Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

[I have shared this post before. Its content is forever relevant and worthy of our consideration.] The gifts of the Magi - gold, frankincense, and myrrh - were expensive and very significant physical gifts. But they pale in comparison to the spiritual gifts we can give our Infant, Crucified, and Risen Lord – if we would but choose to do so. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) The gifts I am about to describe, when given to our Lord in love and gratitude, weekly (daily if possible), will not only please Him, but will result in our being united more intimately with the Prince of Peace. What follows are some concrete suggestions as to what each of us can and should do every time we attend Mass, if we are serious about loving God as He deserves and as we ought. We don’t need any one’s permission to do any of these things.  We will just do these things out of love and reverence and let God do the rest:        Read and ponder the Mass reading...

     MERRY CHRISTMAS! [What follows is my annual Christmas message to the Adorers at St. Agatha's. I hope it will also resonate in the hearts of my readers]   “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us”. - John 1:14 As we begin our nineteenth year of Adoration, we give thanks to our Loving Lord for the Gift of His Presence here among us. How blessed we are to spend time with Him, sometimes by ourselves and, from time to time, with other silent, prayerful Adorers. Like the lowly Shepherds and the foreign Wise Men who first paid Him homage, we too come to adore the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. As we kneel in front of our Precious Savior, embraced by this priceless Monstrance, blessed by our late Holy Father, St. John Paul II, we are gazing upon the very same Jesus who took on human flesh and walked this earth, albeit concealed in the Sacred Host. Right before our very eyes is:       ...

Who Will Step Up This Christmas and Speak the Truth in Love? (Originally posted December 9, 2014) [This is one of the two times each year when, I believe,  our Lord most dreads the silence that will envelop far too many of our parishes. Someone needs to give voice to His yearnings. Where is the zeal for the salvation of souls? ] (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) Let us welcome with open arms the thousands who will flock to our Churches this Christmas – most especially those who rarely come to worship the God whose birth we commemorate. But what does Love command we tell them?  Speaking the Truth is, at times, very difficult but necessary. This is one of those times. If our primary concern is for the salvation of souls (and it should be), silence about their absence from our midst during the rest of the year is not an option. Such silence will be construed as tacit approval of their continual and mortally sinful absen...

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) "Christ's body on earth at Bethlehem was the same body which is now on earth in our tabernacles all over the world. The only difference is that now He is veiled beneath the species of bread and wine. The Blessed Sacrament is the continuation of Christmas; we cannot think of Christ's first personal visit two thousand years ago without instinctively thinking of His constant visit at every present moment. We owe the Blessed Sacrament to Bethlehem.  Each recurring Christmas Day should refresh in your mind the magnificent import of the bodily presence of God among us. As you receive Holy Communion on each occasion, the story of Bethlehem is being renewed and continued in your heart, for the cave was the first tabernacle and the manger was the first ciborium. You have the opportunity of 'wrapping the Child in swaddling clothes and laying Him in the manger' of your own heart every day if you wish.  In the Blessed Sacramen...