Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

It's Good Friday. Gaze into His eyes and then ponder these words. PLEASE TAKE NOTE :  I HAVE BEEN CENSURED. MY IMAGE AND POST HAVE BEEN REMOVED. WHY? I HAVE NO IDEA. BY WHOM? I ASSUME BY BLOGGER. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY THIS WAS DONE, WHAT OFFENSE I MAY HAVE COMMITTED. NO ONE CONTACTED ME BEFORE OR AFTER THEY REMOVED MY POST.  THIS ACTION SHOULD UPSET EVERYONE WHO VALUES FREEDOM OF SPEECH. I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO CONTACT BLOGGER TO GET AN EXPLANATION. THEY MAKE COMMUNICATION WITH THEM NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE.  IF ANYONE HAS HAD A SIMILAR EXPERIENCE OR HAS FOUND A WAY TO CONTACT AND GET AN ANSWER FROM BLOGGER I WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR CONTACTING ME. BUT WAIT. A MIRACLE??? SUDDENLY AFTER INSERTING  THE PLEASE TAKE NOTE TEXT ABOVE, THE LINK TO MY TEXT REAPPEARS AND WORKS...DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING BUT AM THANKFUL... 

I have shared this post before: It is only with much perseverance and undeserved grace that our meditation and contemplation will bear fruit - fruit which we should share with those around us. On those occasions when we are so blessed, most of us will resort to sharing our experience with written or spoken words. A rare few who ponder persistently the mysteries of our Faith and the life of our Savior Jesus Christ, and who have been blessed with artistic gifts, will receive a greater grace - the ability to share the fruits of their meditation and contemplation through the creation of penetrating, piercing, and powerful images of He Whom they have contemplated. Take time this Good Friday (and from time to time thereafter) to gaze upon and ponder the drawing posted below. Let your eyes, heart, mind and soul take in every painstakingly created feature of this compelling representation of our Lord. Ponder the depth of God's love for you as He suffered such a savage, barbar...

 (Image source: Full of Eyes.com )

It is only with much perseverance and undeserved grace that our meditation and contemplation will bear fruit - fruit which we should share with those around us. On those occasions when we are so blessed, most of us will resort to sharing our experience with written or spoken words. A rare few who ponder persistently the mysteries of our Faith and the life of our Savior Jesus Christ, and who have been blessed with artistic gifts, will receive a greater grace - the ability to share the fruits of their meditation and contemplation through the creation of penetrating, piercing, and powerful images of He Whom they have contemplated. Take time this Good Friday (and from time to time thereafter) to gaze upon and ponder the drawing posted below. Let your eyes, heart, mind and soul take in every painstakingly created feature of this compelling representation of our Lord. Ponder the depth of God's love for you as He suffered such a savage, barbaric and painful death in order tha...

(Photo©Michael Seagriff) [The good Archbishop's words from decades ago remain relevant, timeless and true. Would that this Lent we have ears that will hear.] D uring His earthly life, He solicited us to avail ourselves of Redemption by seeing what sin cost. The evil of sin is the Crucifixion of the God-man. The worst thing that sin can do is not to bomb cities or kill children, but to crucify Goodness. No man. is ever conscious of sin, when he thinks of it as merely breaking a law. He never sees the full intensity of sin until he realizes what he does to a person. Many an alcoholic does not know the evil of his sin until, driving while drunk, he kills a child. So when we look, not to a broken law, but at the broken Person of Christ on the Cross, we begin to see the full gravity of sin. We see it in the nails and in the crown of thorns, but we also see the love of God Who goes on loving us despite our sins. On the Cross, Our Lord poured out His Life's Blood,...

This is not just another Friday. This is Good Friday. Will that fact make any difference in the way we live this day?  For far too many of us, today will likely pass much like any other Friday - a mad rush to get to the weekend with little thought of He Who made us and whose sacrificial and brutal death redeemed us. Where is our gratitude? Unforgettable (Source: Wikimedia Commons ) This the day so long foretold This the day of justice lacking This the day of man’s ingratitude This the day of cowardice and fear

First just with words: "My people! What have I done, in what way have I offended you? Answer me. I gave you the water of salvation which flowed from My sorrow to drink and you gave Me honey and vinegar. My people what have I done to you?"   (From Good Friday Liturgy)       Then with an image and words:            

This the day so long foretold   The day of little light The day of justice lacking The day of man’s ingratitude The day of cowardice and fear     This the day of torture and sorrow The day of darkness and death The day of horror and pain The day of weeping women   The day of uncaring masses This the day sin prevailed   The day that mirrored night The day so profound and tragic The day of death and new life The day with kiss betrayed This the day your apostles fled The day Peter knew you not The day the cock crowed thrice The day of whips and chains The day of piercing thorns This the day of spittle and stones The day of splintered wood The day your cross bearing The day of multiple falls The day of Simon’s helping hand This the day of Veronica’s veil     The day stripped of clothing The day your mother sobbed The da...