Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

“If a man is ever to enjoy communion with Christ, so as to have the blood of God running in his veins and the spirit of God's throbbing in his soul, he must die to the lower life of the flesh. He must be born again… And hence the lore of Calvary is the lore of every Christian: unless there is the cross there will never be the resurrection, unless there is the defeat of the Calvary there will never be the victory of Easter, unless there are the nails there will never be the glorious wounds, unless there is the garment of scorn there will never be the robes blazing like the sun,   unless there is the crown of thorns there will never be the halo of light...for the law laid down at the beginning of time which shall be effective until time shall be no more, is that no one shall be crowned unless he has struggled and overcome." (Ven. Fulton J. Sheen from The Moral Universe )

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 Augustin Guillerand, O. Cart.  "Life is a journey. Provided we keep going, all is well. What God cannot tolerate - what is, indeed, intolerable - are those stationary souls who either are inert by nature or persuade themselves that they have reached the summit, and that there is nothing more for them." (From Where Silence Is Praise: From the Writings of Dom Augustin Guillerand, O. Cart. )   Father Dismas Sayre, O.P In our modern world, man sees Jesus's forgiveness and mercy as almost givens, taken for granted. Of course, even the most permissive and “merciful” want whatever they might consider evil to be punished, but never their own evil . It's funny how that works. As has often been stated by various authors, two thieves were crucified with Christ. One was saved, so we should not despair, but one was lost, so we should not ...

"In our modern world, man sees Jesus's forgiveness and mercy as almost givens, taken for granted. Of course, even the most permissive and “merciful” want whatever they might consider evil to be punished, but never their own evil . It's funny how that works. As has often been stated by various authors, two thieves were crucified with Christ. One was saved, so we should not despair, but one was lost, so we should not presume. Yes, it is very possible for us to lose our salvation, to lose our way eternally. Our Lord is crystal clear on this point in His many parables, as much as He is crystal clear on the need for forgiveness and mercy. But the goal of God's justice is not to separate us eternally but to restore us." (By Father Dismas Sayre, O.P. published in the July August 2025 issue of Light and Life entitled Is God just, holy and merciful? )  

…For sinners, the door of His heart is always open, so that He will never drive them away, however miserable they may be.   He so earnestly desired the salvation of sinners that He did not cease until He was nailed to a cross between two thieves and shed His Precious Blood for them. Not content with this, having finished the course of His earthly life, He instituted this Sacrament [the Eucharist] by which He might remain among men, so that all who need a remedy would always find it. The same cause that led Him to die for sinners, led Him to institute this Sacrament. It was love that brought Him down to earth and put Him in the hands of sinners; it is love also that brings Him back again and puts Him in the same hands. There was no other cause for this Great work but love on His part and need on our part. Therefore, this Sacrament is a common remedy for the just and for sinners.   This is what they do not understand who stay away from this Sacrament. They do not realize tha...

 

 

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. Leonard of Port Maurice "To be saved for all eternity, to be damned for all eternity, and to not make your every effort to avoid the one and make sure of the other, is something inconceivable." (From The Little Number of Those Who Are Saved ) Lisa Brenninkmeyer "Let’s take a closer look at the people Jesus loved in the Gospels. It wasn’t just the cleaned-up, spiritually open, nicely behaved people. Jesus loved the ones with scandalous sexual sins, the perfectionists, the dirty outcasts, the cheaters, the ones who were lying to themselves, and the ones who spent most of their lives ignoring Him." (From   Rest: 31 Days of Peace Devotional -  (Daily Catholic Wisdom )   St. Vincent Ferrer, O.P. "If you truly want to help the soul of your neighbor, you should approach God first with all your heart. Ask him simply to fill you ...

We must never presume upon God's mercy. Too many of us take His mercy for granted. We do not like to think of His justice. Why Catholics are being told they all have a reasonable hope of being saved.  This is not quite what many of our Saints have concluded. (Image Source: cathopic.com ) Here are two short examples: According to St. Leonard of Port Maurice, Saint Vincent Ferrer reported "that an archdeacon in Lyons gave up his charge and retreated into a desert place to do penance, and that he died the same day and hour as Saint Bernard. After his death, he appeared to his bishop and said to him, ‘Know, Monsignor, that at the very hour I passed away, thirty-three thousand people also died. Out of this number, Bernard and myself went up to heaven without delay, three went to purgatory, and all the others fell into Hell.' "  Saint Jacinta of Fatima warned that “So many people are going to die, and almost all of them are going to Hell! So many people falling into ...

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) Lord, I do not recall the exact day or date when You showered Your mercy upon me. I was not particularly close to You at the time. But I do remember the place - my former parish while I was sitting in a pew in front of Your tabernacle - complaining to You about the suffering You had asked my dying Mom to endure. In Your infinite wisdom and love, You used my mother's suffering and subsequent death for her eternal benefit and to draw me closer to You. I recall sitting in the pew and thinking about my life up to that point in time. You allowed me to see the many times I was on the brink of falling into hell for all eternity. That day, You let me appreciate  how much You loved me by showing me how often You had withheld Your hand of Justice and extended Your hand of mercy! I believe You when you told St. Faustina that You would extend Your mercy, even to the most wretched of sinners, who seek it prior to death with just a repenting glance.  How ...

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. Mother Angelica "All earthly joys are finite glimpses of eternal bliss. But because we tend to hold on to what we see with our physical eyes, we tend to forget what can be seen only with the eyes of Faith. And so, it is that Heaven is always remote from our thoughts and removed from our daily experiences." (From Mother Angelica on God, His Home, and His Angels )   St. Chromatius “Our Redeemer has taught us not to desire justice, that is to say our salvation and perfection, with a faint-hearted desire, nor with lagging, indolent effort; for He tells us that they are blessed who pursue it with the intense yearnings of an interior desire, in the same way as those who hunger and thirst seek food and drink. For if anyone of us craved and longed for justice with such desire, he could think of nothing else but that justice day or night nor seek...