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. St. Bernadine of Siena   “Let Mary never be far from your lips and from your heart. Following her, you will never lose your way. Praying to her, you will never sink into despair. Contemplating her, you will never go wrong.”   (Source: Father Eva Chibuzo Asadu)   St. John Henry Newman "My Lord, I offer you myself in turn as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. You have died for me, and I in turn make myself over to you. I am not my own. You have bought me; I will by my own act and deed complete the purchase. My wish is to be separated from everything of this world; to cleanse myself simply from sin; to put away from me even what is innocent, if used for its own sake, and not for yours. I put away reputation and honor, and influence, and power, for my praise and strength shall be in you. Enable me to ...

 

Lord, this day we give You thanks for all that you have given us but most especially for the Gifts of Your Death and of Your Continued Presence among us:  

(Photo©Michael Seagriff) "With lively faith adore Je sus present in the Most Holy Sacrament, in the Divine Host you are soon to receive. Adore Him outwardly by the deeply reverent attitude of your body and by the guarded purity of your senses. Adore Him inwardly by a profound humility and by the homage of all the powers of your soul, crying out to Him with Saint Thomas in a transport of faith:' My Lord and my God'. ...Give thanks for so great a gift of love from Jesus, for this invitation which He gives to you in preference to so many others who are better and more worthy to receive Him. Praise Him for the wisdom He manifested in inventing and instituting this wonderful Sacrament for you. Praise the wisdom that has guided this river of life to you, this stream that has flowed on from generation to generation, till at last it has reached you, as pure now as its source. Bless His omnipotent goodness that He was able to triumph over every obstacle, that He re...

(Photo©Michael Seagriff) "We are like children who receive money from our mother to buy her a  a birthday present when she has a birthday. When the children come with their gift, the mother does not say: 'You ought to be ashamed of yourselves to come with a gift that I myself have paid for!' No, she acts as though it were from them. That is what God does with us. Everything we give Him we have received from Him. Nevertheless He acts as though everything came from us. Our thanksgiving consists in that we give everything back to God...It is not because God is greedy and therefor wants everything back, but rather so that we should have the joy of giving ." (Wilfrid Stinissen, O.C.D. from Bread That Is Broken )