Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

 

“Our attraction for the tabernacle is a gift for which we cannot be sufficiently grateful…The mystery of that attraction is never an easy comprehension. We simply know it and treasure it in an utterly personal manner. Our eyes gravitate in the direction of the tabernacle when all is quiet because someone is there in that location even as he is silent…We sense in an utterly Catholic manner that this blessed location of the tabernacle is the secret hiding place for the sacred presence that it encloses. He summons us to himself there and we find in a lifetime of prayers before the Blessed Sacrament his ever-penetrating gaze." (Father Donald Haggerty from Conversion: Spiritual Insights into an Essential Encounter with God )

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.   Full disclosur e: This week’s post differs from what you ordinarily find here in that its three thought-provoking quotations come from books I compiled, edited and published. The Catholic Writer’s Guild issued its Seal of Approval to each of the three books from which the following material was excerpted. They are cited here, not to promote myself, but in hopes that something you read will touch your heart and stir your soul.    Mr. Michael Seagriff, O.P. “Our God does not need any of us, not even for a millisecond. Yet, as Jesus hung from the cross more than 2000 years ago, He let us know He was thirsty – not a physical thirst - but an unquenchable spiritual thirst as our Lord, Savior and Redeemer to be loved by those He created and for whose eternal benefit He died. In the ensuing centuries, not enough of us have made suf...

Dearest Lord Jesus! You are present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist, we know.  Sometimes, as in the miracle You granted us in Bordeaux, France in 1822, You appear as a person, blessing the faithful.  Sometimes, as in Chirattakonam, India, in 2001, You appear as an image.  Particularly poignant to me are the miracles in which the Eucharist becomes a piece of flesh.  I’m thinking specifically of the 1996 miracle in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Since this was obviously a miracle — You allowed the Host to turn into flesh and stay uncorrupted for 3 years in the Tabernacle—then Cardinal Bergoglio allowed a sample to be sent to a doctor without sharing any information with the doctor about the source of the sample.   The doctor, a cardiologist/forensic pathologist, was disturbed by the fact that the sample was a piece of heart muscle that belonged to a living person when taken, and that this person had been beaten about the chest (as evidenced by...

 

 

 (Sources: GabiAfterHours   and Apostolate of Eucharistic Adoration

“Receive Communion…and be deeply aware of the One who visits you, infinite love, divine madness; of One who not only became man like ourselves, but who became bread. After you receive Communion, ask Jesus, the God you hold prisoner in your soul, to stay with you throughout the day so that you may love Him and give Him thanks.”  (St. Teresa of the Andes , excerpt from  Letters of Saint Teresa of the Andes, Michael D. Griffin,  o.c.d. , tr.)

(Copyright ©   Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P., Used With Permission) "C hristmas night rocked Heaven. Angels were aghast at the Incarnation. But Holy Thursday night struck them dumb. That God should become a Babe in swaddling clothes was cause for overwhelming surprise; but that God should bury Himself in Bread and become the very Food of man dazzled and stupefied the nine choirs of Heaven’s court. And yet, great as was God’s action, they were not completely bewildered by it. No! It took man’s reaction to do that! Heaven was not completely bewildered until it saw man’s coldness to God’s condescension. Bethlehem closed doors – but Bethlehem did not really know who Joseph was or whom Mary tabernacled. Roman soldiers scourged Christ and hammered Him to a Cross while High priests howled and   frenzied Jews mocked; but   none of these  fully understood what they did or who He was. But you! – you have made profession after profession of your belief. You say that you know that Go...

Image Source: Hands at Mass ) “Brothers and sisters, the call goes out to all the earth. Is it the love of God you seek? You will find it in the Eucharist. Do you hunger for a life greater than the whole world has to give you? You will find it in the Eucharist. What is the secret to the renewal of the world? You will find it in the Eucharist. Do you hunger for the bread from heaven? Do you long for the light of the world? Do you really want the resurrection and the life? You will find it all in the Eucharist. For in the Eucharist you will find Him – Jesus. He has shown us where to find Him. His only question is this: where are you? (Excerpted from The Sacrament of Charity by Father James Dominic Brent, OP, published on December 18, 2024 by spiritualdirection.com. Read entire articl e here. ) 

" It is nightfall...One by one the lights go out in the dwellings of men...Millions of stars twinkle in the vast vault of heaven...But on earth one only star still glimmers - the tiny star of light in the sanctuary lamp. Its feeble rays struggle through the windows of a little church...it moves unsteadily to and fro...until it reaches you...Do you not see it? Jesus sends it to tell you that He never rests, that day and night, year in and year out, His heart is busy loving you, and the poor, and the unhappy - yes, even those who crucify Him."   ( Eucharistic Whisperings - Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S.)

