Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

(Photo credit: Fulton Sheen.com ) Thank you once again, Allison Gingras at  Reconciled To You  and Elizabeth Riordan at  Theology Is A Verb   for hosting Worth Revisiting each week. It is a privilege to share our work with you and your followers . Here is my contribution. That More of Our Priests Would Heed This Fine Shepherd's Voice (Originally published on April 16, 2012) I have frequently expressed my fondness and admiration for Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen. Not surprisingly, I appreciated the article Father John Baptist Ku, O.P. wrote about this preacher which he entitled Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen: Master Preacher, Master of the Airwaves . You will too. Let me share the following excerpt from Father's article. In doing so, I ask everyone reading this entry today to pray that all of our priests will follow the good Archbishop's example and advice - knowing in my heart that if they did so their priesthood, ou...

I am a big fan of Archbishop Sheen. It is a shame that so many Catholics do not know more about him and his writings.  The following quotation is a powerful reminder of an unsettling truth: our Loving Lord has placed prophets here among us but we have ignored them. What a different world this would be had we listened to the prophetic voice of Archbishop Sheen and the other messengers God has sent: [ I ran across this particular quotation yesterday on Tony Agnesi's blog - a place you should visit.]

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. From St. John Eudes “Our wish, our object, our chief preoccupation must be to form Jesus in ourselves, to make His spirit, His devotion, His affections, His desires and His disposition live and reign there. All our religious exercises should be directed to this end. It is the work which God has given us to do unceasingly.”                        ( The Life and Reign of Jesus in Christian Souls ) From Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen "Moral principles do not depend on a majority vote. Wrong is wrong, even 'if everybody' is wrong. Right is right, even if nobody is right." From Thomas Dubay, S.M.   In the view of St. Teresa of Avila and of St. John of the Cross, many think they are “listening to the Spirit”, whereas...

I have frequently expressed my fondness and admiration for Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen. Not surprisingly, I apppreciated the article Father Kevin Gabriel Gillen, O.P. posted on the website for the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, entitled Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen: Master Preacher, Master of the Airwaves . You will too. Let me share the following excerpt from Father's article. In doing so, I ask everyone reading this entry today to pray that all of our priests will follow the good Archbishop's example and advice - knowing in my heart that if they did so their priesthood, our Church and our world would be so much different than they presently are: What exerted the greatest influence in the life of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen and has become his trademark is the Holy Hour. Sheen entitles one of the chapters in his autobiography, “The Hour That Makes My Day.” On the day of his ordination, Sheen resolved to spend one hour in the presence of the Bles...

Yes, I’ll admit it. I love everything I ever read that was written by the late Servant of God, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. You will find more than two dozen of his gems included in my book, Forgotten Truths To Stir Faith Afire! –Words to Challenge, Inspire and Instruct” .   The following, however, is one that got away. I don’t know how I overlooked it: "America is suffering not so much from intolerance, which is bigotry, as it is from tolerance, which is indifference to truth and error, and a philosophical nonchalance that has been interpreted as broad-mindedness." (Servant of God, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen )  

We marvel at the physical miracles, big and small, that Jesus performed during His time here on earth – for example raising Lazarus from the dead and healing St. Peter’s mother-in-law of her fever. And well we should. But what we often overlook is the frequency with which Jesus spoke to and expelled demons – as is mentioned in today’s Gospel. Isn’t it foolish to think that there is less demonic presence in our current times then when Jesus walked this earth? The reality of Satan and the never ending spiritual battle to which we are subjected during our earthly lives are two topics rarely discussed or considered these days. Too few among us recognize that we are engaged in spiritual combat with the unseen demons roaming the world in search of our souls. This is not, according to Father George P. Schommer, O.P., a good thing: “The devil is real.   We fail to recognize the reality of his existence and power and therefore we often fall prey to his many tricks.  ...

Imagine what we, our families, our priests, our Church, our communities and our world would be like if the Eucharist was, in fact, the source, center and summit of our daily lives. The following two men have something significant to share with all of us, be we lay men and women, priests or religious, about the value of Eucharistic Adoration. May our spiritual journey and desire for holiness be enriched by reading and reflecting on what they have said. Father James M. Sullivan, O.P. – “Adoration is not just one more thing to do, like going to the store, the doctor, etc.   It is an encounter with Christ.   His love changes and orders our life.” Fulton Sheen, Servant of God – “The priest should think of the practice of the daily Holy Hour, as something to continue for his whole life…the daily Holy Hour gives us wisdom…The mind of the priest who lives close to the tabernacle door gains a special illumination.   The priest's mind and heart are best guided when the...

According to St. Pius X, our sanctity depends in large measure on the holiness of our priests. This Holy Thursday then is an appropriate time to reflect on our priests, the imperative that the Eucharist be the source, center and summit of their and our lives, and our duty as laity to treasure, encourage and support them. We begin by recalling how eloquently St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Doctor of our Church, wrote of what it is to be a priest:   “We must begin by purifying ourselves before purifying others; we must be instructed to be able to instruct, become light to illuminate, draw close to God to bring Him close to others, be sanctified to sanctify, lead by the hand and counsel prudently…I know God’s greatness and man’s weakness but also his potential.   The priest is the defender of Truth, who stands with angels, gives glory with archangels, causes sacrifices to rise to the altar on high, shares Christ’s priesthood, refashions creation, restores it in God’s image, re...