Eucharistic Reflection - Look Up and See

What if the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was always and everywhere offered in accordance with the dignity, reverence and obedience our God merits? If we truly worshiped Him as He deserves, do you think more Catholics would willingly and lovingly come to Mass and give their Lord the worship and adoration He ought to receive?

May the following reflection help move us in that direction wherever there may be a need to do so.

(Image Source: Hands at Mass)

When the Host is held on high and a chalice lifted…look up! Look up and see what Mary saw.  See a naked man squirming as He bleeds against a blackened sky; see a battered human body, writhing on a tree, prisoned there by savage spikes that have torn through Sacred hands and feet; see thorn-tortured head tossing from side to side as anguished torso labors, lifts and strains; see the eyes of God roll towards heaven beseeching, as broken lips blurt out that soul piercing cry: “My God, My God, Why has Thou forsaken Me?”

What is this?  This is the Mass.  This is Crucifixion.  This is what Mary saw at the elevation of Christianity’s first Mass.  This is what you should see at the Elevation of every Mass!” 

(Father M. Raymond, O.C.S.O. from God, A Woman and the Way)

  

Monday Musings - Where Is the Zeal for the Salvation of Souls?

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

St. Dominic de Guzman founded the Order of Preachers – the Dominicans – to preach the Gospel and to save souls. 

His zeal to save souls knew no limits. He reportedly spent every night in prayer tearfully asking God, “What will become of sinners?”

Does such zeal for the salvation of souls exist today?

In a recent post on Missio Dei, Kaleb Hammond questioned how many individuals in the world today believe that:

“Jesus is the one and only way to salvation, without whom we cannot enter heaven" and

“Hell is a real possibility for each of us and that Heaven is guaranteed to no one.”

Not many, he concluded, since we live in a culture that believes one religion is "just as good as another" and that all of us will go to heaven. I highly recommend that you read his post, The Heresy of Universalism. Here is a link.

Sadly, Kaleb is right. Our Church has long abandoned its primary duty - the salvation of souls. Not enough of its leaders have shed a tear over the countless souls who have lost their souls because of their failure to teach the Truth and their decision to remain silent in the face of rampant heresy.

Although we can do little for those souls who have already stood before the Throne of Justice, the sons and daughters of St. Dominic have neither quit the battle for souls nor lost their zeal for doing so. As long as the Order of Preachers continues being faithful to preaching the Truth and their mission to save souls, the proponents of religious indifferentism and universal salvation will, in God’s perfect timing, be defeated.

In the meanwhile, we must not remain silent in the face of lies and untruths. We must engage in the battle to save souls. We must know, teach, fraternally correct, live and defend the Truths of our Catholic Faith.

We must join our prayers and tears with those offered and shed by St. Dominic during his lifetime – unwilling to concede, from this point forward, the loss of even one more soul.

Eucharistic Reflection - Persevere in Adoration

“… let us persevere in Adoration. The Adoration of God will never disappoint us. The patient and silent Adoration of Saint Anne made possible the birth of Mary, the mother of the Savior, the most beautiful, the purest, the holiest of all creatures. To all of you whose hearts bear suffering and sorrow, your Adoration will bear fruit in hope. Persevering and relentless Adoration tears through darkness and brings the light of hope.”

(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,)

Monday Musings - Jesus' Invitation

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - August 14, 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.

St. Alphonsus Liguori 

"With regard to evil thoughts, there may be a twofold delusion. God-fearing souls who have little or no gift of discernment, and are inclined to scruples, think that every wicked thought that enters their mind is a sin. This is a mistake, for it is not the wicked thoughts in themselves that are sins, but the yielding or consenting to them. The wickedness of mortal sin consists in the perverse will that deliberately yields to sin with a complete knowledge of its wickedness with full consent. And therefore St. Augustine teaches that when the consent of the will is absent, there is no sin. However much we may be tormented by temptations, the rebellion of the senses, or the inordinate motions of the inferior part of the soul, as long as there is no consent, there is no sin. For the comfort of such anxious souls, let me suggest a good rule of conduct that is taught by all masters in the spiritual life. If a person who fears God and hates sin doubts whether or not he has consented to an evil thought or not, he is not bound to confess it, because it is morally certain that he has not given consent. For had he actually committed a mortal sin, he would have no doubt about it, as mortal sin is such a monster in the eyes of one who fears God that its entrance into the heart could not take place without its being known. Others, on the contrary, whose conscience is lax and not well-informed, think that evil thoughts and desires, though consented to, are not sins provided they are not followed by sinful actions. This error is worse than the one mentioned above. What we may not do, we may not desire. Therefore, an evil thought or desire to which we consent comprises in itself all the wickedness of an evil deed." (From 12 Steps to Holiness and Salvation)

Bishop Joseph Strickland 

“So what does that [love for one another] look like? It looks like quietly offering your Holy Communion for someone who’s abandoned the faith. It looks like fasting for a family member caught in sin. It looks like sitting beside a sick friend at midnight because no one else would. It looks like mentoring a struggling young Catholic – patiently, faithfully, over time. It looks like defending the unborn, even when it makes you hated. It looks likes staying loyal to the Church when shepherds fail – and loving her more in Her wounds. It looks like comforting a parent with a child in prison, or a widow who grieves alone. It looks like pending time in Adoration not just for yourself-but for the whole world.”

