Pondering Tidbits Of Truth - December 30, 2021

 

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.

 

 

 

Johann Tauler, O.P.

“There was once someone who loved our Lord very dearly and to him our Lord offered His divine kiss. But this soul said: ‘No, truly, dear Lord, this is not what I want at all. If I were to be taken out of myself in rapture, I could not be of anymore use to You. How could I then pray for all Your poor souls to help them out of purgatory? How could I pray for miserable sinners?’ It is up to us who are still on earth to help sinners and the souls who cannot help themselves. God cannot do anything for them without our help, because His justice must be perfectly satisfied. So those who love Him and are still on earth must constantly labor for this. Could anyone ask for a greater love of God than that man showed, depriving himself from divine favors from this motive?”

(From Spiritual Conferences)

 

Father Francis Fernandez

“During the years of His public life our Lord had little to say about the political and social situation of His people, and this in spite of their oppression by the Romans. On different occasions he makes it clear that He does not want to be a political Messiah nor a liberator from the yoke of Rome. He came to give us the freedom of the sons of God: freedom from the sins we had committed, which had reduced us to a state of slavery. He came to give us freedom from eternal death, another consequence of sin; freedom from the dominion of the devil, since man could now overcome sin with the help of grace. And finally, He gave us freedom from life according to the flesh, which is opposed to supernatural life: The freedom brought by Christ through the Holy Spirit has restored to us the capacity, of which sin had deprived us. of loving God above all and of remaining in contact with Him…

The Church’s concern for social problems derives from her spiritual mission and is kept within the limits of that mission. The Church, of her very nature, does not fulfill her purpose in solving temporal problems. She follows Christ when He declared that His Kingdom was not of this world, and absolutely refused to be considered a judge or promoter of justice in purely human affairs.”

(From In Conversation With God (1:35.1)

 

Mother Mary Francis, PCC

“There is, among more people all the time, a sense of the horror of the waste of food, of the waste of life. But the common denominator of all this wastefulness is the waste of grace. Our Lady is the only one who in her complete sinlessness never wasted grace. This, I believe, should be our goal this Advent: that we will not waste grace.”

(From Come Lord Jesus)

Eucharistic Reflection - We Are Never Alone

“Life’s difficulties can in the end yield for us great good. We are never alone in even the most overwhelming circumstances. Just as we appreciate the company of a friend when things are going badly, so should we be grateful for the company of our Friend in the nearest Tabernacle. We should go to Him for consolation, peace and strength."  

(Father Francis Fernandez from In Conversation With God)

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - August 23, 2017

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.

Blessed Alvaro del Porillo

[What do people want and expect from the priest:]  "They need, desire and hope – perhaps without thus consciously reasoning out such a need or hope – for a priest who is a priest one hundred percent; a man who shows an ardent concern for them by opening up new horizons for their souls, who exercises his ministry without ceasing, and who has a big heart capable of understanding and loving everyone, though at times his concern may not be reciprocated."

(From On The Priesthood)

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - February 23, 2017

Photo©Michael Seagriff

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

Father Federico Suarez

"If there are so many Christians who today live aimlessly with little depth, and hemmed in on all sides by narrow horizons, it is due, above all, to their lack of any clear idea of why they, personally exist...What elevates a man and truly gives him a personality of his own is the consciousness of his vocation, the consciousness of his own specific task in the universe."

(From Mary of Nazareth)

Gospel Reflection - Do You and I Really Want to See Jesus?

[Recycling an earlier post]

In today's Gospel, we find the hated tax collector Zacchaeus doing everything he could in order to see this Jesus of whom he had heard, including climbing up onto a tree. He did not care what people thought of him. He wanted to see Jesus and nothing and no one were going to stop him.
 

He probably did not expect that Jesus would actually look up, see him perched in the tree, speak to him, and then ask to stay at his home that very day. Jesus too was unconcerned about what his Jewish brethren would think of His entering the home of such a public and despised sinner.  Jesus came to save all of us sinners, including this despised tax collector. Zacchaeus not only saw Jesus, he allowed Jesus to change him forever. 

What about me? What about you? Do you and I really want to see Jesus? 

Before answering those questions, read and ponder the words of our beloved Saint John Paul II, which the author of In Conversation with God included in his reflection for today:  

“Do I want 'to see Christ'? Do I do everything 'to see him'? This question, two thousand years later, is as relevant as it was then, when Jesus passed through the cities and villages of his land. It is a relevant question for each of us personally today: Do I want to? Do I really want to? Or do I perhaps rather avoid the encounter with Him? Do I prefer not to see Him and do I prefer Him not to see me (at least in my way of thinking and feeling)? And if I already see Him in some way, then do I prefer to see Him from afar, not drawing too near, not venturing before Him so as not to perceive too much... so as not to have to accept the whole truth that is in Him, that comes from Him – from Christ?” 

(Saint John Paul II, Address, November 2, 1980)

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - September 22, 2016

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.

Father Francis Fernandez

"Apostolic zeal, the desire to draw many people to Our Lord, does not require us to do anything odd or peculiar, and much to neglect our family, social or professional duties, It is precisely in those situations – in our family, at work, with our friends, in everyday human relationships – that we find scope for an apostolic activity which may often be silent, but which is always efficacious."

(In Conversation With God, Volume 4:75.2)

Eucharistic Reflection - The Tabernacle

Next to the Tabernacle we will learn how to love. There we will draw the strength necessary to remain faithful. There we shall find consolation in times of sorrow. He waits for us always and He rejoices when we are next to Him, even if only for a short while. 

(Photo©Michael Seagriff)

Here Jesus waits for His people who suffer the contradictions of this life. He comforts them with the warmth of His understanding and His love.

It is in the Tabernacle that those words of our Lord come to life: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. We will not fail to visit Him. He is waiting for us. How many are the gifts He has prepared for us!

(From In Conversation With God, Vol.4:43.3)