Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

(Photo©Lawrence Lew, O.P. Used With Permission) "Did you ever consider well, dear Christian soul, that, when the Sacred Host is publicly exposed, Jesus is not on His Eucharistic throne to receive the adorations of the angels and to enjoy the company of the blessed? These He finds in heaven. But He is on His Eucharistic throne to receive your adorations, to listen to your confidences, and to console and alleviate your sorrows and trials. Come, then, and adore that Holy Host. When Jesus is offended everywhere, when His royal dignity is mocked and His sovereignty denied, it behooves noble souls to come and acknowledge publicly that He is our beloved Sovereign and divine King, and that to Him all praise, honor, and glory are due. Come and adore that Host of mercy and peace. Show Him your wounds, tell Him your faults, expose to Him your miseries. You do not insult Him who shed His blood for all the sins of the world, when you tell Him your sins to obtain forgiveness. Whatever their num...

(Image Source: c athopic.com ) "Beloved Christ, would I were able to draw to Thy feet thousands of hearts willing to offer Thee the sweet odor of their adoration and love. Would that thousands of souls would come and attach themselves permanently to thy Tabernacle, there to consume themselves like living sanctuary lamps. Would that the whole world might fall in love with Thy adorable Eucharist and seek there, as in their source, the true consolation, the only hope and the most perfect love. Divine Eucharist, Thou art a perpetual manifestation of God's measureless love, and in Thee we receive His loving caresses. (Jose Guadalupe Trevino from The Holy Eucharist )  

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) In order to understand what the world of souls would be without the Eucharist, we have only to imagine what the material world would be without the sun that gives it light and life. Without the sun, all things would be wrapped in a dense and unendurable darkness like that of the blind, no seed would ever sprout, no flower would ever bloom, and no fruit would ever ripen.  The Eucharist is the sun of souls. Without it, deprived of light for the spirit and warmth for the heart, souls would promptly lose their vital energy; and the germs of sanctity, the flowers of virtue, and the fruits of perfection would be seared. (From The Holy Eucharist by Father Jose Guadalupe Trevino)

That night of the betrayal [by Judas] was also a symbol and image of another night, now twenty centuries long, filed with betrayal, ingratitude, perfidy and sacrilege. Is this not indeed men’s answer to the gift of God? Is there even one day when, nowhere in the world, a sacrilege is committed? (Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) Many Christians live as if there were no Eucharist. Many spend months and years without receiving Jesus, without paying Him even a short visit. And when, perhaps to avoid being pointed out by fellow Catholics, they do assist at Mass, they single out the shortest one, hear it with little attention, and feel irritated if it ‘lasts too long.’ For any pretext they omit it altogether. Many, in a whole lifetime, receive only the First Communion and perhaps, Viaticum. Is this not a night devoid of love, but full of ingratitude? (From The Holy Eucharist by Father Jose Guadalupe Trevino)