Pondering Tidbits of Truth - April 9, 2026

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. 

Full disclosure: This week’s post differs from what you ordinarily find here in that its three thought-provoking quotations come from books I compiled, edited and published. The Catholic Writer’s Guild issued its Seal of Approval to each of the three books from which the following material was excerpted. They are cited here, not to promote myself, but in hopes that something you read will touch your heart and stir your soul. 

 

Mr. Michael Seagriff, O.P.

“Our God does not need any of us, not even for a millisecond. Yet, as Jesus hung from the cross more than 2000 years ago, He let us know He was thirsty – not a physical thirst - but an unquenchable spiritual thirst as our Lord, Savior and Redeemer to be loved by those He created and for whose eternal benefit He died.

In the ensuing centuries, not enough of us have made sufficient effort to quench His thirst. For the most part, many of us ignore His plea to love Him as He loves us. He still thirsts for our love. He is still waiting for us to love Him! Has He not waited long enough? Why have so many of us been unwilling to quench His thirst?

There is only one credible and honest answer to that question - one that should make each of us uncomfortable but spur us to action:

If we really believed Jesus Christ was truly here with us, we would go visit Him. Nothing would prevent us from doing so. We would not permit anyone or anything to take precedence over Him. But we do not come as we ought because not enough of us believe He is here! We are the only ones who can quench His thirst. All we have to do is come into His Presence and tell Him we love Him! That’s it! But most of us don’t and won’t.

He remains not only thirsty but heartbroken!

Shame on us for denying Him what He deserves, what He has asked of us and that which would be so very easy to give Him!"

(From I Thirst forYour Love)

 

Father M. Raymond, O.C.S.O.

Father M. Raymond, O.C.S.O. made the following observations in his 1954 book entitled, God, A Woman and the Way.  This gifted Cistercian priest warned us then that we Catholics were suffering from amnesia – that we had forgotten the purpose of our lives and much of what it means to be Catholic. 

 

“After 20 centuries of miracles from Cana to Fatima, after 20 centuries of martyrs, after 20 centuries of sanctity in every walk of life, after centuries of intellectual brilliance (Augustine, Aquinas, Bonaventure, Scotus), after all the truth that has been poured out by the Fathers, Doctors and ecclesiastical writers, by the 20 Ecumenical Councils of the Church, the infallible pronouncements of our Pontiff…after all this, the world is as pagan today as when Christ was born and had to flee.  Perhaps more so... God, in his world today, is as hidden to most people as he was when in Egypt's exile.” 

Sadly, the same comments can be made as I write today more than [seventy-years]  years later. One might even argue that we Catholics are now comatose. We are not living as we should.  We have forgotten that we were made in the image of God, that as a result of original sin we are prone to sin ourselves, and that without God’s grace we will never overcome our sinful propensities.  We do not know basic fundamental truths of our Faith.  We are not taught our Faith.  We do not live our Faith.

 (From Forgotten Truths To Set Faith Afire – Words to Challenge, Inspire and Instruct)

 

Mr. Michael Seagriff, O.P.

Here are ten questions for further reflection:

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

Do you believe that Jesus is really, truly and substantially present in every Catholic Church and in the Sacred Host placed on your tongue?

     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? 

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

What concrete things can you do to encourage yourself and others in your family and parish toward a greater reverence and belief in the God who dwells among us? 

Which quotation or quotations in Stirring Slumbering Souls - 250 Eucharistic Reflections touched your heart and stirred your soul? Why? 

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

How much do you love God? 

(From Stirring Slumbering Souls – 250 Eucharistic Reflections)