Pondering Tidbits of Truth - April 24, 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. Peter Kreeft, Ph.D.  "The object of faith is not feelings but truth, and the subject and agent of faith is will, not feelings. The will is like the ocean, and the feelings are like the waves. The ocean is always reliably there even though the waves are high one day and low the next."

 (From his book Calvinist to Catholic)

St. Catherine of Siena   "I've appointed the Devil to tempt and to trouble My creatures in this life [St. Catherine of Siena reports that Our Lord said to her]. I've done this, not so that My creatures will be overcome, but so that they may overcome, proving their virtue and receiving from Me the glory of victory. And no one should fear any battle or temptation of the Devil that may come to him, because I've made My creatures strong, and I've given them strength of will, fortified in the Blood of My Son.  Neither the Devil nor any other creature can control this free will, because it's yours, given to you by Me. By your own choice, then, you hold it or let it go if you please. It's a weapon, and if you place it in the hands of the Devil, it right away becomes a knife that he'll use to stab and kill you. On the other hand, if you don't place this knife that is your will into the hands of the Devil—that is, if you don't consent to his temptations and harassments—you will never be injured by the guilt of sin in any temptation. Instead, you'll actually be strengthened by the temptation, as long as you open the eyes of your mind to see My love, and to understand why I allowed you to be tempted: so you could develop virtue by having it proved. My love permits these temptations, for the Devil is weak. He can do nothing by himself unless I allow him. So I let him tempt you because I love you, not because I hate you. I want you to conquer, not to be conquered, and to come to a perfect knowledge of yourself and of Me."   (An excerpt from Manual for Spiritual Warfare)   Patrick Madrid "Like an hourglass with a certain number of grains of sand within it, God has appointed your life to last only a certain number of days, and you have absolutely no idea how many there are. ... In God’s presence, consider: I have no idea when my life will end. All I know is that death will come for me eventually. Am I doing anything to prepare for the real possibility that God may call me, sooner rather than later? If he called me into eternity today, would I be ready?" (An excerpt from A Year with the Bible)

 

Do You Really Want To Get Well?

 

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

There is a vital lesson to learn from the paralytic in John's Gospel.

When we fail to listen to, and answer the specific question, God places in our hearts, we may lose the opportunity to receive a great and undeserved gift. Listen here.

Monday Musings - The Essential Things We Must Do

 

Monday Musings - Gaze at The Crucifix

 

Monday Musings - What Will Our Times Ask of Faithful Followers of Jesus Christ?

For some days now, I have been reading and pondering excerpts from an outstanding book written by Father Timothy Gallagher, O.M.V. entitled Overcoming Spiritual Discouragement - The Wisdom and Spiritual Power of Venerable Bruno Lanteri.

This is a book I highly recommend.

Given the chaos in our Church, country and world - all rooted in our having turned our hearts, minds and souls away from God and His eternal Truths and, for the most part, in our having individually and as a Church, remained silent in the presence of evil - the following words of Venerable Lanteri which I read this morning, seem most timely:

"I do not live except for the glory of God; to this alone I must dedicate all my abilities of soul and body. And when it is necessary to think, speak and labor for God, to give my very life, let all be lost, let whatever will happen, happen: This I must do."

These were not just abstract words of Venerable Bruno. A time came when the pope was held captive by Napoleon, and Venerable Bruno knew that he put his life on the line in defending him. In fact, he was arrested, interrogated, stripped of his priestly ministry and exiled - an exile he did not expect to survive.

What will our times ask of us faithful followers of Jesus and members of his Body, the Church? What did they ask of St. Thomas More? Of those who live their Christian faith in places and times of persecution? 

'When it is necessary to think, speak and labor for God, to give my very life, let all be lost, let whatever will  happen, happen: This I must do.'

With quiet trust in the Father's love, in the power of Jesus' saving grace, in the courage infused by the Holy Spirit, let this desire, this prayer, arise from your heart too."

My friends, these words of Venerable Lanteri, are not abstract. They describe the times in which we live and the challenge each of us will now face - whom will we serve - God or man?

If we were unwilling to conform our vote to God's Truth - a  relatively easy and safe thing to do in the privacy of the voting booth - can we really expect now to have the courage to publicly offer our lives in defense of that Truth?

For such a grace we pray!

Monday Musings - All Will Be Well!

Lord, no matter how hard I try, I will never be able, on this earth, to fully understand Who You are and how undeserving I am to have been created in Your image. 

Why You would humble Yourself to take on human flesh and to die for a sinner such as myself? - Because You love me and  offer me an opportunity for eternal life. 

(Image Source)

 

There is much that has happened in my life that I still do not understand. Though at times I have become so despondent (over what I now realize were mere trifles, toothpicks) that I begged You to end my life, I "know": that everything that has happened in my life was a part of Your great plan. Every second of despair was designed to bring me closer to You. Every scream of pain and hopelessness was a step toward being transformed into You. Everything I have experienced or will experience in this life is intended to assure I can spend eternity in Your Presence.

I marvel at the depth of Your love for me - Your infinite Patience. 

St. Catherine of Siena tells us: the more we come to know ourselves, the more we will come to know You. She did not say that this journey of discovery would be easy or painless.

So, Lord, when I cannot understand what is going on in my life, when I feel spiritually that I am dying, let me recall this Truth: You will never “allow a negative unless it leads to a positive.” Whether I understand Your purpose or not, I must accept whatever happens in my life as necessary for my salvation and for the salvation of the souls I love.

With Your grace then Lord: “I will silence my worry, adopt a spiritual perspective and cease to ask why, because I understand, I truly understand, that all will be well!"

ALL WILL BE WELL for those who place their love and trust in You.

 

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - October 29, 2020

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.

  

 

 

Archbishop Joseph Raya

“Faith doesn’t mean you can’t panic. Mary and Joseph almost certainly panicked when they lost Jesus in the temple. What it means is that you keep on going even if you do panic. You just do whatever is right in front of you, and keep on going, in faith that it will all work out.”

 (From July-August 2020 issue of RESTORATION published by Madonna House)

 

 

Dan Burke

“No matter how [spiritual] consolation specifically surfaces within us, if it is authentic, it will always draw us to submit to the magisterium of the Church and to God’s will and ways. It is really no more complicated than that. The challenge is that if we are not well catechized – and most of us are not – we may not understand or even notice when we are led astray. By God’s grace we have a catechism that addresses all the most important topics of our faith. The more we know our faith, the better our practice of discernment will be.”

(From Spiritual Warfare and the Discernment of Spirits)

 

Pope Benedict XVI

 “A first essential setting for learning hope is prayer. When no one listens to me anymore, God still listens to me. When I can no longer talk to anyone or call upon anyone, I can always talk to God. When there is no longer anyone to help me deal with a need or expectation that goes beyond the human capacity for hope, He can help me.”

 (From On Christian Hope)

 

Monday Musings - On Closer Scrutiny - Not So Much

We proclaim in our religious art and with our lips in prayer that we trust in Jesus and this we ought to do.

But then our actions suggest "not so much".

“Through Holy Communion, help me to love Thee with my whole mind – so that I may value Thy good pleasure, Thy grace, Thy Heaven, above everything else - above my convenience, above all earthly treasures, above all knowledge and friendship, above health and life (emphasis added).”

(From A Novena of Holy Communions by Father Lawrence G. Lovasik, S.V.D)

Lord, increase our faith and trust in You!