Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

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. St. Bernard of Clairvaux “Look to the star of the sea, call upon Mary. In danger, in distress, in doubt, think of Mary, call upon Mary. May her name never be far from your lips, or far from your heart. If you follow her you will not stray; if you pray to her, you will not despair; if you turn your thoughts to her, you will not err. If she holds you, you will not fail; if she protects you, you need not fear; if she is your guide, you will not tire; if she is gracious to you, you will surely reach your destination." (From A Homily of St. Bernard)   St. John Henry Newman “Realize it, my brethren; —every one who breathes, high and low, educated and ignorant, young and old, man and woman, has a mission, has a work. We are not sent into this world for nothing; we are not born at random; . . . God sees every one of us; He creates every soul,...

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. St. John Paul II "You must learn to think, speak and act in accordance with the simplicity of the Gospel: Yes, yes; no, no. You must learn to call white, white; and black, black. To call sin, sin; and not to call it liberty or progress, even if the fashion is to stand against this teaching." (Address to Youth in Rome, 1981) Catherine Doherty, Servant of God "Communion is the union of man's soul with God the source of all strength. Our communions could change the world if the fire of the Holy Spirit were really allowed to fall on the earth and to renew it through you and me. Our faith centers around the truth that God loved us first and all we have to do to be fiery Apostolic Catholics is to love Him back. If we meditate deeply on the Eucharist we will distinctly hear the loving, powerful, immense heartbeat of God. We would h...

 

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. St. Peter Julian Eymard "This is your mission, O Adorers: to weep at the feet of Jesus despised by His own friends, crucified in so many hearts, abandoned in so many places; to console the Heart of so tender a Father, Whom the devil, His enemy, has robbed of His children. A Eucharistic prisoner, He can no longer go after lost sheep, the prey of ravenous wolves. Your mission is to beg forgiveness for the guilty; to ransom them from divine mercy, which needs willing hearts as substitutes; to become victims of propitiation with the Savior Jesus, Who no longer able to suffer since His resurrection, will suffer in you an through you." (From In The Light of the Monstrance ) Father Donald Haggerty "The danger is quite real that souls habituated to constant technological stimuli will never be silent with themselves, ...

Perpetual Adoration is the most beautiful thing you could ever think of doing. People are hungry for God. Imagine for a moment that we are living in Jesus’ time and He has invited us to visit with Him and spend some quiet time getting to know Him better. Being aware who He was, we would be humbled and honored by such an invitation. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) The good news is that Jesus is here with us TODAY - Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity - in the Holy Eucharist. Although Jesus comes to us under the appearance of bread and wine, His Presence is as real to us NOW as He was flesh-and-blood-real to His disciples when he walked this earth. He can perform miracles, heal us, teach us, and love us. We can talk to Him and He can speak to us through His Word and through the Holy Spirit who lives in us through our baptism and confirmation. (Attributed to St. Teresa of Calcutta)                         ...

Thank you Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan, for inviting your fellow Catholic bloggers to re-post their favorite articles on "Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays.  Go there now (and every Wednesday) and enjoy what these authors have to offer. During the rest of each week. visit Allison at  Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb .  Given the rampant disbelief in and irreverence toward the Holy Eucharist, I chose to share this 2013 post: "Holy Spirit" vs. "Spirit of Vatican II" (Originally posted January 21, 2013) I have made a commitment during this Year of Faith to do a number of things, including reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Vatican II Documents. Both exercises have been worthwhile. From time to time I hope to share the fruits of my efforts. Today, I will start with a few questions. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) Did you know that at the time of Vatican II the vast majority of C...

If God used Balaam’s donkey to get that prophet’s attention, I guess he can use me to get yours. May these periodic Monday postings (God willing) generate fruitful discussion and faithful change. (Image from Biblebios.com)   I have made a commitment during this Year of Faith to do a number of things, including reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Vatican II Documents. Both exercises have been worthwhile. From time to time I hope to share the fruits of my efforts. Today I will start with a few questions. Did you know that at the time of Vatican II the vast majority of Catholic Bishops in the world were opposed to permitting reception of Holy Communion in the hand and that as a result our Holy Father decided not to change the manner in which Communion was administered? ( See Instruction On The Manner of Distributing Holy Communion )   They feared then (and I would argue the resulting realty became) a widespread loss of reverence fo...