Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

Christ who has been sacrificed on the altar is laid in the tomb of their hearts. There is no place where He will not come: prisons, hospitals, schools, camps, ships at sea, cathedrals and little tin churches; he comes to them all. He comes into the houses of the sick and the dying, regardless whether they are mansions or slums.   (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons )   He comes to all kinds of people, from little children at First Communion, who bring Him their first tender acts of love and reparation to be myrrh and aloes on His wounds, to old sinners who open their empty hearts to Him hurriedly, at the last minute, just as Joseph of Arimathea’s empty tomb was opened hurriedly, at the last minute before the feast, to receive His crucified body.   Every day crowds of unknown people come to Him, who feel as hard, as cold, as empty as the tomb.  They come with the first light, before going to the day's work, and with the grey mind of early morning, hardly able to c...

(Originally posted April 23, 2011)     (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) Our Churches will be packed this Easter Sunday, filled by an influx of infrequent visitors and with the pungent fragrances flowing from the multi-colored spring flowers that will surround our altars and fill our sanctuaries. How pleased Our Lord will be to see so many there. How hopeful He is that all will return. The songs we sing, the Scripture readings we proclaim and the homily we hear will remind us that Jesus died and rose from the dead, so that we too would have an opportunity for eternal life – a priceless gift which we have done nothing to deserve but which we can too easily forfeit.  Our Risen Lord is alive! And He desires much more than your weekly attendance at Mass. He hungers to have a personal, life-changing relationship with you. How will you respond to His invitation? Hopefully, the same way “Charlie” did. “Charlie” was one of the many men I was priv...