Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

Once again we thank Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan for another opportunity to re-publish our favorite posts on  Worth Revisiting . Go there now  (and every Wednesday) and be nourished spiritually. Be sure to visit Allison at  Reconciled to You  and Elizabeth at  Theology Is A Verb  during the rest of the week. You will enjoy your visit. This week's contribution is a little different from my normal posts... Gazing In Silent Reflection at God's Creation (Originally posted on September 18,  2014) I sat in my car outside my daughter's home early one  morning while everyone else was still asleep. I intended to savor my cup of coffee in the silent shadows of the changing sky and to pray my daily rosary. I pulled the beads out of my pocket. Just as I was about to make the Sign of the Cross, I  looked up and was mesmerized as the darkness of night was replaced with the light of day. Clouds became visible and began fl...

"Pope Benedict XVI said that when we look upon Christ in the Eucharist 'we enter into the very dynamic of His self-giving.' For that reason, adoration of the Eucharist, exposed to our view in the monstrance, is particularly important for us, and a particularly powerful encounter with the Lord. I often ask children to imagine walking by the house of the Holy Family in Nazareth. Children who love the Lord might remember that Jesus lives there, and make a gesture of reverence, or say a short prayer. But if we walked by the Lord’s house, and He was out on the porch, and we could look directly at Him, we would stop, and talk to Him, and know that He was hearing us, and talking to us. So it is with adoring Christ in the Eucharist, visible to us in the monstrance. We see Him, and we know that He sees us. We speak to Him, and we know that He hears us. When we adore Christ in the Eucharist, exposed in the monstrance, the Lord engages all of our senses, thro...

Thank you Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan, for extending a weekly invitation to Catholic bloggers to re-post their favorite articles on "Worth Revisiting” Wednesday. Do yourself a favor- go there now (and every Wednesday). During the rest of each week. be sure to visit Allison at   Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb .  May you find something of value in what follows: Reflecting On Advent (Originally posted December 6, 2011) (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) As we travel through this earthly sphere and are confronted with many challenges and obstacles to our spiritual and eternal well-being, the prophet Isaiah reminds us to take comfort knowing that there is a loving God, who sent His only Son to take on human flesh, to live among us, to suffer and die a cruel and painful death on our behalf, and to rise from the dead in order to restore life – all of this to atone for our sins and to reinstate the opportunity for ea...

I sat in my car outside my daughter's home early one  morning while everyone else was still asleep. I intended to savor my cup of coffee in the silent shadows of the changing sky and to pray my daily rosary. I pulled the beads out of my pocket. Just as I was about to make the Sign of the Cross, I  looked up and was mesmerized as the darkness of night was replaced with the light of day. Clouds became visible and began floating past my eyes.  I was awed by the sight and stirred by the sounds of the new emerging day. How can anyone look at this miracle of creation and not see the hand and genius of God? Belatedly, I thought to use the camera on my phone to capture and preserve some of what I saw and experienced that morning. I regret not having thought to do so earlier. If you have never done so, take two minutes out of your day, at sunrise or sunset, sit silently by yourself,  and let God touch you as He did me.

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) [Brief Reflection on Matthew 14:13-21] The little that we have – be it in material goods, time  or talents – is sufficient for God’s work if, when He asks, we would just give whatever that is to Him. Take notice in today’s Gospel what He did with five loaves of bread and two fish! On the surface, it looked like Jesus was asking His Apostles to do the impossible – feed thousands of  people. He wasn’t. He was asking them to give Him what they had and He would make the impossible possible. God will never give us a task, no matter how daunting it may first appear, without giving us all that we need to complete it. The first step is our total surrender to, and trust in, His will for us. So let’s ask ourselves: Is there anything I am still holding on to and unwilling to give Him?