Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

When we are before the Blessed Sacrament, let us open our hearts; our good God will open His.  We shall go to Him; He will come to us; the one to ask, the other to receive.  It will be like a breath from one to the other.     St. John Marie Vianney

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. Catherine Doherty, Servant of God "God invites us to accept the loneliness of walking alone with Him. He says: ‘Yes, you need help from other people, but first get it from Me. Attach yourself to Me. I will give you everything you need, for I am the Lord of everything. I will renew and restore you and you will have new eyes and new ears." (From Are You Ever Lonely? March 2023 issue of Restoration )   St. John Marie Vianney "What a sad life does he lead who wants both to please the world and to serve God! It is a great mistake to make, my friends. Apart from the fact that you are going to be unhappy all the time, you can never attain the stage at which you will be able to please the world and please God. It is as impossible a feat as trying to put an end to eternity. Take the advice that I am going to give you now and you will be les...

  (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) "The Curé of Ars often pointed to the tabernacle, saying: ‘Jesus is really there, and if you knew how much He loves you, you would be the happiest person in the world'."                  (Father Florian Racine from Could You Not Watch One Hour With Me?)

"And meanwhile, for the most part, we come to church without reverence, without love of God, without knowing even what we have come to do. Some let their minds and hearts dwell on a thousand worldly matters. Others are there reluctantly and are bored. There are some who scarcely kneel whilst a God pours out His precious Blood for their pardon, lastly others are in such haste to leave the church, they do not wait for the priest to come down from the altar. My God what little love Your children have for You, or rather, how they scorn You! Indeed, what a spirit of frivolity and distraction appears when people are in church. Some sleep, others converse together, and nearly everyone is taken up with what he has to do."   (From  THE EUCHARISTIC MEDITATIONS OF THE CURÉ D’ARS )

(Photo©Michael Seagriff) "Our churches are holy, consecrated, sacred, because God made man dwells there day and night. In early times, many Christians crossed the seas to see the holy places where the great mystery of our redemption was wrought. Oh, blessed places! they exclaimed, where so many wonders were worked to save us! And they could hardly tear themselves away from the Cenacle or the Garden of the Agony without shedding tears. On Calvary, when Jesus Christ endured such great sufferings for us, they felt their faith rekindled and their hearts burning with a new fire. But without going so far, or exposing ourselves like them to many dangers, have we not Jesus Christ in the midst of us, not only as God, but Body and Soul? Are not our churches as worthy of reverence as the holy places? What a blessed people are Christians, who see renewed each day on the altars all the wonders that Almighty God worked formerly on Calvary."   (From  THE EUCHARISTIC MEDITATIONS OF THE C...

“When God desired to give a food to our soul to sustain it in the pilgrimage of life, He looked upon creation and found nothing that was worthy of it. Then He turned again to Himself, and resolved to give Himself…O my soul, how great you are, since only God can satisfy you! The food of the soul is the body and blood of a God. O glorious food! The soul can feed only on God; only God can suffice it; only God can fill it; only God can satiate its hunger. Its God is absolutely necessary to it.” “O my soul, bless this God, who is so great! Come often to this divine banquet to take your fill of justice and holiness. Those who refuse to sit at this banquet, or who partake of it only at long intervals, condemn themselves to certain death or to wasting away; for we cannot live without eating, nor enjoy vigorous health without eating frequently.” “My God, how can it be that Christians actually remain so long without giving this food to their poor souls? They leave the...

Thanks to the generosity and encouragement of Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan, Catholic bloggers take the time each week to re-post their favorite articles on “It’s Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays. Go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in Faith journey. Be sure to regularly visit Allison at   Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb .  hey have much to offer you, Here is what I am sharing this week: May Tomorrow Not Just Be Another Routine Holy Thursday (Originally published on April 2, 2012) (A somewhat updated version of several posts from previous years) (Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) According to St. Pius X, our sanctity depends in large measure on the holiness of our priests. This Holy Thursday then is an appropriate time to reflect on our priests, the imperative that the Eucharist be the source, center and summit of their lives and ours, and our duty as lay men and ...