Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

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. Mother Angelica   "Please, make a visit every so often. Just go into your church for a moment and say, “Hi, Jesus, I’m here. I don’t have much to say.” He knows that...He wants our will, our love, our faith, and our trust. Remember now, you have that, you have everything. Every day, whatever church you belong to, he waits in that tabernacle, hoping when that door opens, it’s you."   St. Peter Julian Eymard "Oh! How well the devil knows that by keeping souls away from the Eucharist he is destroying the Christian family and fostering selfishness in us. For there are only two loves: the love of God and the love of self. We must give ourselves to the one or to the other. How unhappy are they who no longer have the Eucharist! What darkness! What lawlessness of mind! What coldness of heart! Satan alone...

(Photo ©Father Lawrence Lew, O.P. Used with Permission) We see clearly how in lands of comfort, wealth and abundance, man destroys himself, self-destructs, because he forgets God and thinks only of his riches and earthly well-being. What saves the world is the bread of God. Man must be nourished with the bread of God - and the bread of God - is Christ Himself. What will save the world is a man kneeling before God, to adore and to serve Him. God is not at our service. It is we who are at His service. (Cardinal Robert Sarah, July 26, 2025 Homily marking the 400 th anniversary of Saint Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at her shrine in Sainte-Anne d’Auray, Brittany, France)

We are often prone to despair and self-pity. We are quick to abandon fundamental Truths when confronted with adversity.  We forget that we are the adopted children of God and think that He has abandoned us.  We don't  believe that He has a plan for our lives or that with Him all things are possible.  We refuse to believe  everything that God allows in our lives is intended to  assure our eternal salvation. So we avoid Him at all costs and go to  people, places and activities that can never make us truly happy. We convince ourselves that we don't need God. We so despise ourselves that we hang our heads low, fearful of seeing an image of ourselves in the glass panes of the store fronts we walk by.  But we must look up. We must look into the cracked windows of our souls so that we can see ourselves as God sees us - as unique, magnificent treasures  made in His image . Once we open our eyes to this Truth, ...

"What would it be like to see your favorite Saint praying before the Blessed Sacrament. It would probably move you to tears. A saint’s devotion, reverence and silence before the Real Presence would leave no doubt in your mind that Jesus is truly present in the holy Eucharist. Shouldn't this be the case with all Catholics? Shouldn't this be the case with all clergy? What about you? Are you reverent in church? Are you quiet in church? Would someone who saw you praying before the Blessed Sacrament be inspired by your example of Eucharistic piety? If you are doing these things, praise God! Many are not observing these things in church. Too many people arrive late for Holy Mass and leave immediately after Holy Communion so as to get out of the parking lot before everybody else. Before holy Mass in many parishes people are conversing in and over the pews, the choir is rehearsing and those involved in various functions at Mass are running around doing last minute tasks. Some of t...

 

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. 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 Spiritual Combat )   Alice von Hildebrand “But the recognition of our nothingness should go hand in hand with an awareness that God, the infinitely good and merciful God, loves His creatures, these poor beggars that He has knighted by making them to His image ...

"What does Jesus Christ do in the Eucharist? It is God who, as our Savior, offers Himself each day for us to his Father's justice.  If you are in difficulties and sorrows, He will comfort and relieve you. If you are sick, He will either cure you or give you strength to suffer so as to merit Heaven. If the devil, the world, and the flesh are making war upon you, He will give you the weapons with which to fight, to resist, and to win victory. If you are poor, He will enrich you with all sorts of riches for time and eternity.  Let us open the door of His Sacred and adorable Heart, and be wrapped about for an instant by the flames of His love, and we shall see what a God who loves us can do. O my God, who shall be able to comprehend?" St. John Marie Vianney

 

"Offer your whole life to the Lord during Mass every day. Put yourself on the patent with the bread that will become the Body of the Lord. Be the water that is mingled with the wine that will become His precious Blood." (Excerpt from Communion is a Flame Bursting Within by Catherine Doherty, Servant of God)

[What follows is just one of 150 thought-provoking quotations you will encounter in Pondering Tidbits of Truth, Volume 6. ] Venerable Bruno Lanteri  "Do you find yourself turning inward, preoccupied by your anxieties and burdened by your failings? 'Instead of turning in on yourself, lift your gaze often with peace and love to God.' Often. With peace. With love. The less you focus on your failures and the more you gaze on the Lord with peace and love, the more your heart will lift, the stronger you will become, the more joy you will find. Tell Him that 'you want to be totally His' and, with boldness, tell Him that 'it is His to make you become better'!  (From Overcoming Spiritual Discouragement - The Wisdom and Spiritual Power of Venerable Bruno Lanteri)  PAUSE AND PONDER : Is my first inclination when troubled and challenged to turn to God and ask for His assistance? If not, why am I hesitant to do so? Do I believe God can change me? Have I ever asked Him ...

"Everything can be borne between two Masses if every morning we eat the bread of Saints. We will be able to face any kind of day. We will plunge into the sea of fire and come out burning ready to go forth and light fires of love.  You are an empty chalice. Every morning you have to be filled. Every morning you offer yourself, your day, your being and consecrate yourself as a sacrifice to make up for what is wanting in the passion of Christ. I eat Christ in the morning and I am eating up myself through the day." ( Communion is a Flame Bursting Within by Catherine Doherty)