief. You say that you know that God is on your altars; that He is there with His Body and His Blood, His soul and Divinity under the guise of Bread and the appearances of Wine. You proclaim to believe that God is Emmanuel – God with us – yet, you leave Him alone!...

[Seraphim] do not understand men and women and even growing children who say that they want life and love, and then deliberately neglect the only Food and Drink that will give them life and love, preserve them in life and love, and augment their lives and their loves! Heaven cannot understand your neglect of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Can you?"

 

(A Trappist Asks Do You Want Life and Love?)

Monday Musings - To Be More Like You

“Lord, you know that I love You. But You also know that my love for You has not always been constant and unconditional.

I spend time each day in prayer but too often do so in a routine, haphazard, and inattentive manner - sometimes just to check “the prayer box off”. I rely too much on the words of others rather than those which have been birthed in my own heart.

You also know Lord that at times, I have acted in a manner inconsistent with my professed love for You and in ways that are inconsistent with what I profess to believe.

How many times Lord have you prompted me to do or not do something, to contact or assist someone – to love someone on Your behalf but I refused or failed to do so?

It is so easy Lord for me to mouth the words I Love You, but far more difficult to actually live out those words in my life. You loved me so much Lord that you died for me. No matter how many times I have sinned against You, You have always forgiven me when I sought your forgiveness in the confessional. Lord, I shudder when reflecting on how many times I could have gone to hell, but You withheld Your hand of justice and extended the arms of Your mercy.

Oh Lord, I've been reasonably faithful to a daily prayer routine for some time now, but many times that is all it is – routine. thoughtless and mechanical

“If you love Me,” You told St. Catherine of Siena, “you must love those who I have placed in your life, and treat them as you would treat Me.”

Teach me Lord how to truly love You and others, to treasure You and to be Christ-like at all times and under all circumstances. Take my words, Lord, and breathe life into them so that when people see me or hear me, they will actually see You and hear You.

 

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - March 6, 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.

Patrick Stewart  

“…the most important thing about the duty of the moment is this: the duty of the moment is where we meet Christ. He’s waiting for us in the duty of the moment, in His will for us. Where am I supposed to be now? What am I supposed to be doing now? That’s where Christ is. That’s where He is waiting for me. Not in the chapel. Of course, He’s in the chapel, but if I’m supposed to be chopping wood right now, he’s not in the chapel waiting for me. He’s at the woodpile. If I’m supposed to be cleaning the dorm, that’s where He is waiting for me. Where am I going to meet my Beloved? Wherever I am supposed to be. It’s so simple. And so wonderful.” 

(From the July-August 2022 issue of Restoration, the monthly newspaper of the Madonna House Apostolate (https://www.madonnahouse.org).

 

William of Saint Thierry, Abbot

“…You first loved us so that we might love You, not because You needed our love but because we could not be what You created us to be, except by loving You.”

(From The Office of Readings for December 16, 2024)

 

Father Jose Gonzalez

“In our own lives, God is constantly calling us to seek Him out and worship Him…How is He calling you? In what way is He sending you a star to follow? Many times when God speaks, we ignore His voice. We must learn from the Magi and diligently respond when He calls. We must not hesitate and must seek to daily be attentive to the way God invites us to a deeper trust, surrender and worship.

Reflect today, upon God’s call in your life. Are you listening? Are you responding? Are you ready and willing to abandon all else in life so as to swerve His Holy Will?"

Seek Him, wait on Him and respond.

(From the Daily Gospel Reflection for January 5, 2025)

 

 

Eucharistic Reflection - Come To The Altar

"You envy the opportunity of the woman who touched the vestments of Jesus, of the sinful woman who washed His feet with her tears, of the women of Galilee who had the happiness of following Him in His pilgrimages, of the Apostles and disciples who conversed with Him familiarly, of the people of the time who listened to the words of grace and salvation which came forth from His lips. You call happy those who saw Him...But, come to the altar and you will see Him, you will touch Him, you will give to Him holy kisses, you will wash Him with your tears, you will carry Him within you like Mary Most Holy."

 

(Attributed to Saint John Chrysostom)

Monday Musings - Don't Be Content Being Mediocre in Your Faith

[The following is an excerpt from Father Jose Gonzalez’s Catholic Daily Reflection for October 24, 2024. It is worth pondering.]

 

 

“When God says He came to set the world afire, He is referring to His desire to purify our souls. Within our souls there are many impurities that must be removed if we want to become one with God.

This purification involves a process of allowing God to bring our sins to the surface so that they are seen and can be removed. But this is only possible if we allow the blazing fire of God's purifying love to consume us!

Oftentimes…we are content with simply being mediocre in our faith journey. [But] God wants us to become so purified from our sin, that He is able to become one with us… God wants so much more from you. He wants to transform you and use you in ways beyond your imagination.”

So let me ask you: Will you let Him?

 

...