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. Robert Cardinal Sarah “Relativism, that terribly effective bleach, has wiped out everything in its path. Doctrinal and moral confusion is reaching its height. Evil is good, good is evil. Man no longer feels any need to be saved. The loss of the sense of salvation is the consequence of the loss of the transcendence of God.”   (From  The Day Is Now Far Spent) Father Thomas Dubay "God gives prayer growth precisely according to our degree of readiness for it. He forces no one. According as we are more or less receptive, He bestows more or less depth of communion. In the same manner, five hundred people in a parish church all hear the same sound waves during the homily, but they profit from it exactly as they are or are not disposed for the message. Jesus taught the same truth in his parable of the sower: from the wor...

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) St. Dominic de Guzman founded the Order of Preachers – the Dominicans – to preach the Gospel and to save souls.  His zeal to save souls knew no limits. He reportedly spent every night in prayer tearfully asking God, “What will become of sinners?” Does such zeal for the salvation of souls exist today? I n a recent post on Missio Dei , Kaleb Hammond questioned how many individuals in the world today believe that: “Jesus is the one and only way to salvation, without whom we cannot enter heaven" and “Hell is a real possibility for each of us and that Heaven is guaranteed to no one.” Not many, he concluded, since we live in a culture that believes one religion is "just as good as another" and that all of us will go to heaven.  I highly recommend that you read his post, The Heresy of Universalism .  Here is a link . Sadly, Kaleb is right. Our Church has long abandoned its primary duty - the salvation of souls. Not enough of its leader...

Today we Dominicans joyfully remember our beloved sister, St. Catherine of Siena.    [I am re-publishing this post since the words of this fearless servant of God are as relevant today as they were when she wrote them more than 800 years ago.] (Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) What a treasure St. Catherine of Siena is! One does not become a Doctor of the Church by being fearful to express, teach and live God's Truth in its entirety.  How ill-advised we are to discount, ignore or try to nuance the wisdom God has shared over the centuries through such faithful servants as she.  Less likely would we be to commit this error if our primary concern was the salvation of souls. No wonder those who wish to only tickle our ears and destroy our consciences ignore these great spiritual writers, abandoning God's Truth for a less demanding and counterfeit one. The following words  Jesus shared with St. Catherine in the 14th century are clear and unam...

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. John Marie Vianney "I can't stop praying for poor sinners who are on the road to hell. If they come to die in that state, they will be lost for all eternity. What a pity! We have to pray for sinners! Praying for sinners is the most beautiful and useful of prayers because the just are on the way to heaven, the souls of purgatory are sure to enter there, but the poor sinners will be lost forever. All devotions are good but there is no better one than such prayer for sinners." (From I Thirst For Your Love )   Alexander de Rouville  My child, God will not allow you to be tempted, tested or tormented beyond your strength. His help will always be equal to the trial He sends.  Give heed to His grace, for it already speaks to you, and respond to His inspirations. If God has more crosses in store for someone, He gives ...

 

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.       Brother Finbar Kantor, O.P. "Saint Barnabas urges us in the midst of ‘evil days’ to look first to that problem which is most intimate to us—the salvation of our eternal soul. Before worrying about political policy or ecclesial bickering, the state of our soul should be our first concern. What is my relationship like with God? With my family? With my neighbors? ( Mt 22:37-40 ) These are the things that should really matter to us because they affect our salvation. If we get this hierarchy wrong and seek to gain the world rather than our salvation, we risk a terrible loss ( Mt 8:36-38 )." (From Dominicana - The Things That Matter )    Venerable Louis of Granada, O.P. "When you feel the promptings of this shameful disorder [gluttony] subdue them by the following considerations: Call to mind  that it was a sin o...