Eucharistic Reflection - Entering Deep and Contemplatively In the Sacred

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The Eucharistic journey deep into the sacred reaches its summit in Holy Communion, a moment calling for the utmost receptivity to God and the utmost response of love, epitomized by the words of the Apostle Thomas confronted by the glory of the Risen Christ, “My Lord and my God!”...

It can become much more difficult to enter deep and contemplatively into the sacred if the liturgy is not celebrated in a reverent and fitting manner. Unfitting “activity” during the Mass, [Alice] von Hildebrand observes, such as the congregational singing of music devoid of a genuinely sacred character, thwarts our ability to enter the depths of the sacred, our contemplation of the sublime celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The motivation behind such an approach to music for the liturgy, that the congregation needs to be given something to do, something to busy themselves with during the Mass, so that they don’t get bored, is in von Hildebrand’s words comparable to “the treatment of little children who are given a picture book in their hands so that they do not get bored during the Mass".

By contrast, truly sacred music, and in a paramount manner Gregorian Chant, fosters within us a contemplative receptivity to the Mass, enabling us to journey deep into the sacred. As von Hildebrand explains, Gregorian Chant is “the unsurpassed ideal music for the divine cult,” possessing “an eminently contemplative character,” one could say “a quasi-sacramental character,” able to give “full expression to the sublime ardor of the heart” while retaining “a sacred sobriety”. There is also the God-given “sound- track” of silence that helps us to make the journey into the sacred, delivering us from the din of the world.

(James Monti – The Journey Deep Into The Sacred in his Restoring The Sacred column published in The Wanderer on September 5, 2019)

Monday Musings - Kneeling

(Excerpted from the column entitled The Privilege of Kneeling published in  the August 21, 2019 issue of The Wanderer)

Monday Musings - What Harm Could Possibly Befall Our Parishes?

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As we face the tragic reality that so few Catholics believe our Lord is really and substantially present in the Holy Eucharist, we must be honest in assessing the reasons why this has occurred. While there are many possible explanations, there is one common denominator: we abandoned sacred rituals and conduct for the banal - discarding that which elevated our minds and hearts to the heavenly King, for practices that center on ourselves and the mundane.

So many Catholics today either do not remember or never experienced the sacred practices of days gone by. It is important then that those practices and the reasons for them be shared anew if we are ever to re-establish belief in, awe and amazement for our Eucharistic Lord.

Actions do indeed speak louder than words:

Toward that end, let me share again the observations of columnist, James Monti:

Eucharistic Reflection - Like A Potter To The Clay

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"Silence in front of the Blessed Sacrament is one of the hardest yet most spiritually rewarding moments in a Catholic's spiritual development. Like a potter to the clay, allowing God to work in you and being comfortable not speaking, not interrupting, but allowing one's soul to conform to the will of God. That sounds easy, but it's really hard."

(Shaun Kenny from "Silence In A Cluttered Age" published in the July 24, 2019 issue of The Wanderer)

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - December 21, 2017

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. Francis de Sales

"God detests failings because they are failings. On the other hand, however, in a certain sense, He loves failings since they give to Him an opportunity to show His mercy and to us an opportunity to remain humble and to understand and to sympathize with our neighbor's failings."

(As quoted by Servant of God, John Paul I in his September 20, 1976 General Audience)

Eucharistic Reflection - Going To Mass

When you are going to hear Mass, let your first care be to endeavor to recollect yourself, as well as you can, by calling home your wandering thoughts, and taking them off from other businesses and concerns…

(Photo©Michael Seagriff)

On your way to the church or chapel, put yourself in spirit in the company of the Blessed Virgin, and the other pious women going to Mount Calvary, to be present at the Passion and death of our Lord…

When you enter the church or chapel, humble yourself profoundly in the presence of God, whose house you have come into; and if the Blessed Sacrament be kept there, adore your Savior upon your bended knees…

Choose, as much as you can, a place to kneel in, where you may be recollected, and least disturbed. There represent to yourself by a lively faith the majesty of God, and humbly beg His mercy and grace that you may assist at this tremendous sacrifice in the manner your ought.

(Bishop Robert Challoner as quoted by James Monti in September 21, 2017 article in The Wanderer, entitled “Preparing to Enter Into The Awesome Mystery of the Mass”.)

Eucharistic Reflection - Ponder Whom He Is

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"Ponder Jesus as God in all His infinite and incomprehensible grandeur, in His eternity, His immensity, His majesty, His might, His wisdom, His power, His beatitude, His richness, His holiness, His patience, His justice, His mercy, and that He is contained with all that in the Eucharist."

(Father Charles Edme Cloyseault  as quoted by James Monti in September 21, 2017 article in The Wanderer, entitled “Preparing to Enter Into The Awesome Mystery of the Mass”.)