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.   St. Ignatius of Loyola "Man was created for a certain end. This end is to praise, to reverence and to serve the Lord his God and by this means to arrive at eternal salvation. All other beings and objects that surround us on the earth were created for the benefit of man and to be useful to him, as means to his final end; hence his obligation to use, or to abstain from the use of, these creatures, according as they bring him nearer to that end, or tend to separate him from it." (From The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius ) Deacon Alex Jones "How do you tell God no? How do you look into the face of truth and say, ‘That’s nice, but it will cause me problems?’ I said yes, and that yes has cost me dearly. But deep down in my heart is a passion for our Lord and a love for his Church. I...

  (Image Source: Wikipedia Commons ) Father, you did it again! You are so gifted in so many ways. Your sermon was right on. The poem you shared was a shock to the heart and soul. But when you refused to hold up our Blessed Lord’s Body and Blood while the bells were rung three times; When you so irritatingly directed the Extraordinary minister of the Cup as to where she was to stand; When you interrupted the distribution of Holy Communion to encourage communicants to stop and pick up a copy of   the poem you read at Mass and which you had placed on the altar rail; When you just threw our Lord into my wife’s hands. This is all too much. There was nothing reverent and Sacred about the manner in which you distributed Holy Communion today. No one's belief in our Lord's Real Presence would have been enhanced. It was offensive... Father…please pause…take a close look at what others see…and adjust what you do.

(Photo©Father Lawrence Lew, O.P. - Used With Permission) I appreciate the ongoing efforts of the U.S. Bishops to reawaken and foster greater belief in our Lord’s Real and Substantial Presence here with and within us. The number of Eucharistic processions and Holy Hours with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament that have taken place throughout this nation have been heartening. The excellent homilies, posts, videos and testimonies of lay Catholics that our bishops have shared on social media are inspiring. I have no doubt that countless souls have been touched by these efforts.  We pray that the bishops’ efforts (as well as our own and those of our individual parishes) are reaching not just the choir but the millions of non-believing Catholics and former Catholics who inhabit this great nation. How are we going to assess the success of the U.S. Bishops’ efforts as well as our own individual and parish endeavors? Simply and radically! If we actually believe that God is really, tr...

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) I will continue to share this post so long as the issues it discusses continue to be ignored. There can be no authentic Eucharistic Revival until we reestablish the sense of the Sacred in our Churches. Few people warm up to lepers or prophets. That is most unfortunate. In Jesus’ time, lepers were shunned. Rarely would they show themselves in public and when they did so they kept their distance from the rest of the community – warning those nearby of their diseased presence by their voices and/or by ringing bells. What great courage and faith it took for them to seek Jesus out. They knew He was the source of mercy, forgiveness, healing and eternal life. They begged Him to have mercy on them and cleanse them physically. Jesus, defying the norms of His day, not only approached them, He touched and healed them. Unfortunately, true to human nature, not all of those cured expressed their thanksgiving and gratitude for the opport...

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons) "Catholic Churches are intended to be sacred places – different from all other structures in which we spend time – a silent prayerful oasis of quiet, comfort, solace and grace. The stark reality that we have lost that sense and our belief in the Real Presence, is enough to make Our Lord cry." (From I Thirst For Your Love )

[I have shared this post before. Its content is forever relevant and worthy of our consideration.] The gifts of the Magi - gold, frankincense, and myrrh - were expensive and very significant physical gifts. But they pale in comparison to the spiritual gifts we can give our Infant, Crucified, and Risen Lord – if we would but choose to do so. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) The gifts I am about to describe, when given to our Lord in love and gratitude, weekly (daily if possible), will not only please Him, but will result in our being united more intimately with the Prince of Peace. What follows are some concrete suggestions as to what each of us can and should do every time we attend Mass, if we are serious about loving God as He deserves and as we ought. We don’t need any one’s permission to do any of these things.  We will just do these things out of love and reverence and let God do the rest:        Read and ponder the Mass reading...

 

[I have shared this post before. Its content is forever relevant and worthy of our consideration.] The gifts of the Magi - gold, frankincense, and myrrh - were expensive and very significant physical gifts. But they pale in comparison to the spiritual gifts we can give our Infant, Crucified, and Risen Lord – if we would but choose to do so. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) The gifts I am about to describe, when given to our Lord in love and gratitude, weekly (daily if possible), will not only please Him, but will result in our being united more intimately with the Prince of Peace. What follows are some concrete suggestions as to what each of us can and should do every time we attend Mass, if we are serious about loving God as He deserves and as we ought. We don’t need any one’s permission to do any of these things.  We will just do these things out of love and reverence and let God do the rest:        Read and ponder the Mass reading...

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 . Dom Lorenzo Scupoli “The final means of acquiring both distrust of self and confidence in God is that before attempting to perform any good action, or to encounter some failing, we should look at our own weakness on the one hand, and on the other contemplate the infinite power , wisdom and goodness of God. Balancing what we fear from ourselves with what we hope from God, we shall courageously undergo the greatest difficulties and severest trials.” (From The Spiritual Combat and a Treatise On Peace of Soul ) Robert Cardinal Sarah “I wish to underline a very important fact here: God, not man is at the center of Catholic liturgy. We come to worship Him. The liturgy is not about you and me; it is not where we celebrate our own identity or achievements or exalt or promote our own culture and local religious customs. The liturgy is first a...