Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

It is a privilege  to share one of my posts with Allison Gingras at Reconciled to You and Elzabeth Riordan at Theology is A Verb as part of their weekly Worth Revisiting promotion. Stop for a visit here . My contribution this week is short and direct: Our duty and primary mission as Catholics is to make Him known by the way we live our lives. Guess we have a bit more work to do!

Another Wednesday and another opportunity to thank Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan for their weekly invitation to re-post our favorite articles on Worth Revisiting . Go there now (and every Wednesday) and let an interesting group of Catholic bloggers nourish you in your Faith journey. V isit Allison at   Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb during the rest of each week.   You will enjoy your visit. This is what I am sharing:   Is This How You See Sin? (Originally posted June 22, 2015)

Thank you Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan for hosting "Worth Revisiting” every Wednesday and inviting Catholic bloggers to re-post their favorite articles there.  Go there now (and every Wednesday). You will be inspired by the variety of spiritual insights these authors share. Visit Allison at  Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb during the rest of the week.  It will be time well spent. Here is my contribution: We Stand With You Lord - No Matter The Price We May Be Asked To Pay!  (Originally published June 25, 2015) May the following words penned more than 50 years ago by Rev. M. Raymond, O.C.S.O. encourage us during these trying times and our pending exile in a world that has, for the most part, turned its back on the Lord who created them, died for them, yet still offers all of us eternal life: (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) "There was pain in Egypt - yet, I say it was he...

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” Wednesdays. Go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in your Faith journey. During the rest of each week, be sure to  visit Allison at Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb .    Here is my contribution: Why Injustice? Why Suffering? Why? (Originally posted June 14, 2015) [There are questions that have no ready answers.How many times have we asked God "Why" when He sends suffering or injustice our way or to our loved ones and friends? Father Raymond answers this recurrent question with one of his own sure to cause you to ponder this subject anew:] (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) "Divine Providence, which is but another name for God, is bound to be more than pu...

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. But first a heartfelt prayer for a happy and blessed Thanksgiving ! Rev. M. Raymond, O.C.S.O. "So long as God, who is all good, wills a thing, we are fools if we do not say Fiat – and thus will it with Him. The lone exception is sin." (From God, A Woman and The Way )  

There are still Catholics (albeit their numbers are dwindling) who attend Mass on Sunday, even though some of them often complain that Mass is boring and/or that they get nothing out of it.  Let me ask two questions. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) When was the last time you really looked at a crucifix? I mean really gazed at one and pondered the realities it depicts. When was the last time you went to Mass and reminded yourself that you were about to spend time at the foot of Jesus' cross? If you have never done either of theses exercises or it has been some time since you did,  take a few minutes today to read and meditate on the following reflections of Father Raymond and author John Lynch. Then when you next go to Church, arrive a few minutes earlier than normal. Gaze upon the crucifix and recall what is about to take place at the Altar of Sacrifice.  “You have never looked upon a crucifix and seen what the early Christians saw...

Our duty and primary mission as Catholics is to make Him known by the way we live our lives. Guess we have a bit more work to do!

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. Catherine of Siena “0 blind humanity, to have so lost sight of your dignity! You who were so great have become so small! You who were in command have' sold yourselves into servitude to the vilest power there is, for you have become the servants and slaves of sin. Yes, you have become a nothing, since you become like what you serve, and sin is nothingness. It has taken life from you and given you death in its place.” (From The Dialogue )   St. Augustine "I ask you, Christian soul: if you were told, as was that rich man, 'You also, go, sell all that you possess and you will have treasure in heaven, and come and follow Christ, would you go away sad as he did?" (From Sermon ) Rev. M. Raymond, O.C.S.O. “We moderns shrink from pain; we shun all that can afflict body or mind. We have forgotten ...

May the following words penned more than 50 years ago by Rev. M. Raymond, O.C.S.O. encourage us during these trying times and our pending exile in a world that has, for the most part, turned its back on the Lord who created them, died for them, yet still offers all of us eternal life: (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) "There was pain in Egypt - yet, I say it was heaven. Mary saw raw, rampant paganism all about her, yet she nursed God at her breast; she had to listen to false gods being called upon, yet she heard the Word of God utter His first human word. And while the sight of pyramids standing out against a setting sun, and the shimmer on the waters of the Nile told her not only that she was in exile, but that her whole people had once been here, yet when she gazed into the starry light in His eyes and knew that it had been kindled from light in her own and that He was the Maker of the stars, Egypt and exile was heaven. It was here she saw Him take His ...

When man rejects God's law, there is one most appropriate and necessary response that all who love their Suffering Savior should offer Him:

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) The night before [Jesus] died He said “This is my body – This is my blood.” Every day that we live, we are to hold out on the paten of our hands our hearts, and minds, and wills, our all, and say: "This is my body - this is my blood. Take them. And what You do with wheat and wine and these awe-filled words, do with me! Let the outward appearances remain; my face, figure, height, and breadth; but the inner substance, change! Change it so that it will no longer be mine, but Thine. Change it so that I will always be what transubstantiated Wheat and Wine ever remain - Thee!" (From God, A Woman and The Way by Rev. M. Raymond, O.C.S.O.)

In his 1954 book, God, A Woman and The Way, Rev. M. Raymond, O.C.S.O. warned us that we had forgotten the purpose of our lives and much of what it means to be Catholic. He powerfully illustrated his point with this poignant tale: "We have forgotten that there is eloquence in the silent simplicity of doing one's ordinary duty. We have forgotten that there is power and terrific impact in example.  (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) A child of six was about to undergo a tonsilectomy. The surgeon, a fallen away Catholic, to ease all tension, playfully and paternally told the little girl that he was going to help her go to sleep for a while. Whereupon the child knelt on the operating table saying: "If I'm going to sleep. I must first say my night prayers." In all simplicity and with the full charm of innocent childhood she folded her hands and said what you and I have said again and again in our youth.    ‘Now I lay me down to sleep;   T...

[There are questions that have no ready answers.How many times have we asked God "Why" when He sends suffering or injustice our way or to our loved ones and friends? Father Raymond answers this recurrent question with one of his own sure to cause you to ponder this subject anew:] (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) "Divine Providence, which is but another name for God, is bound to be more than puzzling; it is sure to be an insoluble mystery. We simply do not, we simply cannot, see the reason for many things. Why is this young couple denied children for whom they long, and for whom they could make lavish provision, while next door the mother already burdened with a large family, for whom the father is straining to make ends meet, gives birth to another healthy child? Why is it that this holy young woman brings forth a stillborn child, while a neighbor who has lost all faith becomes a mother to stocky twins?

Oh, how great is the gift of conscience. How foolish we are not to listen to it.

It may not be much longer before someone comes to collect:

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 Federico Suarez  "The Cross, then, is the great place of prayer, just as it is the great altar, the great monstrance, and the first tabernacle. It is not in vain that we are told to begin and end our prayers with the sign of the Cross." (From The Sacrifice of the Mass )