 

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons) "Our holy faith teaches us, and we are bound to believe, that in the consecrated Host, Jesus Christ is really present under the species of bread. But we must also understand that He is thus present on our altars as on a throne of love and mercy, to dispense graces and there to show us the love which He bears us, by being pleased to dwell night and day hidden in the midst of us." St. Alphonsus de Liguori

" My Lord Jesus Christ, who, for the love You bear to mankind, do remain night and day in this Sacrament, full of pity and love, awaiting, calling, and receiving all who come to visit You; I believe that You are present in the Sacrament of the Altar; I adore You from the depths of my own nothingness; I thank You for the many graces You have given me, and especially for having given me Yourself in this Sacrament."                                                           (St. Alphonsus Liguori)

I am finding Father Calloway's "retreat" to be very fruitful and highly recommend this book to all. Here is an excerpt: “While the devil definitely wants you to sin and offend God and his love, the devil knows well that the only thing that can bring you true happiness in this life and everlasting joy in the next, is the Holy Eucharist. It is for this reason that the devil's primary tactic of bringing souls to ruin is to estrange them from the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the key to happiness and true life in God. The devil doesn't want you to go to heaven. He wants you to go to hell. The devil knows that if he can get you to doubt the Real Presence, it is very likely that you will eventually fall away from believing in sin, hell and the devil himself. He knows that to walk away from the Eucharist is to walk away from life. To abandon belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is to lack trust in God's merciful love and plan for your salvation. T...

"What shall I answer if I have not responded to the love of Jesus – and not given Him the whole love of my heart – and not spent myself for Him Who loved me unto death, even unto the death of the Cross? What shall I answer when I find out that throughout my life, every hour of the day and night, Jesus was for me imprisoned in the tabernacle, pleading for me with the Father – wishing for me to visit Him, to unite Himself to me, and to be my faithful, my own God?" ( Meditation on the Passion - A Mistress of Novices of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary) Just one of the 250 soul-searching quotations you will find in Stirring Slumbering Souls

Praying With Your Eyes [I originally posted these thoughts more than twelve years ago. May they still speak to slumbering souls.] Sometimes as you drive around, you simply have to get out of your car and allow the beauty of God's creation stir your imagination and capture your heart  On those occasions, let your eyes prayerfully process the images God has placed before you. Be still! Gaze upon the work of His Hands! Be filled with awe, amazement and gratitude! Or Or As magnificent as these images may be, they are nothing in comparison to He Who awaits your visit: Our Abandoned, Ignored and Forgotten Lord

"It is nightfall...One by one, the lights go out in the dwellings of men...Millions of stars twinkle in the vast vault of heaven...But on earth, one only star still glimmers — the tiny star of light in the sanctuary lamp. Its feeble rays struggle through the windows of a little church...it moves unsteadily to and fro...until it reaches you...Do you not see it? Jesus sends it to tell you that He never rests, that day and night, year in and year out, His heart is busy loving you, and the poor, and the unhappy — yes, even those who crucify Him."  (From Eucharistic Whisperings - Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S.)

The Bishop of the Abandoned Tabernacle – St. Manuel Gonzalez Garcia is a must read for every Catholic, especially in these times of Eucharistic Revival, where so few of us still believe Jesus is really, substantially and physically present in the Eucharist. Thank you to the author, Victoria Schneider, who took the time to translate and make the good Bishop’s words known to the English-speaking world. She has done a great service to all souls. Bishop Manuel Gonzalez “was outraged by the indifferent attitude towards the Eucharist that he observed in the Church during his lifetime” (1877-1940). “What would he say today?” is the poignant question Father Sean Davidson, MSE poses in the Forward to this book. In the Preface, Father describes both the anguish in the good Bishop’s heart and the purpose of this book: “Though the Sacred Eucharistic Heart of Jesus trembles with love for us in the tabernacle, our hearts are often indifferent to His love, sadly enough. The heart of Christ is...

(Image Source Unsplash.com ) How can we expect the current efforts toward Eucharistic Revival to bear fruit when we have not addressed the real and obvious reasons why so few Catholics believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament?  Over the next several weeks, God willing, I will highlight those reasons, one by one. These issues have been raised for decades and have been ignored. Those who raise them are dismissed and cast aside as if they were lepers. Let's begin by pondering these words written by Father Donald Haggerty more than five years ago. How are our Bishops and the current Revival efforts addressing the concerns Father [and countless other souls] have raised?  "When we realize after a serious conversion the true holiness of the Eucharist, the presence of God Himself in the Host, there is bound to be a spiritual discomfort and unease in seeing at times the dishonor accorded the sacredness of the Mass. Fervent prayer at Mass can be an arduous ta...