(From By This Shall Men Know: A Church that Carries, A Love That Saves, The Wanderer, July 24, 2025 issue) 

 

Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

"At the foot of the Cross, Mary witnessed the conversion of the good thief, and her soul rejoiced that he had accepted the will of God. Her Divine Son's second word, promising paradise as a reward for that surrender, reminded her of her own second word thirty years before, when the angel had appeared to her and told her that she was to be the Mother of Him who was now dying on he Cross...The second word of Jesus on Golgotha [Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise] and the second word of Mary in Nazareth [Be it done to me according to thy word] teach the same lesson: Everyone in the world has a cross, but the cross is not the same for any two of us. The cross of the thief was not the cross of Mary. The difference was due to God's will toward each. The thief was to give life: Mary to accept life. The Thief was to hang on his cross, Mary was to stand beneath hers. The thief was to go ahead; Mary to remain behind. The thief received a dismissal; Mary received a mission. The thief was to be received into paradise, but paradise was to be received into Mary."

(From The Cries of Jesus From the Cross)

 

 

Eucharistic Reflection - Wounded By Love

"Eternal High Priest, make me an entirely Eucharistic soul according to the desires of Thy Sacred Heart and the designs of Thy merciful goodness upon my life. I desire only to love Thee more each day, and to be, by Thy grace, the faithful adorer of Thy Eucharistic Face and the consoling friend of Thy Sacred Heart hidden in the tabernacles of the world, where It beats, wounded by love, forgotten, forsaken, and waiting for the adoration and for the love of even one priest. Amen."

St. John Marie Vianney

Monday Musings - A Painful and Upsetting Truth

Let's be frank: If we really believe that Jesus Christ is truly and  substantially present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the tabernacles of our Churches, we would be there with Him. We would do everything in our power to spend some time with Him and to encourage others to do so as well. 

But we don't really believe this essential Truth. We have abandoned our Loving Lord to His prison-tabernacle and locked the doors of His Churches so that even the few drawn to be with Him are unable to get in.

Stop for a moment and ponder this shocking reality from our Lord's perspective. Is this anyway to treat the Son of God? Of course it isn't!

Go visit and comfort our abandoned and forgotten Lord. Bring  a copy of  Stirring Slumbering Souls - 250 Eucharistic Reflections with you and let the wisdom it contains draw you into His loving embrace and Presence. Enlist in His army of Adorers. Let Him change you and the world!

Here is a sample of what others have said about Stirring Slumbering Souls which received a Seal of Approval from the Catholic Writer's Guild:

"I am still reading Slumbering Souls and wanted to thank you for reawakening my adoration and love of Jesus. - Patricia Grant

“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." - Anne Costa

"Love Stirring Slumbering Souls. Beautiful, inspiring work."- Patricia Casey Vanderloo

"I absolutely LOVED this book. The saints' quotes about the Eucharist were so profound. The author did a fantastic job getting inspirational quotes from so many different sources. I didn't want to put this book down and have purchased it as gifts for several friends." - Janeen Zaio

 Stop what you are doing and go visit Him!

Eucharistic Reflection - We Have But One Response

 

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

“God is greater than our misunderstandings, greater than our doubts.  God is greater than our hearts. In the face of evil, we have no ready-made answers. We have no human answers. Faced with evil, we have but one response: Adoration. Our only response to the mystery of evil is silent Adoration. Yes, evil is incomprehensible, but by faith, we know that trusting Adoration in God is stronger than the absurdity of evil…”

(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)

 

Monday Musings - Yes, It Is Very Possible

"In our modern world, man sees Jesus's forgiveness and mercy as almost givens, taken for granted. Of course, even the most permissive and “merciful” want whatever they might consider evil to be punished, but never their own evil. It's funny how that works. As has often been stated by various authors, two thieves were crucified with Christ. One was saved, so we should not despair, but one was lost, so we should not presume.

Yes, it is very possible for us to lose our salvation, to lose our way eternally. Our Lord is crystal clear on this point in His many parables, as much as He is crystal clear on the need for forgiveness and mercy. But the goal of God's justice is not to separate us eternally but to restore us."

(By Father Dismas Sayre, O.P. published in the July August 2025 issue of Light and Life entitled Is God just, holy and merciful?)