Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

 

  (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 .

[I have shared this post several times over the years. Bear with me one more time.] While my wife and I were cleaning out our attic and basement several years ago, we discovered a long lost treasure - photographs from a trip that my eldest daughter and I had taken to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City more than twenty-five years ago. At the time of that visit, the original Church built at the request of the Blessed Mother, was deemed unsafe to enter. A new modern structure – much larger had been erected nearby. I remember pausing in awe and wonder watching pilgrims walking on their knees across the plaza leading to the Cathedral, some of whom I was later told had been walking in that manner for miles. I regret now not having photographically captured the inspiring witness of those devoted souls.  

T hank you 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 .  Remembering Our Lady of Guadalupe (Originally posted on December 12, 2014) Last year on the Memorial of our Lady of Guadalupe, I wrote of the blessed visit my daughter and I had made to the site of this great Marian apparition so many years earlier. You can read that post here. Today I want to share a brief message she delivered to St. Juan Diego - a message meant for our ears as well: "I, who am your Mother, stand before you. You remain always under the shelter of my protection. Be aware of how fortunate you are to have access to my motherly care at all times." Our Lady of Guadalupe, ever at our side,  pray for us!

(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 .

Thank you, Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan, for inviting an ever-expanding group of Catholic bloggers to re-post their favorite articles on “Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays. Do yourself a favor- go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in Faith journey. During the rest of each week. visit Allison at   Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb .  You will be pleased with what they share.  Here is what I am sharing this week: Scurry to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament (Originally posted February 10, 2015) Bet you have had a similar experience. You are reading a passage from Scripture – one that you have read many times in the past. Suddenly from the page leaps an insight that had heretofore escaped your grasp. I had just such an experience early Monday morning when I filled in for an Adorer who was stranded some distance from our Chapel due to a significant snow storm. Let me set for...

(Photo©Michael Seagriff) Thanks to the generosity and encouragement of Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan, an interesting group of Catholic bloggers take the time each week to re-post their favorite articles on “It’s Worth Revisiting” Wednesday. Do yourself a favor- go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in your Faith journey. During the rest of each week. visit Allison at   Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb .  You will be pleased with what they share. Here is what I am sharing this week: Abortion and Adoration (Originally posted January  25, 2013) As we continue fighting to protect life from the moment of conception to natural death, I thought today – a day when tens of thousands will be publicly standing up for life and protesting the horror and slaughter of millions of innocent lives in this nation facilitated by the Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade decision ...

(Source: Wikimedia Commons ) Did you notice in today’s Gospel (John 5:1-16) that the paralytic did not answer Jesus’ question: “Do you want to get well?” Instead, he complained and whined about the injustice of not having anyone to put him into the healing waters of the pool once they were “stirred up”. In not answering the specific question posed to him, this paralyzed man was much like many of us. One of the most difficult things I could get my clients to understand when I practiced law was the necessity to just answer the specific question they were asked. It is shocking how few of them and us actually do that. We are all over the place, either because we didn’t listen carefully enough to what was asked or because we want to avoid answering that question at all costs – to do so might make us uncomfortable or suggest changes we should, but are unwilling, to make in our lives.

As we continue fighting to protect life from the moment of conception to natural death, I thought today – a day when tens of thousands will be publicly standing up for life and protesting the horror and slaughter of millions of innocent lives in this nation facilitated by the Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade decision in 1973   - would be an appropriate time to share one woman’s example of God’s healing touch to those who come into His Presence. Several years ago, a dear friend, who has tirelessly labored for more than two decades to promote Eucharistic Adoration, gave me a copy of the journal entry set forth below with permission to share it widely. You are certainly not required to believe this woman's story. I suspect more than a few will. What no one you should ever doubt, however, is that our Lord continues to physically and spiritually heal countless souls who either humble themselves and spend time in His Eucharistic Presence, or who have asked others who do to intercede...

Run to your local theater and see OCTOBER BABY as soon as you are able! Bring as many of your family and friends with you as possible! This film completes the incomplete public discussion of abortion and the dignity of all human life. The frank beauty and power of its message will anger some but change countless lives. It will cause many to look at this issue with different eyes - the eyes of a woman who survived a botched abortion, the eyes of the nurse who saved her life, the eyes of an aborted child whose life was so abruptly and needlessly ended, the eyes of adoptive parents, the eyes of a birth mother, and the eyes of Christ. In between the tears, you will the see the power of faith, forgiveness, healing, and love. The awesome power of God's love for all Whom He has created will be evident to everyone. Reason and Truth will reign supreme.   No one who views this film with an open mind and loving heart can continue to be ambivalent about the value of all hum...