Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

Thank you once again, Allison Gingras at  Reconciled To You  and 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 . Zeal For The Salvation of Souls (Originally posted on July 24, 2011) (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) When I asked rhetorically  just a few days ago , “What happened to the zeal for the salvation of souls?” I was not intending to revisit that issue so quickly despite the fact that I and every one else reading this blog are sinners. Several recent experiences dictate that I do so. In 1946, Pope Pius XII warned us that “The sin of the century is the loss of the sense of sin.” Similar sentiments have been expressed by many, including Fulton J. Sheen, Blessed John Paul II and our current Pope. Their observations are verified by the simple and undisputed fact that relatively few Catholics go to confession anymore. Current pol...

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. Francis Joseph Sheed "I cannot say how often I have been told that some old Irishman saying his rosary is holier than I am with all my study. I daresay he is. For his own sake, I hope he is. But if the only evidence is that he knows less theology than I, then it is evidence that would convince neither him nor me. It would not convince him, because all those rosary-loving, tabernacle-loving old Irishmen I have ever known (and my own ancestry is rich with them) were avid for more knowledge of the Faith. It does not convince me because while it is obvious that an ignorant man can be virtuous, it is equally obvious that ignorance is not a virtue; men have been martyred who could not have stated a doctrine of the Church correctly, and martyrdom is the supreme proof of love: yet with more knowledge of God they would have loved Him still ...

Thanks to the generosity and encouragement of Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan, an ever-expanding group of Catholic bloggers take the time each week to re-post their favorite articles on “Worth Revisiting”.  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: Above All - Do Not Close Our Church Doors (Originally posted October 23, 2014) [ One is left to ponder how different our Church would be today had we listened to the Holy Pontiff . It is not too late to open the doors and encourage us to visit He Who Is Love .] (Image Source- Wikimedia Commons ) "Above all, do not allow - as some do, who are deceived under the pretext of restoring the liturgy or who idly claim that only litur...

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) 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. Pope Pius XII "God lets Himself be seen by those who are able to see Him because they have the eyes of their soul open. Everyone has eyes, but the eyes of some are blinded  as it were in darkness and they cannot see the light of the sun. But the light of the sun does not cease to shine simply because these sightless ones fail to see it; rather is this darkness due to their own inability to see." (From Encyclical Humani generis , August 15, 1950) Blessed Alvaro del Portillo "It is only  in prayer, in the intimacy of a face-to-face and personal dialogue with God which opens up the mind and heart (cf Acts 16:14), that the man of faith can deepen his understanding of God's will with respect to his own life." (From On Priesthood ) St. Theophilus of Antioch ...

[ One is left to ponder how different our Church would be today had we listened to the Holy Pontiff . It is not too late to open the doors and encourage us to visit He Who Is Love .] (Image Source- Wikimedia Commons ) "Above all, do not allow - as some do, who are deceived under the pretext of restoring the liturgy or who idly claim that only liturgical rites are of any real value and dignity - that churches be closed during the hours not appointed for public functions, as has already happened in some places: where the adoration of the august Sacrament and visits to our Lord in the tabernacles are neglected; where confession of devotion is discouraged; and devotion to the Virgin Mother of God, a sign of 'predestination' according to the opinion of holy men, is so neglected, especially among the young, as to fade away and gradually vanish. Such conduct most harmful to Christian piety is like poisonous fruit, growing on the infected branches of a healthy tr...

Shortly after posting this on Monday Musings earlier this week, I visited Creative Minority Report (CMR) and discovered yet another prophet whose voice we ignored - Eugene Cardinal Pacelli (Pope Pius XII).  I suspect that neither this blogger nor the Archbolds over at CMR will ever have much difficulty finding and sharing further examples of how often we, as individuals and Church, have neither heard nor heeded the clear and unambiguous warnings of our loving Lord and His Most Blessed Mother: