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. Father Anthony J. Paone, S.J.   “My Child, if you desire to make progress along the way to Heaven, keep in your heart a holy fear of the Divine Justice. It is only reasonable that you should be afraid to hurt yourself. When you bring sin into your life, you are making yourself an object of My justice. I, the Eternal Truth, cannot accept you as good if you have become bad by sin. Therefore, keep your earthly desires under control and refuse to surrender yourself to unnecessary or dangerous pleasures. This holy fear of My justice will help you to stay free of the slavery of earthly attractions… If your love of Me is not yet strong enough to hold you back from doing wrong, then let your fear of hell keep you from sinning. A man who lacks this wise and holy fear will not go on doing good things for long. He will soon fall into Satan's snares a...

 

 

Today is the seventh anniversary of the death of my brother Pete. He was a Marine’s marine who gave his all to the Corps and the defense of this nation and its freedoms. May his sacrifices, sufferings and courage never be forgotten. May I ask you to join me in praying: “Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen".  We miss you Pete!

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. Robert Cardinal Sarah “Relativism, that terribly effective bleach, has wiped out everything in its path. Doctrinal and moral confusion is reaching its height. Evil is good, good is evil. Man no longer feels any need to be saved. The loss of the sense of salvation is the consequence of the loss of the transcendence of God.”   (From  The Day Is Now Far Spent) Father Thomas Dubay "God gives prayer growth precisely according to our degree of readiness for it. He forces no one. According as we are more or less receptive, He bestows more or less depth of communion. In the same manner, five hundred people in a parish church all hear the same sound waves during the homily, but they profit from it exactly as they are or are not disposed for the message. Jesus taught the same truth in his parable of the sower: from the wor...

  (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons )   "My Dearest Jesus, Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, my Savior and Redeemer, my Love and my Life; I behold You, hidden in the spotless Host―Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.   I love You! I adore You! I trust in You!   I surrender my intellect and my will to You. I surrender my all to You. Please help me to know You, love You, and serve You ever more perfectly.   Please grant me the grace to love You ever more intimately, so that You may be in me and I may be in You―that my love may be complete.   Please allow the Indwelling of the Three in me to reflect the Trinity dwelling in You, so that I may be a mirror of Your Divine Love.   It is only by Your unfathomable mercy that I can bear Your radiance, and it is only by Your infinite love that I may love!   O my Jesus! Please grant me the greatest desire to love you without ceasing and to be fearlessly ...

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 J. Augustine Wetta, O.S.B.   "A brother said to Father Poemen, ‘The Devil is attacking me, and I am very discouraged.’ The old man replied, ‘The Devil only attacks his enemies. Be discouraged when he stops'." ...

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. Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration "The most powerful thing we can do on this earth with our time is to spend it in Eucharistic adoration. Nothing can do more to change the world, to bring about peace, to convert hearts, to make reparation for the many evils committed. Spending time in prayer may seem, on the outside, to be a passive thing; however, it is anything but! Our world is in desperate need of hope, of renewal, of a 'turning back' to the things of God. By visiting Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, we take up the best weapon for the battles of our age and contribute to the healing of our culture. Cultivating a Eucharistic life of adoration also bears tremendous fruit in our own hearts and lives. We cannot spend time in the rays of His Eucharistic Presence without receiving His grace, His love, His mercy, His peace. As we gaze...

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. Boniface   "Can there be a more fitting pursuit in youth or a more valuable possession in old age than a knowledge of Holy Scripture? In the midst of storms, it will preserve you from the dangers of shipwreck and guide you to the shore of an enchanting paradise and the ever-lasting bliss of the angels.   (From Morning Offering )   Father Jesse Maingot, O.P. “My love of God is really an invitation to be loved by Him…God longs for each one of us. He wants us to understand how much He wishes to give Himself to us…Our spiritual life is God’s pursuit of us. We must yield ourselves to this God who is chasing after us."   (From SpiritualDirection.com )   St. Louis Mary de Montfort "Only he will receive, will find, and will enter who perseveres in asking, seeking, and knocking. It is not enough to ask Almighty ...

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 Chrysostom "Even if you do not confess, God is not ignorant of the deed, since he knew it before it was committed. Why then do you not speak of it? Does the transgression become heavier by the confession? No, it becomes lighter and less troublesome. And this is why he wants you to confess: not that you should be punished, but that you should be forgiven; not that he may learn your sin—how could that be, since he has seen it?—but that you may learn what favor he bestows. He wishes you to learn the greatness of his grace, so that you may praise him perfectly, that you may be slower to sin, that you may be quicker to virtue. And if you do not confess the greatness of the need, you will not understand the enormous magnitude of his grace."                       ...

Monday Musings – Be Diligent in Prayer   “Have you noticed that you always have plenty of time for the things that you love, but there's never enough time for the things that you don't? Some people dread, avoid or find little joy in prayer because they spend their time worriedly digging into their troubles, rather than focusing on the Lord. It is so much harder to be diligent in prayer if prayer is more a matter of discipline than desire. Turn your thoughts heavenward, look up to Jesus who walked on water. Keep from peering down into the stormy seas. The more you gaze at Him, the more prayer will be a joy. I have excerpted the words above from a reflection on Diligence in Prayer contained in Mary’s Mantle – Consecration Prayer Journal by Christine Watkins - a book I highly recommend and one which has provided me with much fruit for mediation. Let me share my journal response to Christine’s reflection in hopes that something she or I have written will stir your 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. Hubert Van Zeller, O.S.B. "The weight of evil in the world seems overwhelming. We feel it everywhere and our effort to resist is smothered. But God does not  see things in this way. God must still see the world as good or he would not allow it to continue its existence. H e prefers, so St. Augustine tells us, to draw good out of evil rather than not to permit any evil at all." (From The Mystery of Suffering) Father Benedict Baur, O.S.B.  "Think of all of our omissions with regard to opportunities for and impulses toward prayer. All those free moments we have in the course of each day: we could use them for prayer, but we omit to do so…Think of all the inspirations of grace and all the impulses to good we neglect or to which we turn a deaf ear. We know that God is speaking to us ...

“Lord, you know that I love You. But You also know that my love for You has not always been constant and unconditional. I spend time each day in prayer but too often do so in a routine, haphazard, and inattentive manner - sometimes just to check “the prayer box off”. I rely too much on the words of others rather than those which have been birthed in my own heart. You also know Lord that at times, I have acted in a manner inconsistent with my professed love for You and in ways that are inconsistent with what I profess to believe. How many times Lord have you prompted me to do or not do something, to contact or assist someone – to love someone on Your behalf but I refused or failed to do so? It is so easy Lord for me to mouth the words I Love You , but far more difficult to actually live out those words in my life. You loved me so much Lord that you died for me. No matter how many times I have sinned against You, You have always forgiven me when I sought your forgiveness in the c...

I know the importance of praying. It is a lesson I learned early on in my spiritual journey. Many saints have made it clear that I must pray and that I must never abandon my prayer - no matter how tired, distracted, arid or depressed I may be. The minute I abandon prayer “the slide toward eternal damnation begins.” Thankfully, I do have a daily routine of prayer that has provided a certain rhythm to my life - one that I can easily lose if I put off or do not say my prayers. So, I persevere in my prayer even when I do not seem to get anything out of it, even when God seems so far away and uninterested in me, even when I have sinned, lost my temper or become angry. At the same time, I recognize far too often, I am merely saying words like a robot - distractedly, too quickly, with little or no reflection. Sometimes, I am just going through my “checklist” but benefiting very little from the effort. I do not use my own words or express my own feelings as often as I should. Instead, I us...

"When a respected friend and fellow author suggested I get a copy of Tina Jost’s book One Hour for My Priest , I followed her advice. When I received it, I skimmed through it to get a feel for it. It was not until I brought this gem of a book with me to Adoration that it became alive! I cannot recommend this book more highly.  Our priests are under attack. We can no longer be timid in our prayer support for them. Remember: No priests, No Eucharist, No Mass, No Sacraments. Join the battle to strengthen our priests and to save souls."

  “Lord my mind and heart, I believe, are in the right place. Make sure, Lord, that my keyboard is there as well.” A Catholic Blogger’s Prayer