Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

St. Thomas Aquinas recited this daily prayer before the image of Christ. We would be well served to follow his example. “Grant, O merciful God, that I may ardently desire, carefully examine, truly know, and perfectly fulfill those things that are pleasing to You, to the praise and glory of Your holy name. Direct my course, O my God, that I may do what You require me to do. Show me the way and grant that I may follow it as is necessary and profitable to my soul. Grant to me, O Lord my God, that I may not be found wanting in prosperity; that I may not be lifted up by one nor cast down by the other. May I find joy in nothing but what leads to You; sorrow in nothing but what leads away from You. May I seek to please no one, nor fear to displease any. May I fear only You. May I despise all transitory things, O Lord, and treasure all things that are eternal. Let me loath all delights without You, nor desire anything apart from You. Let me find pleasure in all toil that is for You; an...

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 .   (Photo©Michael Seagriff) Robert Cardinal Sarah “ Unless silence dwells in man, and unless solitude is a state in which he allows himself to be shaped, the creature is deprived of God. There is no place on earth where God is more present than in the human heart. This heart truly is God’s abode, the temple of silence.” (From The Power of Silence ) St. Thomas Aquinas, O.P. We don’t study just for the sake of knowledge. We study because we desire to know the truth. And the truth is a person. The Truth is God. St. Francis de Sales “Be not of those who think perfection consists in undertaking many things, but of those who place it in doing well what little they do. For it is better to do little and do it well, than to undertake much and do it ill. Yes, little and good, this is the ...